Dr. Ronda S. Henry-Tillman, MD, FACS is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery, Division Chief of the Breast Surgical Oncology Division and a nationally and internationally renowned breast cancer surgeon at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, recognized for her innovations and contributions in the field of breast cancer surgery. She holds the Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology. The endowed chair is the result of a gift from the Tenenbaum Foundation. The foundation’s primary objectives include providing humanitarian assistance to residents of central Arkansas, promoting awareness of breast cancer and funding research to reduce or eliminate deaths from the disease. Additionally, she serves as Director of Health Initiatives and Disparities Research and Co-Leader of the Diseases Oriented Committee (DOC) on Breast at UAMS.
As a graduate of University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Henry-Tillman completed her surgical residency at UAMS, as well as fellowship training with the UAMS fellowship in Diseases of the Breast. Following her fellowship, Dr. Henry-Tillman was invited to join the surgical faculty team. She has been on the surgical faculty team since 1999 and has served in many leadership capacities. Because of her tenacity, the depth of her leadership skills, scholarly and research activities, community impact, and mentoring, Dr. Henry-Tillman was promoted from Assistant to Associate to full Professor in the Department of Surgery in the short span of nine years. She was appointed to serve as the Practice Director of the Ladies’ Oncology Clinic, Director of the Cancer Control Department, and served on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, College of Medicine Admissions Committee as well as the Peer Review Committee for Cancer Control and Prevention for the American Cancer Society.
Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman has made a strong academic presence, authoring or co-authoring at least 81 journal articles and numerous book chapters. As well, she has presented nationally and internationally, including the 32nd annual spring meeting, the 89th Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Southern Surgical Society (SSS) winning the Shipley Award, and the National Medical Association (NMA) were she currently serves as the Chair of the Surgical Section. She has been awarded over $25 million in federal and local funding for community engagement, disparities, and clinical research. In a partnership with Friends of Africa and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, she has developed an early detection program for breast cancer as well as establishing a breast surgery training program and provided lifesaving procedures at the University of Zambia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa.
For her expertise as a clinician, she has been highlighted by both her peers and the public. She has received the Best Physician in Region Five Award presented by the National Medical Association, the American Cancer Society Acknowledgements in Cancer Excellence Community Outreach Award, the National Cancer Institute Community Health Research Leadership Award, the Mississippi County Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Arkansas Leadership in Cancer Control Award, the Arkansas Times Best Doctors in Surgical Oncology Award, and the Best Doctors in America® Award (since 2005). Most recently, she was recognized as the first African-American female physician achieving full professor and tenure status at UAMS College of Medicine Department of Surgery.
As Director of Health Initiative of Disparities Research and founder of the UAMS Colorectal Cancer Screening Program (CCSP), Arkansas’ only statewide CRC screening program, she has led many efforts to reduce health disparities in underrepresented communities in the the U.S. As an advocate for the medically underserved, she pressed upon both state and national government leaders and officials the importance of establishing sound public policy and adequate funding to address cancer and its related disparities issues. These efforts, administered through the Colorectal Cancer Education and Screening Program, led to the passing of the Arkansas Colorectal Demonstration Act, which provides for statewide colorectal screenings. As the Board of Directors Chair for the Arkansas Cancer Coalition, Dr. Henry-Tillman has developed policies in colorectal, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer.
In addition, she successfully pushed to increase the rate of cancer screenings through collaborations with physicians under the Cancer Education and Awareness Programs. As an extension of this, she instituted the Cancer Symposium for the Arkansas Medical Dental and Pharmaceutical Association’s Annual Scientific Session, which has propelled its members to improve their overall knowledge of cancer, regardless of their medical specialty. Recognizing the importance of breast cancer screenings and the barriers that may prevent people in rural areas from accessing proper screenings, Dr. Henry-Tillman developed and led the charge for the UAMS Mobile Mammography Program. To date over 18,000 women have been screened.
As an innovative educator, Dr. Henry-Tillman has received several teaching awards, including the coveted Red Sash Teaching Award on three separate occasions. As the current Co-Director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Breast Fellowship Program, she has been a leader in educating and training fellows in oncoplastic surgeries. She has also served as the visionary and course director for the inaugural Arkansas statewide Advanced Ultrasound Course for Surgeons, an American College of Surgeons based course, which yields an opportunity for residents and practicing surgeons to sharpen and expand their skills beyond the basics in breast, head, neck and acute settings. She has previously served as a hands-on skill station instructor for a post-graduate course at the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman is internationally recognized. She’s received public plaudits for her leadership skills. By gubernatorial acknowledgement, she’s been appointed to the Breast Cancer Control Advisory Board by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and reappointed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Likewise, she was appointed to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Some of her other notable positions include the Society of Surgical Oncology Disparities Committee Chair; National Accreditation for Programs and Breast Centers (NAPBC) board member. She has also served as the Co-Chair of the Breast Cancer Control Advisory Board for the state of Arkansas as a Pulaski County Health Officer, a member of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health, a member of the Minority Institutions Collaborative Cancer Center Grants Review Committee, and as a Research Enhancement Awards Program (REAP) Reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, as well as an Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee member for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/ National Cancer Institute. In 2019, she was named Physician of the year in the state of Arkansas and received the 2019 Alumni Changemaker Award from the UC San Diego. In 2021, Dr. Henry-Tillman was awarded the Castle Connelly Top Doctors Award. Most recently, on September 12, 2022 she was recognized as honoree for the 2022 UAMS Dr. Edith Irby Jones Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Lifetime Achievement.
- Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology
- Vice Chair & Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine
- Division Chief, Breast Surgical Oncology
- Director of Health Initiative and Disparities Research, Department of Surgery
- Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences