Tobin Named Chair of Anesthesiology

April 7, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Joseph R. Tobin, M.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center by William B. Applegate, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., interim president of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and dean of The Medical School.
Tobin, professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics, was head of the Section on Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pediatric Critical Care. He is also director of the malignant hyperthermia biopsy testing center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
“Dr. Joseph Tobin is an ideal candidate for this new level of service,” said Applegate. “He has well-established leadership abilities and a broad understanding of the future direction of the practice of anesthesia, as well as thorough familiarity with Wake Forest University Health Sciences.”
Tobin, who has been a faculty member in the Department of Anesthesiology since 1993, graduated magna cum laude from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and earned his medical degree from the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He completed his residency in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, as well as a fellowship in pediatric critical care and pediatric anesthesia, at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
As investigator or co-investigator on a number of research grants, Tobin is also an author or co-author of 27 books and book chapters, 60 journal articles and 68 published abstracts. He is an expert on malignant hyperthermia syndrome and an enthusiastic activist for effective pain management in children.
Tobin is currently president-elect of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, president of the Western North Carolina Society for Neuroscience and a member of the board of directors of the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States.
Tobin succeeds Raymond C. Roy, M.D., Ph.D., who served as chair of anesthesiology for more than 10 years.
###

Media Relations Contacts: Lisa Davanzo, ldavanzo@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-6906; Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4977 or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-2415.

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 primary care and 44th in research among the nation's medical schools. It ranks 35th 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