News Releases
6/16/05
A longtime University of Kansas cardiologist who has mentored almost 45 cardiology fellows during his tenure has been formally invested with a professorship in cardiovascular diseases.
David B. Wilson, M.D., KU associate professor of medicine, was named the inaugural recipient of the Delbert D. Neis, M.D., Professorship in Cardiovascular Diseases. Wilson was honored with the professorship at a ceremony today at the KU School of Nursing Auditorium.
“Dr. Wilson is an outstanding clinician, educator and mentor for our students,” said Barbara Atkinson, M.D., executive vice chancellor of the KU Medical Center and executive dean of the KU School of Medicine. “Through his leadership in the cardiology fellowship program, he has elevated cardiology education at KU and been an inspiration to dozens of future cardiologists.”
Wilson is the director of the cardiology fellowship program, which trains medical residents specializing in cardiology, and is interim director of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine. He said that as the inaugural Neis Professor, he hoped to further expand the cardiology fellowship training program.
“The next challenge for the fellowship program is to expand the range of educational opportunities available for students and residents and to increase the number of fellows that we train,” Wilson said. “We are dedicated to developing future cardiologists who not only have all the technical expertise they need to prevent, diagnose and treat heart diseases and disorders, but also are dedicated to exemplary personal patient care.”
Wilson said he tries to instill the same values in cardiology fellows that he learned from his own mentors, including Marvin I. Dunn, M.D., former dean of the School of Medicine, and David
Pugh, M.D.
“They taught me how to be a good physician and how to communicate with patients,” Wilson said. “I try to teach that the patient always comes first and everything else is secondary.”
Wilson’s experience as a clinician and an educator made him an ideal candidate for the professorship, said Susan Pingleton, M.D., chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, which includes the division of cardiology.
“Dave Wilson is a master educator,” Pingleton said. “He is a compassionate role model and an exceptionally accomplished clinician who has established new specialties in cardiology education and increased fundraising for the division. Moreover, he is responsible for developing new programs that bring together cardiologists and surgeons with the students who are eager to learn from their experience.”
Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1976 and a degree in medicine in 1980, both from the University of Tennessee. While a student there, he was inducted into the national honor medical society Alpha Omega Alpha.
In 1985, after completing post-graduate education in internal medicine and cardiology at KU, he was named assistant professor of medicine. In 2001 he was promoted to associate professor of medicine. From 1985 until 2003, he directed KU’s echocardiography laboratory and conducted clinical trials in hypertension, congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation. In 2003, he was named interim director of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and director of the cardiology fellowship program, where he currently mentors eight cardiology fellows.
The Delbert D. Neis, M.D., Professorship in Cardiovascular Diseases Fund at the Kansas University Endowment Association provides support for a salary stipend, equipment, supplies, graduate student researchers and travel for the Neis Professor. The fund was established in 2000 through a gift to KU Endowment from Myrnice M. Neis of Omaha, Neb., and her daughter, Diane E. Neis, of Overland Park, Kan. The Neis family’s gift also supported the renovation of space and equipment for the 4,000-square-foot Delbert D. Neis, M.D., Clinical Skills Laboratory at the KU Medical Center. The professorship and the laboratory honor Delbert Neis, a 1945 graduate the KU School of Medicine and longtime Omaha cardiovascular surgeon.
KU Endowment is an independent, non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university and one of the largest.
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