Department of Medicine

Since joining the UNC Department of Medicine in 2005, Cristin Colford, MD, FACP, has demonstrated an exceptional ability to connect with learners at every stage while also advancing innovative educational programs that can strengthen the future of academic medicine. Now, she will be taking these special talents into a new chapter as the vice dean for education at the UNC School of Medicine. Dr. C…

Each year, UNC Hospitals administers the Press Ganey Medical Practice survey to solicit feedback from patients. The survey asks our patients about their likelihood of recommending their provider’s practice to their friends and family. This year, 128 Department of Medicine physicians and advanced practice providers received the highest recommendations. We are honored to recognize the following as …

M. Bradley Drummond, MD, MHS, will serve as the new Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine in the University of Pittsburg Department of Medicine, effective September 1, 2026. Dr. Drummond is currently a Professor of Medicine, Vice Chief of Outpatient Services, Medical Co-Director of the Pulmonary Specialty Clinics, and Director of the Obstructive Lung Disea…

Since 2013, the UNC Center for Health Innovation has come together annually to offer pilot funding for selected project proposals that demonstrate clear dedication to improving patient care, strengthening the healthcare system, and meeting the mission of the center as a whole. Projects that receive funding come from a broad area of interests including: Care delivery models Health Equity and dispa…

As the first accredited center in the state, this recognition highlights UNC’s leadership in multidisciplinary pulmonary embolism care and commitment to improving patient outcomes. The University of North Carolina has been officially designated as a Comprehensive Care Pulmonary Embolism Center of Excellence™ by The Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) Consortium®. This national organization is…

Shetal A. Patel MD, PhD an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology, was awarded Conquer Cancer’s EveryGrant QI funds for his project entitled “Improving Actionable Biomarker Testing Through Reflexive Large Language Model Based Review of Electronic Medical Records”. Dr. Patel was one of only 8 recipients in North America. Read more about EveryGrant here. Continue reading

Congratulations to department faculty who received the following accolades, awards and appointments May 1 – May 31, 2026. David Rosen, MD, PhD, was promoted to Professor of Medicine. Asher Schranz, MD, MPH was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine. Jonathan Sorah, MD, was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine. Christopher Dittus, DO, MPH, was promoted to Professor of Medicine. Continu…

The clickable links below navigate directly to outside media articles which featured Department of Medicine faculty and staff throughout the month of May 2026. Klara Klein MD, PhD, found that Wegovy use can reduce heavy drinking in a clinical trial. David Weber, MD, MPH, eased North Carolinian’s worries about Hantavirus and provided some history of the disease. Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, and Philip…

Many people dedicate their lives to Carolina by being loud and proud of their accomplishments, conducting groundbreaking research or caring for countless patients in clinic. Others quietly bleed Carolina Blue. That is the kind of legacy Drs. Janet Rubin and Jeffrey Lawrence (Larry) Klein have built at the University of North Carolina. For decades, Rubin and Klein have embodied what it means to be…

UNC Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine Fellow, Emma Bick, MD, MPH, in collaboration with Assistant Professors of Medicine Benjamin J. Sines, MD, MSCR, and C. Adrian Austin, MD, MSCR, recently published a paper in Critical Care Explorations . The observational study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the prevalence of substance use and delirium complicating ICU and floor admiss…

While the growth of various AI algorithms has in some ways made the data science and analytics process stronger and more efficient, it has also brought about growing forms of disparities in the healthcare world. For example, some AI algorithms have inadvertently prioritized affluent populations while performing worse in historically underrepresented populations. This situation is a part of a larg…

Recently, the UNC Nutrition Research Institute welcomed Dr. John Batsis as Medical Director of the Clinical Research Core (CRC). Throughout his professional career, Dr. Batsis has dedicated himself to caring for older adults through clinical care, research, and education. Since the CRC supports human studies and helps researchers translate discoveries into real-world interventions, Dr. Batsis see…

In a recently published ASCO article, Abner Murray, MD, PhD, UNC Hematology/Oncology Fellow, discusses the importance of scientific communication and how to effectively prepare for scientific presentations. Presenting at a scientific conference is a unique stage. You are given just a few minutes to shape how your evidence and research is interpreted, disseminated, and ultimately translated into c…

Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Hillary Spangler was recently accepted into the Butler-Williams Scholars Program. Held annually, this summer’s program will take place August 3-6, 2026 in Rockville, Maryland. Sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the program address both the opportunities and challenges of aging research. Dr. Spangler says, “I am honored to be selected as a Butle…

A recent study co-authored by Kunal Jakharia, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the UNC Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, and published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, found that people with bronchiectasis and chronic sinus disease were more likely to have mucus samples that tested positive for a bacteria known as Pseudomona…

As part of the continued support of the Accelerate Forward Together Strategic Plan, the UNC School of Medicine Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) supports a small number of clinicians committed to translating research findings to advance the practice of medicine in addition to providing clinical care and teaching. PSTP is a pipeline to recruit, train, and retain promising individuals and…

Last month, Associate Professor of Medicine, John Batsis, MD, made his second official visit to Japan for a five-day international symposium. Hosted by the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aging in the Community’s main goal was connecting research and policy discussions with frontline practice. The symposium was the second event of a joint program organized by UNC Global Affairs, th…

The clickable links below navigate directly to outside media articles which featured Department of Medicine faculty and staff throughout the month of April 2026. Haley Simpson, MD, was consulted on the rising survival rate of patients diagnosed with cancer. Lindsay Rosman, MD, published a study identifying atrial fibrillation density as a biomarker for ischaemic stroke risk prediction. David Wohl…

Meet Dr. Wheeler, a pulmonary and critical care physician and the Medical Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Novant Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte! Tell us a little about how got interested in education and your background ? I graduated from the University of Illinois College of medicine in 1990.  I had a 3-year Air Force scholarship and then went on to internal medicine residency trainin…

Lindsey A. Rosman, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology, recently published a study in the European Heart Journal identifying atrial fibrillation density as a biomarker for ischaemic stroke risk prediction. Atrial fibrillation is commonly classified by episode duration and cumulative burden, but Rosman’s research found that these methods fail to capture the tempor…