New Health Director to lead Department of Public Health Northwest Health District
Rome, Georgia: Unini Odama, M.D., MPH, has been named health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District headquartered in Rome. Dr. Odama, a nephrologist and hypertension specialist, succeeds C. Wade Sellers, M.D., MPH, who retired August 2016, after 23 years as health director for the ten- county public health district.
“I am pleased to have Dr. Odama leading the Northwest Health District,” said Brenda Fitzgerald, M. D., commissioner, Georgia Department of Public Health. “I am confident she will build on the successes of Dr. Sellers’ two decades guiding public health in northwest Georgia, while taking on new initiatives and putting her own stamp on the district.”
Dr. Odama is a graduate of the University of Jos Medical School, Nigeria. She interned at the Interfaith Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Michael Reese Medical Center, University of Illinois.
After a one- year fellowship in clinical hypertension at the RUSH- PresbyterianSaint Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, she completed a two- year fellowship in general nephrology followed by a year training in kidney- and- pancreas transplantation at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia. She then completed the Global Clinical Scholars Research Program at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Odama obtained her Master of Public Health at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, with a focus in Prevention Science.
Since 2003, Dr. Odama has operated Landmark Nephrology and Hypertension Clinic, which has offices in Talladega and Anniston, Alabama. She also serves as medical director for dialysis clinics at two Talladega medical centers.
She is a noted guest speaker and lecturer on both nephrology and hypertension and received the Keynote Speaker Award at the 2015 International Symposium on Clinical Neuroscience, Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurodegeneration.
The Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District works to inform, protect and prevent, thereby improving the quality of life in ten northwest Georgia counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk and Walker. We provide exceptional medical services, track and prevent the spread of disease, promote health and safety through education and communication, monitor area environmental safety, including restaurant and other food- service inspections, and ensure our community is prepared for public health emergencies. Find us on the web at http:// nwgapublichealth. org/.