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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Dr. Fredrick “Rick” Barr is the new chair of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s pediatrics department. Credit: Courtesy UMMC

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has named Dr. Fredrick “Rick” Barr to serve as the professor and chair of its pediatrics department starting July 1.

Barr previously worked as the professor of pediatrics in pediatric critical care medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he was also director of clinical and translational research.

“I know that we are poised to become a regional and national leader in quality clinical care, education and research,” Barr said in a statement. “I am thoroughly impressed by the dedication of both the institution and the community to the future growth of pediatric services and to improving the lives of children.”

Barr earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed residency training in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.