Dear Medical College of Georgia Friends,
Faculty Awards Ceremony recognizes achievements in teaching, research, clinical care and service
Our nearly 200-year-old medical school is undoubtedly going through a time of transformative change — from our new partnership with Wellstar Health System, to the innovative changes in our curriculum, to continued growth of our academic presence across the state and, ultimately, of our class size with our new four-year campus in Savannah. Through all of it, one of the things that has always remained consistent is the exceptional quality of our faculty, whose work in teaching, research, patient care and service, I believe is unparalleled at any medical school in the country. I often say that my job as dean is made easier because of the incredible support of you, my colleagues, which is why it is always an honor to have the chance to recognize you and thank you for your tireless work and unwavering dedication to MCG. This week we had that chance at our annual Faculty Awards Ceremony.
Dr. Neal Weintraub receives Spirit of MCG Award
It isn’t uncommon for me to run into Dr. Neal Weintraub, this year’s Spirit of MCG honoree, as he’s quickly walking from one side of Laney Walker Boulevard to the other. This busy clinician-scientist is an expert in balancing his work in cardiovascular research while also taking care of countless patients and leading our Division of Cardiology. The Georgia Research Alliance Kupperman Eminent Scholar in Cardiovascular Medicine also serves as associate director of the Vascular Biology Center. A native of Albany, homebase for our Southwest Campus, who says he always aspired to serve Georgia, he is committed to improving cardiovascular health and patient care in this community and beyond. He has also maintained continuous grant funding from the NIH and the American Heart Association and has served as a mentor to countless other investigators, many who have gone on to receive numerous NIH awards themselves. Most recently, he served as project lead for a $2.84 million grant through the new AHA Strategically Focused Research Network that is focused on cardio-oncology and minority health. True to what his nominators wrote, “Dr. Weintraub embodies the concept of servant leadership and is a tireless advocate for MCG and Georgia.”
Dr. Xin-Yun Lu honored as Outstanding Faculty member
Dr. Xin-Yun Lu, professor and chair of our Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, is this year’s Outstanding Faculty member. This pharmacologist, molecular behavioral neuroscientist and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Translational Neuroscience, focuses her research efforts on understanding the molecular, cellular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and treatment of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Not only is she a prolific researcher who has secured more than $8 million in funding since joining us in 2017, she also leads by example and, despite her busy schedule as chair, is dedicated to mentoring young faculty members and graduate students, regularly delivering lectures to graduate courses and sharing her vision for the future of neuroscience with the next generation of scholars.
Drs. Robyn Hatley and Michael Rivner receive Lifetime Achievement Awards
Dr. Robyn Hatley, a pediatric surgeon who, like me, completed his residency here and has never left — save for a pediatric surgery fellowship in Chicago — and my longtime Department of Neurology colleague and neuromuscular disease expert Dr. Michael Rivner, both legends in their chosen fields and at this medical school, were recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Dr. Hatley is a dedicated husband and father and — you know I have to tell you this — a former star offensive tackle at Eastern Kentucky University. This honored educator, mentor and gifted surgeon joined the faculty here in 1986. For 26 years, he has chaired the Pediatric Trauma Committee at our Children’s Hospital of Georgia, where he also co-directs the hospital’s extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, program. He has mentored countless medical students and residents throughout his 37-year career, and they love him for it — honoring him with an Exemplary Teaching Award every year from 2008-11 and from 2016-21. The MCG Class of 2008 named him Educator of the Year; in 2017 he received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award; and our Class of 2022 selected him as their Hooding speaker. Like Dr. Hatley, Dr. Rivner found his forever professional home at MCG, where he completed both his neurology residency and neuromuscular diseases fellowship and then quickly joined the faculty. He has been an indelible part of MCG for close to four decades. A pioneering leader in the treatment of ALS and myasthenia gravis, he established the first ALS Center in Georgia here in 2004. An accomplished educator and valued mentor, he has trained more than 60 fellows. Despite “officially retiring” in 2016, this staunch patient advocate is still active in clinical service, running the ALS clinic here and another one in partnership with Atrium Navicent Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Macon.
Dr. Terence O’Keeffe honored with Institutional Service Award
Dr. Terence O’Keeffe, chief of trauma/critical care in our Department of Surgery, is this year’s recipient of the Institutional Service Award. During medical school at the University of Edinburgh, he realized his passion for trauma surgery, but that wasn’t a field of study that was available in his home country of England at the time. He moved to the United States in 1999 to complete a surgery residency at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, then a fellowship in trauma and critical care and a master’s in public health at the University of Miami. He joined our faculty in 2019, after 11 years at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and since has served tirelessly on over 23 different institutional and national committees in support of his chosen field, our medical school and our health system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many hospitals, including ours, were overwhelmed with critically ill patients, Dr. O’Keeffe and his faculty were all hands on deck, staffing two emergency pulmonary critical care units. His nominators probably summed it up best, writing “He is revered by colleagues and learners for his excellent clinical teaching and patient care. He is an excellent human being who knows the role of a servant leader.”
Dr. Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy is this year’s Champion of Diversity
Dr. E. Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy, our associate dean for Learner Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who also happens to be a 2005 MCG graduate, was recognized as this year’s Champion of Diversity. In addition to her clinical work as a psychiatrist/internist, including 13 years as the medical director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service at our health system, she is active on many national committees, including chairing the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry DEI Committee and serving as a member of the American Medical Women’s Association Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Committee and the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry’s DEI Committee. Also an alum of Spellman College, she was recently awarded their 2023 National Alumnae Association College Hall of Fame Award.
Faculty also recognized for mentorship, excellence in teaching and research
The list of winners goes on and on. Others who were selected for recognition by their peers included, Dr. Vikas Kumar, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and program director of the anesthesiology and anesthesiology/emergency medicine critical care fellowship, who received the Mentoring Excellence Award; Dr. Robert Mackin, associate professor in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and a medical educator at the AU/UGA Medical Partnership in Athens, who received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Basic Science Teaching; Dr. J. Kenneth Byrd, chief of Head and Neck Surgery for the Department of Otolaryngology and Dr. Janelle McGill, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and assistant program director for the Pediatric Student Education Program, who both received Distinguished Faculty Awards for Clinical Science Teaching; Dr. Alexander Verin, professor in our Vascular Biology Center and Department of Medicine, who was recognized as Distinguished Faculty for Basic Science Research; Dr. Askiel Bruno, professor in the Department of Neurology and stroke specialist who received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Clinical Science Research; Dr. Danielle Mor, assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience &
Regenerative Medicine, who received the Outstanding Young Basic Science Faculty Award; Dr. Rachel Elam, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Rheumatology, who was recognized with the Outstanding Young Clinical Science Faculty Award; and Dr. Drew Prosser, chief of pediatric otolaryngology and director of the Otolaryngology Residency Program, who was recognized with this year’s Patient Care Award.
Students select Educators of the Year
It is always particularly poignant to me when our students take time out of their incredibly busy schedules to recognize the hard work of you, our faculty and the pivotal role you all play in the physicians they will become. Special thanks to Ana Sophia Chung, president of our Class of 2026, and Sholeh Rezaee, president of our Class of 2024 for being on hand at this year’s ceremony to present the Educator of the Year Awards, which are selected by our students. This year’s recipients are Dr. Pamela Tipler, Department of Medicine, from the Class of 2023; Dr. Ellen House, Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior and Dr. Clive Slaughter, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, from the Class of 2023, Athens Campus; Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Department of Emergency Medicine, from the Class of 2024; Dr. Lara Hart, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, from the Class of 2024, Athens Campus; Dr. David Kozlowski, Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, from the Class of 2025; Dr. Scarlett Schneider, Department of Medicine, from the Class of 2025, Athens Campus; Dr. Puttur Prasad, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, from the Class of 2026; and Dr. Kimberlee Giffen, Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, from the Class of 2026, Athens Campus. Our students also recognized the Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine for its Outstanding Basic Science Teaching and the Department of Pediatrics for its Outstanding Clinical Science Teaching (keeping their four-year winning streak alive, I’m told).
Awards ceremony made possible by our Faculty Senate
Please also let me add my thanks to our Faculty Senate, particularly the Faculty Recognition Committee, which includes Drs. Almira Vazdarjanova, Eric Lewkowiez, Nikhil Patel and Puttur Prasad. Thank you as well to Dr. Julie Dahl-Smith, president, and the rest of the Executive Committee for hosting this year’s ceremony.
AAMC Group on Regional Medical Campuses meeting, held in Savannah, was a rousing success
In keeping with the theme of recognizing the phenomenal work of our faculty in educating the next generation, I was privileged to join leaders from regional medical campuses across the country — including those from every one of our regional campuses — at the Association of American Medical College’s Group on Regional Medical Campuses meeting in Savannah last week. The original plan was to host this meeting, which as the name implies highlights best practices in educating medical students at regional campuses, back in 2020. The COVID pandemic had other plans. I’m happy to say though, that this year’s meeting, which drew record crowds, more than made up for what we missed three years ago. Of course, MCG had a great presence at the meeting with presentations like those from Drs. Elizabeth Gray and Wayne Rentz, from the Southeast Campus, on how they developed a research program for students living and learning there; and from Drs. AJ Kleinheksel and Matt Lyon, on how we’ve been able to ensure students at our regional campuses have the opportunity to experience the same quality simulation as those offered to students at the Interdisciplinary Simulation Center at our home base here in Augusta; among many others. They were all great examples of how MCG is a leader in medical education and of the innovation that exists in our statewide educational model. I also must give a shout out here to Dr. Kathryn Martin, associate dean for regional campus coordination, who is also immediate past chair of the GRMC and planned this year’s meeting in partnership with the leadership of our Southeast Campus. My thanks to you all.
Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program celebrates 3,000th transplant
One last shout out as we close today. Last week, the team at the Carlos and Marguerite Mason Solid Organ Transplant Center performed their 3,000th kidney transplant, and the 103rd just during this academic year. What an amazing accomplishment for this dedicated interdisciplinary team that serves adult and pediatric patients from Georgia, South Carolina and the greater Southeast who need kidney or kidney/pancreas transplants. The program is known for its quality care and excellent outcomes and, in fact, was just last year recognized as a Blue Distinction Center by Blue Cross Blue Shield for its adult living and deceased kidney donor transplant programs, the only one in Georgia with that distinction, which recognizes health care facilities and providers who deliver safe and effective quality health care in a cost-efficient manner. Congratulations to you all.
My best to you always,
David C. Hess, MD
Dean, Medical College of Georgia
