A Message from the Chair

2023 will be a bright new year for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, with exciting developments in all of our mission areas. 

Training the next generation of pediatricians is part of our Department of Pediatrics mission. A gift from the estate of the late Dr. Wilfred Q. Cole Jr. and Gwen Cole will support the work and medical education of our pediatric residents. Seeing two pediatric neurologists at Children’s of Mississippi hail from the same high school – Oak Grove – and the same UMMC School of Medicine graduating class shows how we’re meeting the need for more pediatric experts in the state.

The estate gift from the Coles is just one example of the many ways our community supports Children's of Mississippi in the provision of world-class pediatric care. The newly-created Dr. Owen B. and Lynn M. Evans Chair of Pediatric Neurology will help enable pediatric neurology patients to reach their full potential. The Sanderson Farms Championship host organization Century Club Charities donated $1 million from proceeds of the state's only PGA tour event to benefit Mississippi's only hospital for children.

2023 will also bring about renovations to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and the Blair E. Batson Tower, designed to match the standards set by the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower, the seven-story expansion that opend in 2020. Priscilla and David O'Donnell have committed $1.5 million to renovate the cardiac step-down and medical-surgical floor in the Batson Tower. 

We will also host a number of educational opportunities in 2023, including our weekly grand rounds speaker. If you'd like to be notified of these events, please reach out and let us know. 

Sincerely,

Mary B. Taylor, M.D., M.S.C.I.

Professor of Pediatrics

Suzan B. Thames Chair, Department of Pediatrics