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
Jennifer L. Brame, Ed.S., M.S., RDH, is an Professor in the Division of Comprehensive Oral Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry. She serves as Director of the Master of Science Degree Program in Dental Hygiene Education and Director of the undergraduate Dental Hygiene Program.
Jennifer currently teaches in the undergraduate and graduate dental hygiene programs and the pre-doctoral dental curriculum. She is actively engaged in interprofessional and educational research and works closely with graduate student research projects. She was a recipient of the 2020 American Dental Hygienists’ Association Institute for Oral Health Dr. Esther Wilkins Scholarship and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction development. Jennifer actively participates in faculty development initiatives and serves on many faculty mentoring teams. As an avid speaker, she has presented continuing education on oral health for the primary care team, management of care for pregnant patients, interprofessional education and collaborative practice, professional learning communities, preventive and therapeutic oral hygiene products, and advances in periodontal treatment. Jennifer is a reviewer and team member for the Smiles for Life National Oral Health Curriculum and is on the Journal of Dental Hygiene editorial review board. She has written textbook chapters and published in several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Dental Education, Journal of Dental Hygiene, and Nurse Education Today. She is an active member in the
Jennifer L. Brame Adams School of Dentistry, Comprehensive Oral Health jennifer_brame@unc.edu
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.
