Department Leadership | Department of Medicine

Learn more about Dr. DeWalt and the Department’s Vice Chairs, including Gerald Hladik, MD, Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs; Debra Bynum, MD, MMEL, FACP, Vice Chair for Education; Cristin Colford, MD, Executive Vice Chair; Spencer Dorn, MD, MPH, MHA, Vice Chair for Care Innovation; Linda Raftery, Vice Chair for Administration; and Janet Rubin, MD, Vice Chair for Research, Deepa Kirk, MD, Associate Vice Chair for Outpatient Services.

Darren Dewalt, MD, MPH

Darren DeWalt, MD, MPH

John R. and Helen B. Chambliss Distinguished Professor
Chair, Department of Medicine

Dr. DeWalt was appointed Chair of the University of North Carolina Department of Medicine in July 2025 after serving as Chief of the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, as well as Director of the UNC Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement.

He is nationally recognized for his work in quality improvement and research addressing disparities related to social determinants of health. Dr. DeWalt was the principal investigator for the North Carolina Infrastructure for Maintaining Primary Care Transformation (NC IMPaCT) grant from AHRQ. NC IMPaCT led to North Carolina’s participation in Heart Health Now and Stop Unhealthy Alcohol Use Now (both AHRQ R18s) for which he has served supporting roles.

Recently, Dr. DeWalt completed a clinical trial to test different ways of addressing food insecurity and to understand how such strategies affect health and health care. He also designs and tests self-management interventions for patients with low literacy and chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, COPD, and asthma. His work focuses on improving patient–physician communication and health system design to achieve better outcomes for vulnerable populations.

From 2014 to 2016, Dr. DeWalt served as Director of the Learning and Diffusion Group at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, where he led efforts to design and support improvement across new care models, advanced alternative payment models through the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network and co-led the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative. At UNC, he was principal investigator for the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), developing tools to measure symptoms, function, and quality of life.

Gerald Hladik, MD

Doc J. Thurston Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs, Department of Medicine

Dr. Gerald Hladik is the Doc J. Thurston Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs in the UNC Department of Medicine. He is committed to advancing faculty careers through promotion, mentorship, team-building initiatives, and addressing burnout. Dr. Hladik works as liaison between the department and the SOM Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development team to facilitate the appointment and promotion processes, ensuring they are transparent and effective in supporting faculty success. He places a strong emphasis on recognizing and celebrating the remarkable accomplishments of faculty.

Dr. Hladik completed his medical residency and nephrology fellowship at UNC, later serving as Chief of the UNC Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. Under his leadership, the division saw significant growth in both clinical and research programs. Notable developments include the expansion of multidisciplinary clinics, such as the Amyloidosis Clinic, the Nephrology-Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic, as well as the Multidisciplinary Vasculitis and Glomerular Disease and Transplant programs.

Previously, Dr. Hladik served as the Education Director for Maintenance of Certification for the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), where he co-edited and created the Kidney Self-Assessment Program and co-edited the Nephrology Self-Assessment Program, leading Maintenance of Certification resources for ASN members.

Debra Bynum, MD, MMEL, FACP

Professor of Medicine
Vice Chair for Education, Department of Medicine

Originally from eastern North Carolina, Dr. Bynum was the first person in her family to attend college and graduated from Davidson in 1990 with a degree in Biology and a focus on ecology and marine biology. From there, she came to Chapel Hill for medical school and stayed at UNC for residency training. After completing a year as chief resident, she joined the faculty at WakeMed Hospital where she worked in the clinic caring for Raleigh’s underserved, attended on the inpatient service with UNC residents and students, and helped to found one of the first hospitalist programs in the area.

After three years at WakeMed, she returned to UNC for further training as a fellow in the Geriatric Medicine program and was appointed to a faculty position in 2001. During the subsequent fourteen years, she held multiple leadership positions within the School of Medicine, the Department of Medicine, and the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship and Internal Medicine Residency programs. She directed the Acting Internship for senior students as well as co-directed the clinical skills course for second year students, served on the School of Medicine education committee, and helped to design, implement, and co-direct both a transition course for new third year students as well as a teaching elective for fourth year students. She served as the Program Director for the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship from 2008-2014 and was selected to lead the Internal Medicine Residency program in May of 2014.

She has received multiple teaching awards and completed the requirements to earn a Master of Science degree in Medical Education Leadership. With this dedication to teaching and learners at all levels, Dr. Bynum was selected to serve as the Vice Chair for Education for the Department in 2022.

Cristin Colford, MD, FACP

Cristin Colford, MD

Executive Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine

Dr. Cristin Colford is an experienced clinician, medical educator and administrator. She received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 2001, followed by residency and chief residency in 2005. Dr. Colford is Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine. She is the former Associate Program Director for the internal medicine residency program and has experience in undergraduate medical education as a clerkship director, course director, and thread director for patient care and clinical skills. Her leadership has been recognized for curriculum development, learner assessment, faculty development, mentoring, and quality improvement. Dr. Colford has received numerous awards for outstanding teaching and clinical care, including the Academy of Educators Excellence in Teaching Award and the UNC Health Care Carolina Care Excellence Award.

As executive vice chair, Dr. Colford supports the clinical, educational and research activities in each division. She collaborates with faculty from all divisions in the UNC Department of Medicine, to develop innovative, patient centered, forward thinking models of care.

Janet Rubin, MD

Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Vice Chair for Research, Department of Medicine

Dr. Rubin became the Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine in 2015. She brings over 30 years of experience in funded research, NIH and VA grant review and junior faculty development to this position. A longstanding interest in mentoring young investigators toward independent research careers has been critical to her new initiatives as Vice-Chair. These include the Physician-Scientist Development Pathway, the recruitment of new physician scientists to the DOM, outreach to the DOM’s many K-grant holders, and involvement in UNC’s successful MSTP program. Along with Alex Duncan, she developed and teaches the highly successful R-grant writing group.

Dr. Rubin’s NIH funded laboratory investigates how physical factors regulate mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. Recent findings include that the nuclear envelope is a mechano-sensory site, and that intranuclear actin regulates osteogenesis. These studies use cellular techniques as well as a running mouse model.

Dr. Rubin practices endocrinology as a member of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. She has adjunct appointments in Bioengineering, Pharmacology and Pediatrics. Dr. Rubin’s family is committed to UNC Medicine: her husband is a member of the Cardiology Division, her daughter is an Endocrinology fellow, and her son-in-law is a Nephrology fellow.

Gillian “Jill” Watson, MHA

Associate Chair of Administration, Department of Medicine

Jill Watson earned her Master of Healthcare Administration from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. She joined the Department as Associate Chair of Administration in 2025. In this role, she partners with departmental and health system leadership to advance strategic planning, operational excellence, faculty support, financial stewardship, and program growth across the clinical, research, and educational missions.

Watson first joined the UNC School of Medicine in 2012 as an operations analyst and has since held a variety of leadership roles across the institution, including business manager for the Meadowmont Heart and Vascular Clinics and Associate Chief of Administration for the Divisions of Hospital Medicine and Geriatrics within the Department of Medicine.

Prior to joining the medicine leadership team, she served as Associate Chair of Administration for the Department of Neurology. She is also deeply committed to mentorship, development of staff, and fostering an inclusive and accountable workplace culture.

Deepa Kirk, MD

Professor of Medicine
Vice Chief, Clinical Affairs, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Associate Vice Chair for Outpatient Services, Department of Medicine

Dr. Deepa Kirk grew up in eastern North Carolina and attended UNC Chapel Hill for undergraduate studies and medical school. She completed internal medicine residency, chief residency, and endocrinology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. After 2 years of clinical practice in western Virginia, she returned to UNC as a faculty member in the Division of Endocrinology.

She served as the director of the medical student endocrine block, which was awarded the best Foundation Phase Block for several years. She served as medical director of the UNC Endocrinology Clinic for 10 years, where she championed the patient experience and optimal clinic flows; helped to create the “EEP” program which has since grown to provide “at the elbow” EPIC support to clinicians across the Medical Center; and led initiatives in online access and patient triaging that were adopted within the department and the medical center.

In 2019, Dr. Kirk became the Vice Chief for Clinical Affairs for the Division of Endocrinology. In 2023, she became the Associate Vice Chief for Outpatient Services in the Department of Medicine. In both roles, she has the privilege of working across departments and with hospital and School of Medicine leaders to optimize workflows, patient care, and the recruitment and retention of stellar physicians.

Clinically, Dr. Kirk’s practice focuses on thyroid disorders and general endocrinology. One of her greatest joys is seeing patients in the UNC Endocrine clinic, both in her own panel and with and endocrine fellows in their weekly continuity clinics. She has been the recipient of the Carolina Care Excellence Award every year since it was established in 2015, and was named Carolina Care Clinical Champion of the Year in 2019.