Three members of the faculty have recently taken on new positions with the University of Kansas Medical Center

Feb 18, 2008

Doug Girod, MD, has been named Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs.

Dr. Girod currently serves as the chair of the Department of Otolaryngology and the director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery. During his tenure as chair, the Department of Otolaryngology has experienced tremendous clinical and academic success, which made him a natural choice for the position.

This change comes as part of the affiliation agreement among KU Medical Center, KU Hospital, and KUPI. The new agreement makes it necessary for the offices of KUPI President and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs to be separate. Until now, Kirk Benson, MD, has held both positions. Dr. Benson will continue to serve as KUPI President.

Also, Sam Enna, PhD, has been chosen as the new Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education for the School of Medicine.

Dr. Sam Enna has been with the Medical Center since 1992, starting out as chair of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics. He stepped down from that position in 2003 so he could serve as both a professor of molecular and integrative physiology and professor of pharmacology, toxicology, and therapeutics.

As the associate dean, Dr. Enna will help faculty coordinate training grant proposals and help assign research space.

Enna's major research interests include neuropharmacology, neurochemistry, and neuropsychiatric disorders. He received his PhD in pharmacology from The University of Missouri – Kansas City in 1970, and has been a prolific publisher of books, manuscripts, and abstracts.

Bob Page, president and CEO of The University of Kansas Hospital, and Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of KU Medical Center, also recently announced that Dr. Steven Stites, MD, has been named chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, the largest department at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Stites has served as interim chair since July 1, 2007. As chair, Stites also becomes the Peter T. Bohan endowed professor.

An associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Stites has also served as the Department of Internal Medicine's residency program director since July 2001 and vice chair for clinical affairs and education since 2002. He has served on the KUPI Board of Directors since 2005 and is chair of its Practice Operations Committee. He has held multiple positions within the department regarding clinical and education administration.

Upon graduating from The University of Missouri-Columbia, he completed his residency and chief residency at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He then completed a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Kansas. His current clinical and research interests include cystic fibrosis, lung transplants, the medical ICU and pulmonary hypertension.

An avid educator, Stites led the development of a metric for financing education that has been adopted by other departments of medicine throughout the nation and is used by consulting companies working with academia.

Stites will also chair the department in the medical staff of The University of Kansas Hospital.

The University of Kansas Medical Center is excited to have these three individuals in their new roles.