New Chair Appointment

On June 20, 2019, Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, FACR, Emory Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Executive Director, Woodruff Health Sciences Center President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Emory Healthcare  and Vikas P. Sukhatme, MD, ScD, Woodruff Professor, Dean, Emory School of Medicine Chief Academic Officer, Emory Healthcare announced the appointment of Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, as Chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics for the SOM, and Chief of Gynecology and Obstetrics for Emory Healthcare beginning July 1, 2019. Dr. Jamieson was named the James Robert McCord Professor and Vice Chair for Population Health in 2017. Dr. Jamieson also serves as the Division Director for Gynecologic Specialties in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Associate Chief of Service for Emory Obstetrics and Gynecology at Grady. 

Dr. Jamieson earned a medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in public health at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, then completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at University of California at San Francisco. Following residency, Dr. Jamieson joined the U. S. Public Health Service and served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She served in a variety of leadership roles in the CDC, including the role of the medical care task force lead for the Ebola response in 2014 and incident commander for CDC’s response to Zika in 2016-17. Upon retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service as a Captain in July 2017, she received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award granted to an officer in the Commissioned Corps, for “notable contributions to reproductive health and public health practice.”

Dr. Jamieson’s work focuses on emerging infectious diseases in pregnancy and she has published more than 400 scientific peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Jamieson serves on several American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committees including the Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Work Group, the HIV Work Group, and the Obstetric Practice Bulletin committee. She has been an oral board examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) since 2007 and serves on ABOG’s Qualifying Examination Development Committee. In 2011, Dr. Jamieson was awarded a Distinguished Alumna Award for outstanding accomplishment in the field of medicine at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Throughout her career, Jamieson has demonstrated exemplary leadership across all three missions of research, teaching and patient care. During a 2018 celebration after being named the James Robert McCord Chair, Jamieson pledged to “embrace and promote scientific inquiry and scholarship; strive for academic and clinical excellence; motivate and inspire medical students to pursue their passions; and teach, mentor, and support the next generation of obstetrician-gynecologists.”   In their joint announcement, Dr. Lewin and Dr. Sukhatme acknowledged and thanked Penny Castellano for her dedicated service as interim chair over the past 3 years. Noting her outstanding contributions to the department as a valued member of the SOM council of chairs. Dr. Castellano will continue to serve as Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and will also continue in her role as Chief Medical Officer for The Emory Clinic and Emory Specialty Associates.  

Please join us in thanking Dr. Castellano, and welcoming Dr. Jamieson as chair.