DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

R Wayne Alexander, MD, PhD
R Bruce Logue Professor and Chair
Dr Alexander received his PhD in Physiology from Emory University and his MD from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, and did his Cardiology Fellowship at Duke University. Prior to his appointment at Emory in 1988 as R Bruce Logue Professor and Division Chief of Cardiology, Dr Alexander was Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In 1999, Dean Lawley appointed Dr Alexander Chair of the Department of Medicine.
Dr Alexander has published extensively in the cardiovascular literature. He is co-editor of Dr Hurst’s The Heart, 10 th edition and Companion Handbook of The Heart, 10 th edition. He is on the editorial boards of many journals including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Circulation Research, and Circulation. Active in many professional societies, Dr Alexander is a member of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Federation for Clinical Research, and Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. His research interests include the biologic basis of the pathogenesis of coronary ischemic syndromes, the molecular mechanisms of hormonal control of vascular reactivity, and the cell biology of vascular smooth muscle and endothelium.
J. WILLIS HURST INTERNAL MEDICINE
RESIDENCY PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

 

Carlos del Rio, MD
Residency Program Director
Vice Chair for Grady Affairs and Chief of Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Grady Memorial Hospital
Dr del Rio is a native of Mexico where he attended medical school at Universidad La Salle, graduating in 1983.  He did his Internal Medicine residency (83 – 86) and Infectious Diseases fellowship (86-88) at Emory and in 1988 served as Chief Resident at Crawford Long Hospital. In 1989 he returned to Mexico where he was Executive Director of the National AIDS Council of Mexico. In
November of 1996 he returned to Emory. Dr del Rio's research interests include the epidemiology of opportunistic infections in HIV and other immune deficiencies, epidemiology and transmission dynamics of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and issues related to early diagnosis of HIV, access to care and compliance with antiretrovirals.  Dr. del Rio is Director of the Emory AIDS International Training and Research Program and Co-Director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research, Clinical Site Leader for the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and investigator on HIV vaccine trials (HVTN).  He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the International AIDS Society-USA, and of the HIVMA of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, member of the Education Committee of IDSA and member of the DHHS Panel for Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. He is Associate editor of several AIDS journals and has been a member of two Institute of Medicine Committees.

ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Stacy Higgins, MD
Program Director, Primary Care Track
Associate Program Director, Ambulatory Medicine
Faculty Advisor, Internal Medicine Minority Housestaff Association
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Dr Higgins graduated Dartmouth College with a BA in psychology in 1989 and then attended Cornell University Medical College, graduating in 1995.  She did her Internal Medicine residency followed by a year of Chief Residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.  In 1999, Dr Higgins joined the Emory faculty. In 2001, she was named Co-Director of the Primary Care Residency program and in July 2006, she became program director. 

Dr Higgins’ area of interest is women’s health, specifically, management of the menopause, use of hormone replacement therapy, cervical cancer screening, and medical complications of pregnancy.  Within the Internal Medicine residency, she has established a women’s health curriculum, women’s health elective, and women’s health fellowship.  She has served as Chair of the Women’s Committee for Georgia ACP, as well as faculty coordinator for the Emory Women Residents Group.

Valery Akopov, MD
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Director, Hospital Medicine Service, Emory Crawford Long Hospital
Dr. Akopov completed his Residency in Internal Medicine in 1997 and joined the Division of General Internal Medicine as an academic faculty based at Grady. In 1998 he became part of the newly established Hospital Medicine Unit at Grady Memorial Hospital. In 2003 Dr. Akopov helped to start the new academic Hospital Medicine service at Emory Crawford Long Hospital which he directs at present time. Since its inception Hospital Medicine Service at ECLH grew from eight faculty to twenty two. In 2007 Dr. Akopov assumed responsibility of Director of Care Coordination at ECLH overseeing operations of Social Services and Utilization Review Department. While at Emory Dr. Akopov received number of teaching awards including Golden Apple Teaching Awards, Emory Hospital Medicine teaching Award, Overall Excellence in Hospital Medicine Award. Dr. Akopov’s interests include housestaff teaching with the focus on hospital medicine, systems improvement, development and implementation of VTE prophylaxis tools in hospitalized patients.

Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Grady Memorial Hospital
Administrative Assistant: Tamaira Lyons 404-778-1609
Dr. Di Francesco graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a BS in Microbiology and Kinesiology in 1989. He completed his medical school and Internal Medicine Residency Training at Emory and spent one year in private practice.  Dr. Di Francesco subsequently returned Emory in 1997 to join the Division of General Internal Medicine, and in 2001, became both the Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency program as well as Assistant Chief of Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital. He has served as Co-Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine's Hospital Medicine Unit at Grady and currently is an active member of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library Advisory Committee as well as the Clinical Informatics, Hospital Infection Control and Pharmacy & Therapeutics (Antimicrobials) Committees at Grady Memorial Hospital. Nationally he is a current member of the Society of Hospital Medicine Education Committee and serves as an Associate Editor for Physician’s First Watch.

While at Emory Dr. Di Francesco has received a number of teaching awards including the Annette Bernard Outpatient Teaching Award, the Golden Apple Teaching Award, the Juha P. Kokko Teaching Award and the Society of Hospital Medicine National Teaching Award.  Dr. Di Francesco has broad-based academic interests ranging from community-acquired pneumonia to bedside teaching, to the use of PDAs (personal digital assistants) in medicine. He has conducted several workshops in these areas and has published several articles and book chapters.

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Emory University Hospital, Administrative Assistant: Sheila Harris 404-778-5334
Dr. Dressler is originally from Atlanta, GA.  He completed his undergraduate training at Duke University in Physics in 1993, and his medical training at Emory University School of Medicine (1997).  He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Emory University, followed by a fellowship in Hospital Medicine and a Master of Science in Clinical Research.  He is board certified in internal medicine.  Dr. Dressler started the hospital medicine program at Emory University Hospital, and currently is Director of Education for the Section of Hospital Medicine.  He directs the Medical Epidemiology course for Emory Medical School students, the Evidence-Based Medicine education program for the internal medicine residency program, and the internal medicine teaching service at Emory University Hospital.  In the Department of Medicine, he serves on the Education Committee, Mentoring Subcommittee, FAME Committee, and Quality Committee.  At Emory University Hospital, he co-chairs the Medical Practice Committee and serves on the Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics Committee and Critical Care Committee.  He serves as course director for the regional CME conference, Annual Southern Hospital Medicine Update, since 2005.  Within the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), he served on and chaired the Core Curriculum Task Force and is co-editor of the Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine (Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2006).  Currently, he serves on SHM’s Education Committee, Annual Meeting Committee, as well as the Curriculum Development Task Force, Procedures Task Force, and Handoff Standards Task Force.

Kevin Galpin, MD
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Atlanta VA Medical Center
Dr. Galpin was born and raised in Los Angeles, and came to Atlanta in 1992 to attend Emory University as an undergraduate. After graduating with a BS in Biology, he stayed within the Emory system to complete both his medical education and Internal Medicine Residency training. In 2003, Dr. Galpin joined faculty at the Atlanta VA where he began working in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.  Between 2004 and 2005, he managed one of the hospital's primary care clinics while maintaining his academic role. In 2006, he established a hospital based VA Internal Medicine/Primary Care Clinic to help integrate the inpatient and outpatient teaching services.

Jason Schneider, MD
Associate Program Director
Associate Medical Director of the Primary Care Center, Grady Memorial Hospital
Assistant Professor, Division of General Medicine
Dr Schneider serves as the associate medical director of the Primary Care Center, precepting residents in their continuity clinic and caring for his own panel of patients.  He joined the Emory faculty after completing the Primary Care Internal Medicine residency at Emory.  He received his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine in Manhattan.  His clinical and academic interests include sexual health and sexuality, the interaction of psychiatry and general medicine, and primary care for LGBT patients.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association for over eight years.  He currently holds the office of president.  He was recently appointed by the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association to serve a two-year term on the new Advisory Committee on GLBT Concerns.  Dr. Schneider chairs the Residency Evaluation Committee, a committee responsible for review of resident performance

Chief Residents 2008-2009

 

Shahed Lewis Brown, MD
Chief Resident, Atlanta VA Medical Center
Shahed was raised in New York and South Carolina and received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Clemson University in South Carolina in 2001. She received her M.D. from University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC in 2005. She completed residency in Internal Medicine at Emory in Atlanta in 2008 and is now serving as chief resident at the Atlanta VA Hospital for the 2008-2009 academic year. After her chief year, she will pursue a career in academic internal medicine within the Emory Department of Medicine. Outside of the hospital, Shahed enjoys live music and karaoke, photography, travel, playing poker, and VH1 reality TV shows about the rock band, Poison.

Karen Law, MD
Chief Resident Grady Memorial Hospital
Karen was born and raised in Atlanta, GA.  She then moved to Providence, RI to attend Brown University for college and medical school, where she received a BS in Biology and her MD degree.  She returned to Atlanta and to Emory University to complete her internal medicine residency training.  Karen will be Chief Resident at Grady Memorial Hospital for the 2008-2009 academic year.  She plans to pursue a fellowship in Rheumatology at Emory after her chief year is completed, with a special interest in immunology and targeted therapies for autoimmune disorders.  Her interests outside of the hospital include running, international travel, photography, and a life of good food.

 

Benjamin Mackie, MD
Chief Resident, Emory University Hospital
Ben grew up Tallahassee, Florida. He received his B.A. in History from the University of Florida in 2000, and his M.D. from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in 2005. He recently completed his Internal Medicine residency here at Emory in 2008, and is currently the chief resident for Emory University Hospital for the 2008-2009 academic year. After his chief year he will begin a fellowship in cardiology here at Emory. His academic interests include heart failure and statin therapy. Outside of the hospital he enjoys college sports, hiking, fishing, live music, and being outdoors.

 

Luis Mora, MD
Chief Resident, Crawford Long Hospital
Luis Mora was born in Bogota, Colombia. He finished high school in Santiago, Chile and subsequently attended medical school in Medellin, Colombia (Universidad CES). After obtaining his M.D. he came to Atlanta to complete 3 years of Internal Medicine training at Emory University.  He is currently chief resident at Crawford Long Hospital. His academic interests include cardiac electrophysiology and transitional research with stem cells. His interests outside of the hospital include guitar, blues, rock, jazz, soccer and tennis.

Paulina Rebolledo, MD
Chief Resident, Grady Memorial Hospital
Paulina was born in Mexico City. After living in Brazil, Italy and Mexico, she obtained her MD from La Salle University School of Medicine in Mexico. She then came to Emory, where she completed a Masters of Science in Clinical Research and Internal Medicine residency in 2008. Paulina is currently one of the chief residents at Grady Memorial Hospital and has matched at Emory for ID Fellowship. Her research interests are in mucosal/intestinal immunity in HIV and development of diagnostics in resource-limited areas. Outside of medicine she enjoys music, running, pilates, world travel and contemporary literature

 

 

RESIDENCY PROGRAM OFFICE ADMINISTRATION:

Melanie Lewis, Program Administrator – 404-616-7024; mllewis@emory.edu
Tamiko McNeely , Recruitment Coordinator – 404-616-7028; tmcnee2@emory.edu
Carolyn Lyles, Program Administrative Assistant – 404-616-3421; clyles@emory.edu
Mariama Credell, Evaluations and Data Manager – 404-616-7031; bcredel@emory.edu
Addie Byrd, Credentialing, Program Coordinator, Research Track, Medicine/Psychiatry – 404-616-6141; abyrd2@emory.edu
Joanne Boykin, Program Coordinator for Primary Care – 404-778-1607; jboykin@emory.edu
Saphornia “Ann” Rickette, Program Assistant-VAMC – 404-321-6111 x 2073; saphronia.rickett@va.gov
Ginny Hardison, Student Education Coordinator – 404-778-1655; ginny.hardison@emory.edu

OTHER PROGRAM LEADERS & KEY FACULTY

Joyce P Doyle, MD
Immediate Past Residency Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr Doyle did her undergraduate training in Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins University and received her MD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  She did her Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at Yale University School of Medicine. She completed a General Medicine Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Dr Doyle joined the Emory faculty in 1994 and has worked on the Inpatient Medicine Service, Urgent Care, and Emergency Care Centers at Grady Hospital.  From 1997 until 2000, she was the Medical Director of the Grady Medical Clinics, and from 2000-2007 became the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Categorical, Primary Care, and Preliminary Tracks.

Dr Doyle is a dedicated teacher and has won several resident teaching awards, including Golden Apple Awards, 1995-1996 and 1997-1998, the Primary-Care Clinician-Teacher Awards 1996-1997, and the American College of Physicians J Willis Hurst Bedside Teaching Award 1999-2000.  Her research interests include hypertension, diabetes, and stroke, and she is certified as a Clinical Specialist in Hypertension by the American Society of Hypertension.  Dr Doyle has been a Co-Investigator on several studies including a large NIH-funded grant to improve diabetes care and an NIH-funded clinical trial on “Secondary Prevention of Sub-Cortical Strokes.”  She has authored several scientific papers and book chapters and is the Editor of The Ambulatory Case Book (2002), an evidence-based book of 92 outpatient cases used as part of the residency pre-clinic conference curriculum. 

Jada C. Bussey-Jones, MD
Chair, Residency Evaluation Committee
Director of the Primary Care Center at Grady Memorial Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr Bussey-Jones completed her undergraduate and medical school education at Emory University and her residency training at the University of Maryland.  Between her internship and residency, she completed a research fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, critically reviewing data on minority health and disparities. She joined Mercy Hospital in Baltimore Maryland, where she was named Faculty Teacher of the Year. She joined Emory’s faculty in 1999, and became the Associate Director for the Medical Clinics in 2000, then became the Medical Director in 2004.  She also completed a General Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her primary research and educational focus is improved cross-cultural communication and skills to minimize health disparities and improve minority health care.  She has received an Innovations in Teaching Award, for her work in the Cross-Cultural Medicine Curriculum.  She is Course director for housestaff Cross-Cultural Medicine curriculum.  She has intramural and NIH funding to evaluate the impact of cross-cultural curricula and minority patient views on cancer and speaks locally and nationally on these issues.

Carlos Franco-Paredes, MD, MPH
Director, Residency Global Health Initiative
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Dr Franco-Paredes is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Co-Director, Travel Well, International Travelers Medical Clinic at Crawford Long Hospital. Dr. Franco completed his Internal Medicine Residency, Chief Residency, and Infectious Disease Fellowship at Emory. After his fellowship, he served as a Fogarty Fellow in the AITRP program directed by Dr del Rio, Dr Franco-Paredes worked in a leading position at the National Immunization Program with the Ministry of Health in Mexico.  While with the MOH, he developed national policies and research initiatives, as well as acted as an advisor to the Director of the NIP in Mexico.  He recently returned to Emory to foster the development of the clinical curriculum in travel and tropical medicine and to contribute to Global Health research within the Infectious Disease Division at Emory in close collaboration with Dr Phyllis Kozarsky at the TravelWell Clinic.  In addition, Dr Franco-Paredes continues as a Clinical Researcher at the “Hospital Infantil de Mexico, Federico Gomez”. He currently have research projects in Sudan, Venezuela, and Mexico. He is also currently the associate editor of the Journal Neglected Infectious Diseases. He currently has ongoing clinical projects in Venezuela, Mexico and Sudan. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Charles Harper, MD
Co-Director of the Primary Care Center, Grady Memorial Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine; Associate Director, Division of General Medicine
Dr Harper is an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University and is the Co-Director of the Primary Care Center and Director of the Lipid Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital. Dr Harper’s interests are in the area of nutrition and preventive cardiology and he is board certified in clinical lipidology. He has published several articles in this area. He is the principal investigator in the FORCE Trial which is a trial analyzing the effect omega-3 fatty acids have on mediators of artherosclerosis.

Nate Spell, MD
Chief Quality Office and Key Clinical Faculty
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Emory University Hospital
Dr Spell graduated Davidson College with a BS in chemistry in 1986.  He attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1991, and stayed in Boston for residency at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.  He then served in the US Air Force, Medical Corps, from 1994 - 1998.  He joined the Emory faculty in 1998, where he directed the primary care resident continuity clinics at The Emory Clinic until 2005.  Since 2000 he has been the associate program director at Emory University Hospital.  In 2002 he became co-director of the Pathophysiology course at the medical school.  In late 2004, he was named the Associate Clinical Chief for General Internal Medicine and directs the practice at 1525 Clifton Rd.

Dr Spell's interests include perioperative medical consultation and quality improvement, and he serves on several quality assurance and performance committees for Emory Healthcare.  He has developed workshops for the residents on preoperative consultation and the business of medicine.  He has received numerous teaching awards, including Golden Apples in 2001 and 2005, Primary Care Clinician-Teaching awards in 2000 and 2002, and the Kokko teaching award in 2003.  He has published several book chapters on the perioperative management of chronic medical conditions and medications and is a co-editor of upcoming edition of Medical Management of the Surgical Patient.

Kimberly Manning, MD
Program Director, Transitional Track
Assistant Professor of Medicine
After completing her undergraduate studies in Biology at Tuskegee University and receiving an MD degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr Manning went on to do a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve/MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Following a chief residency, she joined the Emory faculty in 2001, and has received numerous teaching awards from the medical school and Internal Medicine residency program. 

Kellie Clearo, MD, RPh
Program Director, Medicine/Psychiatry
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr Clearo attended the University of Florida and completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1993. She worked as a pharmacist for three years then started medical school in 1996. She obtained her MD degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2000. Dr Clearo completed a combined two year internship in Internal Medicine & Psychiatry at State University of New York (SUNY), Brooklyn in 2002 and a combined residency in Internal Medicine & Psychiatry at Duke University in 2005. Dr Clearo was a chief resident at Duke University in the combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry program in her final year of residency. After joining the Emory faculty she worked at Emory University Hospital as a Hospitalist before moving her clinical activities to Grady Memorial Hospital in 2006. At Grady, Dr Clearo is as an attending physician in hospital medicine and outpatient psychiatry. She also works as an outpatient psychiatrist at Emory University.  Dr Clearo the Director of the Combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry residency program.

W  Robert Taylor, MD, PhD
Program Director, Research Track
Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Taylor received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He obtained his training in Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. After completing his training in Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine, he joined the faculty of the Department of Medicine. He is currently a Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Emory University School of Medicine.

H. Kenneth Walker, MD
Associate Program Director, Transitional Track
Professor of Medicine
Dr. Walker graduated from Emory College in 1958 and obtained his MD degree from Emory University School of Medicine in 1963. Dr. Walker has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Medicine since 1970 and has his clinical activities at Grady where he is also Assistant Chief of Service. Dr. Walker has recently been named Chairman of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine, a group that serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and leads a major healthcare initiative in service, education, and research in the Republic of Georgia.

Douglas C.  Morris, MD
Director, Emory Heart Center, Chief of Cardiology, Emory Hospital
Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs, Department of Medicine
Professor
Douglas Morris, the J. Willis Hurst Professor of Medicine Director of the Emory Heart and Vascular Center and Vice Chairman of Medicine in charge of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Morris is a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine.  He did his residency at Vanderbilt University and his cardiology fellowship at Emory. 

Dr. Morris is an interventional cardiologist.  His research interests have been primarily in the understanding and management of acute coronary syndromes.  Presently much of his time is spent in directing the cardiovascular endeavors for Emory Healthcare and developing measure of quality in that area

Jennifer Zreloff, MD
Director, Resident Ambulatory Clinic at 1525
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine
Dr. Zreloff is Assistant Professor and Director of the Resident Ambulatory Clinic at 1525.  She came to Emory in 2000 after completing her residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.  She maintains a busy clinical practice where she focuses primarily on preventive health and women’s health.  She is also an active teacher of both residents and students in the ambulatory setting.  She balances her patient care, administrative, and teaching responsibilities with the care of her 2 daughters, ages 4 and 6.

 

TRANSITIONAL TRACK LEADERSHIP