Woods Resigns as Director of Angelou Research Center

August 21, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Kristy F. Woods, M.D., M.P.H., has resigned as director of the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, effective Aug. 25.

In a letter to the center’s national advisory board members, Woods said, “It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as the director of the Angelou Research Center.... Over the past three years the center has gained local and national recognition in its efforts to address health disparities and minority health issues.”

Woods was hired as the center’s director and as a professor of internal medicine in June 2003. During her tenure, the center secured several grants totaling more than $850,000 to implement minority health research and programs. A network of collaborative partnerships has been created across the state and region to increase health literacy in African American, American Indian and Hispanic communities.

Recruitment of minority faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine has increased significantly as a result of center efforts. The Angelou Research Center has also established a biennial national conference and a lecture series to increase awareness about minority health and racial and ethnic health disparities.

Richard H. Dean, M.D., president of Wake Forest University Health Sciences, will direct the center on an interim basis. “I am very appreciative of Dr. Woods’ contributions to the Angelou Research Center and its accomplishments while she has been director,” Dean said. “We are very much committed to the center’s mission and its continuing work in addressing disparities in health care and health status for minorities.”

Dean said a national search will begin soon for a new director.

# # #

Media Contacts: Jim Steele, jsteele@wfubmc.edu, or Mark Wright, mwright@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Wake Forest University School of Medicine 18th in family medicine, 20th in geriatrics, 25th in primary care and 41st in research among the nation's medical schools. It ranks 32nd in research funding by the National Institutes of Health. Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty are listed in Best Doctors in America.

Media Relations