JKnight_4402_131120-490x400Charles D. Howell, M.D., AGAF, has been appointed chair of the Howard University Department of Internal Medicine, effective Feb. 10, 2014.

As chair, Howell will be responsible for overseeing all academic, clinical and research activities of the department, as well as directing a new interdisciplinary viral hepatitis program that will work to reduce the burden of hepatitis in the Washington metropolitan area. Prior to becoming chair of the department, Howell served as a professor of medicine with tenure and director of hepatology research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“Dr. Howell has an outstanding record of leadership and experience and will play a vital role in transforming the largest academic department in Health Sciences,” said Dr. Mark S. Johnson, Dean of the College of Medicine. “He is a skilled and respected physician with the knowledge and vision to advance the Department of Internal Medicine’s mission of providing high-quality patient-centered care and training future clinicians.”

Johnson added, “We would like to thank Dr. Shelly McDonald-Pinkett for her service as interim chair.”

Howell earned his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. He completed an internship in family medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham followed by an internal medicine residency at the Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals. Howell went on to complete a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC). Additionally, he served on the faculty staff at UCHSC before joining the University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty in 1994. Read Full