Skip to main content

Assistant Professor

Biographical Information

Dr. Adams is a Primary Care Sports Medicine Physician in the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Adams earned her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Sports Medicine at Howard University. She went on to complete her Master of Science in Nutrition from Columbia University. Dr. Adams received her medical education from Duke University School of Medicine, then did her Family Medicine residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, including a year as Chief Resident. Dr. Adams completed her Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Thereafter, she returned to South Florida to work at a federally qualified health center, serving as their Medical Director, prior to returning to UNC-CH.

Dr. Adams has received a number of awards during her medical career, including the Duke University School of Medicine Deans’ Award for Service, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation President’s Volunteer Award, the Albert Schweitzer Fellow Award, the AAFP/Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education, UM/JMH Family Medicine Residency Program Chairman’s Award, and the  Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine Outstanding Community and Preventive Medicine Preceptor.

Areas of Interest

As a daughter of two educators, and having been a teacher herself, Primary Care Sports Medicine has allowed Dr. Adams to combine her passion for healthcare and education daily with her patients. Dr. Adams is passionate about health promotion from an early age. Her research areas of interest lie primarily in assessing and managing high-risk behaviors and nutritional and physiologic misconceptions that may plague adolescent and young adult athletes. Dr. Adams has been heavily involved in serving communities locally and internationally from a young age. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Academy For Excellence, a 501(c)3 arts and education program based in Hyattsville, MD . She is also the Founder and Medical Director of Run For Life Trinidad and Tobago, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of fun healthy lifestyles for secondary school students through training for a marathon relay. Dr. Adams currently serves as a national team doctor with the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.

Photo of Nailah Adams
  • Department of Family Medicine

  • Phone Number

    (984) 215-4780

  • Address

    590 Manning Drive

    Chapel Hill, NC 27599