The School of Allied Health Sciences honored Dr. Donna S. Whitaker. Dr. Whittaker, of Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps. A 1983 medical technology graduate, she is the director of the Office of Innovation, Initiatives, and Improvements at the Army Medical Department Center and School and was recently named Dean of the Academy of Health Sciences.
(Media-Newswire.com) - AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Medical College of Georgia recognized eight distinguished alumni at its annual homecoming activities April 23-26.
The School of Allied Health Sciences honored Dr. Donna S. Whitaker. Dr. Whittaker, of Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps. A 1983 medical technology graduate, she is the director of the Office of Innovation, Initiatives, and Improvements at the Army Medical Department Center and School and was recently named Dean of the Academy of Health Sciences.
After graduating from MCG, she earned a master’s degree in transfusion medicine from Duke University and a doctoral degree in immunology from the University of Florida. As a member of the Army Medical Department Center and School commander’s personal staff, Dr. Whittaker leads business initiatives and project improvement efforts. She also is an adjunct professor at George Washington University.
In 2004, Dr. Whittaker received the U.S. Surgeon General’s Excalibur Award and in 2006 was honored with the Department of Defense’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Award. Her research focuses on the role of prostaglandins in type 1 diabetes and dendritic cell maturation and function.
The School of Dentistry honored Dr. Edward J. Green, a general dentist in Albany, Ga., and a 1983 graduate. Dr. Green earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1967 from Albany State University and worked as a high school teacher and chemical engineer before entering dental school in 1979.
As a dental student, he received accolades from his professors and was awarded a certificate of recognition as a senior dental honor student for demonstrating excellence in academic and clinical performance. He also received the Outstanding Student Achievement Award from the International College of Dentists.
Since graduating and returning to Albany to set up his private practice, Dr. Green has remained active in organized dentistry. He is an honorable fellow of the Georgia Dental Association and a fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.
Dr. Green is a past president of the Southwest District Dental Society and the Georgia Dental Association. He is past chair of the American Dental Association’s Delegation and serves on the association’s Council of Communications.
Honored in the School of Graduate Studies was Dr. Charisee Lamar, a two-time graduate of MCG. Dr. Lamar received her bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy from the School of Allied Health Sciences in 1988 and a doctoral degree in endocrinology from the School of Graduate Studies in 1998. She went on to earn a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in 1999.
Dr. Lamar, of Frederick, Md., is the director of the Reproductive Neuroendocrine and Interdisciplinary Research in Reproduction programs at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and is the director of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Program in the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health. As director of the Reproductive Neuroendocrine Program, Dr. Lamar makes recommendations on the distribution of $13.6 million in research funding each year.
As a graduate studies student at MCG, Dr. Lamar’s research was supported by an institutional NIH training grant from 1992-96 and from 1996-98, her work was supported by a United Negro College Fund/Merck Graduate Science Dissertation Award. In 1999, she joined the NIH training program for project officers.
Dr. Lamar Fleming received the School of Medicine’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement. Dr. Fleming, a 1965 graduate, is a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Emory University in Atlanta and chief of Hand Service at Grady Memorial Hospital and chief of the Hand Section at Atlanta’s Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. Fleming completed a junior residency in medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital before serving in the U.S. Navy as a flight surgeon from 1967-70. He returned to Augusta to complete a junior residency in surgery at then-Talmadge Memorial Hospital and then completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery at Duke University Medical Center.
He is a past president of the Eastern Orthopaedic Association and the Southern Orthopaedic Society. He has served as the director of the Robert P. Kelly Orthopaedic Society at Emory University since 1978. Dr. Fleming is on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Southern Orthopaedic Association, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Journal of Orthopaedics, American Foot and Ankle Journal and Journal of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Talmadge A. “Joe” Bowden received the School of Medicine’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for Loyalty. Dr. Bowden, a 1966 graduate, is professor emeritus of surgery and former chief of the Section of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Surgical Endoscopy at MCG. Since retirement, Dr. Bowden has served part-time as assisting priest at the Church of the Holy Comforter.
Dr. Bowden completed a surgical residency at MCG in 1971, including a year as chief resident from 1970-71. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1971-73, earning the rank of major and serving as chief of the Division of General Surgery at the U.S. Air Force Regional Hospital at Shaw Air Force Base.
He has served as editor-in-chief of The American Surgeon since 1990 and has been a member of the editorial boards of Surgical Endoscopy and Interventional Techniques, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Journal of Surgery and Southern Medical Journal. Dr. Bowden completed the University of the South’s School of Theology Advanced Degree Program in 2001 and was ordained as a priest in 2002. Since then he has served as a chaplain at MCGHealth, assisting priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd, interim rector at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church and president of the Standing Committee for the Diocese of Georgia.
Dr. Lenette Burrell received the School of Nursing’s Phoebe Kandel Rohrer Founder’s Award for Excellence in Research and Education. She earned a master of science in nursing degree from MCG in 1972. After her graduation, Dr. Burrell joined the school’s faculty and taught satellite classes for MCG in Milledgeville and Athens. She was instrumental in establishing the School of Nursing’s Athens campus, where she taught until her retirement in 1998.
Dr. Burrell, of Elberton, co-founded the Northeast Georgia Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and was elected to the Georgia Nurses Association’s statewide Committee on Nursing Education and Nursing Practice. She has been a member of the Phoenix Honor Society, Delta Kappa Gamma Honor Society, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society.
Since retirement, Dr. Burrell has been an adjunct research scientist at the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia, teaching graduate-level gerontology classes. She also teaches classes on “Keeping Your Brain Alive” for Learning in Retirement Inc., in Athens and Washington.
Dr. Anne Turner-Henson received the School of Nursing’s E. Louise Grant Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice, Administration and Community Service. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from MCG in 1976 and went on to receive a master’s in child health nursing from Emory and a doctor of science in nursing degree from the University of Alabama.
Dr. Turner-Henson, of Birmingham, is a professor in the University of Alabama’s School of Nursing and has joint appointments in the university’s School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and School of Public Health, Department of Maternal Child Health. Her research focuses on community health.
As a result of her research on second-hand smoke and asthma in children, Children’s Hospital of Birmingham now includes parental smoking history as one of their vital signs and part of a child’s medical record. Head Start programs in Alabama adopted a second-hand smoke reduction intervention program with children after Dr. Turner-Henson’s research proved its effectiveness.
Dr. Turner-Henson serves on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, a federal committee that provides advice to the government on children’s environmental issues. She is a member of the American Nurses Foundation’s Grant Review Panel and is chair of the Parent-Child Research Interest Group for the Southern Nursing Research Society.
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