WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – William B. Applegate, M.D., M.P.H., dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has been elected chair-elect of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP) for 2007-2008.
Applegate, who is also senior vice president of Wake Forest University Health Sciences, has been a fellow of the ACP since 1984, a regent since 2002, editor of the ACP’s Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program in geriatrics, chairman of its publications committee, and a member of several of its other committees. His election means that he will become chairman of the ACP board in May 2008.
The ACP is the nation's largest medical specialty society, representing physicians in internal medicine and its subspecialties, including, endocrinology, rheumatology, infectious diseases, allergy and immunology, and geriatrics. Total membership is about 120,000, including medical students.
Applegate, who received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Louisville, is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. Before becoming dean at Wake Forest in 2002, he was chairman of internal medicine. Other leadership roles include chairman of the American Association of Retired Persons Pharmacy Advisory Board, editor of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and president of the American Geriatrics Society. He has served on the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Aging.
“This is outstanding and well-deserved recognition of Bill Applegate’s contributions to the medical profession for him to be selected to chair this prestigious organization,” said Richard H. Dean, M.D., president of Wake Forest University Health Sciences. “The ACP will benefit from the same great qualities that have made him a highly successful dean.”
In announcing Applegate’s election in its November issue, the ACP Observer said that Applegate’s areas of expertise include research and grants development, preventive medicine, graduate medical education, and publications. Before becoming dean, Applegate was a nationally recognized scientist in the area of managing hypertension in the elderly. As a clinician, he has been listed in both Best Doctors in America and America’s Top Doctors.
The ACP’s major activities include public policy, continuing medical education and publishing. Its flagship journal is Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the most widely cited medical specialty journals in the world. The Board of Regents manages the business and affairs of the ACP and is its main policy-making body.
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Media Contacts: Mark Wright, mwright@wfubmc.edu, Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu; (336) 716-4587.
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 family medicine, 20th in geriatrics, 25th in primary care and 41st 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.