SMAA: Kathy Murray, 2017-2018 President

September 10, 2018 // Randy Glick

Kathy Murray, SMAA President 2017-2018

Kathy Murray

The alliance has a special place in my heart. I have been a member of the AMA Alliance for almost 30 years and a member of the SMA Alliance for close to 20 of those years. While the medical alliance does great things for community outreach, education and advocacy; it is the relationships, old and new, that I share with fellow members of the medical family which I cherish the most. It is wonderful to have friends throughout the country who have, in many cases, become an extended family. As an alliance member, I have served as President of Madison County Medical Alliance; President of the Alliance to the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, President Elect for Southern Medical Association Alliance and have served  in leadership roles on a number of committees at the county, state and national level.

I thought I would take a moment and tell you a bit about myself. My husband, Eric, practices as a Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist in Huntsville. We moved to Huntsville in 1993 and have grown roots in North Alabama!  We are blessed to have three beautiful children–our twin daughters Nicole and Renee and our son Christopher. Nicole and her husband Blake are proud parents of Kayla (3) and Aubrey (9 months). Our son Christopher and his wife Rachel have a beautiful little boy, Rowan, who is looking forward to his sixth birthday and the arrival of his new baby sister in February, 2018. We were happy to welcome our daughter Renée back to Huntsville, who moved from Nashville to join the nursing staff in the Electrophysiology Lab at Huntsville Hospital. We are very blessed to have all of our family close by and are thrilled to be able to spend time with them and enjoy our grandchildren!

Most of my adult professional life has been spent in the practice of nursing, primarily working as an Emergency Room Nurse.  I continue to volunteer as a nurse and board member with the North Alabama Medical Reserve Corps. I serve on the board as the liaison for the Madison County Medical Alliance and my primary role as a volunteer involves community education, outreach and emergency response in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. Another of my passions is legislative advocacy. Healthcare is in crisis right now and it’s so very important for members of the medical family to be actively involved and have a voice. It is equally important to share that voice with our patients, fellow citizens and community leaders. Having a place at the table when healthcare is restructured will be critical to the practice of medicine. As they say, “if you’re not at the table you’re on the menu!”  That being said, I have embarked on a second career as a Congressional staff member for Congressman Mo Brooks who represents Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District. Needless to say, it has been an enlightening and educational experience thus far! Most recently, I have joined the staff of one of the local elementary schools to work as a school nurse in a per diem capacity.

Additionally, I have served as Past President of the Madison County Community Free Clinic Board of Directors; volunteered for the Madison/Marshall County American Red Cross and was proud to be recognized as one of their past Honorees; volunteered as a American Heart Association BLS and ACLS instructor; Honored to be chosen as the 1993 Auxillian of the Year for the Missouri State Medical Association Alliance; Past President of the St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary in Jefferson City, Mo. and last, but not least, as a parent, I loved serving as a Girl Scout and Boy Scout Leader, PTO volunteer and soccer mom!

I look forward to the year ahead and am deeply honored to serve as President of the Southern Medical Association Alliance!

Catching Up with Daniel Peters

September 10, 2018 // Randy Glick

Daniel Peters, 2017 Society of 1906 Scholarship Recipient

Daniel Peters is well into his fourth year of medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. He has just finished his acting internship in internal medicine. He has a budding interest in hematology & oncology but knows that he will be happy anywhere within the field of internal medicine. He is now in the process of applying for internal medicine residency programs that will provide him with excellent mentorship for advancing his leadership and research abilities.

With the help of the Society of 1906 scholarship, Daniel was able to finish his third year with confidence and strength. He was nominated to AOA shortly after receiving the scholarship. He earned high marks in his clinical rotations, while continuing to assist with the Healthy Strides 5K & Health Fair, an event he piloted during his second year. He will again help with the 2019 event, which will continue to provide learning opportunities for medical students and community members alike.

Daniel continues to be grateful for the support that the Southern Medical Association provides for medical students and hopes to one day be a part of this wonderful tradition of giving.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Kenneth Connell, MBBS DM (UWI), PhD (KCL), FACP, FRCP, FACC

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Kenneth Connell, MBBS DM (UWI), PhD (KCL), FACP, FRCP, FACC

Dr. Connell received his undergraduate and postgraduate training in medicine from the UWI St. Augustine & Cave Hill Campuses and graduated with MBBS and DM Internal Medicine degrees in 2000 and 2006, respectively. He was awarded a Barbados National Development Scholarship in 2007. He was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy degree on completion of studies from King's College London. He joined the Faculty of Medical Sciences as Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology in 2011 and assumed duties of Deputy Dean - Phase 1 in August 2014 - August 2017.

 Dr. Connell is currently chairman of the Barbados Ministry of Health & Wellness, Medical Council, with the main mandate of setting and maintaining the highest standards of health care delivery by medical practitioners. As a Clinical Pharmacologist, he also chairs the Barbados Drug Formulary Committee, a government appointed committee to review, update and recommend changes to drugs available for use in Barbados.
Dr. Connell is currently President of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados from March 2017 - present. He is a member of the regional civil society organization, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

 Dr. Connell is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest international college of doctors. He was elected as the youngest Governor of the ACP, as Governor of the ACP Caribbean Chapter, from 2016 to the present. He holds the prestigious distinction as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians UK (FRCP) and, for his contribution to hypertension and cardiovascular science, he was also awarded Fellowship of the American College of Cardiology (FACC).

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD

Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, is an internationally renowned expert for his studies on the molecular and genetic basis for colorectal cancer. His laboratory examines the molecular mechanisms by which inflammation and inflammatory mediators affect tumor development and serve as targets for cancer prevention.

 Dr. DuBois was named Dean of the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in March 2016. Prior to his role as Dean, Dr. DuBois served as the Executive Director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University with a joint appointment as Professor of Medicine in the Mayo College of Medicine. Before that (2007-2012) he served as the Provost and Executive Vice President at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Previously he directed Vanderbilt’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and served as Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

 Dr. DuBois is an internationally renowned cancer researcher and leader in the cancer community. He is known for elucidating a key role of prostaglandins (PGs) and other inflammatory mediators in colorectal cancer, which facilitated clinical trials targeting this pathway in humans for cancer prevention. His work also confirmed the existence of a novel tumor suppressor gene in the PG pathway (15-PGDH) in colon cancer which is responsible for inactivation of PGE2. His research revealed that prostaglandins in the tumor microenvironment increase immune tolerance and resistance to therapy.
 Dr. DuBois a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy, Past President of the AACR, the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, and the International Society for Gastrointestinal Cancer. He was also inducted as a member of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, the Royal College of Physicians in London, the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He also currently serves on the AACR Academy leadership council.

 During his career as a physician-scientist, Dr. DuBois has published over 150 peer reviewed research articles, more than 60 review articles, 25 book chapters, and three books. His work has been cited over 55,000 times as of 2018 according to Google Scholar. He is a co-inventor of a method to identify and prevent cellular genes needed for viral growth and cellular genes that function as tumor suppressors in mammals. His research has been continuously funded from the NIH and other agencies/foundations for the past 25 years.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Carlos M. Ferrario, MD, FACA, FACC, FAHA, FASH

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Carlos M. Ferrario, MD, FACA, FACC, FAHA, FASH

Carlos M. Ferrario, MD, is a cardiologist whose research has advanced understanding and treatment of high blood pressure and vascular disease. A graduate of the University of Buenos Aires Medical School in 1963, Dr. Ferrario pursued postgraduate training in cardiology at the University of Goteborg and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden between 1964 and 1966 and then joined Dr. Irvine H. Page, a pioneer in hypertension research, at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1966. Dr. Ferrario developed a premier program on the neural and endocrine causes of hypertension chairing the Department of Brain and Vascular Research of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation from 1984 to 1992. He founded the Hypertension and Vascular Research Center at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1992, serving as its Director until 2009.

Dr. Ferrario’s research identified the mechanisms of action of angiotensin in the brain through his discovery of the area postrema as a site for the action of the hormone, the role of the heart in the development of arterial hypertension, and discovered new endocrine pathways leading to the formation and action of angiotensin peptides. Pioneering research in the renin-angiotensin system includes the discovery of the antihypertensive function of angiotensin, the role of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 as a component of the opposing arm of the renin angiotensin system, and the furthering of understanding as to how inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme and angiotensin receptor antagonists act on the body’s nervous and endocrine mechanisms to regulate blood pressure. His studies on the role of angiotensin II in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis lead to increased recognition on the interaction between lipids and endocrine hormones in the evolution of atherosclerosis. The newer studies identifying the function of angiotensin as a novel tissue substrate forming angiotensin II directly by chymase rather than angiotensin converting enzyme are underscoring the important of species differences in characterizing the mechanisms accounting for the pathogenesis of heart and vascular disease.

Dr. Ferrario has published over 500 papers, 74 book chapters, and 5 books. He has mentored over 61 physicians, many of which have become major medical leaders in the USA, Japan, and Latin America. He is a former Established Investigator and the recipient of the Harry Goldblatt Award from the American Heart Association. In 1998, he was presented with the Ignacio Chaves Centennial Gold Medal of Honor by the National University of Mexico, an internationally recognized veneration of excellence in Cardiology and research. The European Society of Hypertension awarded Dr. Ferrario the 1999 Hypertension Angiotensin II Investigator of the Year. He was recognized and selected as the 1999 recipient of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Established Investigator in Clinical Science award. In addition, he was awarded the Robert Tigersted award from the American Society of Hypertension and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Inter-American Society of Hypertension for his contributions to the field of hypertension research in 2001. Additional awards include the Corcoran Award from the AHA in 2007, and the R Tigersted and J Wright awards from the Finnish (2008) and Australian (2008) Societies of Hypertension, respectively. In 2009, he received the Novartis Award for Hypertension Research from the Council of High Blood Pressure Research, American Heart Association, the highest recognition of achievements awarded by any organization in the world.

Dr. Ferrario is a member and officer of numerous medical organizations including membership in the American Physiological Society since 1967, Immediate Past-President of the Inter- American Society of Hypertension, Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, the American Society of Hypertension, and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Honorary memberships include Societies of Cardiology in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Spain, and Mexico. Currently, he is the Founder and Immediate Past-Editor-in-Chief of Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease and a Member of the Editorial Board of several journals.

Dr. Ferrario is the Founder of the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (COSEHC™), an organization which has pioneered medical and educational efforts directed to reduce cardiovascular deaths in the South, serving as its President and Chief Executive Officer until 2008.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Anthony J. Viera, MD, MPH

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Anthony J. Viera, MD, MPH

Anthony Viera received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and his Master of Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his family medicine residency in the United States Navy and served as a family physician for eight years prior to a two-year fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UNC.

Dr. Viera is currently Professor and Chair in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. Prior to his role at Duke, Dr. Viera was a faculty member in the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health since 2006. He continues as an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at UNC.

For the past 13 years, Dr. Viera has been conducting research on blood pressure monitoring and writing extensively about hypertension management. He is certified as a clinical hypertension specialist by the American Society of Hypertension and is recognized as a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH

Dr. Eduardo Sanchez serves as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Prevention and Chief of the Center for Health Metrics and Evaluation for the American Heart Association (AHA).  In addition, he helps to oversee the work of the AHA Center for Workplace Health Research and Evaluation. Prior to joining AHA, he served as Vice President and CMO for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) and before joining BCBSTX, he served as director of the Institute for Health Policy at the University of Texas (UT) School of Public Health from 2006 to 2008.

Dr. Sanchez served as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services from 2004 to 2006 and Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health from 2001 to 2004. He served as the local public health officer in Austin-Travis County from 1994 to 1998.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Trust for America’s Health, AcademyHealth, and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). From 2008 to 2012, he served as chair of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is a member of The University of Texas System Health Care Advisory Committee. Dr. Sanchez obtained his M.D. from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, an M.P.H. from the UT Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, and an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Duke University. He holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering and a B.A. in chemistry from Boston University. Dr. Sanchez is board certified in family medicine.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Robert J. Adams, MS, MD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Robert J. Adams, MS, MD

Robert J. Adams, MS, MD, formerly the presidential distinguished chair, regents professor of neurology, and co-director of the cerebrovascular section in the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia, moved to MUSC in 2007 and assumed the titles of university eminent scholar, professor of neuroscience and director of the South Carolina Center for Economic Excellence in Stroke. Dr. Adams is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (diplomate) and the National Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Adams received his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from St. Louis University and his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He also has an MS degree in engineering design and economic evaluation from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He completed an internship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, and neurology residency in the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

Dr. Adams is an active member of numerous professional societies, including the American Academy of Neurology, the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Stroke Association, the American Neurological Association, and the American Society of Hematology. He is the past chair of the stroke council leadership committee, and past chair of the American Stroke Association stroke advisory committee. He is a past member of the board of directors of the AHA.

His extensive research experience includes four NIH investigator-initiated grants. He co-designed and directed two multi-center clinical trials, STOP and STOP II, which were the first randomized clinical trials of stroke prevention in sickle cell disease and in any childhood stroke condition. Dr. Adams has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, including three original publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, and numerous book chapters and reviews, and has participated in guideline and scientific statement development on various aspects of stroke management through the AHA/American Stroke Association, the American Academy of Neurology and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. His primary research activities are in stroke prevention and novel delivery programs of stroke care.

Dr. Adams received the Outstanding Young Faculty Award in Clinical Sciences, Medical College of Georgia, May 1990; the Distinguished Faculty Award for Clinical Sciences, Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, May 1996; the Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, June 2001; Distinguished Faculty Award for Clinical Sciences, from the faculty senate of the School of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, 2005; the Distinguished Service Award for chairing the American Stroke Association stroke advisory committee, 2004 to 2005; and the Presidential Lectureship of the American Academy of Neurology, San Diego, California April 3, 2006. He was given the Award of Meritorious Achievement from the American Heart Association in Washington D.C. on April 9, 2006, for his leadership at the national level in the development and oversight of the JCAHO Primary Stroke Center certification program. Dr. Adams has been recognized several times as one of America’s Top Doctors.

He is co-founder of REACH Call Inc., a corporation that provides system equipment, software and decision support for urgent specialist consultations for stroke and other emergency conditions via the internet. He serves also as chief medical consultant for this company which brings expert experience to remote sites to assist in emergency evaluation and treatment of acute stroke.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Michael A. Moore, MD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Michael A. Moore, MD

Michael A. Moore, MD, FACP, FAHA, is a nephrologist from Danville, VA. He is member of the Hypertension & Vascular Disease Center of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the faculties of the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Liberty University Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. After receiving his MD degree at the University of North Carolina, his Internal Medicine and Nephrology training were completed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Moore is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Society of Hypertension, which recognizes him as a Hypertension Specialist. He participated in the preparation of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Joint National Committee Reports on the Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure (JNCs) as well as other national clinical guidelines on cardiovascular disease. He chaired the National Heart, Lung, &  Blood Institute’s Working Group on Detection, Treatment, and Prevention of Hypertensive Renal Disease.

Dr. Moore is a nationally recognized teacher on hypertension and cardiovascular disease. He is a previous Teacher of the Year at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and an American Heart Association national Physician of the Year which recognized his dedication to patient care, years of providing medical education, and the development of 2 nonprofit voluntary cardiovascular improvement organizations, DRChip & COSEHC.  Dr. Moore was instrumental in developing the residency programs at Sovah Health in Danville, VA, which named its education building, the Michael A. Moore, MD Clinical Education Center.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Souvik Sen, MD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Souvik Sen, MD

Souvik Sen, MD, MS, MPH, currently serves as Chair of Neurology at Palmetto Health-USC Neurology and is a professor of neurology with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He joined the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in January, 2010.

Dr. Sen earned his medical degree from the University of Calcutta R. G. Kar Medical College in Calcutta, India. After completing medical training in India, he completed a Masters in Science in cardiovascular pharmacology at Wayne State University in Detroit, and then completed a medical internship at Henry Ford Hospital, also in Detroit. He completed a neurology residency at Temple University Health Science Center in Philadelphia, and a vascular neurology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. After his fellowship he served as co-director and subsequently director of the stroke center at the NJ Neuroscience Institute in Edison, New Jersey. He then served as the founding director of the UNC Hospitals Comprehensive Stroke Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. While there, he completed a Masters in Public Health with an epidemiology major.

Dr. Sen is board certified in neurology, and subspecialty board certified in Vascular Neurology. He is a recipient of the prestigious Center of Economic Excellence Stroke Chair in South Carolina, and has published in peer reviewed journals including Circulation, Stroke and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has received research funding from the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. In 2004, he was nominated as a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He serves on several national and international committees, and his specific research interests include acute stroke treatment, stroke and TIA pathophysiology, stroke prevention and epidemiology.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Ross J. Simpson, MD, PhD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Ross J. Simpson, MD, PhD

Dr. Simpson is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Dr. Simpson completed his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, and followed that with an internship and residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He received both his PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the UNC School of Public Health.  

Dr. Simpson is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease and certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the National Lipid Association. Dr. Simpson is principal investigator of SUDDEN, a population-based study of the epidemiology of all-cause, out-of-hospital, sudden unexpected death (OHSUD) in adults under age 65. His other areas of research interest include the management of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, and he has lectured nationally and internationally on these topics. His work is widely published, and he serves as a reviewer for numerous medical publications.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Timothy J. Kowalski, DO, FACN, DFAPA

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Timothy J. Kowalski, DO, FACN, DFAPA

Timothy J. Kowalski, DO, FACN, Dean of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas Campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina, graduated from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1983 before completing a transitional rotating internship, psychiatry residency, and child psychiatry fellowship at Tripler Army Medical Center, in Honolulu, HI. Following his honorable discharge in 1993, Dr. Kowalski was employed by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health rising to the position of Medical Director of the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute in Columbia, SC from which he retired 2010 to become the inaugural Dean of the VCOM-Carolinas Campus. He is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. In addition to being a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists (osteopathic), Dr. Kowalski was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a Distinguished Fellow in 2003.

Having held faculty appointments at the rank of Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina School Of Medicine and the rank of Professor at the University of Pikeville Kentucky College Of Osteopathic Medicine and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus, Dr. Kowalski is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine where he lectures in child psychiatry, ethics and medical regulation as well as serving as Dean.  A Past President of the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners and member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Medical Boards, Dr. Kowalski continues his service to the SCBME as a member of their Internal Review Committee.

Additional prominent appointments in the American Osteopathic Association include Vice Chair of the Bureau of State Government Affairs, the Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine, the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation Evaluator’s Registry, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiner’s Blue Ribbon Panel for enhancing the COMLEX-USA and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Board of Deans, where he serves as the Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee, the Co-Chair of the Professionalism and Ethics Task Force, and as a member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Kowalski is a Past President of the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners, the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Society and the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Paul. K. Whelton, MB, MD, MSc

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Paul. K. Whelton, MB, MD, MSc

Paul K. Whelton, M.B., M.D., M.Sc. is a medical graduate of University College Cork, Ireland. He earned a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from University of London and a prevention doctorate from National University of Ireland. He spent 26 years at Johns Hopkins, where he founded the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. Subsequently, he served as Tulane University Dean, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Dean, School of Medicine, and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences. Later, he was President/CEO, Loyola University Health System and Medical Center before returning to Tulane as the Show Chwan Health System Endowed Chair in Global Public Health.

   Dr. Whelton’s interests include blood pressure-related cardiovascular/renal disease epidemiology, prevention, clinical trials, policy, and global health. He has chaired many NIH studies, including the Trials of Hypertension Prevention (TOHP), Trial of Nonpharmacologic Interventions in the Elderly (TONE), Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) and Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). He chaired the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Blood Pressure Guideline Writing Committee. A recipient of the American Heart Association Population Research Prize in 2007, and the American Heart Association Blood Pressure Council Excellence in Hypertension Research Award in 2018, he has published more than 500 peer reviewed manuscripts, books/chapters, supplements or monographs.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Taskeen Khan

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Taskeen Khan

Dr. Taskeen Khan, is currently a medical officer responsible for cardiovascular disease programme implementation in the Non Communicable Disease (NCD) management unit at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Taskeen is from South Africa and was previously a national technical officer for NCDs in the WHO country office in Pretoria and also supported the regional office in Congo Brazzaville.

Dr. Khan holds a medical degree from the University of Natal in South Africa, has a Master of Medicine in Community Medicine from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and is a fellow of the college of public health medicine of South Africa. Previously, she has worked at individual, health facility, community, district and national levels of government as well as in academia focusing on NCDs, health policy and health systems.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Elizabeth Kirkland, MD, MSCR

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Elizabeth Kirkland, MD, MSCR

Dr. Elizabeth Kirkland is an assistant professor of internal medicine at MUSC Health. She completed medical school at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill followed by internal medicine residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina. After residency, she completed a chief residency year at MUSC. She is board certified in internal medicine and holds a Master's of Science in Clinical Research. Dr. Kirkland enjoys caring for all adult patients and has particular interest in wellness, prevention, and women's health. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she is involved in medical student education and participates in research focused on telemonitoring of chronic disease conditions.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Leopoldo Raij

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Leopoldo Raij, MD

Dr. Leopoldo Raij is Professor of Medicine, Emeritus - Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Director, the Program for International Research Scholars, International Medicine Institute, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Raij previously served as the Director of Hypertension in the Renal-Hypertension Division, as the Director of Hypertension and Nephrology Research of the International Medicine Institute of the University of Miami. These are in addition to his serving as Medical Director and Co-PI of the Miami Field Center of the NIH Hispanic Community Health Study, a longitudinal epidemiological multicenter study to examine health status, chronic disease risk factors and health behaviors in 16,000 Hispanic/Latino participants, 4,000 of whom are being examined in Miami. Dr. Raij also has served as Chief of Nephrology-Hypertension Section of the VAMC, and was as member of the editorial board of several medical journals, including Hypertension and Kidney International, and of JASH, the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension. Additionally, Dr. Raij is the author of more than 180 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Kristy Joseph

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Kristy Joseph

Mrs. Kristy Joseph is a Public Health Advisor and Team Lead at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their Center for Global Health.

For the past 8 years, Kristy has worked the U.S. CDC. Currently she is leading the capacity-building and program implementation team within the Global Noncommunicable Disease Branch in the Division of Global Health Protection. Kristy played a critical role in CDC’s participation in the development of the Global Hearts Initiative and the HEARTS technical package. She started her career in public health as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala working at a local health center and also participated in CDC’s Ebola outbreak response, deploying to Sierra Leone in 2014. Kristy received her graduate degree in economics from Georgia State University and she is a Doctor of Public Health candidate at the School of Public Health in Georgia State University.

Dr. Sanchez served as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services from 2004 to 2006 and Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health from 2001 to 2004. He served as the local public health officer in Austin-Travis County from 1994 to 1998.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Trust for America’s Health, AcademyHealth, and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). From 2008 to 2012, he served as chair of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is a member of The University of Texas System Health Care Advisory Committee. Dr. Sanchez obtained his M.D. from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, an M.P.H. from the UT Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, and an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Duke University. He holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering and a B.A. in chemistry from Boston University. Dr. Sanchez is board certified in family medicine.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Pedro Ordunez, MD, PhD

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Pedro Ordunez, MD, PhD

Dr. Ordunez obtained his medical degree in Cuba in 1990. In 1993 he received the Grand Prize Annual Award for Health Research in Cuba for his work in cardiovascular disease in Cuba. Dr. Ordunez obtained his Ph.D degree in Public Health at the School of Public Health of Havana, Cuba and he completed his Post-doctoral fellowship in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkin’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Ordunez has been a professor of internal medicine and public health, clinician, researcher, educator, and medical administrator with more than 20 years of practice. Dr. Ordunez was the director of the University hospital Gustavo Aldereguia Lima (HGAL) in Cienfuegos for 13 years. HGAL was recognized as the most prominent Cuban Hospital during the 2000’s and it was selected as the World Health Organization Collaborative Center.

In 2009, Dr. Ordunez joined the Pan American Health Organization. During his tenure, he has led the hypertension and cardiovascular health areas. Currently, Dr. Ordunez is the CVD lead for the PAHO region implementing the HEARTS Initiative.

For his lifelong contributions to the field of Hypertension, Dr. Ordunez was awarded with the WHL 2017 Norman Campbell Excellence Award in Population Hypertension Prevention and Control.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Leopoldo Raij, MD, FAHA

September 7, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Leopoldo Raij, MD, FAHA

Dr. Leopoldo Raij is Professor of Medicine, Emeritus - Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Director, the Program for International Research Scholars, International Medicine Institute, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Raij previously served as the Director of Hypertension in the Renal-Hypertension Division, as the Director of Hypertension and Nephrology Research of the International Medicine Institute of the University of Miami. These are in addition to his serving as Medical Director and Co-PI of the Miami Field Center of the NIH Hispanic Community Health Study, a longitudinal epidemiological multicenter study to examine health status, chronic disease risk factors and health behaviors in 16,000 Hispanic/Latino participants, 4,000 of whom are being examined in Miami. Dr. Raij also has served as Chief of Nephrology-Hypertension Section of the VAMC, and was as member of the editorial board of several medical journals, including Hypertension and Kidney International, and of JASH, the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension. Additionally, Dr. Raij is the author of more than 180 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

SMA/ASH Faculty for SMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting: Donald DiPette, MD

September 5, 2018 // Randy Glick
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Donald DiPette, MD

Dr. DiPette is currently the Health Sciences Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, South Carolina. He has previously held the positions of Special Assistant to the Provost for Health Affairs, Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of South Carolina. Before joining USC, he was Interim Senior Executive Dean and Interim Chief Academic Officer and Professor of Medicine in the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center College of Medicine and the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Sciences Center College of Medicine and Scott & White Healthcare. In addition, Dr. DiPette currently serves as President of the Southern Medical Association.

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