2018 Candidate Biographies
PRESIDENT
Wendy S. Davis, MD ’81
Dr. Wendy Davis graduated from Brown University in 1975 and from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1981. She completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital/Case Medical Center, and a Robert Wood Johnson fellowship in academic general pediatrics at Yale University. She practiced general pediatrics at the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine from 1987-2008, directing the Division of General Pediatrics (1992-2006) and providing consultation to the Vermont Department of Health (VDH). In 2007, she became Director of Maternal and Child Health at VDH, then served as Vermont’s Health Commissioner (2008-2011) and as EPSDT Program Chief (2011-2013). In 2013 she returned to UVM’s Vermont Child Health Improvement Program, where she oversees state and national pediatric quality improvement initiatives.
Dr. Davis was a lecturer and instructor in pediatrics at Yale University and is currently Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the UVM College of Medicine. She has been an attending physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center since 1987 and was a member of its Board of Trustees from 2002-2006. She is the past president of the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and has held positions at the district and national level for this organization, currently serving on the Board of Directors as the District I Chairperson. During her chapter presidency, she helped to formalize a partnership with the Vermont Department of Health and provided consultation in a number of areas related to improving pediatric health care delivery and outcomes. In 2002 she received the Chapter’s Green Mountain Pediatrician Award, and in 2009 she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Vermont State Medical Society. She recently completed her term as president of that organization.
Dr. Davis was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys photography, water sports on Lake Champlain (during Vermont’s two months of summer), following the UVM Hockey Catamounts (during Vermont’s eight months of winter), and traveling with her husband, John Mahoney, a middle school social studies teacher. They reside in Burlington with their English setters (Mick and Ella) and relish time spent with family and friends.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Thomas W. Eppes, Jr., MD ’78
Dr. Thomas W. Eppes, Jr., is a 1978 graduate of the University of Virginia, School of Medicine. After graduating from his family practice residency in 1981, Dr. Eppes joined Forest Family Physicians which has since been an integral part of the creation of Central Virginia Family Physicians, the largest family practice group in the Lynchburg area in 1993. Currently, Dr. Eppes is the president of that group. He is co-chair of Collaborative Health Partners of Virginia, a start-up clinically integrated network based in Lynchburg. His office of five physicians precepts 6-8 third-year UVA students a year.
Continually active in the state societies since the mid-80s, Dr. Eppes was president of the Medical Society of Virginia 2008-09, was formerly on the MSV Foundation board and is an AMA alternate delegate. Initially appointed to the AMA’s Group Practice Advisory Council that has become The Integrated Physician Practice Section. He was chair from 2015-2017 and is now Immediate Past Chair.
Dr. Eppes’ practice has partnered with Privia Medical Group in 2017, a group of 1,800 physicians in six states, 85 percent primary care, and currently the largest medical group in Virginia. Dr. Eppes is on the Board of Directors and heads the Advocacy Section. Dr. Eppes has served as a member of the Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2012 and as Treasurer since 2014.
Dr. Eppes’ son is soon to be a major in the summer of 2018. His daughter lives in Los Angeles. His wife retired after 21 years working for Congressman Bob Goodlatte. Running for office is not in his playbook.
TREASURER
Meg Graham Keeley, MD ‘92
Dr. Meg Graham Keeley is Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She grew up in Lexington, KY then attended UVA as an Echol’s Scholar. She graduated from the School of Medicine in 1992 and was the recipient of the Bowman Scholarship. Dr. Keeley completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and practices General Pediatrics. She has previously served as a Medical Director and Division Head of General Pediatrics. She is a member of the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills Exam Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners and an active member of the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics. Dr. Keeley has attended the Harvard Macy Institute and completed The Executive Program at the Darden School of Business. She has served on the Board of the UVA Medical Alumni Association since 2009.
Dr. Keeley’s research and scholarship focus on several areas of medical education including clinical skills, professional identity formation, student advising, educational handovers and learning communities. She has been honored with teaching awards including the All-University Teaching Award and is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Educators. Dr. Keeley is the Past Chair of the Learning Communities Institute, a national multidisciplinary organization of medical school faculty, administrators and students promoting the concept of longitudinal relationship centered education across the continuum of health sciences learning.
Dr. Keeley lives in Charlottesville with her husband Dr. Mark Keeley, MD ‘90. They have twin daughters, Emily and Charlotte, who both recently graduated from college and a son Graham, who left for college last fall.
MEMBER OF THE BOARD
Susan C. Modesitt, MD ‘95
Dr. Susan C. Modesitt is the Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Division and the Co-Director of the High Risk Breast/Ovarian Cancer clinic at the University of Virginia. She is also the Richard and Louise Crockett Endowed Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Modesitt completed her undergraduate degree at Emory University, medical school at UVA (where she was also the Mulholland Society president), her OB/GYN residency at the University of North Carolina and her Gynecologic Oncology fellowship at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She was on faculty at the University of Kentucky until 2006 when she was recruited back to join the faculty at UVA and jumped at the chance to return to Charlottesville with her family.
Dr. Modesitt is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the American College of Surgeons and continues to serve in multiple leadership roles and committees for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Gynecologic Oncology Group, and the UVA Cancer Center. She has published over 80 articles, 10 book chapters, and has been recognized annually as a Top Doctor for Cancer by U.S. News and World Report. Her research focuses on obesity-related cancers, clinical trials, and hereditary cancers.
Barring injuries, Dr. Modesitt does triathlons or goes on long cycling trips with her husband (Kacy Burnsed, LAW ‘96) and their teenage daughters. They are also avid UVA sport fans and attend as many different sporting events as humanly possible (particularly basketball, volleyball, swimming/diving, and soccer).