Lara Blume McGee and her husband, Brian McGee, M.D., each have stood out in their respective fields — Lara in the nonprofit world and Brian as a prominent gastroenterologist.
Lara has made a career out of helping people. As the founder of Team Up World, a sports nonprofit-management firm, she has worked with more than 50 NFL and NBA players. After the loss of her father to ALS, a progressive degenerative disease that limits the brain’s ability to control voluntary muscle movement, she founded the ALS In Wonderland Foundation. The foundation raises awareness and provides funding directly for the benefit of Arkansans with the condition.
Brian is the executive director of the Kanis Endoscopy Center and the Arkansas Diagnostic Center in Little Rock. A Marion native and graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans and UAMS, he started his career working with underserved communities in Hot Springs and Benton. Board-certified in internal medicine, McGee received honors in sciences, English and history at Xavier and decided to pursue medicine, following in the footsteps of his mother’s college roommate and friend, the late Marion Barr, M.D., and his older sister, Ivy, who completed medical school at UAMS. McGee completed his internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at UAMS.
He serves on the Arkansas State Medical Board as the AMDPA representative, appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. A member of several professional societies, McGee serves as the president of Colorectal Health Advocates and Doctors, a nonprofit promoting early screening for colorectal cancer in the effort to “X out” colon cancer.
Lara and Brian have four children, including triplets, who they have dubbed the “MCG3.”
The foundation raises awareness and provides funding directly for the benefit of Arkansans.