The OIPEP leadership team is comprised of a dedicated group of UNC-CH faculty, staff, and students from across campus who are committed to working collaboratively to create change and inspire a new generation of leaders to work better together. The OIPEP team operates from a stance of integrity, trust, and respect; demonstrating mutual support and collaboration through an innovative, holistic vision.
Meg Zomorodi PhD, RN, CNL is Assistant Provost and Director for the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an Associate Professor for the School of Nursing. In 2014, she was selected as a Macy Faculty Scholar. She was named the Director of the Rural Interprofessional Health Initiative (RIPHI) in July 2017; a program that engages students in rural and population health competencies through didactic and immersive experiences in rural clinical practices across North Carolina. Dr. Zomorodi serves as the Well Care Home Health Faculty Scholar; a collaborative partnership between the University and Well Care Home Health to engage students in interprofessional activities and establish a program to promote home health nursing to graduate students. Dr. Zomorodi teaches across the graduate and undergraduate nursing programs and has a passion for developing collaborations and innovations in teaching.
Meg Zomorodi Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice meg_zomorodi@unc.edu
Madeline Neal Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice mnneal@email.unc.edu
Dr. Ciarrocca received her D.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed postdoctoral training in Oral Medicine and a master’s degree in education. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine. Prior to joining the faculty of the UNC SOD, she was an Associate Professor at the Dental College of Georgia (DCG) with joint appointments in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation and the Diagnostic Sciences Department. Her practice in Georgia was limited to the non-surgical management of the oral ramifications of cancer treatment. Prior to her time in Georgia, Dr. Ciarrocca served as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Department Of Oral Medicine and had a part-time private practice
She is a 2014 Fellow of the UAB Geriatric Faculty Scholars program. She is an author in Burket’s Oral Medicine textbook, is a reviewer for Oral Diseases, and is on the Editorial Board for Special Care in Dentistry. Dr. Ciarrocca is the 2010 winner of the Georgia Dental Association Outstanding Faculty Award, the 2012 recipient of the American College of Dentists Outstanding Faculty award, the 2013 Excellence in Dental Education Award given by the Georgia Pierre Fauchard Academy and was inducted into the Pierre Fauchard Academy in 2017.
Dr. Judy Schmidt is a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling, Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill. She serves as the Director of Interprofessional Education and Practice for the UNC Department of Allied Health Sciences and has coordinated IPE activities with UNC health affairs schools for the past three years. She works closely with the schools to implement and maintain interprofessional education opportunities for students and faculty. Judy is the Co-Convener of the IPE Significant Interest Group for the Southern Group on Education Affairs (SGEA), Association of American Medical Colleges.
Judy is also an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with UNC Hospital. She is the Rehabilitation Counselor for the Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation unit specializing in care for stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury patients. Judy earned a BS in Psychology from Meredith College, a MS in Rehabilitation Counseling from UNC-CH, and Doctor of Education in curriculum and instruction for higher education from Argosy University, American School of Psychology, in Washington, D.C. She is a nationally Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in North Carolina, and a nationally Certified Clinical Trauma Professional.
Jamie Conklin, MSLIS, is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the Liaison to Nursing and a member of the steering committee for the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice. Jamie received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Florida State University. Her interests include evidence-based practice in nursing education, evidence-based teaching, interprofessional education and practice, and open access to scholarly communication and instructional resources.
Lora Cohen-Vogel is the Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is Chair of the Faculty and Director of Interprofessional Education. Lora is also a Vice President of the American Educational Research Association. As Associate Director of the five-year, $13.6 million National Center for Research and Development on Scaling Up Effective Schools, Lora helped lead research-practice partnerships that used the new science of improvement to raise schooling outcomes for traditionally underserved students in two of the nation’s largest school districts. Having collected data not only on the impacts of designed innovations produced by the partners but also on the process of improvement along the way, Lora and her collaborators are among the first to have published on improvement research in peer-reviewed journals in education. That work is in Teachers College Record, Educational Policy, Peabody Journal of Education, and the American Educational Research Journal. Cohen-Vogel speaks widely on improvement science at national conferences and with school leaders.
The Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice (OIPEP) supports a campus-wide initiative for the intentional integration of interprofessional learning and collaboration. The purpose of the Office is to design and support creative and meaningful ways to enhance student learning, build faculty scholarship and help departments meet accreditation goals.
