Announcing new appointments in the Department of Medicine:

 Dr. Vikas Majthia, Professor of Medicine and Division Director for the Rheumatology Division, has been appointed Vice Chair of Ambulatory Operations. Dr. Majithia completed his medical school at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science in India, residency training at the St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, and a fellowship in rheumatology at UMMC. He is board-certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine by the ABIM. He is the principal investigator on several clinical trials and longitudinal studies, and has published over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts and multiple book chapters. He has received many honors and accolades for his teaching and service including induction into Norman C. Nelson Order of Teaching Excellence. He chairs the department of medicine’s Promotion & Tenure committee. He currently serves/has served on multiple extra-mural committees, which include those for the American College of Rheumatology, American College of Physicians, and American Board of Internal Medicine.

 Dr. Amanda Clark, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, has been appointed Associate Vice Chair of Communications, Development, and Technology. Dr. Clark received her undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and her medical degree from UMMC School of Medicine. She completed internal medicine residency training and subsequently served as chief medical resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) before joining Case Western Reserve University and VA faculty in Cleveland, Ohio. She served as an Associate Program Director of the internal medicine residency program at Case Western prior to returning to Mississippi.

 Dr. Michael E. Hall, Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure, has been appointed Associate Vice Chair of Research. He also has a faculty appointment in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics, and Radiology.  Dr. Hall completed medical school, internal medicine residency, and cardiology fellowship at UMMC.  He then completed an advanced cardiovascular imaging fellowship and NIH T32 fellowship at Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical, Population and Translational Sciences.  He joined the UMMC faculty in 2013.  Dr. Hall is Director of Clinical and Population Sciences at the Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research (MCCTR) and Associate Program Director of the Cardiology Fellowship Program.  His research focus is on obesity-induced cardiorenal disease, and he has been funded by the NIH and AHA.  He is also an investigator in the Jackson Heart Study.

 Dr. Demondes Haynes, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Medical School Admissions, has been appointed Associate Vice Chair of Patient Safety. Dr. Haynes is a native of Louisville, MS and attended undergraduate at the University of Mississippi, where he then completed his medical school as well. He subsequently completed his residency training in internal medicine where he was chosen to also serve as a chief resident. He then completed his advanced training in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He joined the UMMC faculty in 2007 and has served many important positions at the university, including first associate program director and later program director for the pulmonary and critical care fellowships for a decade. He is an active member of the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians, where he serves on several national committees and chairs a task force.