WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – David C. Merrill, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine by William B. Applegate, M.D., M.P.H., dean. The appointment is effective on Nov. 1.
Merrill had been an associate professor and head of the Section on Maternal and Fetal Medicine.
Merrill had been a member of the faculty from 1997 to 2001 and returned in 2002 to become co-director of the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center. Applegate stressed Merrill’s qualifications in teaching, research and patient care.
“With particular interest and expertise in the areas of preeclampsia/eclampsia and maternal and fetal cardiovascular physiology, Dr. Merrill has undertaken several research projects with funding from such sources as the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and the March of Dimes,” he said, noting that the research had resulted in more than 40 journal articles, 30 research abstracts in peer-reviewed journals, and numerous presentations as an invited speaker.
In education, Merrill has been director of the fellowship program in Maternal-Fetal Medicine since March of 2003, training physicians who have completed their residency in obstetrics and gynecology and are preparing for a career in the maternal-fetal medicine subspecialty. Three times, Merrill received the resident teaching award in the department.
A graduate of Dartmouth College with an A.B. in biology, Merrill earned his M.S., Ph.D. and M.D. degrees at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He completed residency training in the Department of Obstetrics, University of California-San Francisco Hospitals, and was a fellow in maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.
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Media Contacts: Robert Conn, rconn@wfubmc.edu, Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, or Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, at 336-716-4587.
About Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center: Wake Forest Baptist 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. The system comprises 1,298 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.