Louis C. Thibodeaux MD FACS
FAWC Chair
Dr. Thibodeaux is the Medical Director of the outpatient Advanced Wound Healing Centers at Bethesda North, Good Samaritan, and McCullough Hyde Hospitals. In addition, he also serves as the Medical Director of the TriHealth Wound Program, which provides comprehensive inpatient wound care services to hospitalized patients in the TriHealth facilities. Dr. Thibodeaux graduated from the University of New Orleans and received his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed his residency in general surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery. He has additional training in complex wound care, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), and significant experience utilizing advanced biologic wound therapeutics. Prior to medical school he began his medical career by earning an associate degree in respiratory care and worked as a registered respiratory therapist
M. Mark Melin, MD, FACS, RPVI, FACCWS
FAWC Vice Chair
M. Mark Melin MD FACS RPVI FACCWS, is a surgeon and Medical Director of the M Health Wound Healing Institute, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota Surgical Department. His interests and educational niches include management of lymphedema in the wounded patient, the endothelial glycocalyx, adjunctive micronutrient application to wound care, Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fractions (MPFF), wound pH and biofilm management, and emerging technologies in wound products and wound technologies. He participates in the educational activities of the Surgical Department Resident training program. He resides in the suburbs of Minneapolis with his wife of 31 years, Cindy; they have 4 grown children and 3 rescue dogs. In his spare time, he enjoys camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe region of Northern Minnesota, baking artisan bread, and reading.
Chet Evans MS DPM FACFAS CWS(ret)
AnchorMed(Consulting), President and CEO
Dr. Evans has been comprehensively involved in wound medicine and limb salvage his entire career. He realized the need for a credential that certifies individuals in the field and founded the American Board of Wound Management(ABWM) in 1995. Having been in academic medicine for more than three decades, he has served as Vice-President and Dean and faculty at multiple medical schools and institutions. Prior to completing his surgical residency in Miami, he received his DPM from Samuel Merritt University, an MS from University of Florida, and his BS from the University of Miami. He is board certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery(ABFAS) and Podiatric Medicine(ABPM), and is a retired Diplomate of the ABWM. Dr Evans was the early development and site consultant for Florida’s newest medical school, the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine(OCOM).
Margaret Halstead
Medline Industries, Inc. – VP Health Economics & Market Access/Advanced Skin & Wound Care – Chicago, IL
Margaret-Ann Halstead is currently Vice President, Health Economics & Market Access with Medline Industries, Inc. Ms. Halstead spent twenty years with KCI™, now 3M, in various roles including sales, sales management and Health Economics and Reimbursement. Her knowledge and experience spans over thirty years in healthcare working with all care setting and providers. Currently, Ms. Halstead serves on the board of the Wound Healing Foundation and Rubitection Inc.
Kathleen Kelly, MD CWSP
Exeter Hospital Center for Wound Healing – Medical Director – Exeter, NH
Raised in Massachusetts. Biology degree from MIT Boston University School of Medicine. Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital of Boston for internship and residency in Internal Medicine. 18 years in primary care in Massachusetts and then seacoast NH Wound care since 2006. Avid if not successful gardener and hiker. Hot and cold running golden retrievers.
Catherine Lewis, MD, PhD
Norton, VA
Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Morehouse School of Medicine where she obtained her medical degree as well as a doctorate in cancer cell biology. She completed her residency training at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing with the mission of her medical school to serve the underserved, Dr. Lewis has worked in various rural environments, including Indian Health facilities, and surgical mission trips to Jamaica. She recently served as the Internal Medicine Residency Program Research Committee Chairman in Norton, Virginia. She is currently an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, and a global surgery fellow at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Lewis is board-certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery and also board-certified in wound care by the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery.
J. Neal Sharpe, MD, FACS
Norton Brownsboro Wound Center – Medical Director – Louisville, KY
Jeffrey Neal Sharpe, MD, FACS, Founder of JNS Wound Services and a Founding Diplomate and Fellow of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery. He received his undergraduate degree (magna cum laude) from Murray State University. He attended medical school at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and completed his training in General Surgery at the University of Louisville in the Department of Surgery. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery. Currently a Staff Surgeon at Norton Brownsboro Hospital and Medical Director of the Norton Brownsboro Wound Treatment Center, Louisville KY.
Dr. Sharpe specializes in providing bedside wound assessment, treatment and management of acute and chronic wounds, surgical intervention, treatment of pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, ischemic ulcers, decubitus ulcers, post-op wound infections, diabetic foot ulcers, heel ulcers, skin tears, atypical ulcers and education to the medical community.
Dr. Sharpe’s current professional interest include presenting educational seminars to physicians, nursing home administrators and clinical staff around the country on MRSA, the five types of wounds, surgical intervention, and surgical management of complex lower extremity wounds.
Richard Simman, MD, FACS, FACCWS
Wound Care Program/Jobst Vascular Institue/ProMedica Health System – Co-Director – Toldeo, OH
Board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon
Dr. Simman is the founding president and chair of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery, past president of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists (ACCWS), current editor in chief of the journal of the college and sits on the editorial review board of the Annals of Plastic Surgery. President and Founding Chair of Simman Wound Care and Fellowships.org He is clinical Professor at the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Dermatology at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Toledo.
Co-Director of the Wound Care Program at Jobst Vascular Institute/ProMedica Health System, Toledo, Ohio.
His background includes training in General Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University in New York, NY and a Plastic Surgery residency at Providence Hospital and Medical Centers in Southfield.. In addition, he completed a Burn Fellowship followed by a Research Fellowship at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He has published over 110 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, letters and book chapters.
Prity S Vaidya, MD, MBA
CWSP, ABWMS, CAQ, FCCWS, CPE
Board Certified Infectious Disease (ABIM)
Dr. Vaidya completed her Medical Degree at G.S Medical School, Mumbai, India, and completed an Infectious Disease fellowship at Hackensack Medical Center, New Jersey, in 1991. She started private practice in 1991 at MedCentral Hospital in Mansfield, Ohio as a director of infectious disease and hospital epidemiologist She pioneered a wound care program in 1993 and started the Hyperbaric Oxygen Program in 2012. Dr. Vaidya completed her MBA in Health Care Management from U Mass Elmhurst in 2018. She received the CAQ (UHMS) for HBOT in 2015. She joined Ohio Health Mansfield in 2013 and is the co-director of the wound care program, hospital epidemiologist, and antimicrobial stewardship program.