CMPLI 2009-2010 Fellows
Tamera Barnes, MD, FACEP is the Medical Director of the Emergency Department for HCA Henrico Doctor’s Hospital at the Forest Campus. She also serves as an Emergency Physician at Chippenham/JohnstonWillis Hospital and as the regional representative on HCA’s Physician Advisory Council for Emergency Medicine. Dr. Barnes is the Presidentelect of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians (VACEP) and serves as VACEP’s Chairperson for the Education Committee and Access to Care Task Force. She is a member of the Medical Society of Virginia’s Medical Liability Advisory Group. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and her bachelor’s from Virginia Tech.
Michael G. Charles, MD is a Physician Manager and practicing physician at Chimney Hill Medical Associates, one of Sentara Medical Group (SMG)’s busiest combined Family Medicine & Urgent Care practice sites in Virginia Beach. He is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Charles serves on SMG’s Board of Directors and Transition of Care Committee and is a champion of electronic medical records (EMR)serving on SMG’s Physicians Advisory Group for EMR and the EMR Users Group. He is also the physician leader for Chimney Hill in MSVF's IMPACT: ImprovingAsthmaCareandTreatmentprogram and will lead his colleagues through the 18month quality improvement and system redesign process. He earned his bachelor’s from Grove City College in Pennsylvania and Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Virginia.
David Chow, MD, MPH, FACS, CFP is an ophthalmologist in private practice in Northern Virginia. He also serves as Presidentelect of the Medical Society of Northern Virginia and as a Special Gifts Committee member for Arlington Free Clinic. From 2000 to 2007, Dr. Chow was Section Chief of Ophthalmology for HCA Reston Hospital Center. He completed a joint program in the School of Medicine and School of Public Health at Emory University and received his bachelor’s from Louisiana State University. Dr. Chow also has professional degrees in Banking (ACIB 1968) and Management (ACIS 1971) from London and began his career as a British banking professional at a HongKong subsidiary of the largest British Bank, The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC). Currently he is a founding board member of The First Commonwealth Bank of Virginia, Arlington, VA after helping to raise the capital to open the Bank and is actively involved in community business development and the lending process. He was previously founding Board member of The First Service Bank of McLean, VA from 20012006 when the Bank was sold and was listed on the stock exchange as SONA Bank.
Sandy L. Chung, MD, MSHA, FAAP, FACHE
is the President, CoMedical Director, and a practicing physician with Fairfax Pediatric Associates. She also serves as an Associate Professor for Virginia Commonwealth University Health Sciences, an Associate Professor for Georgetown University, and a Clinical Instructor for the University of Virginia. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Medical Society of Northern Virginia and on the Pediatric Council for the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Chung received her Master of Science in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her medical and bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Thomas G. Clifford, Jr., MD, FACS is a surgeon with Sentara Medical Group (SMG)’s Southside Surgical Group and serves as Chief of the SMG Division of General Surgery. He also serves as a member of SMG’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Breast Center Development Committee. Dr. Clifford is a member of the Virginia Chapter of the American Cancer Society, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the Virginia Beach Medical Society, and the Virginia Chapter American College of Surgeons. He received his bachelor’s from the University of Virginia and his medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Damian L. Covington, MD is a family practice physician with Dominion Medical Associates in Richmond’s East End and serves as VicePresident of the Medical Executive Committee for Richmond Community Hospital. He is a National Health Service Corp (NHSC) Scholar, and his service commitments to Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) included Lunenburg Medical Center in Victoria, Virginia and his current position in the Church Hill district of Richmond. Dr. Covington is a member of the Richmond Medical Society. He earned his bachelor’s from Hampton University and his Doctor of Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Joseph “Chip” W. Cunningham, Jr., MD is an anesthesiologist with Chesapeake Anesthesiologists, Inc. and serves as Chief of the Department of Anesthesiology and Chairman of the Operating Room Committee for Chesapeake General Hospital. Prior to this, he worked for the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, the Third Battalion Fleet Service Support Group, and the Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan. In July 2009, Dr. Cunningham will become Presidentelect of Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. He earned his bachelor’s from North Carolina State University and his Doctor of Medicine from Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Forest University.
Anita “Joy” Hilliard, MD is a radiation oncologist in Lynchburg. She is the Associate Medical Director and serves on the Executive Council of Centra Health’s Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center and is a Partner and serves as Secretary of Radiation Oncology Associates. She is the founder and chair of Centra Foundation’s 2009 “Night of Hope” art auction/musical evening to benefit the Cancer Patient Support Fund and serves on Centra’s Breast Program Leadership Council. She received her bachelor’s and medical degree from Louisiana State University.
Sarah E. Joyner, MD, MPH, FACC is a cardiologist with Cardiovascular Associates in Virginia Beach and Norfolk and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine & Cardiovascular Diseases with Eastern Virginia Medical School. She has extensive training and expertise in advanced cardiac imaging with cardiovascular computed tomography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. She serves as a Board Member for the American Heart Association Tidewater Chapter and the Leadership Council of the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Joyner serves as the Assistant Course Director for Cardiovascular CT Imaging training course and recently helped to organize the first annual “Imaging at the Beach” CME course for cardiologists and echocardiographers. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia, medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Master of Public Health from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Cynthia S. Kelly, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP is Professor, Vice Chair for Research, and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Unit in the Department of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She also serves as Division Director of Pediatric Allergy/Immunology and on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Health System for Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. Dr. Kelly serves on the Board of Directors for the National Respiratory Training Center. She completed her bachelor’s at the University of Michigan and her Doctor of Medicine at Wayne State University.
Edward G. Koch, MD, FACOG is an obstetrician/gynecologist in private practice in Arlington. He also serves as President of the Arlington County Medical Society Foundation, Chairman of the ByLaws Committee for the Virginia Hospital Center, and Treasurer and 10th District Director of the Medical Society of Virginia. He is a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The George Washington University Medical Center and Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetric and Gynecology at Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Koch also sits on the Medical Malpractice Review Board for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He served as a Major in the United States Army practicing at Walter Reed Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from The George Washington University and his bachelor and master’s degrees in zoology from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Harry P. Koo, MD is the Barbara and William Thalhimer Professor and Chairman of Urology, and a Professor of Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. He is a subspecialist in Pediatric Urology, and is an active participant in a multidisciplinary spina bifida clinic through Children’s Hospital of Richmond. He was named a Richmond Top Doc by RichmondMagazinein 2006 and 2008. Dr. Koo received his bachelor’s from Williams College in Massachusetts and his M.D. with Distinction in Research University from Rochester School of Medicine. He also completed a Yearout Research Fellowship in the Department of Surgery at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center in New York City. He recently finished an Executive Fellowship in Physician Leadership from the Williamson Institute for Healthcare Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Laura W. Lee, MD, MBA is an Associate Professor and Director of Quality Improvement for the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She also serves as President of the Medical Executive Committee and Director of Orthopedic and Geriatric Rehabilitation for UVa’s Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital and as a member of the Physician Advisory Committee for the University of Virginia Health Services Foundation. In 2008, Dr. Lee was selected for the Association of Academic Physiatrist Young Academician Award. She earned her bachelor’s at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York, her Medical Degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed a Masters of Business Administration from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.
William “Bill” J. Mann, Jr., MD, MBA, FACS, FACOG is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and a gynecologic oncologist and director of Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement with Carilion GYN Oncologists. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Roanoke Valley Academy of Medicine. Dr. Mann did his residency at MS Hershey Medical Center, and his GYN oncology fellowship at University of Alabama in Birmingham. He received his MBA from the College of William and Mary, his MD from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, and his BA from Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Srijoy Mahapatra, MD is an assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia and serves as the team cardiologist for NCAA athletes at the university. He is also the co-founder of EpiAblate, a company dedicated to develop new tools for epicardial heart access and is establishing a Ventricular Tachycadia Center at UVA. Mahapatra received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked at Accenture Consulting in London as a business analyst developing and analyzing logistics networks for major pharmaceuticals before returning to Boston to attend Tufts University School of Medicine for his medical degree. He then spent four years as Cardiology & Electrophysiology Fellow at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine.
Jennifer S. Real, MD is a hospitalist with Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. She also volunteers at Beach Health Clinic in Virginia Beach and is a member of the Norfolk Academy of Medicine. Dr. Real previously worked for Chesapeake General Hospital and the VA Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente in California. She also served as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. She completed her medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and her undergraduate at Whittier College in California.
Mark R. Sochor MD, MS, FACEP is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. He previously worked for the University of Michigan Health System where he was honored with the Golden Apple Teaching Award in 2008. He serves as a Board Member for the Association for Advancement of Automotive Medicine, the American Trauma Society, and the Abbreviated Injury Scale Certification Board. Dr. Sochor was appointed a Medical Fellow for the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, DC from July 2004 – September 2006 and was honored as the 2005 Physician of the Year from the Allegiance Health System in Jackson, Michigan. Prior to attending medical school, he was an airbag engineer for the Chrysler Corporation for six years. He earned his M.D. from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan, his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University, and his B.S. from Michigan State University.
Hamid Taheri, MD, FACC, FSCAI is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University, is President of the Prince William County Medical Society, and is a founding members and serves on the Board of Directors for Virginia Cardiovascular Associates serving Fairfax, Prince William and Fauquier counties. He also serves as a member of the Cardiology Operations and Research Councils, Cardiovascular Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and the Invasive Cardiology Quality Improvement Team for INOVA Fairfax Hospital, and as Chair of Prince William Hospital’s Cardiac Performance Improvement team. Dr. Taheri also serves as the principal investigator for multiple clinical trials involving interventional cardiology. He completed a Cardiology Fellowship and Internal Medicine Residency at George Washington University Medical Center, his medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and his bachelor’s at the University of Houston.
Terry J. Thompson, MD is a faculty physician with Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency and in 2008 was honored with the program’s Spirit of Family Medicine Award. He is Chairman of Centra’s Department of Family Medicine and its Apology and Disclosure Committee. Dr. Thompson also volunteers at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia. He earned his bachelor’s from Rochester Institute of Technology and his medical degree from SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
James “Jim” W. Wright, MD
is an independent consultant to Fasano Associates, Inc., an underwriting consulting firm serving the life, health, and life settlement industries. He also serves on the Board and is a volunteer physician providing endocrinology care at the Free Clinic of Central Virginia. He is the Vicepresident of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine and served on the Advisory Board for the Central & Western Virginia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association for the past eight years. He was also involved in steering MedsHelp, a community prescription program, from its home in a faithbased organization to independent status and later to incorporation within the free clinic. He received his bachelor’s and medical degree from the University of Virginia.