Dr. Darwin Conwell Named Chair of Internal Medicine
The College of Medicine is excited to announce the appointment of the next chair of the department of internal medicine after a comprehensive national search. Darwin L. Conwell, MD, MS, FACG, has accepted the position and will officially join our faculty on April 4, 2022.
Dr. Conwell currently serves as a professor of medicine with tenure at University Hospital and The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, both affiliated with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Additionally, he is the director of the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition; Floyd Beman Chair in Gastroenterology; former Charles Austin Doan Chair in Medicine; Mazzaferri-Ellison Society Master Clinician; program director of the CCTS Network Capacity Program; co-director of the Digestive Disease Area of Concentration; and is a member of the Diversity Committee.
“Dr. Conwell is a proven educator, mentor, and advocate for change,” said Acting Dean Chipper Griffith, MD, MSPH. “He has a proven record of growing a health care workforce in an inclusive manner that enhances diversity and addresses health inequities. He will be an excellent leader as he works to support the efforts of our current faculty, staff, and learners now and as the department grows.”
Beyond his roles at Ohio State, Dr. Conwell is the past-president of the American Pancreatic Association; a member of the Cooperative Alliance for Pancreas Education and Research Board; and a member of National Pancreas Foundation.
After graduating with his medical degree at the University of Cincinnati, he completed his residency at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, followed by a fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and later a Master of Science at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio State, he served as a lecturer and then an associate professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Harvard Medical School Department of Medicine.
Dr. Conwell has an extensive research portfolio and has been the principal investigator on numerous National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grants, including multiple active R01 and U01 grants. With this expertise, he has been invited to present both nationally and internationally and has a wealth of peer-reviewed articles in publications such as the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology, Gut, Pancreas, and Pancreatology.
“At the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, our mission is to promote excellence in education, equitable health care, and transformative research,” said Acting Provost Robert S. DiPaola, MD. “Dr. Conwell’s ambition, values, and strength of leadership will be an incredible asset for us as an academic medical center as his expertise will help us grow at the nexus of education, research, and clinical care. He will continue the outstanding work of past chairs as we move into this next phase for the department.”
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Conwell and thanking Rick McClure, MD, for his service as acting chair to the department during the search.
