Training Program Faculty

Wake Forest School of Medicine

Research Resources
Wake Forest School of Medicine has consistently improved its research portfolio and its institutional commitments to clinical research over the last 3 decades. NIH funding has grown steadily over the last decade (Figures B.1 and B.2); the 2005 WFUHS NIH ranking is 35th, with $122,685,142 of funding (60% of which is classified as clinical research). Total extramural funding from all sources is ~ $ 200 million/yr. The Reynolda Campus also maintains a diverse annual research portfolio of ~100 extramurally funded research programs, 85% of which are federally funded – predominately in biomedical sciences. This ongoing success is a direct result of an active program by the administration and faculty of the Medical School to continually embrace new technologies and research opportunities. The Medical School’s successful and continuously evolving research programs provides a strong and dynamic setting for pre- and postdoctoral training.

NIH and Total Extramural Research Funding by Year

The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC)
Clinical research at WFUHS has been fostered since 1993 by a highly successful General Clinical Research Center. Funding was renewed for 5 years on March 1, 2006. Charles McCall, M.D., co-Director of the WFU TSI, has been the GCRC Program Director since it opened. A main unit and a Geriatric satellite (totaling ~10,000 sq ft) attract ~8000 ambulatory research participants per year, who are recruited to over 60 extant protocols. Collaboration among the clinical and basic research faculty is a hallmark of the GCRC, which primarily focuses on clinical research performed in an ambulatory (~ 80%) or scatter bed setting (~15%). During the most recent reporting period, 175 WFUHS faculty used GCRC resources in support of clinical research. Investigators associated with GCRC projects generated over $70 million/yr in extramural funding in 2005. The current GCRC annual budget is ~$3.5 million. The GCRC has now begun a new phase that includes incorporation of greater use of informatics resources, opening of geographically distributed units, and development of new programs to promote team science.

The Clinical CV Research Training Faculty

The Clinical CV Research Training program is directed by Dr. David M. Herrington, Professor of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Director, Translational Science Institute, Associate Professor in Public Health Sciences and Associate Director of the Center for Human Genomics. He has been actively involved in clinical trials and cardiovascular epidemiology with a focus on heart disease in women, the cardiovascular effects of estrogen and the pharmacogenetics of estrogen action. He is currently involved in genome-wide association studies searching for genetic variants associated with early and extensive subclinical atherosclerosis.

The Clinical CV Research Training program relies on a multi-disciplinary collaboration of faculty members from the Departments of Medicine/Cardiology, Public Health Sciences, Surgical Sciences, Physiology and Pharmacology and Biochemistry. Dr. Herrington is joined by the following program faculty:

• Greg Burke, MD, MSc, Professor and Chair, Public Health Sciences - chronic disease research in populations, especially cardiovascular disease
• Deborah Meyers, PhD, Professor, Pediatrics, Co-Director, Human Genomics Center, Section Head, Section on Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics - gene mapping in common complex diseases as well as in Mendelian disorders, gene identification in several respiratory disorders including allergic conditions, asthma and COPD
• Donald W. Bowden, MD, Professor of Biochemistry and Internal Medicine/ Endocrinology & Metabolism, Associate Director, Center for Human Genomics - a wide range of human genetic studies of both single gene disorders, cystic fibrosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia, retinitis pigmentosa, and maturity onset diabetes of the young, and complex diseases, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, recurrent otitis media, end stage renal disease, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic cardiovascular disease
• Dalane Kitzman, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine/ Cardiology and Director of Echocardiography - aging of the heart, exercise physiology, diastolic dysfunction, heart failure, and echocardiography
• Lynne E. Wagenknecht, DrPH, Professor and Section Head, Section on Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences - a chronic disease epidemiologist with an extensive research portfolio in the areas of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
• Eugene Bleecker, MD, Professor and Section Head of Internal Medicine/ Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Co-Director of the Center for Human Genomics- inflammatory mechanisms in airways diseases, epidemiologic studies and clinical trials, respiratory as well as cardiovascular physiology in animal models and man
• K. Bridget Brosnihan, PhD, Professor of Surgical Sciences, Hypertension and Vascular Research Center and Physiology & Pharmacology - assays of angiotensin system hormones and enzymes, measurements of inflammatory markers, cytokines, and growth factors
• W. Gregory Hundley, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine/ Cardiology and Radiologic Sciences – cardiac MRI and cardiovascular cohort studies and clinical trials
• Timothy Howard, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics/ Center for Human Genomics – genetic studies of pulmonary, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular disease
• Dr. Alain Bertoni., MD, PhD,  Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Prevention - diabetes and its complications, cardiovascular disease, quality improvement in chronic disease, and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare