Lisa Rahangdale, who has served with significant distinction as the Associate Dean of Admission for the UNC School of Medicine since 2017, has decided to step away from her Associate Dean role and pursue new challenges.

Under her stewardship Admissions processes have been improved, our class size has expanded, and we continue to attract students who embody the multiple missions of our school. She will be sorely missed at OMSE and we wish her nothing but success as she moves to the next step in her career.

Interested applicants should review the information below and submit a cover letter and CV to the search committee by Feb. 4.

Position Description:

The Associate Dean for Admissions provides leadership in recruitment, admission, and matriculation of prospective medical students in the UNC SOM. The Associate Dean will work closely with the Senior Director for Admissions, and the Admissions team. This individual will also work collaboratively with the entire OMSE at UNC Chapel Hill and other educational leaders. This position will be supported at 0.5FTE by OMSE.

Major Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Strategic planning with regards to the entire Admissions process
• Participate in Admissions interview days to coordinate, interview, and engage with potential students to the UNC SOM.
• Plan Admissions Committee activities, such as evaluation of applicants for interview, admission, wait list, and scholarship.
• Participate in recruitment events for pre-health students and UNC SOM applicants.
• Engage with OMSE leadership (Student Affairs, Curricular Affairs) to ensure a smooth transition of accepted applicants into the SOM
• Coordinate with the UNC main campus advisory board for pre-health advisory committees and support.
• Partner with the UNC Financial Aid team and Assistant Director of Scholarships in evaluation of students for, and awarding of, scholarships.
• Engage nationally on innovations in admissions practices and enhance UNC’s national reputation through scholarly presentations and publications

Qualifications:

• A PhD, medical degree, or MD/PhD
• The chosen candidate must have an appointment to the faculty of one of the Departments of the UNC SOM
• Demonstrated commitment to advance a supportive work and learning culture where all individuals can thrive
• Effective communication and organizational skills
• Excellent skills to work collaboratively and act deliberately in sensitive situations with strong conflict management skills
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop professional staff teams

Interested applicants should submit a Cover Letter and CV no later than February 4th, 2026 to both Alice Chaung, Chair of the Search Committee alice_chuang@med.unc.edu , and Jayne Ashby, Recruiting Consultant jayne_ashby @med.unc.edu.

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1) Cover letter describing prior experience with career goal advising and addressed to the Career Goal Advisor Selection Committee

2) CV

3) Signed letter from the department chair indicating, “I support this faculty member in their pursuit of a Head Career Goal Advisor position with UNC SOM. I understand this is supported by SOM with 0.1 FTE in salary support and will provide this faculty member appropriate administrative time (at least 184 hours each year) to fulfill the duties associated with this position starting July 1, 2026.” Additional supporting comments from the chair are optional.

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This program, supported by the SOM Strategic Plan, supports physician scientists at two stages: resident/fellowship level and early-stage faculty level. The program partners with trainees’ home departments and provides funding to support research efforts of the trainees (Resident/Fellow Award -$ 35,000/year and Faculty Award -$ 55,000/year salary support + $ 25,000/year project support). Additionally, trainees enter a career development training program with peer-level physician scientists across multiple clinical disciplines. Each awarded trainee will receive two years of support from the program.

The program is seeking nominations of eligible applicants from the UNC Clinical Departments for awards with support to begin for the 2026-2027 academic year (July 1, 2026). Each department may nominate up to two candidates for each award.

Eligibility Criteria:

For all SOM PSTP trainee applicants:

• Trainees must have an M.D. or equivalent degree and be licensed or qualified to become licensed to practice medicine in the state of N.C.
• Trainees must have commitment from the applicant’s Department to provide at least 50% protected time for research and fund difference between the SOM PSTP funds and the actual stipend/salary.
• Trainees must have a scientific mentor and a project plan in place.

For SOM PSTP Resident/Fellow Award applicants:

• Resident/Fellow Award applicants may be clinical trainees (GME residents, or GME or non-GME clinical fellowship trainees with a specialty training program that allows for protected research time during the award period) or postdoctoral fellows/clinical instructors (with a clinical degree and completion of a clinical training program in an American Board of Medical Specialties discipline) at the time of application.

For SOM PSTP Faculty Award applicants:

• Faculty Award applicants must be currently at UNC or committed to start at UNC as an Assistant Professor at the start of the funding period.
• Faculty Award applicants will have held a faculty position (Clinical Instructor or Assistant Professor) for less than two years, although exceptions for physician applicants with longer times as a faculty member can be considered by the review committee.
• If the Faculty Award applicant is in an Instructor position at the time of application, the home Department Chair must be committed to opening an Assistant Professor position focused on a research area specific to the trainee’s interest by the end of their term of support.

Individuals interested in applying for this award should consult with their Department Chair or Vice Chair for Research to learn about their department’s specific procedure for determining its nominees.

Questions about potential nominee eligibility can be directed to Alex Duncan, Director of the SOM Physician Scientist Training Program.

Applications are due March 5, 2026. Completed applications should contain the following elements (A-C) combined as a single PDF and should be emailed from the applicant’s Department Chair or designated representative to Mikayla Feldbauer and copy  Alex Duncan, Director of the SOM Physician Scientist Training Program.

1. Proposal (Resident/Fellow applications, covering the 4 sections listed below, should be no longer than 3 pages, Faculty applications, covering the 4 sections listed below, should be no longer than 4 pages – not including references) :
   1. Specific aims – (1 page maximum) outlining the project conceptually
   2. Background and significance – covering literature in the field and preliminary data (if the candidate has preliminary data, the proposal should indicate in the text or figure legends whether data was generated by others in the mentor’s lab or data generated by the applicant) that support the approach.
   3. Approach – covering details of the research plan
   4. Training Plan – (1/2 page maximum) – describe what training has been done and what is the current status of the applicant (GME trainee, postdoc/Instructor, Assistant Prof.), what remaining clinical and/or scientific training will be undertaken during the award and any additional training the applicant will seek after participating in the Physician Scientist Training Program.
2. NIH style Biosketch
3. Letters of Support
   1. Letter from the candidate’s mentor who will supervise the research training while in the Physician Scientist Training Program.
   2. Letter from the candidate’s chair – indicating support for 50% protected time and paying difference between PSTP funds and full stipend/salary, description of the chair’s commitment to candidate as a future faculty member in the department, statement of any other departmental resources committed to candidate (start up money, lab space, support for trainee working under applicant via departmental T32, etc.)
   3. Letter of support from a previous mentor or other scientist familiar with the candidate’s accomplishments and promise as a future independent investigator.

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Applications are due by Wednesday, April 1, at 11:59 p.m. and can be submitted online.

Membership in the AOE comes with benefits including eligibility to apply for AOE grants, access to AOE Scholarship Consultations, and an invitation to the organization’s annual Evening of Scholarship celebration. Acceptance to the AOE brings expectations of continued involvement in educational initiatives, and active participation in the goals of the Academy – including a minimum of four events or service activities annually for all types of membership.

More information is available online. Please reach out to aoe@med.unc.edu with questions.

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A completed nomination packet includes the following:

• A Nomination Letter from the Nominator (unless self-nominating*)
• A SOM formatted CV from the Nominee in PDF format
• A Letter from the Division Chief, Department Chair, or Center Director of the Nominee
• OPTIONAL Additional Letters of Support (one additional letter required if self-nominating*)

*Self-Nominations: Interested educators should not wait to be nominated if they feel they qualify for an award. All potential awardees are encouraged to request their own letters and submit their packet as a self-nomination.  Self-nominations should at a minimum include the Division Chief/Chair/Center Director letter AND one additional letter of support from someone who can speak to nominee’s skills and accomplishments as an educator.

The post Academy of Educators Seeks Teaching Awards Nominations appeared first on School of Medicine Intranet.

We welcome submissions from all disciplines and methodologies that reflect the wide spectrum of ELSI research, including but not limited to:

• Emerging technologies
• Policy and governance
• Theoretical and conceptual foundations
• Lived experience
• Methodological innovation
• Translation to clinical care

This call is open to scholarship that deepens understanding, sparks conversation, or proposes solutions to pressing ELSI concerns. We especially welcome contributions that engage a wide range of perspectives to inform current ELSI work and shape its future directions. Submissions from early career scholars and trainees are also encouraged.

Since the 7th ELSI Congress will be a hybrid event, if traveling isn’t possible, we encourage you to join us online.

Please visit the Congress website [https://www.elsicon2026.org] to learn more about session formats, abstract submission requirements, and criteria that will be used to evaluate abstracts.

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As a citizen of North Carolina, you have the right to express your opinions and are encouraged to participate in election and legislative processes.

It is important to be mindful of the following policies depending on your employer:

• UNC Hospitals Policy
• UNC-Chapel Hill policy on political activities
• UNC Chapel Hill policy on acceptable technology use
• Free Speech at Carolina
• UNC System policy governing political activities by University employees
• UNC System policy on institutional neutrality

It is important that any political activities are done on your personal time using personal resources and that you do nothing to suggest you are representing the views of UNC-Chapel Hill, the UNC School of Medicine or UNC Health.

For example, you should use your personal email account and personal stationery in any communications — not your University or UNC Health email or letterhead.

More specifically, state employees may not (i) participate in political activity while on duty; (ii) use the authority of their position or University [UNC Health] resources (e.g. funds, services, supplies, equipment, information technology resources, vehicles, etc.) to endorse or campaign for or against any candidate, political party, partisan political group, referendum, or issue in an election; or (iii) engage in preferential or detrimental treatment of an employee for purposes of inducing support of or opposition to any candidate for public office, political party, or partisan political group.

If you have questions, please email vitalsigns@med.unc.edu.

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After more than 30 years of service at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Joshua Alexander, MD, will retire as chair of the UNC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). His last day as chair will be July 1, 2026. He will continue to see patients and focus on other work for a short period and will fully retire soon after.

In addition to his work as department chair, Dr. Alexander currently serves as Sidna Chockley Rizzo Distinguished Professor, medical director for the UNC Center for Rehabilitation Care, and director of pediatric rehabilitation for UNC Children’s.

During his time as chair, Dr. Alexander oversaw an impressive amount of growth in the PM&R department as its number of faculty doubled and its residency program grew by a third. He was part of the multidisciplinary planning team that helped design the new state-of-the-art acute inpatient rehabilitation units at UNC Hospitals’ Hillsborough Campus that have repeatedly garnered recognition from U.S. News & World Report. During his time as chair, the department’s research faculty tripled in size and was ranked in the top 20 in NIH funding nearly every year. Dr. Alexander also successfully led his department through a challenging pandemic and fostered a strong departmental culture of personal wellness and mutual support.

Outside his administrative duties, Dr. Alexander has been an innovative national thought leader in the field of telemedicine, starting a statewide telehealth program for children with disabilities in 1998 and helping to establish the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Telehealth Care. His clinical focus has been the rehabilitation and care of children with disabilities, especially those with cerebral palsy and spina bifida. He earned his MD from Temple University and completed a combined residency in PM&R and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Alexander on this important milestone.

The post Alexander to Retire as Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Chair appeared first on School of Medicine Intranet.

Dr. Neutze is director of quality improvement and population health and assistant professor in the department of family medicine, and a practicing primary care physician. She came to UNC for her residency and subsequently joined the faculty in 2013. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge (England) and an MD from the University of Maryland.

As Medical Director of IHQI, Dr. Neutze will:

• Oversee Institute strategy and operational planning and execution
• Develop and nurture strategic relationships with School of Medicine departments leaders and UNC Health quality leaders
• Mentor and teach clinical improvement science to IHQI program participants, IHQI associate director/faculty improvement coaches, and IHQI teammates
• Expand the IHQI-based learning opportunities to people in clinical and quality leadership roles across our health care system

The role was most recently held by Darren DeWalt, MD, MPH. A faculty member at UNC since 2004, Dr. DeWalt served for the past 7 years and has recently assumed the position of chair of the department of medicine at UNC.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Neutze on this exciting new role!

The post Neutze Named Medical Director of the Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement appeared first on School of Medicine Intranet.

The database was created to facilitate the identification of faculty collaborators across the School of Medicine with a searchable interface for research interests and affiliations. All faculty are invited to submit their information, including clinical faculty who may not do research but who have clinical expertise and access to clinical populations that may be beneficial to research collaborators.

Please submit information through a brief web form that can be found online.

If you already have an existing profile, you may also update it by submitting new information through the form.

Please contact Andrew Mara-Williams with any questions.

The post Update Profiles for SOM Office of Research Faculty Collaboration Database appeared first on School of Medicine Intranet.

Dr. Zvara began his tenure at UNC Health in Nov. 2008, joining the faculty as Chair of Anesthesiology, a position he held until 2023. In 2023, Dr. Zvara assumed the role of Chief Medical Officer for UNC Hospitals. During his time as chair, he also served in several key leadership capacities, including Chief Operating Officer of the UNC Faculty Practice (2014-2022), and interim Chair of Urology. In 2020, Dr. Zvara was pivotal in leading the Triangle COVID response efforts and played a critical role in the establishment of the Respiratory Diagnostic Center at the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) and the UNC Health Vaccination Center at the Friday Center.

Prior to his service at UNC Health, Dr. Zvara chaired the Department of Anesthesiology at The Ohio State University from 2005 to 2008. His academic career began at Wake Forest University, where he advanced from Assistant Professor to Professor as a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist (1993–2005). He served as a physician anesthesiologist in the United States Air Force from 1989 to 1993, including deployment during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Dr. Zvara completed his undergraduate, medical, residency, and fellowship training at The Ohio State University between 1977 and 1989.

Reflecting on his career, Dr. Zvara commented, “Looking back over a 50-year career in patient care—beginning at age 16 as a transporter in physical therapy—I am humbled to have collaborated with so many outstanding colleagues.”

Since Dr. Zvara’s arrival at UNC Hospitals in 2008, the department has grown from 38 physician anesthesiologists to more than 120. “I am proud of our recruitment and retention over the years,” said Dr. Zvara. “Our research team’s achievement of a top ten national ranking and the innovation within our educational programs are highlights of my tenure.”

Dr. Zvara looks forward to remaining engaged as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anesthesiology and School of Medicine. “We have six grandchildren with two more on the way. I hope to pursue numerous interests in retirement, and my only concern is whether there will be enough hours in the day to accomplish them all.”

The post David Zvara to Retire, Named Professor Emeritus appeared first on School of Medicine Intranet.

Raleigh (Rex Women’s Center Classroom 100B)

• Wednesday, February 25, 2026: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Chapel Hill (N.C. Basnight Cancer Hospital Conference Room 4)

• Thursday, February 26, 2026: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Morrisville (5221 Paramount Parkway, Building 3, 1^st Floor, Bell Tower Leadership)

• Thursday, February 26, 2026: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

These portrait photos can be used for websites, directories, news releases, publications and any other purpose that requires a headshot. Photographs will be returned to the physician, advanced practice provider or executive and will also be uploaded, if applicable, to the UNC Health Find a Doctor platform. There is no charge to be photographed, and no appointment is necessary. Please bring your white coat, if applicable, and UNC Health/SOM badge.

For questions, or to submit a headshot for use in marketing and communications efforts (ex: Find a Doctor, UNC Health websites, Health Talk, Referral Guides, Epic, etc.), please email findadoc@unchealth.unc.edu.

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