Wake Forest Baptist Announces New Chair of Internal Medicine

June 7, 2016

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has named Gary E. Rosenthal, M.D., as Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine effective Sept. 12, 2016. Rosenthal will succeed Jeff D. Williamson, M.D., who has served as interim chair of internal medicine for the past year. Williamson will resume his position at the medical center as Section Chief of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine.

Rosenthal is an accomplished physician-researcher whose work has focused on improvement of patient care access, quality, and cost. His research has been well funded by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Health Resources and Services Administration, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others. He has also worked to develop multi-institutional clinical research data networks to support practice-based pragmatic clinical trials.

“Gary has a national reputation as a leader in the development of innovative interventions using evidence-based clinical practices,” said Edward Abraham, M.D., dean, Wake Forest School of Medicine. “He will be a terrific asset and continue to build on Wake Forest Baptist’s existing educational, clinical and research strengths.”

Rosenthal comes to Wake Forest Baptist from the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, where he is the Roy J. Carver chair of internal medicine, professor of internal medicine and health management and policy, and director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. Previously, he served as director of the division of general internal medicine (1998-2010) and as the founding director of the Center for Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation at the Iowa City VA Medical Center, which supports interdisciplinary research to identify variations in health care delivery and implement best practices.

Rosenthal is highly sought as a lecturer and author of more than 165 peer-reviewed publications. He has served on numerous national advisory groups for the VA and the NIH. He is past president of the Society of General Internal Medicine (2010-2011) and the Association of Chiefs and Leaders of General Internal Medicine (2005-06). 

Rosenthal earned a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University (1978) and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (1983). He completed his internal medicine residency and general medicine fellowship at University Hospitals of Cleveland and a geriatrics fellowship at Case Western Reserve University. He began his academic and professional career in 1990 at Case Western Reserve University, the University Hospitals of Cleveland and the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 1998, he moved to the University of Iowa, Department of Medicine, where he earned the rank of professor in 2001.

Rosenthal will be joined in Winston-Salem by his wife, Nancy Rosenthal, M.D., who will also be on staff at Wake Forest Baptist in the department of pathology. The Rosenthals have two adult daughters, Allison and Jaime. 

Media Relations

Paula Faria: pfaria@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-1279

Mac Ingraham: mingraha@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-3487