Dwayne A. Thomas, M.D., M.M.M.

Dr. Thomas returned to the LSU School of Medicine in 1995, after serving on the faculty of the University of Florida as an Assistant Dean of Minority Relations for the Health Sciences Center and Associate Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.  He was appointed the first Director of the E. N. Morial Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center of Excellence after successfully opening it, less than two years after his arrival in 1997. He was appointed Medical Director of the Medical Center of Louisiana in November of 1997 and became the Hospital’s CEO in January of 2002, where he served until his most recent appointment as the Associate Dean of Health Quality and Patient Safety in December of 2008. Dr. Thomas has a keen interest in the development of Public Health Policy and the elimination of Health Care Disparities. As a result, he will complete a Research fellowship in these areas within the Satcher Healthcare Leadership Institute and the NationalCenter for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He will work under the direction of the esteemed Dr. David Satcher, 16th U.S. Surgeon General and Dr. George Rust, Director, of the NationalCenter for Primary Care. His primary responsibility will be to advise the Dean, CEO of the LSU-HCSD and Chancellor on health policies and initiatives designed to improve the clinical practice and also its relations with students, employees, payers, regulatory agencies, and the general public.