Alice L. Walton School of Medicine

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine Information Services Specialist, Library Audrey McDonald received the Medical Library Association’s Ana D. Cleveland MLA Scholarship. Established in 2022, this scholarship is awarded annually to a student who shows excellence in scholarship and health sciences leadership. Congratulations, Audrey!

Learn more: https://www.mlanet.org/professional-development/awards-honors/2026-mla-awards/ Sharmila Makhija

It's exciting to see another project shaping the future of education in this region come to life — with a campus designed by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, the architecture studio behind Alice L. Walton School of Medicine's facility. The vision of innovation and collaboration taking shape in Bentonville is truly inspiring.

Learn more: https://alicelwaltonfoundation.org/news_post/walton-family-announces-selection-of-big-bjarke-ingels-group-to-plan-and-design-the-campus-of-a-new-stem-focused-university/

Sharmila Makhija

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine students created an original meal based on the health needs across the state of Arkansas for a “Top Chef”-inspired nutrition challenge. After cooking in the AWSOM Café kitchen, students presented their dishes to a panel of judges alongside interactive art projects designed to promote health engagement and agency in the community. Sharmila Makhija

At the end of May, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine students came together for our inaugural Medical School Olympics. From volleyball and relay races to team challenges, the event highlighted the collaboration, energy, and camaraderie that define our student community. Thank you to our incredible students and staff who helped make this year’s games a success. 🏅 Sharmila Makhija

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine shares a campus with the world-class museum Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which recently unveiled a major expansion. This marks an exciting new chapter for Northwest Arkansas and brings more space for art, learning, and community engagement on the Crystal Bridges Campus. In addition to the expansion's impact on our region, AWSOM students will be able to explore and learn in an additional 114,000-square-feet of gallery space.

Learn more: https://crystalbridges.org/expansion

Sharmila Makhija

Crystal Bridges Expansion | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art As the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday in 2026, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will celebrate a milestone event of its own: the opening of our expanded galleries and facilities on June 6 & 7, 2026, increasing our building’s size by 50 percent.

This World Green Roof Day, we’re celebrating Alice L. Walton School of Medicine’s Rooftop Park, designed by OSD Office of Strategy + Design and brought to life by Ozark Green Roofs. At 2 acres, it’s the largest green roof in the region and is home to over 90 native trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants. AWSOM’s Rooftop Park provides benefits to the surrounding ecosystem and a relaxing, natural environment for students, employees, and visitors.

AWSOM’s Rooftop Park and other public spaces are open to the public Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sharmila Makhija

First-year Alice L. Walton School of Medicine students Adam Soltani, Ayrton Quiroz, Cooper Erickson, Gavin Miller, Arshdeep Gill, James Townley, Mohamed Messouak, and Shaheer Arif presented scientific posters at the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) 2026 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The students were accompanied by Director, Medical Student Research Projects Abhishek Deshpande, MD, PhD, FIDSA, and Assistant Dean, Clinical Education Sarah Assem, MD, who provided mentorship across the student research projects.

Townley and Miller were selected for the Distinguished Professor of Hospital Medicine (DPHM) Poster Walk & Talk, a curated session highlighting top-scoring hospital medicine abstracts. They presented alongside residents, fellows, and faculty from other academic medical centers and responded to questions from the Distinguished Professor of Hospital Medicine and a panel of judges. Dr. Deshpande was selected as one of four speakers for the Top Scientific Abstract Oral Presentations in Hospital Medicine.

Learn more: https://www.alwmedschool.org/resources/blog/society-of-general-internal-medicine-2026-annual-meeting

Sharmila Makhija

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine staff, faculty, and students enjoyed local Honeybean Ice Cream Co. ice cream to celebrate AWSOM’s 2025-2026 Staff & Faculty Award Winners. 🍦

Learn more about Staff & Faculty Awards at AWSOM in our blog: https://www.alwmedschool.org/resources/blog/faculty-and-staff-awards-at-awsom

Sharmila Makhija

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine Senior Director, Library and Information Services Alexia Riggs, EdD, delivered a series of presentations at the Medical Library Association (MLA) 2026 Annual Conference. In a session with Michelle Kraft, MLS, of Cleveland Clinic and Jeff Wilensky, MBA, of Wolters Kluwer Health, Dr. Riggs shared insights on how medical librarians contribute to trust and transparency in medical knowledge across organizations.

Dr. Riggs also joined Alysha Sapp, MLIS, of The Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU, to discuss their joint research project and share their model for collaboration between medical libraries.

In addition to these presentations, Dr. Riggs presented a poster focused on the non-traditional resources and support the AWSOM Library provides to faculty, including opportunities to create tools and resources for student and community engagement. Sharmila Makhija

Literacy Education and Access Program (LEAP), a service-oriented Student Interest Group at Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, partners with Cooper Elementary School in Bella Vista to promote literacy and make learning fun and engaging for students. The group is advised by Senior Director, Library and Information Services Alexia Riggs, EdD, who helps incorporate STEM-oriented books into the group’s outreach sessions.

“Education is one of the strongest social determinants of health, with literacy closely tied to future academic achievement and higher education pursuit, socioeconomic opportunity, and long-term health outcomes,” said first-year AWSOM student Divya Purswani, President of LEAP, “Here in Arkansas, only about 1/3 of students are estimated to be reading at grade level.”

This semester, over half of the AWSOM inaugural class volunteered with LEAP and provided one-on-one literacy mentorship to second-grade students in need of support. AWSOM students also spoke to the second-grade classes during their Science Week and answered questions about careers in health care.
As the academic year closes out, LEAP is looking forward to another year of serving the community. Sharmila Makhija