Top cancer researcher, Children’s of Mississippi honored for accomplishments

Top cancer researcher, Children's of Mississippi honored for accomplishments

Published on Monday, November 18, 2024

By: Gary Pettus, [email protected]

Medical Center faculty and staff often are recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for their academic or medical achievements. These accolades place UMMC among health science centers worldwide.

Maihle receives Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Nita J. Maihle, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, is a recipient of the 2024 Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dr. Nita Maihle is among the 2024 recipients of the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Awards. They are, from left, Dr. Kerry Olsen, Dr. Rick Nishimura, Dr. Clifford Jack Jr., Maihle, Dr. Alexandre Nehme and Dr. Robert Wharen Jr. (Photo courtesy of Mayo Clinic)

Established in 1981, the award acknowledges the exceptional contributions of Mayo Clinic alumni to the field of medicine, including medical practice, research, education and administration.

Maihle, the former associate director for research at the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute, is a national leader and pioneer in the field of translational cancer research. She has worked to improve cancer detection, prevention and treatment, particularly in cancers that affect women.

An internationally recognized expert in the study of epidermal growth factor receptors, she has helped improve the understanding of the biology of breast and gynecologic cancers and contributed to the development of cancer drugs such as trastuzumab and cetuximab.

Maihle joined the Medical Center faculty in 2019, arriving from the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, where she was a professor in the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology, OB-GYN, pathology and graduate studies.

She had also served on the faculty of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she was the founding director of the groundbreaking Tumor Biology Program and headed the Growth Factors and Cancer Program. She also served as associate director for basic research and as founding co-director of the Women's Cancer Program, a model for other similar programs in the U.S.

At Yale University's School of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center, she served as director of its Female Reproductive Tract Cancers Program. She was also dean of the Department of Defense-sponsored Ovarian Cancer Academy, established to help support early career investigators researching ovarian cancer.

Maihle has received around $30 million in direct funding and is credited with 130 scientific publications. The holder of 10 patents, she is a co-founder of, and board member for, several biotechnology companies.

Maihle holds a master's degree from Miami University in Ohio and a master's and a PhD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed post-doctoral fellowships at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the National Cancer Institute and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She received an honorary Master of Arts from Yale University.

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Children's of Mississippi named SPS November Hospital of the Month

Solutions for Patient Safety, a network of more than 140 children's hospitals working together to eliminate serious harm, selected Children's of Mississippi as November's Hospital of the Month.

Children's of Mississippi, the state's only children's hospital and the pediatric arm of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has a rate of zero serious harm pressure injuries and has lowered its rate of central line-association blood stream infections.

Its safety efforts among children's hospitals in the southern region have included NICU proactive safety huddles and proactive safety training and presentations during spring 2023 and 2024 SPS Learning Sessions. Children's of Mississippi representatives have attended numerous SPS safety programs and learning sessions.

"We are honored to be recognized as the SPS Hospital of the Month for November," said Dr. Guy Giesecke, CEO of Children's of Mississippi.

"This achievement reflects not only the collaborative efforts of Solutions for Patient Safety in eliminating hospital-acquired conditions, but also the outstanding teamwork among our caregivers. Their dedication and commitment to patient safety have been invaluable in reaching this milestone."

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