L. Clark Hansbarger, MD, associate vice president for health sciences and dean of the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine’s Charleston Division, announced that he will retire on June 30, 2013. Dr. Hansbarger has served at the WVU Health Sciences Center since 2002. In addition to his role at WVU, he also serves as director of medical education for Charleston Area Medical Center’s residency programs.
Dr. Hansbarger earned his MD from the Medical College of Virginia School of Medicine and completed residency training at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and at Boston Children’s Hospital. He subsequently served in the U.S. Navy for six years and then returned to CWRU as assistant professor of pediatrics. He practiced family medicine and pediatrics at a primary care clinic in Monroe County, West Virginia during the 1970’s before being named as director of the West Virginia Department of Health in 1981. He served in that post until 1985, when he joined the University of New Mexico as dean of graduate medical education, division director of general pediatric and medical director for the pediatrics ambulatory service.
Creighton University School of Medicine Names Interim Dean
Robert “Bo” Dunlay, MD, MBA, chief medical officer of Alegent Creighton Health Creighton University Medical Center and professor of medicine and pharmacology in the School of Medicine, has been named as the interim dean of the Creighton University School of Medicine. His appointment was effective January 1, 2013. He succeeds Rowen Zetterman, MD, who stepped down from the post. Dr. Zetterman served as dean since January 2009.
Dr. Dunlay earned his MD from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1981. He completed internship and residency in internal medicine at Creighton and fellowships in nephrology at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, and in nephrology research at Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis. He also holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Emory Names New Chair for Department of Urology
Martin G. Sanda, MD, has been named as chair of the Department of Urology at Emory University School of Medicine and service chief for Emory Healthcare. A leading prostate cancer surgeon and scientist, he also will direct the Prostate Cancer Center, which will be established within Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute. Dr. Sanda joined Emory in February this year from Harvard Medical School, where he was professor of surgery in urology, and from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was director of the Prostate Cancer Center. He also served as co-leader of the Prostate Cancer Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Center.
Dr. Sanda earned his MD at Columbia University. He completed residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Virginia and urology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI).
From 2007 until 2010, Dr. Sanda was chair of the Prostate and Genito-Urinary Collaborative Group of the NCI’s Early Detection Research Network. He currently serves as principal investigator of three multi-center consortium studies funded by the NCI and the Prostate Cancer Foundation aimed at developing urine tests to detect prostate cancer. The studies are also focused on creating benchmarks for improving quality of life among cancer survivors as well as development of novel prostate cancer vaccines. Dr. Sanda has also provided leadership for two nationwide NCI Cooperative Group prostate cancer clinical trials and has served on numerous federal funding review panels. He has been a member of the Research Council of the American Urological Association since 2011.
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson Names Director of Diabetes Program
Merri Pendergrass, MD, PhD, has been named as the new director of the Diabetes Program at the University of Arizona (UA) College of Medicine – Tucson. She will also serve on the faculty of the UA Department of Medicine as a professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology.
Dr. Pendergrass previously served as vice president and national practice leader for the Diabetes Therapeutic Resource Center® of Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (now Express Scripts, Inc.). She also maintained a clinical practice in diabetes and endocrinology at Parkland Memorial Hospital and was on the faculty of the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical School in Dallas. Prior to that, she was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and was director of the diabetes program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She has also served on the faculty of Tulane School of Medicine and as a physician with Tulane University Medical Center and the New Orleans Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and as director of the Diabetes Program at Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans.
Dr. Pendergrass earned her PhD in biopsychology at the University of Texas, Austin and her MD at UTSW Medical School. She completed internship and residency in internal medicine as well as a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Dr. Pendergrass is a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the Endocrine Society and the American Diabetes Association. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is board-certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism.
UM Miller School of Medicine Names Chief of Nephrology and Hypertension and Interim Chief of Hospital Medicine
The University of Miami (UM) Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine has named two new division leaders within its Department of Medicine. Myles Wolf, MD, MMSc, associate professor of medicine, has been appointed Chief of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Efren Manjarrez, MD, assistant professor of medicine, was named Interim Chief of Hospital Medicine.
Dr. Wolf is Director of the University of Miami Clinical Research Center and the Miami Center for Research Participation and Partnership, a component of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and Assistant Dean for Translational and Clinical Research. His research has focused on mineral metabolism in patients with kidney disease, with a particular interest in the role of fibroblast growth factor 23 as a risk factor in the progression of kidney disease. His work is supported by funding from the American Heart Association, the National Kidney Foundation, the American Society of Nephrology, and the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Wolf earned his MD at the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine and his Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical and Physiological Investigation from Harvard Medical School. He completed internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a fellowship in nephrology at MGH and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation.
Recently appointed Interim Chief of Hospital Medicine, Dr. Manjarrez serves as Associate Chief of Patient Safety and Quality Officer for UHealth. He is also co-director of the Hospital Medicine Residency Track for the Internal Medicine Residency, Vice President of the South Florida Chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine, and an assistant editor of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Dr. Manjarrez earned his MD at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and completed a Faculty Development Program in General Internal Medicine at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received advanced training in Quality Improvement at the Institute for Healthcare Research at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Manjarrez first joined UM as a dual internal medicine and pediatrics resident at Jackson Memorial Hospital in 1995. He subsequently founded one of the first medical pediatric hospitalist groups in the U.S. in Fort Lauderdale before being recruited back to UM in 2000. At UM, Dr. Manjarrez has led the development of a protocol to prevent deep venous thrombosis in patients admitted to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and a program to improve how physicians share their responsibilities for patient care. He was among seven UM faculty members who received the “Faculty Citizenship Award” in 2011. The award recognizes individuals for their contributions to the Miller School.
Inaugural Director of VCTRS Appointed
Robert J. Meyer, MD, has been named as the inaugural Director of the Virginia Center for Translational and Regulatory Sciences (VCTRS) at the University of Virginia (UVa) School of Medicine. He joins VCTRS from Merck & Company, where he is Vice President for Global Regulatory, Strategy, Policy and Safety. During his service at Merck & Company, Dr. Meyer has also served as the Executive Director of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs (2007–2008) and Vice President of Global Strategic Regulatory Development (2008–2009). His appointment at VCTRS is effective March 1, 2013.
Dr. Meyer earned his MD at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where he also completed his residency in Internal Medicine and served as Chief Resident. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Vermont, and was subsequently appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine and Co-Medical Director of Lung/Heart-Lung Transplantation at the Oregon Health Sciences University. In 1994, he joined the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation’s Division of Pulmonary Drug Products, where he was Medical Reviewer, Medical Team Leader, and then Director. During his tenure at the FDA, he was also Coordinator of Strategic Planning for Counterterrorism and Director of the Office of Drug Evaluation II.
Founding Director for Center for Prostate Cancer at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center Named
Ashutosh K. Tewari, MB, BS, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Ronald P. Lynch Professor of Urologic Oncology in the Department of Urology NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College, and professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been named as founding director of the newly established Center for Prostate Cancer at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The new comprehensive center will conduct research and provide treatment for prostate cancer patients.
A board-certified urologist, Dr. Tewari is a leading researcher and innovator in the field of robotic prostate cancer surgery. Along with his colleagues, he was awarded the 2009 Clarke Medal for Surgical Innovation from the Royal College of Surgeons of England for developing novel techniques for prostate cancer surgery. He has also been recognized with the Gold Cytoscope Award from the American Urological Association in 2012 for his outstanding contributions to the field of urology and urologic oncology. Dr. Tewari earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (Doctor of Medicine equivalent) from GSVM MEDICAL COLLEGE, Kanpur, UP, India, in 1983.
Drexel University College of Medicine Appoints Associate Dean for Primary Care & Community Health
Eugene Hong, MD, professor of family, community and preventive medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine, has been appointed associate dean for primary care and community health. Dr. Hong is the Hamot and Sturgis Endowed Chair of the Department of Family, Community and Preventive Medicine, and chief of the Division of Sports Medicine. Among many other responsibilities in his new role, Dr. Hong will be charged with developing and maintaining a strategic primary care framework for Drexel University College of Medicine and the Drexel University Physicians practice. He will provide leadership for development of primary care related health services research and will work with primary care and specialty physicians to ensure ease of patient access.
Dr. Hong has served at Drexel since 2003, when he joined the faculty as an associate professor, division chief, and family medicine residency director. Prior to joining Drexel, he was a member of the faculty at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Hong earned his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in primary care sports medicine and family medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University. He also completed a fellowship in community-oriented primary care at the University of Massachusetts and a general surgery internship at the University of Connecticut.