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.

David S Stephens, MD
Executive Vice-Chair and Stephen W Schwarzmann Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and Epidemiology
Director, Division of Infectious Diseases

Dr Stephens earned his BS in Biology at the Citadel, where he was a Rhodes Scholar nominee. He received his MD from Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University. In 1982, Dr Stephens joined the Infectious Diseases Division of the Department of Medicine and in 1992 was appointed Director of that Division and also Professor of Medicine. In 1998, he became Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. A year later he was appointed Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine. During the recent Anthrax outbreak, Dr Stephens directed CDC’s Clinical Team.

Dr Stephens also serves as a consultant to the Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch of the CDC. His research interests include the genetic determinants of bacterial pathogenesis and the agents of bacterial meningitis. He has contributed over 170 publications in infectious diseases, molecular pathogenesis, and epidemiology including articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences.

J. WILLIS HURST INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM LEADERSHIP -Categorical, Primary Care, Preliminary                                          (Transitional Track)

Carlos del Rio, MD

Interim Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program

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 and Infectious Diseases fellowship 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.  In addition, he is interested in the impact of HIV in developing nations, optimal use of antiretrovirals in limited resource settings, and ethics in HIV care and research. He is Director of the Emory AIDS International Training and Research Program and Co-Director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Latin-American AIDS Initiative (SIDALAC), the Monitoring of the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network, and of the Board of the International AIDS Society-USA. He has co-authored 5 books, 30 book chapters and over 100 scientific papers, is associate editor of several AIDS journals and a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Ryan White Care Act.

 

Joyce P Doyle, MD

Previous 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 in 2000 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. 

 

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

Associate Program Director

Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Grady Memorial Hospital

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 is currently 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.

While at Emory Dr. Di Francesco has received a number of teaching awards including the Golden Apple Teaching Awards, the Juha P. Kokko Teaching Award, the Outpatient 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.

Dan D Dressler, MD, MSCR

Associate Program Director

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Emory University Hospital

Dr. Dressler completed his undergraduate training at Duke University in Physics, and his medical school and Internal Medicine Residency training at Emory, followed by a fellowship in Hospital Medicine and a Master of Science in Clinical Research.  He serves as Director of Hospital Medicine at Emory University Hospital, part of the Section of Hospital Medicine within the Division of General Medicine.

Dr. Dressler has directed the Hospital Medicine Elective for internal medicine residents since 2001, and teaches Evidence-Based Medicine for internal medicine housestaff.   He co-chairs the Medical Practice Committee at Emory University Hospital and serves on multiple other hospital committees (Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics Committee, Critical Care Committee, Length-of-Stay Oversight Team) and Department of Medicine committees (Education Committee, Mentoring Subcommittee, FAME Committee, Quality Committee).  He has served as co-course director for the regional CME conference, Annual Southern Hospital Medicine Update, since 2005.  Within the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), he chairs the Core Curriculum Task Force and serves on the Education Committee, and he is co-editor of the recently published Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine (Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2006).

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.

 

Ursula Whalen, MD

Associate Program Director

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine

Dr. Whalen joined Emory University's Medicine Division of General Medicine at Grady in the fall of 2004 after completing her Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at Vanderbilt University.  While at Vanderbilt, she started a community outreach health education program for underserved middle school students as well as implemented a pre-clinic conference.  Since coming to Emory, she has become the co-director of the Clinic Conference.  She is on the team of faculty teaching Performance Improvement for the residents whose aim is to facilitate resident driven improvement in exercise and nutrition counseling in their primary care clinics.  She works with Dr. Miller treating Hepatitis C patients in the Liver Clinic.  Her research interests are preventive medicine.  The results of her study on smoking trends among pregnant women in Tennessee was published in Preventive Medicine in September, 2006.

OTHER PROGRAM LEADERS & KEY FACULTY

 

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.

 

Jada C. Bussey-Jones, MD

Chair, Residency Evaluation Committee

Director of the Medical Clinic 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. She was recently appointed Chair of the Residency Evaluation Committee, a committee responsible for review of resident performance.

  

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.

 

Jason Schneider, MD

Assistant 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 five years.  His current positions include chair of the Policy & Advocacy Committee and president-elect.  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.  In June 2005 he was elected Vice Chair of the committee.

 

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.

Chief Residents 2007-2008

 

Stephen A May, MD

Chief Resident, Crawford Long Hospital

Stephen was born and raised in southeast Texas.  He earned a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance in 2000 from The University of Texas in Austin and then a MD from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX in 2004.  He completed residency in Internal Medicine at Emory in Atlanta in 2007 and is now serving as chief resident at Emory-Crawford Long Hospital for the 2007-2008 academic year.  After his chief year, he will begin a fellowship in cardiology and ultimately plans to pursue a career in academic cardiology.  Research interests include emerging therapies for heart failure and advanced cardiac imaging.  Outside the hospital, Stephen takes advantage of the great outdoors surrounding Atlanta and frequently spends weekends hiking, climbing, and camping.  He also enjoys most sports including soccer and tennis, listening to live music and DJs, and relaxing at local coffee shops or pubs with friends and family.

 

Ali Kashkouli, MD

Chief Resident, Atlanta VA Medical Center

Ali was raised in San Diego, CA and received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. After receiving his M.D at Temple University in 2004 he continued his medical education at Emory University, completing his Internal Medicine residency in 2007. He is currently serving as chief medical resident at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and will be returning to UCSD for a fellowship in nephrology. Outside the hospital his interests include golf, softball, and memorizing useless information.

 

Rachel DelFavero, MD

Chief Resident Grady Memorial Hospital

Rachel DelFavero is a native Texan. She attended Rice University in Houston, where she was a member of the NCAA division one women’s swim team and graduated with a BS in biology. She received her MD from University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. She completed her internal medicine residency training at Emory University and will be Chief Resident at Grady Memorial Hospital for the 2007-2008 academic year. She plans to remain a general internist and pursue a career in academic medicine.  Outside of the hospital, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, swimming, hiking, and being outdoors.

 

Lewis Satterwhite, MD

Chief Resident, Grady Memorial Hospital

Lewis  grew up in Louisville, KY and moved to Bristol, TN during high school. He attended Emory University before going to St. Andrews University in Scotland for a year long Bobby Jones fellowship.  He returned to Atlanta to attend Emory Medical School and Internal Medicine residency.  Lewis is currently one of the chiefs at Grady Memorial Hospital.  He matched at Emory for Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship.  His research interests are in sepsis and ICU outcomes as well as pulmonary epidemiology.  Outside of medicine, Lewis enjoys playing basketball and volleyball and world travel.

 

Robert Cole, MD

Chief Resident, Emory University Hospital

Robert T. Cole was born and raised in the small town of Thibodaux, LA.  He attended Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, where he received his B.S. in biology. After college Rob made his way to Atlanta to attend Emory University School of Medicine and obtained his MD in 2004. He has now completed 3 years of residency in internal medicine and will serve as Chief Resident of Emory University Hospital for 2007-2008.  He plans to pursue a fellowship in Cardiology at Emory after his chief year is completed. His academic interests include heart failure and transplant cardiology. His interests outside of the hospital include folk and rock music, jogging, college sports, and underwater basket weaving.

 

RESIDENCY PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION:

 Melanie Lewis, Program Administrator - mllewis@emory.edu

Jill Cuestas, Recruitment & Program Coordinator – interns@emory.edu

Carolyn Lyles, Program Administrative Assistant – clyles@emory.edu

Mariama Credell, Evaluations and Data Manager - bcredel@emory.edu

Joanne Boykin, Program Coordinator for Primary Care – jboykin@emory.edu

Ginny Hardison, Student Education Coordinator - ginny.hardison@emory.edu

Chandra Lyons, Residency Program Assistant-clyons@emory.edu

TRANSITIONAL TRACK LEADERSHIP