ECU Names Dean for the Brody School of Medicine | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is a contributor to ECU News Services.

    East Carolina University (ECU) has named a new dean for the Brody School of Medicine and senior associate vice chancellor for medical affairs for the Division of Health Sciences.

    The appointment of Dr. Mark Stacy to these roles was approved by the ECU board of trustees during a special called meeting June 27. Stacy will also hold a tenured professorship in Brody's Department of Internal Medicine when he joins ECU on Sept. 1.

    Since 2011, Stacy has served as vice dean for clinical research at Duke University School of Medicine. In this role, he created and now directs the Duke Office of Clinical Research, which provides oversight for more than 6,800 clinical research projects. He also leads the Duke Human Research Protection Program, Duke's Institutional Review Board, the institution's Conflict of Interest Committee and Regulatory Affairs Office.

    Stacy's appointment follows a long and rigorous national search, said ECU Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences Phyllis Horns.

    "We are thrilled to have a person of Dr. Stacy's caliber joining us," said Horns. "His personal leadership style, impeccable character and integrity are a perfect fit with Brody's mission and bright future. We are incredibly excited about what's in store for the medical school - and the region - under his leadership."

    "For more than 40 years, the Brody School of Medicine has fulfilled its legislated mandate to produce primary care and other physicians for rural and underserved areas of North Carolina, and it has been nationally recognized for its success," said ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton. "With the appointment of Dr. Mark Stacy as Brody's sixth dean, ECU has added a widely recognized talent who is committed to continued national leadership. Dr. Stacy's academic success and expertise in medicine and research uniquely qualify him to lead Brody into the future and to establish ECU as America's next great national university."

    Stacy is also a professor of neurology and chief of the Movement Disorders Division at Duke. He has been a member of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society since 1990, as well as a member of the society's international executive committee and co-editor of its newsletter. He has served as a member of the executive committee of the Parkinson Study Group - the largest not-for-profit scientific network of Parkinson's centers in North America - and is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and American Neurological Association.

    Before his service at Duke, Stacy was director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix. He earned his medical degree at the University of Missouri, then completed an internship in internal medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis, a residency in neurology at Hahnemann (now Drexel) University in Philadelphia and a fellowship in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

    His clinical and research interests include motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. He has published more than 250 manuscripts and one book, "The Handbook of Dystonia."

    "I'm excited that Dr. Mark Stacy has been named the dean of the Brody School of Medicine," said Dr. Mike Waldrum, chief executive officer for Vidant Health. "His leadership, knowledge and passion for research, collaboration and partnership will benefit the patients, families and communities we jointly serve."

    "I am honored to join East Carolina University as the dean of the Brody School of Medicine, and I look forward to being a part of the Greenville community," said Stacy. "The institution has a great history and tremendous future, and I am excited for the opportunity to serve the faculty and students in the medical school. I also look forward to partnering with Vidant Medical Group and Vidant Health to identify synergies and develop programs to achieve our common goal of providing the best health care possible to the people of eastern North Carolina."

    Dr. Nicholas Benson, the school of medicine's vice dean, has served as interim dean since Dr. Paul Cunningham stepped down from the leadership post in September.