Trans Talk Tuesday (LGBTQ Center)
2022-11-15 18:30 - 19:30, 2022-12-06 18:30 - 19:30, 2022-12-20 18:30 - 19:30, 2023-01-03 18:30 - 19:30, 2023-01-17 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Videoconferencing
Trans Talk Tuesday

Location:

Zoom – Contact Facilitator for Link

In LGBTIQ spaces do you feel like the T is left out?
Would you like to connect with folks around topics of gender identity and gender expression?
Are you questioning your gender identity and hoping to talk to other questioning folks?
Would you like to share your knowledge and expertise in regards to navigating systems that don’t often recognize diversity within gender?

Join the LGBTQ Center’s peer support/discussion group for campus and community members that identify as transgender, genderqueer, or gender-questioning. This space is meant to provide community and connection amongst folks on the basis of gender identity. All students, staff, faculty, community members with these identities are welcome.
Note to Allies
We have been asked if allies are welcome. As this space is not meant to be an educational space where people have to explain their identities, we ask that people who do not identify as part of the transgender community (i.e., cisgender allies) not attend. Instead, please consider taking advantage of our educational programs and/or resources for supportive families or friends.
Accommodations for Social Distancing
Trans Talk Tuesday will be moving online for now. We’ll be meeting the first and third Tuesdays at 6:30 (NOT 6:15 like we usually do) on Zoom, a videoconferencing platform with an online, desktop, and mobile app. If you’d like to receive the Zoom info each week, please sign up for the Trans Talk Tuesday email list by emailing the facilitator, Anole, at anole.halper@gmail.com.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Professor Heather Webb presents: "A History of Cardiac Sensation"
2022-11-17 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Heather Webb (Ph.D. Stanford 2004) is a Professor of Medieval Italian Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on medieval ideas of physiology and emotion. Her books explore changing ideas of bodies and depictions of the human over time, including The Medieval Heart (Yale, 2010), Dante’s Persons; An Ethics of the Transhuman (Oxford, 2016), and her most recent publication, Dante, Artist of Gesture (Oxford, 2022).

LGBTQ Center Book Club
2022-11-18 18:30 - 19:30, 2022-12-02 18:30 - 19:30, 2022-12-16 18:30 - 19:30, 2023-01-06 18:30 - 19:30, 2023-01-20 18:30 - 19:30 | Videoconferencing
About Book Club
The LGBTQ Center Book Club is a twice-monthly meeting of lit nerds and casual readers who love to discuss books, fanfic, and other readings with LGBTQIA+ themes. . We meet on a pattern of discussing things we love/late to read on the 1st Friday and meeting to discuss the group’s chosen works on the 3rd Friday. We stay in touch and discuss readings using a dedicated GroupMe chat in between meetings.

Fall 2020 Schedule
1st and 3rd Friday starting 8/21 from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm starting with an interest meeting on 8/21/2020.
September 4th: Reading recs meeting. What are you reading? Tell us what you’ve loved, as well as what you’ve hated!
September 18th: We’ll be discussing Stone Butch Blues (https://www.lesliefeinberg.net/) and Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time (https://uncannymagazine.com/article/small-changes-long-periods-time/) Read whichever one interests you (or read both!)
October 2nd: Reading recs meeting. What are you reading? Tell us what you’ve loved, as well as what you’ve hated!
October 16th: We’ll be discussing The Song of Achilles (https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/catalog/UNCb9053277) and Castle Swimmer (https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/castle-swimmer/episode-1/viewer?title_no=1499&episode_no=1). Read whichever one interests you (or read both!)
November 6th: Reading recs meeting. What are you reading? Tell us what you’ve loved, as well as what you’ve hated!
November 13th (moved up one week for TDOR): We’ll be discussing Giovanni’s Room (https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/catalog/UNCb2684001) and Cigarettes and Wine (https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/catalog/UNCb8906736), Read whichever one interests you (or read both!)
December 4th: Reading recs meeting. What are you reading? Tell us what you’ve loved, as well as what you’ve hated!
Dec 18th: We’ll be discussing Fun Home (https://archive.org/details/funhomefamilytra00bech_0/page/n245/mode/2up) and No Tea, No Shade (https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/catalog/UNCb8648178). Read whichever one interests you (or read both!)
View Calendar Event
RSVP on HeelLife for Zoom link
Join Book Club GroupMe

Sign up for the LGBTQ Center’s twice monthly News and Notes newsletter or follow us for updates on each event theme.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. George Karam in honor of the Third Annual Alan Jacobs Memorial Lecture presents: " Understanding Humanism"
2022-12-01 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Dr. Karam is a graduate of LSU School of Medicine New Orleans, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.  He did his residency in internal medicine, a year as Chief Resident, and his fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  He joined the full-time faculty at LSU School of Medicine in 1983 and achieved the rank of Professor of Medicine in 1994.  In 1990, Dr. Karam became the Head of Internal Medicine at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge and has been the Program Director for the internal medicine residency since that time.  In 2001, he was awarded the endowed Paula Garvey Manship Chair of Medicine.
Dr. Karam is truly a gifted teacher.  He received awards for teaching excellence as both a resident and fellow at UAB.  As a faculty member, he has received the Aesculapian Award as an outstanding professor 19 times, and the graduating senior class named him the best clinical professor 15 times.  He has also been the recipient of the Copping Award, the Shelby-Bourgeois teaching award, the Van Dyk teaching award, and the Humanism in Medicine award, and he was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.  He has received numerous visiting professorship and lectureship awards.  He is an internationally recognized expert on antibiotic resistance and the judicious use of antimicrobials.
Dr. Karam has served the school of medicine with distinction for more than 30 years.  He has touched the lives of countless students and residents.

The Alan Jacobs Memorial Lecture
Alan Jacobs passed away in February 2016 from complications of cardiac amyloidosis. Prior to his diagnosis, Alan led a successful career in film spanning over 40 years. Beginning in the 1960s, he produced documentary films supporting the civil rights and feminist movements and critiquing the Vietnam War. Alan held executive positions at the Trans-Lux Corporation and Hallmark Entertainment Company, where he produced films for television; and board positions at both the Sundance Film Festival, of which he was a founding member and The American Film Institute. In his later years, Alan taught cinematic history and film production at California State University, Long Beach. As impactful as his professional accomplishments were, those fortunate to know Alan remember his intellect, warmth, and humor.
Alan spent his last years in North Carolina and was a patient at UNC Hospitals. Throughout his illness, Alan maintained an interest in the science of his condition and a firm belief in the importance of humanism in patient care, including end-of-life care. One of Alan’s final wishes was to establish a lectureship at the UNC School of Medicine to support the kind of compassionate care that he was so fortunate to receive.
The Department of Medicine is grateful for the generous donation by Alan’s family to establish the Alan Jacobs Memorial Lecture.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Hyman Muss presents: "Cancer and Aging: The Challenges of Cancer Care in Older Patients"
2022-12-08 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Hyman B. Muss MD is an experienced clinician-scientist, the Mary Jones Hudson Distinguished Professor of Geriatric Oncology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and the Director of the Geriatric Oncology Program at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Program. His interest in education and research focused on cancer in older patients and is an internationally recognized leader in this area. His particular interest and research expertise are in the care of breast cancer patients with a focus on the management of older women. He also has a major interest in breast cancer survivorship and the long-term toxicity of treatment. After working with his previous UNC colleague, Dr. Ned Sharpless, he is exploring the role of biomarkers of aging and their potential role as predictors of toxicity and survival. Dr. Muss has developed and been PI of multiple clinical and translational trials including the lead author of an NCI-sponsored intergroup trial that compared standard care with oral chemotherapy in older women with early-stage breast cancer and which for the first time showed the value of chemotherapy in these older populations. He serves as the mentor for medical students, medicine residents, junior faculty, and more recently Geriatric Oncology fellows. He previously co-chaired the Alliance Committee on Cancer in Older Adults. He has been co-chair of the Breast Committee for the CALGB, Chair and a member of the board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the ASCO Foundation. He was awarded the B.J. Kennedy Award in Geriatric Oncology by ASCO, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research, and an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from his alma mater, Lafayette College. He has served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star medal.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. José Gaston Guillem presents:" The Surgeon's Role in the Multidisciplinary Management of Inherited Colorectal Cancer"
2022-12-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
José G. Guillem, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCRS joined the Department of Surgery at UNC Chapel Hill in April 2020 as the new Chief and Professor in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery.
Dr. Guillem is a Board Certified Colorectal Surgeon who obtained his training in General Surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and his training in all aspects of Colorectal Surgery, including inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center.
Prior to joining UNC Health, Dr. Guillem was an Attending Colorectal Surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York for nearly three decades and participated in the advancement of multidisciplinary management of all forms of primary and recurrent cancers of the colon, rectum, anus and appendix as well as the refinement of surgical techniques for resecting the colon, rectum and anus via open and minimally invasive approaches including Robotic and trans-anal microscopic procedures. These advancements have led to improved oncological outcomes and quality of life via preservation of anorectal, bladder, and sexual function following curative rectal cancer surgery. He also has a keen interest in and has managed many patients afflicted with colorectal cancer at a young age as well as patients with Lynch Syndrome and/or other forms of polyposis syndromes. While at MSKCC, he established along with colleagues in Medicine, Clinical Genetics, Gastroenterology, Pathology, and Behavioral Science the Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Family Registry.

Medicine Grand Rounds - Dr. David Weber presents: "Outbreaks and Pandemics: Focus On Mpox and Planning for Future Pandemics and Outbreaks"
2023-01-05 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Dr. David Jay Weber is currently the Charles Addison and Elizabeth Ann Sanders Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Epidemiology, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Dr. Weber received his Medical Degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1977, a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University in 1985, and completed his medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1985.
Dr. Weber is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease, Critical Care Medicine, and Preventive Medicine. He serves as an Associate Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director of Infection Prevention for the UNC Medical Center. He is the Vice President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Deputy Editor of Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Dr. Weber has published more than 525 scientific papers in the peer-reviewed literature cited in PubMed and more than 650 total papers and chapters. He is a member of the CDC working groups on Orthopox virus vaccines, Ebola vaccines, Elimination of TB, and Occupational Health for Healthcare Personnel. His research interests include the epidemiology of healthcare-associated infections, disinfection and sterilization, new and emerging infectious diseases (highly communicable pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, newly emerging pathogens including Candida auris), response to biothreats, nontuberculous mycobacteria, control of drug-resistant pathogens, immunization practices, zoonotic diseases, and epidemiology of tuberculosis.

Medicine Grand Rounds - Dr. Thomas Keyserling and Professor Katie Meyer presents "The Impact of Dietary Patterns on the Gut Microbiome and on Chronic Disease Risk."
2023-01-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Dr. Keyserling is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
He has been the PI or a major contributor to multiple randomized clinical trials conducted in primary care and community settings evaluating behavioral interventions to prevent or reduce morbidity from chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. These trials have included interventions given by physicians at primary care practices, nurses at county health departments, nutritionists and peer counselors at churches, health counselors at community health centers and health departments, and peer counselors recruited from the community. More recently, these studies have included web-based versions of the intervention. The interventions have focused on reducing the risk of heart disease, reducing the risk for cancer, and helping participants lose weight. All of these studies have enrolled low SES and minority patients, many of them residing in eastern NC. As a part of recent studies, he has worked with a team to develop and test a Mediterranean-style dietary intervention adapted for the southeastern US, subsequently named Med-South. In addition to research activities, Dr. Keyserling is an active primary care internist.

Dr. Katie Meyer is a nutritional and cardiovascular disease epidemiologist. Her research focuses on diet-related health behaviors and nutritional risk factors for cardiometabolic disease. She is the recent recipient of a Research Scientist Development Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study the gut microbiome, nutrient metabolites, and cardiovascular disease in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA).

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Michael Craig and Dr. Meera Udayakumar presents "Hospital-at-Home: The UNC Advanced Care at Home Experience."
2023-01-19 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Dr. Craig has been a practicing hospitalist since 2009. He began his hospitalist career at WakeMed and then joined the faculty at UNC full-time in 2015. At UNC he has devoted effort to reduce low-value care including reducing unnecessary cardiac telemetry as part of the Department of Medicine Value Action Group and reducing admissions of syncope patients as an IHQI Clinical Scholar. He has also presented an Update in Hospital Medicine lecture annually since 2012 at UNC, NC AHEC sites and several regional conferences. Leadership roles have included Associate Chief of Clinical Operations for the Division of Hospital Medicine, District 4 (NC, SC, VA & TN) Chair for the Society of Hospital Medicine and Co-Physician Lead of the UNC Health Systemwide Hospitalist Group. He also serves a Physician Advisor for the Department of Care Management. Since 2021, he has participated in the launch and growth of Advanced Care at Home, UNC Health’s hospital-at-home program, as the program’s Associate Medical Director.

Dr. Udayakumar serves as Medical Director for Advanced Care at Home and Executive Medical Director of Quality and Innovation for Triangle East. She has been a Hospitalist at UNC Rex since 2008, where she currently serves as the Chair of Medicine for Rex Physicians. Her prior leadership roles include Chair of the Rex Medical Executive Committee, Medical Director of the Rex Hospitalist team and President of the Triangle Society of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Udayakumar has been named a senior fellow in hospital medicine by the Society of Hospital Medicine and has completed advanced leadership training through the Center for Creative Leadership, as well as the North Carolina Medical Society. She completed medical education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and residency training in internal medicine at Duke University Hospital.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Sarah McGill presents: "Irritable Bowel Syndrome from a Tick? Understanding Gastrointestinal Alpha-gal Syndrome"
2023-01-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Sarah McGIll, MD MSc is a gastroenterologist, endoscopist, and researcher at UNC. Her interests include gastrointestinal manifestation of the alpha-gal syndrome, innovations in colorectal cancer screening and fecal microbiota transplant. In 2020 she published the first description of gastrointestinal-isolated alpha-gal syndrome in the GI literature. Dr. McGill is a North Carolina native and a graduate of UNC, Duke, and Stanford.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Anil Gehi and Dr. Faisal Syed presents "Rate vs. Rhythm Control of Atrial Fibrillation"
2023-02-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
Dr. Gehi’s clinical interests include pacemaker and defibrillator implantation and device extraction, as well as catheter ablation for SVT, VT, atrial flutter, and atrial fibrillation. Dr. Gehi’s research focus includes techniques of ablation for atrial fibrillation (including hybrid ablation), processes of care in the management of atrial fibrillation, and outcomes research in atrial fibrillation through complex analyses of big data.

I am passionate about helping patients with heart rhythm disorders. It gives me great satisfaction to help individuals with heart rhythm disorders. My area of clinical practice, which is cardiac electrophysiology, is additionally rewarding because of its breadth, scientific and technological depth, and the opportunity to team with multiple professional disciplines in treating patients with cardiac arrhythmia. Although much of my time is spent in the cardiac electrophysiology laboratory performing procedures, it’s the interactions I have with my patients that inspire me the most. The environment at UNC Chapel Hill is great for teaching, collaboration, research and innovation, aspects of my work that I also value.

Medicine Grand Rounds- 2023 Blythe Lecture Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb presents: "Kidney Precision Medicine”
2023-02-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
I have been an independently funded NIH investigator for over 30 years, with a consistent focus on conducting clinical and translational research targeting the major complications of kidney disease, a public health problem affecting 850 million people worldwide, 37 million US adults, and is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. In 2008 I became the inaugural Director of the Kidney Research Institute (KRI), Professor of Medicine, and holder of the Joseph W. Eschbach M.D. Endowed Chair in Kidney Research at the University of Washington. The KRI was established with the mission to conduct research that can improve the lives of people living with kidney disease. Under my leadership, the KRI has catalyzed kidney-disease related research across the entire University of Washington and nationwide, obtaining over $200 million in aggregate extra-mural funding, enrolling over 8000 participants in the registry and/or clinical studies of kidney diseases, and generating over 1500 peer-reviewed research publications. The KRI has pioneered patient engagement efforts with the establishment of the Patient Advisory Committee, in addition to an external Scientific Advisory Committee. I have continued with my own research including the development of a “kidney-on-a-chip” microphysiological system and leading the Central Hub and Chairing the Steering Committee for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, a top priority for the NIH/NIDDK. I have been conducting collaborative clinical research throughout my career, and have participated as PI, Co-I, DSMB or EAC member of multiple NIH-sponsored cohort studies and clinical trials, including PICARD, DAC, HFMC, HDNT, ASSESS-AKI, Re-Building a Kidney, Novel Biomarkers of Fibrosis, ISCHEMIA-CKD, the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, and the NCATS Organs on Chips consortium. Up until recently, I served as the Co-Principal Investigator for the UW Division of Nephrology T32 training grant.
In 2016, I also co-founded and became co-Director of the UW Center for Dialysis Innovation (CDI). The CDI is currently developing and testing a series of novel and innovative technologies for dialysis, and aligning these technologies with what matters most to patients, culminating with a robustly and compactly designed portable and/or wearable dialysis system. CDI’s unique, patient-oriented approach has been supported by the work of a Human Factors team, to make sure our technology truly addresses the needs of the end user – the patient. The CDI has won multiple KidneyX prizes including in the artificial kidney and patient innovator competitions. The CDI-sponsored annual IDEAS conference has become the global centerpiece event for dialysis innovators, stakeholders, and patients to come together and share their work toward transforming dialysis.
I have served on numerous study sections and grant review committees, and scientific advisory boards and have held leadership positions in many national and international nephrology societies. I have been a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Subspecialty Board on Nephrology, a Councilor of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and was President of the ASN in 2014-2015. I led efforts within ASN to create a roadmap for Diversity and Inclusion and was the inaugural co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. I have served on expert panels for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Health Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other organizations. I have served on numerous editorial boards and am the author of more than 350 peer-reviewed publications. In addition, I have sponsored/mentored over 40 post-docs, nephrology fellows and graduate students, the majority of whom have gone on to successful academic careers. I have received a number of awards over my career; and in 2021, the American Society of Nephrology conferred the Belding H. Scribner lifetime achievement award for ‘outstanding contributions that directly impact the care of patients with kidney diseases or have substantially changed the clinical practice of Nephrology’.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Druthi P. Chen presents: "APOL1 Gene Variants and Disease Among Individuals of African Descent"
2023-02-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Old Clinic Auditorium
I am deeply interested in and committed to patients with kidney diseases. It is a privilege to take care of complex diseases and be involved with patients and families who come to UNC Kidney Center. In addition to providing personalized care, one of our major strengths is patient-centered approach to research and clinical trials. I hope that learning together will lead to the development of a unique approach to glomerular diseases. I welcome patients and families to ask me about recent research developments and new clinical trials relevant to their disease.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Eric Garland presents: "Healing the Opioid Crisis with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: Outcomes and Mechanisms of An Evidence-Based Therapy for Chronic Pain, Opioid Misuse, and Addiction."
2023-02-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Dr. Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW is a Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor, and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Utah College of Social Work and Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development (C-MIIND). Dr. Garland is the developer of an innovative mindfulness-based therapy founded on insights derived from affective neuroscience, called Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). He has published more than 220 scientific manuscripts and received more than $70 million in research grants to conduct clinical trials of mindfulness for addiction and chronic pain. In recognition of his expertise, Dr. Garland was appointed by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to the NIH HEAL Multi-Disciplinary Working Group to help guide the $1.1 billion HEAL initiative to use science to halt the opioid crisis. In a recent bibliometric analysis of mindfulness research published over the past 55 years, Dr. Garland was found to be the most prolific author of mindfulness research in the world.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Katherine Reeder-Hayes presents: "Big Data, Small Steps: Improving The Quality & Equity OF Breast Cancer Care in North Carolina."
2023-03-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Dr. Reeder-Hayes is a health services researcher with a focus on Black-White racial breast cancer disparities and the comparative effectiveness of cancer treatments in diverse populations. In addition to her clinical training as a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, her research training includes a master’s degree in clinical research from the UNC School of Public Health and a post-doctoral fellowship in comparative effectiveness research from the UNC Sheps Center for Health Services Research. She has previously led Big Data analyses of race and age disparities in the receipt of breast cancer surgery, endocrine therapy initiation and adherence, use of HER2-directed therapy, and use of gene expression profiling, and is the Medical Director of the UNC Cancer Informatics and Population Health Resource (CIPHR) linked data repository, where her lab focuses on how race and geography impact the quality and timeliness of cancer care. She also works with patient-reported, biological, and medical record data from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study to model genomic and treatment contributors to racial disparities in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. She has an extensive portfolio of research in the area of adherence to breast cancer endocrine therapy as it relates to racial disparities in HR+ breast cancer, and co-leads the national, R01-funded GETSET randomized control trial, testing a variety of technology-based interventions to improve adherence to endocrine therapy in diverse breast cancer patients through the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. She is a national leader of organizations impacting breast cancer disparities, as past Chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Health Equity Committee and a member of the Alliance Health Disparities and Breast committees.

Medicine Grand Rounds-Dr. Raj Kasthuri presents: "Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia: State of the Art in 2023."
2023-03-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Raj Kasthuri is a Professor in the Division of Hematology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Kasthuri completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago before pursuing a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill in 2007.
Dr. Kasthuri’s clinical and research interests are in disorders of Hemostasis and Thrombosis, and Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT). He is the Director of the UNC HHT Center of Excellence and the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the UNC Blood Research Center. He was involved in the design and conduct of a number of clinical trials in HHT, two of which are ongoing.
The UNC HHT Center is one of a few centers in the country that were awarded federal funding by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2022. Dr. Kasthuri has collaborated with the Cure HHT foundation on a number of physician and patient education efforts over the last 12 years.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Kelly Hathorn presents: "Endoscopic Bariatric and Metabolic Therapy (EBMT): The Intersection between Endoscopy and Obesity."
2023-03-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Dr. Hathorn is a board-certified gastroenterologist specializing in Bariatric Endoscopy and Advanced/Interventional Endoscopy. She completed her medical training at Duke University School of Medicine and subsequently completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
After residency, she remained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she completed her general gastroenterology fellowship and a formal one-year Bariatric Endoscopy Fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher C. Thompson. To date, this is the only formal bariatric endoscopy fellowship in the United States. Most recently, she completed her advanced endoscopy fellowship at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and remained on staff as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and the Director of Bariatric Endoscopy.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. John Buse presents: "Diabetes Care- How We Arrived Where We Are Today."
2023-03-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
John Buse, MD, PhD is the Verne S. Caviness Distinguished Professor, Director of the Diabetes Center, Director of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He received his MD and PhD from Duke University before training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Buse completed service as President for Medicine & Science at the American Diabetes Association in 2008. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the 2010 Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Award and the 2019 American Diabetes Association Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award. He has authored more than 500 publications.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Caleb King and Dr. Louise King presents: "A Vertical Approach to Global Health: Our Experience in Rwanda"
2023-03-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Dr. Louise King an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the Dept of Internal medicine, in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology. She received her medical degree from Harvard University and did her residency in Internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She has a special interest in resource-limited settings and spent 16 years practicing medicine in Rwanda, providing medical relief and medical education to postgraduates at the University of Rwanda. She is interested in the intersection of infectious diseases and chronic illness.
Dr. Caleb King primarily works for the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for Convergent Science (ICS). He is interested in cross-disciplinary studies within the sciences. Dr. King holds a medical degree and engineering degrees which he utilized in his 16 years in Rwanda to help the citizens of Rwanda medically and structurally by building a power grid in remote regions. His goal is to train students to be able to apply their knowledge across a variety of fields in the sciences.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. John Abramson presents: "Why We Can't Trust the Evidence in Evidence-Based Medicine"
2023-04-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
After completing a residency in Family Medicine and a 2-year Robert Wood Johnson fellowship, Dr. John Abramson practiced as a family physician for 20 years in a small town an hour north of Boston. He also served for 7 years as chair of the department of family practice at Lahey Clinic. He has been on the Harvard Medical School faculty since 1997 and is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Health Care Policy.
In 2002, after becoming aware of the uncorrected misrepresentations about the benefits and dangers of Vioxx and Celebrex in our most respected medical journals, Dr. Abramson left his practice to devote his full attention to researching the quality of the information doctors must rely on. In September 2004 he published Overdo$ed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. Just one week later, Vioxx was withdrawn in the biggest drug recall ever, but not before it had killed between 40 and 60,000 Americans, despite providing no better relief than inexpensive OTC anti-inflammatory drugs.
From 2005 through the present, Dr. Abramson has continued his research and served as an expert in litigation involving prescription drugs and medical devices, with each case giving him access to millions of pages of confidential corporate documents and unreleased clinical trial data. He has also served as a consultant to the FBI and U. S. Department of Justice, including a case that led to what was, at the time, the largest criminal fine in U.S. history.
Dr. Abramson has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals, made numerous national media appearances, and written many op-ed pieces, including 2 in the New York Times. His primary research interest is the extent to which the commercial takeover of medical knowledge, primarily by drug companies, is compromising the quality of medical information available to even the most dedicated doctors, harming our health, and wasting enormous amounts of Americans’ wealth. In February 2022 Dr. Abramson published his second book, Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Mariana Castells presents: "Mast Cell Activation Syndromes"
2023-04-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Mariana Castells, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinician-scientist with over 30 years of experience in allergy and immunology. Additionally, she is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School with over 200 publications. She is the Director of the Brigham and Women’s Mastocytosis Center one of the few nationally and internationally recognized centers of excellence which provides diagnosis, management, and treatment options for patients with mastocytosis and mast cell activation disorders, which are rare and potentially deadly disorders currently addressed with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. Additionally, she is the Director of the Drug Hypersensitivity and Desensitization Center at Brigham and Women’s and Dana Farber Cancer Institute which provides over 900 high risk desensitization’s per year for over 20 years to patients with cancer, severe infections and inflammatory diseases who are allergic to their first line therapy, increasing their life expectancy and quality of life.

Medicine Grand Rounds- Dr. Leslie Appleton, Dr. Megan Hoppens, Dr. Michael Rydberg, Dr. Aaron Fried, and Dr. Casey Birschbach presents: "Year In Review: Chief Residents."
2023-04-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 4008 Old Clinic Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Leslie Appleton, MD, MPH
Inpatient Chief Resident
Leslie Appleton is a native Arizonan who earned her MD MPH from the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix. She earned her BA in politics from Pomona College, after which she joined President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign in Chicago. In 2013, Leslie began working for the federal government, holding positions in both the White House and the US Department of Health and Human Services. She is an avid reader and otherwise enjoys cooking, playing sports, enjoying the outdoors, and seeing the world.

Casey Birschbach, MD
Outpatient Chief Resident
Casey grew up in the small town of Deerfield, Wisconsin and studied biology and global cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She taught seventh-grade math and reading in Milwaukee for a year before returning to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health for medical school. There, she developed her interests in Internal Medicine and medical education. She journeyed down south to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her residency in Internal Medicine and now serves as the Ambulatory Chief Resident for the program. Following her Chief Residency year, she plans to pursue primary care. In her free time, Casey enjoys cooking, true crime podcasts, and exploring local restaurants with her husband, Ryan.

Aaron Fried, MD, MBA
Inpatient Chief Resident
Aaron grew up outside of Los Angeles before completing his undergraduate work in Biology and Hispanic Studies at Boston College. He spent one year with a biopharmaceutical research team in Boston before moving yet again for medical school, this time to the Midwest. At Creighton University, Aaron completed a dual MD/MBA degree program and was inducted into the AOA and Gold Humanism Honor Society. Now in North Carolina, Aaron stays busy outside of work with his two young daughters, Addison and Elise, and his wife, Katie. They love to explore the outdoors, eat their way around the Triangle, and have game nights with family and friends. Aaron also loves to play basketball, golf, table tennis, surf, and snowboard. His academic interests include medical education, health process innovation, and quality improvement, and he plans to pursue a career in hospital medicine.

Megan Hoppens, MD
Med-Peds Chief Resident
Megan was born in Fort Collins, CO, and attended Tulane University for her undergraduate work in Neuroscience. Not ready to leave New Orleans, she continued her training at LSU School of Medicine. In medical school, Megan was inducted into AOA and was an active member of the Flu Fighters Band and founding member of the Dermatones Accapella Group. She enjoyed the rich culture of New Orleans food and music, as well as frequent fishing trips with her dad. She couples matched with her classmate and now husband, Mark Hoppens, at UNC for residency. During her 4th year of residency, she welcomed a beautiful baby girl and her pride and joy, Diana Marie. After her chief year, Megan plans to pursue a career in primary care with a particular interest in medically underserved patient populations and outpatient procedures. During her free time, Megan enjoys listening to live music any chance she gets, hiking with her family, and traveling to new places.

Michael Rydberg, MD
Wake-Med Chief Resident
Michael is a Minnesota native who attended Davidson for college, studying biology and ultimate frisbee. After working in Charlotte for a year doing research and quality improvement work, Michael went to the University of Chicago for medical school. He was torn between urology and medicine and spent 2 years in Urology residency at the Cleveland Clinic before deciding to follow his heart and switch to medicine. He is currently the UNC chief resident at WakeMed. Following the chief year, Michael will pursue fellowship training in geriatrics.
Outside of the hospital, Michael enjoys spending time with his wife and young son, playing all the sports, and spending time outdoors.
