Meet the Dean: Dr. A. Wesley Burks

Chapel Hill is a special place — a fact that Dr. A. Wesley Burks didn’t take long to learn when he joined UNC Health seven years ago. In his time at Carolina, Burks has been physician-in-chief of the North Carolina Children’s Hospital, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and executive dean of UNC School of Medicine.

This week he added a new title when the UNC Board of Governors voted to hire Burks as CEO of UNC Health, dean of UNC School of Medicine and vice chancellor for Medical Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is eager to begin his new role on Jan. 15, 2019.

“Whether through teaching, research or patient care, this is an amazing place to work. I am extremely humbled and honored to be named as the new leader for UNC Health Care and UNC School of Medicine,” he said.

Over more than 30 years, Burks has devoted himself to caring for patients, leading research and training future health-care providers at Carolina, Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. A world-renowned pediatric allergist and immunologist, Burks holds the Curnen Distinguished Professorship in the School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and is an internationally recognized leader in the field of food hypersensitivity. His work seeks to understand the mechanism of food allergies, improve their diagnosis in children and develop immune therapies for them. He recently led a team that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine for developing the world’s first treatment for potentially fatal peanut allergies.

“Dr. Burks is the right person to lead UNC Health Care and UNC School of Medicine at a time of tremendous and unprecedented change in the health-care industry,” said UNC System president Margaret Spellings. “Having served as executive dean and member of UNC Health’s senior leadership team, he is uniquely positioned to immediately develop and execute a strategy that leads our health-care system and School of Medicine into the future.”

At a time of tremendous change in health-care, Burks will lead Carolina’s continuing work to educate the next generation of doctors, provide the highest-quality care to North Carolinians and conduct innovative and life-saving research.

“That is a huge responsibility,” said Chancellor Carol L. Folt. “Having worked closely with Wesley for years, I know he will lead UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health forward.”