New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Published on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff. 

Dr. Sheila S. Belk

Dr. Sheila S. Belk, recently the regulatory director for the UMMC Biobank, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pharmacology/toxicology in the School of Medicine. 

She had also recently served as the senior regulatory/clinical research coordinator for pharmacology/toxicology at UMMC. 

Belk earned her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at UMMC in 2021 after receiving her Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1998 at Iloilo Doctors College of Medicine in the Philippines. She also completed a post-graduate internship at Iloilo Mission Hospital.  

A certified clinical research coordinator, she has held a number of leadership positions at various other institutions, including Naic Doctors Hospital, Cavite, Philippines; Associated Pharmaceutical Research Center Inc. in Buena Park, California; NuLife Clinical Research Inc. in Anaheim, California; Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center in Orange, California; Clinical Research Center in Las Vegas, Nevada; and more. 

A member of the Group on Women in Medicine and Science, Belk has extensive research experience related to type 2 diabetes, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, asthma/allergy, osteoarthritis, pre-eclampsia, COVID-19, Cushing’s syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and much more. She has conducted National Institutes of Health-funded studies related to ob-gyn, pediatrics, immunology and endocrinology.  

Dr. Juvonda S. Hodge

Dr. Juvonda S. Hodge, recently an associate professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of surgery in the School of Medicine. 

Hodge, who earned her medical degree in 1996 at New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey, completed her general surgery residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. 

Her previous academic and professional appointments include surgical house officer for Greater Southeast Community Hospital (now United Medical Center) in Washington, D.C.; and director of ambulatory surgery and assistant professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Allied Health Professions in Mobile. 

Her previous clinical appointments, all at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, include director of the Burn Fellowship, co-director of the Medical Student Burn Unit Clerkship, and assistant medical director of the Grady Burn Unit. 

A member of the National Medical Association, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons and American Burn Association, Hodge has received a number of awards in recognition of her achievements as a physician, faculty member and educator.  

She has a variety of international, national and regional lectureships, seminar invitations and visiting professorships to her credit and is the coauthor of more than a dozen abstracts presented at institutional conferences. 

Her research focus is on outcomes research and improving quality of care for burn patients. 

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Dr. Douglas G. Rummells Jr.

Dr. Douglas G. Rummells Jr., currently in private practice as a general dentist in Flowood, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a part-time assistant professor of integrated patient care in the School of Dentistry. 

After earning undergraduate degrees at Hinds Community College and Mississippi College, Rummells received his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree at UMMC in 2004. 

For 14 years he was a general dentist, associate and partner at Castlewoods Dental Clinic in Flowood. Beginning in 2018 he practiced general dentistry as the sole proprietor of Integrity Dental Clinic in Flowood before joining the Medical Center. 

His practice has focused on patient care and education; restorative dentistry; and anterior, premolar and molar endodontics.