Dr. Meredith
For his contributions to the American College of Surgeons (ACS), trauma care, and the field of surgery, J. Wayne Meredith, MD, FACS, has been selected to receive this year’s Distinguished Service Award (DSA). A Fellow of the ACS since 1990, Dr. Meredith is the Richard T. Myers Professor and Chair, department of surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine; surgeon-in-chief, Wake Forest Baptist Health; and medical director, Childress Institute of Pediatric Trauma, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC. The DSA is the highest honor bestowed by the ACS and will be presented Sunday, October 26, during the Convocation ceremonies at the 2014 Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA.
The Board of Regents of the ACS is presenting the DSA to Dr. Meredith in appreciation of “his continuous and devoted service as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons” and “in recognition of his distinctive scientific contributions in cardiovascular physiology during resuscitation, trauma registries, and trauma systems,” the award citation states.
Leadership in ACS trauma programs
In his more than 20 years as a Fellow, Dr. Meredith has devoted much of his energy to ACS trauma-related activities. He served as the Medical Director of Trauma Programs (2006–2010) and Past-Chair of the Committee on Trauma (COT) (2002–2006). He has chaired the COT’s National Trauma Data Bank® Ad Hoc Committee (1997–2002) and the Trauma Registry Subcommittee (1994–2002) and continues to serve on the Verification, Review, and Consultation Committee (1996–present). In addition, he has been a liaison member of the Program Committee (2002–2006), a member of the national faculty for Advanced Trauma Life Support® (2002–present), and the ACS COT representative to the American Board of Surgery Trauma, Burns, and Critical Care Advisory Council (2005–2006).
Dr. Meredith also has played a significant role in state-level ACS activities since joining the North Carolina Chapter of the ACS in 1991. He has served as a member of the chapter’s Board of Directors (1994–present), a member (1991–present) and Chair (1991–1997) of the North Carolina COT, and Chapter President (2005).
Commitment to surgical education
He joined the faculty of Wake Forest University Health Sciences in 1987. In his years of service at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Dr. Meredith has taken on many roles. He was director of surgical sciences through June 2014 and appointed surgeon-in-chief of Wake Forest Baptist Health Medical Center in July of this year. In addition to serving as the Richard T. Myers Professor and Chair, he is the residency program director, department of surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine. Along with serving as medical director, Childress Institute of Pediatric Trauma, department of surgery, Dr. Meredith also holds a cross-appointment at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as a joint appointment as professor of pediatrics in the department of pediatrics. He is a member of Wake Forest’s graduate medical education committee (1999–present), the risk and insurance management advisory council (2002–present), the faculty executive council (2002–present), the cancer center oversight committee (2004–present), the medical executive committee (2011–present), and the health system management council (2011–present). He is on the boards of the North Carolina Baptist Hospital and the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Other contributions to trauma surgery
In addition to his previously noted service in leadership roles in ACS Trauma Programs, Dr. Meredith has been active in the field in various capacities—both nationally and globally. Dr. Meredith has been named a visiting professor or named lecturer at more than 20 institutions around the world, from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Quito, Ecuador. He is author or coauthor of more than 170 scientific publications, more than 20 book chapters, and one textbook, Trauma: Contemporary Principles and Therapy. He also serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Surgery and the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care.
His research interests include thoracic trauma, the biomechanics of crash injury, injury severity measures, and trauma systems development. Over the course of his career, Dr. Meredith has been awarded 10 grants for various trauma studies. He currently serves as the principal investigator for a National Institute of Health grant for Integrative Training in Trauma and Regenerative Medicine, as well as a joint project with the Wake Forest School of Medicine and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that established the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network Center of Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, Blacksburg.
Dr. Meredith has held leadership roles in many other professional organizations as well, including president of the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the Eastern Association for the Surgery on Trauma, the Southern Surgical Association, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Halsted Society. In addition, he has served as director of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Meredith graduated from Emory University, Atlanta, GA, with a bachelor of arts in physics. He earned his medical degree and completed his surgical training at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC. He completed his trauma/critical care fellowship and was visiting assistant professor of surgery/trauma under the supervision of Donald D. Trunkey, MD, FACS, at Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital, Portland.
