Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2025
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-08-20

Billy R. Thomas

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Federal Grant PI

Professor

Also affiliated: University of Notre Dame (1985–1986); Office of Education (2008); Arkansas Children's Hospital (1989–2022); Agricultural Research Service (1983); Nipissing University (2001); University of Arkansas Medical Center (2025); Samford University (1989); Mississippi State University (1981–1984)

Faculty Researcher

Peds Pediatrics, College of Medicine

14 h-index 39 pubs 670 cited

  • Humans
  • Female
  • Male
  • Minority Groups
  • Infant, Newborn
  • School Admission Criteria
  • Adult
  • Career Choice
  • Infant, Extremely Premature
  • Schools, Medical
  • Education, Medical
  • Erythropoietin
  • Gestational Age
  • Healthcare Disparities
  • Infant

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Dr. Billy Thomas's research focuses on neonatology, particularly investigating neurodevelopmental and organ-specific outcomes in extremely preterm infants. His work has explored the impact of interventions such as transfusions and erythropoietin on kidney-related outcomes and neurodevelopmental trajectories, as evidenced by his publications in the PENUT Trial. He also studies the association between brain magnetic resonance imaging findings and long-term outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Beyond clinical research, Dr. Thomas is dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion within academic and research settings. He serves as the PI for several NIH-funded initiatives aimed at increasing student diversity in research and health professions, including the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program and a summer undergraduate research program. His scholarly contributions also extend to discussions on higher education policy, including affirmative action and performance measures for underrepresented PhD students.

Research Overview

Dr. Billy Thomas is a Professor in the Pediatric Neonatology Department. He is also the Vice-Chancellor for the Diversity and Inclusion, University of Arkansas System.Some of the UAMS College of Medicine faculty members provides pediatric patient care at Arkansas Children's Hospital. In addition, a wide range of pediatric services are provided in more than 35 subspecialties around Arkansas in locations such as the Schmieding Developmental Center in Springdale and the James L. Dennis Developmental Center in Little Rock. To make an appointment at Arkansas Children's hospital, please call 501-364-4000.

Metrics

  • h-index: 14
  • Publications: 39
  • Citations: 670

Selected Publications

  • Neurodevelopmental outcomes after red cell transfusion exposure in male versus female extremely preterm infants (2025)
    Pediatric Research 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Affirmative Action—A Crack in the Door to Higher Education (2025)
    The Annals of Family Medicine 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Summer undergraduate biomedical research program for underrepresented minority students in a rural, low-income state (2024)
    Frontiers in Public Health 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Association Between Urinary Biomarkers and CKD in Extremely Low Gestational Age Neonates (2023)
    American Journal of Kidney Diseases 3 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology (2022)
    Journal of Visualized Experiments 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Outcomes of the UAMS summer undergraduate research program to increase diversity in research and health professions (2022)
    AJP Advances in Physiology Education 11 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology (2022)
    Journal of Visualized Experiments DOI OpenAlex
  • Iron supplementation and the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely low gestational age newborns (2022)
    Pediatric Research 7 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Anxiety, Depression, and Behavioral and/or Conduct Disorder in Adolescence Among Former Preterm and Term Infants of Different Race and Ethnicities (2022)
    Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • What's in a Video: Believe it or Not (2022)
    Race and Justice DOI OpenAlex
  • Performance measures of racially underrepresented Ph.D. students in biomedical sciences: The UAMS IMSD Program Outcomes (2021)
    PLoS ONE 4 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Transfusions and neurodevelopmental outcomes in extremely low gestation neonates enrolled in the PENUT Trial: a randomized clinical trial (2021)
    Pediatric Research 58 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Holistic Admissions and the MCAT as Predictors of Competence (2020)
    Academic Medicine 3 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Blackface, Implicit Bias, and the Informal Curriculum: Shaping the Healthcare Workforce, and Improving Health (2020)
    Journal of the National Medical Association 20 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Founding a League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) council in a U (2019)

View all publications on OpenAlex →

Federal Grants 3 $882,900 total

NIH Contact PI Feb 2024 - Apr 2025

Initiative for Maximizing Student Development(IMSD)

National Institute of General Medical Sciences $332,317 T32
NIH Contact PI Jun 2011 - May 2027

UAMS Summer Undergraduate Research Program to Increase Diversity in Research

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute $105,521 R25
NIH Contact PI Feb 2009 - Jan 2025

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Initiative for Maximizing Student Development Program

National Institute of General Medical Sciences $445,062 R25

Grants & Funding

As listed on this researcher's institutional profile. Federal awards with verified records are shown above.

  • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences - Center for Diversity Affairs - ACT Prep Program Central Arkansas Planning and Development District Principal Investigator
  • HCOP: Health Sciences Comprehensive Program Health Resources & Services Administration Principal Investigator
  • ArkanSONO: A Technology Based Outreach Exposure Program for High School Students NIH Co-Investigator
  • Feeding Study in Premature Infants, Project No. 3379-1 to evaluate weight gain of premature infants fed breast milk fortified with either a powder or Mead Johnson Nutritionals Principal Investigator
  • HEALTH CAREERS OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM NIH Principal Investigator
  • MCAT Prep Programs Central Arkansas Planning and Development District Principal Investigator
  • Science Discovery Program Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Principal Investigator
  • Expanding Translational Research in Arkansas NIH Co-Investigator

Collaboration Network

66 Collaborators 29 Institutions 1 Country

Top Collaborators

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