Department of Medicine

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…

A five-year, multisite clinical trial will compare two medication strategies for advanced chronic kidney disease, enrolling 1,350 participants nationwide. Advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects over 1 million people in the US. Individuals with advanced CKD have high risks of kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation, cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, and death, as well as…

Ross Boyce, MD, MSc, is one of four UNC Health teammates honored by the Triangle Business Journal as recipients of a 2026 Health Care Leadership Award. Dr. Boyce, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, was honored with the Doctor of the Year award. The TBJ published a profile of each award recipient: What motivates you in your everyday work? “Scientifically, I am …

Less than half of people with HIV in the U.S. stay consistently connected to outpatient HIV care, a gap that limits access to lifesaving medications and increases the risk of HIV transmission. Hospitalizations are especially common among people who are already disconnected from care. Among the nearly 200,000 hospitalizations among persons with HIV in the US every year, more than half are persons …

Myron S. Cohen, MD, the Global Health Director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, was selected to receive a 2026 Faculty Award for Global Excellence from UNC Global Affairs. Only three faculty members receive this annual award. Dr. Cohen’s 30 years of studies on HIV and leadership in the infectious disease field were among the reasons his peers, staff and students nominat…

The University of North Carolina Internal Medicine Program has announced the following chief residents who will serve during the 2027-2028 academic year. The administrative chief resident is a position of distinction, professionalism and leadership. These appointed physicians will lead and mentor residents, as they continue to align the training program with the needs of the department and hospit…

Dr. Darren DeWalt, chair of the UNC Department of Medicine, shared the following message on the passing of Dr. Sarah Smithson. Dear Colleagues, It is with great sadness that I write to share the news that Dr. Sarah Smithson passed away unexpectedly earlier this week after a brief, serious illness. Sarah was a deeply loved primary care physician and a valued member of the Department of Medicine fo…

The clickable links below navigate directly to outside media articles which featured Department of Medicine faculty and staff throughout the month of March 2026. Spencer Dorn, MD, joined Roon to host a talk on clinical use of AI. Klara Klein, MD, PhD, was featured on an NPR segment on the ability of GLP-1 drugs to decrease addiction risk. Cindy Gay, MD, MPH, and David Margolis, MD, and the UNC HI…

Kunal Patel, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and a Foundation Phase Academic Coach in the Office of Academic Excellence, was chosen to be the 2026 Match Day speaker by the graduating class of medical students. Dr. Patel was the final speaker before students opened their match envelopes, providing last words of encouragement! Read more about …

C. Adrian Austin, MD, MSCR, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, is a co-author of the newly published “ Executive Summary: Society of Critical Care Medicine Guidelines on Caring for Older Adults in the ICU, “ appearing in Critical Care Medicine. The guidelines were developed by a multidisciplinary panel convened by the Board of the American College of C…

Years of hard work and dreams were folded into envelopes. On March 20th, medical students discovered where their career journey would take them for residency. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Internal Medicine Residency Program paired 31 categorical residents, 8 preliminary residents, and 7 Medicine/Pediatrics residents. This curriculum teaches internists how to provide compassio…

Mofiyin Obadina, MD, and Erica Sparkenbaugh, PhD, assistant professors in the Division of Hematology and the UNC Blood Research Center, received $50,000 from NC TRaCS for their TTSA proposal entitled, “Hypoxemia-Induced Platelet Activation in Sickle Cell Disease Pregnancy: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.” This award supports the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations and projects…

The Medical Staff Physician Excellence Committee (MSPEC) announced Dr. Thelsa Weickert, associate professor in the Division of Cardiology, and Dr. Jonathon Heath, associate professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine, as recipients of the 3rd annual Medical Staff Physician Clinical Excellence Award. This prestigious award celebrates UNC clinical physicians who exemplify excellence in patient c…

Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. David Lynch was recently awarded a K23 from the NIA. According to the NIH, the K23 award provides support for, “an intensive, mentored research career development experience for individuals with a clinical doctoral degree who have made a commitment to patient-oriented research.” It also provides five years of salary and research support for investigators who ha…

Anisha Ganguly, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of General Medicine & Clinical Epidemiology, co-authored a study revealing a significant disparity in residency program applications in states with more restrictive abortion laws. Published in JAMA , the research analyzed nearly 24.2 million applications submitted to 4,315 residency programs across all medical specialties be…

Millie Long MD, MPH , Chief of the UNC Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, will be recognized as the 2026 Woman of Distinction in Medicine by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. The 33rd annual awards luncheon will be helped in New York City in April. Since 1993, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has hosted the Women of Distinction Luncheon, which over the past 33 years has become the top fun…

The clickable links below navigate directly to outside media articles which featured Department of Medicine faculty and staff throughout the month of February 2026. Stephan Moll, MD, studied an astronaut who was treated for deep vein thrombosis in space. Beth Jonas, MD , consulted on a study about sequential biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. David Wohl, MD, continued to stress the prev…

In a recently published Nature Medicine article, Dr. John Batsis and colleagues discussed unintended risks of sarcopenic obesity during weight-loss interventions in older people. According to Batsis, drugs being prescribed to older adults for weight loss (incretin mimetic drugs or GLP-1s) do reduce fat, but may reduce muscle as well. Consequently, preserving muscle in older adults, especially tho…