Kenya McNeal-Trice, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, has accepted the role of Vice-President of Board Relations at the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). Effective January 5, 2026, Dr. McNeal-Trice will be joining the senior leadership team for Pediatrics in the nation, but we are sad to lose her wisdom and thoughtful leadership at UNC.
Dr. McNeal-Trice has served the people of NC and worked at UNC throughout her professional career. She first came to UNC as a resident, after completing undergraduate studies at Spelman College and medical school at Wayne State University. After residency, she served as a Chief Resident and Clinical Instructor based at WakeMed, but was recruited back to Chapel Hill as an Assistant Professor the following year.
Since starting on faculty at UNC, Dr. McNeal-Trice has served in increasingly broad leadership roles in educational administration, including Director of 4th Year Clerkships, UME Director in Pediatrics, Program Director of the Pediatrics residency, Chief Graduate Medical Education Officer and Senior Associate Dean for UNC Hospitals, and now as the Senior Vice-Chair of Education in the Department of Pediatrics. In her current role she leads and develops all educational phases from pathway programs into medicine through continuing medical education programs for community physicians.
Dr. McNeal-Trice’s role at the ABP is a new role leading external partnerships and affiliations for the ABP in addition to oversight of the ABP Foundation. The focus will be on strengthening those partnerships and implementing a comprehensive strategy to ensure that convenings, research, program support, and community collaborations broaden the strategic priorities of the Board.
The ABP is one of the certifying boards of the American Board of Medical Subspecialties and currently has over 90,000 diplomates who maintain their certification in general pediatrics and twenty subspecialties through this organization. The ABP is based in Chapel Hill, NC, so the community is fortunate that the Trice family will stay close by and we are hopeful that she will continue to provide some clinical care at UNC.
We will miss Dr. McNeal-Trice’s smile, inspirational and mission-focused leadership as well as her remarkable ability to bring people together for a shared purpose. Please join us in congratulating Dr. McNeal-Trice on this important new role!
Congratulations!