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MD
Barrett Named Senior Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Equity in Research
Nadine Barrett, PhD, has joined Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health to advance the organizations’ commitments to health equity.
As senior associate dean for community engagement and equity in research, she will contribute broadly to School of Medicine strategy, providing strategic and thought leadership to bolster community engagement activities and equity strategies for clinical trials initiatives. Building on the mission to improve cancer care and cancer outcomes, Barrett will also serve as the associate director of community outreach and engagement for Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as the chief community engagement officer for the Atrium Health Levine Cancer service line. Barrett will also serve as associate director for community outreach and engagement for the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity and will co-lead community engagement efforts for our Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Barrett is a nationally recognized expert and thought leader on improving equity and diversity in clinical research. She has established an unparalleled track record of successful and authentic community engagement of historically marginalized communities in research and health care through developing groundbreaking programs to improve transparency, promote trustworthiness in research and facilitate efforts by academic health systems to address inequities in health.
She comes to Wake Forest from Duke University, where she served as founding director of both the Duke Center for Equity in Research and the nationally awarded Duke Cancer Institute’s Office of Health Equity. Barrett is the inventor of “Just ASK,” a nationally recognized and endorsed education and training program designed to address the lack of diverse and broad representation in clinical research and participation in trials across the translational spectrum. She is president-elect of the Association of Community Cancer Centers and will serve as the governor-appointed co-chair of the North Carolina Advisory Council for Cancer Control and Coordination within the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Cancer Control Branch.
In Remembrance: Henry Miller, MD ’54, House Staff ’60
Henry S. Miller Jr., MD ’54, House Staff ’60, professor emeritus of internal medicine, section of cardiovascular medicine and former section head of cardiology, passed away on Dec. 31, 2023.
Those who knew and worked with Miller remember his tremendous contributions as a clinician, academician and leader, as well as his kindness and generosity. They describe him as the consummate physician and cardiologist and a pioneer in both the cath lab and in the development of cardiac rehabilitation.
He served in various roles in the U.S. Army (1956-58), including as an internist and assistant chief of internal medicine. He subsequently completed a cardiology and cardiology research fellowship at the School of Medicine in 1960. After completing his fellowship, Miller joined the faculty as an instructor at the School of Medicine and served as section head of cardiology from 1984 until 1990.
Miller was a distinguished cardiologist and past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and provided the medical leadership vital for the development of the cardiac rehabilitation program at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and the School of Medicine, the first program of its kind in North Carolina and one of the first in the nation. This program served as the model for nearly 100 new cardiac rehabilitation programs across the state and country.
He was an accomplished researcher and mentor and author/co-author of numerous publications, abstracts and book chapters and regularly presented at national and international meetings. He was a fellow in the American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine and American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. He also served in multiple leadership roles for the American Heart Association. Miller served the section on cardiovascular medicine for 40 years until retiring at the rank of professor in 1999.
Following retirement, Miller continued active service to the section and institution in his capacity of emeritus professor serving as the medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program until 2012 and interpreting electrocardiograms.
His legacy includes the Henry S. Miller Jr. MD Scholarship, which he established to support Wake Forest medical students, and receiving the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2000 from the school’s Medical Alumni Association.
Alumni Share Experiences, Advice with Students
An alumni panel shared words of advice with the MD Class of 2026 during the second annual Medical Alumni Association (MAA) Career Symposium in February.
The event allows rising third-year MD students to hear about the personal journeys and professional experiences of alumni. The panel discussion was followed by more casual conversations at dinner.
MAA President Thomas B. West, MD ’81, guided the panel discussion, which featured:
- Christopher M. Branner, MD ’01, MPH, a pediatrician in Charlotte, N.C.
- L. Carter Gray, MD ’99, an OB/GYN in Durham, N.C.
- R. Carol McConnell, MD ’98, MBA, a dermatologist in Jamestown, N.C.
- Brett Starr, MD ’14, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Hickory, N.C.
Topics included choosing a specialty, avoiding burnout, seeking mentors who can help with career challenges, comparing academic medicine to roles in private practice and remembering what a physician’s work is about. As Starr reminded the students, as physicians, they will be “in the people business,” not only caring for patients but also managing employees, colleagues and partners.
“The roads are endless in medicine today,” Starr said. “The first thing you must figure out is what makes you happy, and then how do you measure success? Is it a great work-life balance? Is it no-call weekends? Find a specialty that makes you happy and shoot for what you think is a measure of success.”
The advice arrives at an opportune time, according to Lydia Faber, a student from Chicago.
“We’re at a pivotal point in school where it’s not just about book work, it’s about working with a real-life patient,” Faber said. “Getting that extra perspective from alumni who have been through exactly what we’re about to go through is important. We’re hearing about things that we haven’t necessarily had the chance to talk about, such as private versus academic practices and how to navigate that, and how to find a specialty that is right for you. What do I do if I burn out? All those things are valuable for us to hear as students.”
For student Chioma Ngene, the perspectives of alumni highlighted the different opportunities available in medicine.
“When you are pre-med and then a medical student, there’s this very linear path to medical school and pursuing medicine,” said Ngene, whose family immigrated to Raleigh, N.C., from Nigeria when she was 8. “At least for me, it has felt like if you don’t follow this one path, you are not going to get there. So, hearing these different ways that alumni are practicing medicine, seeing patients and serving their communities is interesting.”
To learn more about opportunities for alumni to engage with students, contact alumni relations at Alumni@WakeHealth.edu.
The Women of the MD Class of 1979 had a Mini Reunion
Back row (from left to right): Beth Frye, Becky Bailey, Lovetta Pugh, Ronnie Daly, Ann Fleming Beach, Adrienne Zazzi Barnard, Toodles Peeler McKissick, Ila Evans Baugham, Nan Haft Brinkerhoff, Pam Pittman Robinson, Paula Wynn (not pictured, Stephanie Croll.
David E. Root, MD ’62, MPH, San Antonio, Texas, and his wife, Mary, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Jan. 2, 2024.
Kyle A. Young, MD ’69, Greensboro, N.C., is the 2024 recipient of the Pete Moffitt Courage Award at Wake Forest University. This award was established in 2012 in recognition of Wake Forest alumnus Pete Moffitt (’84), who displayed tremendous courage while battling ALS. The Moffitt Courage award is given each year to a Wake Forest student-athlete, coach or alumnus who has demonstrated great courage. Young was a radiologist at Greensboro Radiology for 35 years. He was involved with the beginning of ultrasound, cardiac imaging, mammograms and PET scanning during his career. Spreading generosity through commitments across the Wake Forest campus has become extremely gratifying for Young, including the medical school, the Scales Fine Arts Center, the chemistry building and Arnold Palmer Golf Complex. “I think it’s just being able to support across the board — not just one area,” he said. “I’ve tried over the years to support athletics and the University as well as the medical school. I’m not sure any one thing is more important than the other, but I think it’s just the longtime loyalty to Wake Forest in all aspects.” Young is a past president of the Medical Alumni Association.
Louis Weinstein, MD ’72, Charleston, S.C., is featured in an article on delivering care for the American Medical Society, “Life-changing Lesson Learned as a Physician Fellow: Be Observant.” As an OB/GYN, Weinstein identified and named for the first time HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets) syndrome. HELLP syndrome is a form of severe preeclampsia that affects nearly 45,000 pregnant patients annually in the United States. He is the past Bowers Professor and Chair in the OB/GYN department at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He now volunteers at the Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic in Johns Island, S.C., where he sees gynecological patients from the area who do not have medical insurance.
Craig M. Greven, MD ’83, Winston-Salem, N.C., will have a new role in the community hospital and physician practice executive leadership structure at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Greven currently is the president, University Group Practice; senior vice president, clinical operations; and chair, Department of Ophthalmology. He will assume the role of senior vice president, physician practices where he will have executive oversight for all physician practices, including the University Group Practice, the Wake Forest Health Network and other affiliated physician practices. He will lead the strategy across the ambulatory footprint to support growth and innovation in the market and region and will partner closely with service line, hospital and Health Network leadership and clinical department chairs to enhance alignment to support clinical, research and education missions. Greven will continue to serve as chair of ophthalmology, provide clinical care and education, and pursue research activities.
Josef F. Schmid III, MD ’92, MPH, Houston, Texas, has retired as major general, United States Air Force, mobilization assistant to the surgeon general of the Air Force and Space Force. Schmid previously was the deputy joint staff surgeon to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As a NASA flight surgeon, he recently completed supporting the year-long International Space Station mission in September 2023 in which his astronaut crew member, Frank Rubio, MD, now holds the American record for a single space flight mission duration. He continues as the lead, medical operations for the Orion vehicle, which will take astronauts back to the moon. Schmid also holds the distinction as the first human to be holoported to space. He conducted a telemedicine technology demonstration of a projected neurological and orthopedic exam through augmented reality and joined astronauts virtually on board the International Space Station. For the story, search NASA Holoportation.
Katherine A. Poehling, MD ’95, MPH, Winston-Salem, N.C., professor of pediatrics, has been named an Immunization Champion by the Association of Immunization Managers and funded by the Centers for Disease Control for her efforts to promote immunization. This award acknowledges the outstanding efforts of those who go above and beyond ensuring vaccination access in their communities and increasing their community’s immunization rate coverage. Poehling was one of 41 clinicians to be honored with this recognition.
Traci D. McMillian, MD ’98, High Point, N.C., has been elected for a three-year director term for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). Supporting AAAHC’s 1095 Strong, quality everyday philosophy, the Board of Directors advocates for patient safety, provides strategic guidance on program development and administration, and shares ideas to ensure continued success of the organization. The directors share a common history of dedication to the provision of health care in the ambulatory setting. McMillian is a board-certified family physician and was named medical director/chief medical officer of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Student Health Services, in 2019. She is also an AAAHC surveyor and has been a member of the Engaged Constituency since 2020. She is a current member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College Health Association and the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.
Michael K. McLean, MD ’99, Los Angeles, Calif., is the first of three cardiothoracic surgeons from Stanford University who will live in Visalis, Calif. and work at Kaweah Health. McLean brings expertise in heart bypass surgery, valve repair and other cardiac procedures. He serves as a clinical assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University, did his residency at SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and received his training as a cardiac surgeon at the University of Southern California.
Snow Brenner Daws, MD ’10, Winston-Salem, N.C., has been enshrined in the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame. Daws helped High Point Central High School to a state football championship game in 1995 as a placekicker. She made a game-winning kick in the semifinals. She played four years of soccer at Duke and now is an orthopaedic surgeon. Only 6 percent of orthopaedic surgeons in the country are female. In 2012, MaxPreps.com named Daws fourth on the list of the 10 best female kickers in the United States. She is the only female in the N.C. High School Athletic Association record book that has scored in a state championship game.
Stephen B. Keen, MD ’10, Ormond Beach, Fla., began serving Jan. 1, 2024, as president and CEO of Florida Health Care Plans (FHCP), a pioneering provider of health insurance plans and part of the GuideWell family of health solution companies. The organization has 32 locations and serves more than 100,000 members in five counties. Keen joined FHCP in 2013 as a primary care physician before taking on the role of medical director of utilization, quality and case management, where he worked on key strategic medical initiatives and day‐to‐day operations. In his most recent role, Keen was vice president of business operations, where he oversaw key operational activities, including clinical pharmacy, pharmacy services, claims, payment integrity, provider contracting, member services and health information management. Keen is a board‐certified family medicine physician and an associate clinical professor of medicine at Florida State University who trained in family medicine at Halifax Health Residency in Daytona Beach.
Shawn G. Kwatra, MD ’12, Baltimore, Md., has been named the new chair of dermatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine along with being the chief of service of dermatology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Kwatra will also hold the Joseph W. Burnett Endowed Professor and Chair in Dermatology. He is an internationally renowned dermatologist and clinical leader in skin of color research, as well as chronic inflammatory skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, prurigo nodularis and chronic pruritus of unknown origin. Kwatra runs both a basic science laboratory and clinical trials unit and has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, JAMA Dermatology, the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology and the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. His research is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Dermatology Foundation, Skin of Color Society and Society for Investigative Dermatology. He completed a residency in dermatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Thomas B. West, MD ’81
President
Johnnie Ford Jr., MD ’83
President-elect
Kathryn Ashton Grice, MD ’85
Secretary
Stanley N. Tennant, MD ’78
Immediate Past President
Tammy Marie Allen, MD ’02
Diandra N. Ayala-Peacock, MD ’10
Christopher M. Branner, MD ’01, MPH
M. Jennings Clingan, MD ’06
Paul G. Colavita, MD ’79
T. Arthur Edgerton, MD ’81
Michael T. Flanagan, MD ’93
L. Carter Gray, MD ’99
Elizabeth McCurdy Hueman, MD ’02
A. Kakra Hughes, MD ’97, PhD
Janel Darcy Hunter, MD ’10
Brittany Lynn Lambertus, MD ’15
R. Carol McConnell, MD ’98, MBA
Wyman T. McGuirt, MD ’96
J. Mark Meredith III, MD ’78
Charles C. Pitts Jr., MD ’16
Paul Rieker Jr., MD ’97, MBA
Michael Robert Savona, MD ’02
Brett Timothy Starr, MD ’14
Bradley Winston Thomas, MD ’05
Scott L. Vogler, MD ’98
Louis Weinstein, MD ’72
MD Student Representatives
Katherine Rae Salisbury, MD Class of 2024
Madison Hanley Read, MD Class of 2025
Lydia Lucille Faber, MD Class of 2026
Connor R. Margraf, MD Class of 2027
Ex-Officio Members
L. Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH
Lisa M. Marshall
Beth A. Alexander
Teri C. Lemons, MAEd
Remembering those who have recently passed, through Jan. 15, 2024.
Frank T. Shafer, MD ’51
Salisbury, N.C., Dec. 4, 2023
Henry S. Miller Jr., MD ’54
Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Dec. 31, 2023
Charles Howard Duckett, MD ’57
Winston-Salem, N.C., Dec. 25, 2023
Berkley “Buck” Lamont Rish, MD ’58
Lexington, S.C., Dec. 27, 2023
Tommie Lee Canipe, MD ’59
Emerald Isle, N.C., Jan. 14, 2024
Flemming Fuller Royal, MD ’60
Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 11, 2023
Larry Allen Pearce, MD ’61
Winston-Salem, N.C., Aug. 27, 2023
Wayne Alden Johnson Sr., MD ’63, MPH
New Braunfels, Tex., Jan. 6, 2024
William Bert Jackson, MD ’64
Tacoma, Wash., Feb. 4, 2023
Kent Butler Lamoureux Sr., MD ’64
Endwell, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2023
Gerald Owen Daniel, MD ’65
Brentwood, Tenn., Dec. 5, 2023
Darrell P. Thorpe, MD ’66
Oro Valley, Ariz., Oct. 3, 2023
Wilbur S. Avant Jr., MD ’67
San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 13, 2023
Ronald Green Dennis, MD ’71
Mooresville, N.C., Dec. 26, 2023
Stephen Peck, MD ’75
Rindge, N.H., Nov. 13, 2023
Donna Browder Moyer, MD ’79
Lewisville, N.C., Nov. 22, 2023
Jacob Dale Schrum, MD ’87
Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 5, 2023
Raymond Merritt Mathews, MD ’92, PA
Cooper City, Fla., Oct. 28, 2023
David Hall Hammett, MD ’01
Columbia, S.C., Jan. 12, 2024
Darshan Wimal Vairavamurthy, MD ’09
Shoreham, N.Y., May 28, 2022
PA
PA Studies Receives Grant to Study Clinician Shortages in Rural Areas
There are many factors that contribute to poorer health outcomes for rural Americans compared to those who live in urban areas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One reason is a lack of physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners in rural areas, which leads to limited access to convenient health care for rural residents.
To better understand why clinicians choose to practice in specific areas, Wake Forest University School of Medicine has received a two-year, $445,000 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health. Using a preference method called a discrete choice experiment, the researchers will gain a better understanding of the specific reasons medical residents and fellows, along with physician assistants and nurse practitioner students, choose a particular clinical position. The study team will look specifically at the rural Appalachia region of the United States.
“Despite job availability in rural areas, many clinicians choose to work in more affluent suburban or urban areas,” said Chris Gillette, PhD, associate professor of the Department of PA Studies at the School of Medicine and principal investigator of the study. “We want to better understand the complex interplay of personal reasons, job-related needs or community preferences that influence the decision-making process.
“To design effective policies and incentives that will attract clinicians to rural areas, it is critical to develop a better understanding of their preferences for decision-relevant characteristics, as well as the trade-offs they are willing to make when choosing a job location,” Gillette said. Gillette and Jan Ostermann from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health will lead this project in collaboration with offices of rural health from Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Kentucky School of Medicine.
