Wake Forest Baptist September Awards and Recognitions

September 28, 2016

Wake Forest Baptist Awarded for Community Opportunities

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been presented the Employer of the Year Award by Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina.

The award recognizes the Medical Center’s commitment to providing employment opportunities for Goodwill’s participants in the community.

Goodwill Industries is a nonprofit organization that funds employment and training programs through the sale of donated items to their stores.

Wake Forest Baptist’s Chief Medical Officer Appointed to National Board 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 29, 2016 – Russell Howerton, M.D., chief medical officer and professor of surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been appointed to the board of governors of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

As a board member, Howerton will bring his expertise in clinical health sciences research to the identification of critical research questions, the funding of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research and the dissemination of results in ways that are useful to patients and the community.

PCORI is an independent, non-profit, nongovernmental research funding organization created through the Affordable Care Act and authorized by Congress.

The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that exists to support Congress. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions.

Wake Forest Baptist Names New Chair of Radiology

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 28, 2016 – Reginald Munden, M.D., D.M.D, M.B.A., has been named chair of the Department of Radiology and executive director of the Imaging Shared Services at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, effective Oct. 17.

As chair, Munden will lead the department's overall direction, operation and management, as well as expansion of educational and collaborative research activities. In his role as executive director of Imaging Shared Services, he will be responsible for clinical services in imaging provided by the department and the coordination of imaging services across Wake Forest Baptist Health.

Munden joins Wake Forest Baptist from Houston Methodist Hospital, where he was chair of the Department of Radiology.

Wake Forest Baptist Physician Earns National Recognition

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 28, 2016 – A study led by Elsayed Z. Soliman, M.D., professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been recognized by the editors of Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Soliman’s paper on the effect of intensive blood pressure lowering on left ventricular hypertrophy was selected as one of the top original papers published by the journal in the category of population science.

The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.

Wake Forest School of Medicine Professor Honored

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 28, 2016 – Mark Hall, J.D., professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine, has been appointed as a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Hall is also a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law.

Brookings Institution is a Washington D.C.-based think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences.

Wake Forest School of Medicine Student Receives National Recognition

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 28, 2016 – Andrew Mullin, a second-year medical student at Wake Forest School of Medicine, has been awarded the annual Benjamin H. Kean Travel Fellowship in Tropical Medicine from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

The fellowship provided Mullin the opportunity to travel to Liberia and conduct a research project that focused on issues facing resource limited hospitals which is a common theme in tropical medicine. 

 The ASTMH is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health.

Media Relations

Eryn Johnson: eryjohns@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-8228

Joe McCloskey: jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-1273