Denise J. Jamieson, the James Robert McCord Professor and Chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine and chief of gynecology and obstetrics for Emory Healthcare, has been named vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. She will begin Aug. 1.
Jamieson succeeds Brooks Jackson, who announced in February 2022 his plan to return to faculty and pursue his research once his successor was hired. Jackson served in the role for six years.
In addition to her clinical leadership roles, in which Jamieson has served since 2019, she also is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. Her scientific work focuses on emerging infectious diseases in pregnancy and incorporates a population health perspective, with projects addressing health disparities and social determinants of health in the context of maternal morbidity and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. Jamieson also practices obstetrics and gynecology at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
From 1997 to 2017, Jamieson worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she served in a variety of leadership positions, most recently leading the CDC’s Zika emergency response as incident manager. Upon retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service as a captain in July 2017, she received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award granted to an officer in the Commissioned Corps, for “notable contributions to reproductive health and public health practice.”
“Dr. Jamieson’s rich and diverse background of experiences will allow her to lead UI Health Care as we partner with Iowa communities to expand access to health care,” says UI President Barbara Wilson. “I was particularly impressed with Dr. Jamieson’s ability to bring people together and create a culture that supports the success of everyone in the organization.”
Jamieson was one of two candidates who participated in campus visits earlier this month. The search committee was co-chaired by Matthew Howard, chair and department executive officer of the Department of Neurosurgery; and Edith Parker, dean of the College of Public Health.
Jamieson is a collaborative leader whose experience is not only as a physician, but as a communicator and problem-solver, says Kevin Kregel, executive vice president and provost.
“These traits will be of utmost importance as Dr. Jamieson leads our Carver College of Medicine and academic health care system,” says Kregel. “She has an impressive record of research and extensive clinical expertise that will benefit the University of Iowa and the entire state of Iowa.”
Jamieson received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Medicine from the Duke University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed postgraduate education in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco and as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to have this opportunity to lead UI Health Care and Carver College of Medicine,” says Jamieson. “The outstanding reputation of the University of Iowa combined with the available UI Health Care resources and reach—including the vital role that UI Health Care plays in shaping health across the state—make this leadership position unique and allow for broad and far-reaching medical and public health impact.”
Jamieson’s appointment is pending approval by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.