Wake Forest Baptist April Awards and Recognitions

April 18, 2012

Breast Care Center Is Re-Accredited by National Program

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 - The Breast Care Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has had its accreditation renewed by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), which is administered by the American College of Surgeons.

NAPBC accreditation is valid for three years. In 2009, the Breast Care Center - part of Wake Forest Baptist's Comprehensive Cancer Center - became the first center in the region and one of just two in North Carolina to earn the designation.

Accreditation by the NAPBC is given only to centers that voluntarily commit to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that pass a rigorous evaluation and review process.

During that process, which included an on-site visit, the Breast Care Center met or exceeded the NAPBC's standards for diagnosing and treating women for the full spectrum of breast diseases. The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education and quality improvement.

Wake Forest Baptist Surgeon Serving as President of National Orthopaedic Organization

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 -David F. Martin, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and director of sports medicine at Wake Forest University, has begun his term as president of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS).

Martin, who was elected to the position in the fall of 2011, is the 58th president of the ABOS, which was founded in 1934 and is the certifying board for orthopaedic surgeons in the United States. An ABOS director for the past five years, he previously served as the organization's treasurer.

A graduate of Dartmouth College who earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University, Martin joined the Wake Forest Baptist faculty in 1990.

Comprehensive Epilepsy Center's Top-Level Designation is Renewed

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 -Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center'sComprehensive Epilepsy Center has once again been designated a Level 4 center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC).

Level 4 is the highest designation conferred by the NAEC and is valid for one year. It recognizes centers that have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.

Wake Forest Baptist is the only Level 4 center in northwest North Carolina and one of only four in the state.

The Comprehensive Epilepsy Center team includes epileptologists, neurosurgeons, nurse clinicians, social workers, a pharmacologist and a neuropsychologist.

Five atWake Forest Baptist are Awarded Grants for Work in Geriatrics

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 - Five physicians at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center are among the 83 advanced fellows and junior faculty members at the 28 Hartford Centers of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training who have been awarded career-development grants through a program administered by the American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR).

The recipients of the Hartford Scholars in Geriatric Medicine grants are Kathryn E. Callahan, M.D., assistant professor, geriatrics and gerontology; Timothy M. Corbett, M.D., instructor, family and community medicine; Franklin S. Watkins, M.D., assistant professor, geriatrics and gerontology; Julie A. Williams, M.D., assistant professor, geriatrics and gerontology, and Valerie K. Wilson, fellow, geriatrics.

The grant program is funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health of older Americans.

Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist, was named a Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training 2007 and recently had its designation renewed.

Two Family Medicine Practices Recognized for Patient-Centered Services

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 -Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center'sFamily Medicine at Piedmont Plaza I and Peace Haven Family Medicine practices have been awarded the highest level of recognition in the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

The Level 3 PCMH designation recognizes health care settings that facilitate partnerships among patients, their physicians and, when appropriate, their family members through registries, information technology, health information exchanges and other means to assure that the patients receive proper care when and where they need and want it in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

Family Medicine at Piedmont Plaza I and Peace Haven Family Medicine are the first Wake Forest Baptist practices to earn the Level 3 PCMH designation.

The NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. It accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance.

$1.9 Million Grant to Fund Continuation of Hypertension Research

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 - The Hypertension and Vascular Research Center at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has received renewal of a Program Project Grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

This $1.9 million grant will fund the research activities of Carlos Ferrario, M.D., professor of surgical sciences; Debra I. Diz, Ph.D., director of the Hypertension and Vascular Research Center; Elisabeth Tallant, Ph.D., assistant director of the center, and Kathleen Brosnihan Simmons, Ph.D., professor of surgical sciences-hypertension, as well as the operational costs of four core units, during the program's 19th and 20th years of existence at the medical school. 

The research being funded focuses on the role of novel angiotensin peptides in the regulation of blood pressure, hypertension-induced cardiovascular remodeling and the adaptation of peptides during pregnancy.

Faculty Member Selected to Serve on NIH Study Section

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 -Waldemar Debinski, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurosurgery and radiation oncology and director of the Brain Tumor Center of Excellence at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been named to the Cancer Biomarkers Study Section for the Center for Scientific Review, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This study section reviews grant applications submitted to the NIH for competitive funding and provides NIH with recommendations, information on the status of research and a peer-review process.

Debinski's four-year term will begin July 1. Members are chosen on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

Cancer Center Receives $50,000 Grant from Regional Susan G. Komen Affiliate

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 - The North Carolina Triad Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure has awarded the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center a $50,000 grant to continue its IMPACT (Improve Minority Patient Access Together) breast care program.

The goal of the Wake Forest Baptist initiative is to help guide underserved, underinsured women - primarily African-American and Hispanic - in the Winston-Salem area through the complex treatment paradigm for breast cancer. Key activities in the program, which was established in 2008, include engaging in community outreach, providing screening and diagnostic mammograms and coordinating services through patient navigators.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the world's largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. The North Carolina Triad Affiliate is based in Winston-Salem.

Two Faculty Members Accepted into National Leadership Program

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 18, 2012 -Sarah L. Berga, M.D., and Debra I. Diz, Ph.D., of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have been accepted into the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.

Berga is vice president, women's health, and professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology. Diz is a professor of surgical sciences-hypertension and director of the Hypertension and Vascular Research Center.

ELAM is a national training program for women in medicine that aims to increase the number of women in leadership positions at academic medical centers.

Two other Wake Forest Baptist faculty members - Bettina M. Beech, Ph.D., co-director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, and Amy McMichael, M.D., professor and interim chair of dermatology - will graduate from the ELAM program this spring.

Media Relations

Megan Lee: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587