Board Members
The West Virginia Board of Medicine consists of 16 members. One member is the state health officer ex-officio, with the right to vote as a member of the board. The other 15 members are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Eight of the members are appointed from among individuals holding the degree of doctor of medicine, two hold the degree of doctor of podiatric medicine, and two members are licensed by the board as physician assistants. Three lay members are appointed to represent health care consumers.
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Board Member |
Member Classification |
Term Expires |
|
Kishore K. Challa, M.D. |
Physician |
09-30-2022 |
|
Ashish Sheth, M.D. |
Physician |
09-30-2019 |
|
Rahul Gupta, M.D. |
Ex-Officio |
-------------- |
|
Public |
09-30-2018 |
|
|
Podiatric Physician |
09-30-2022 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2020 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2019 |
|
|
Public |
9-30-2022 |
|
|
Podiatric Physician |
09-30-2021 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2020 |
|
|
Physician Assistant |
09-30-2022 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2019 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2021 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2018 |
|
|
Public |
09-30-2022 |
|
|
Physician |
09-30-2017 |
Kishore K. Challa, M.D., F.A.C.C. – President
From Hyderabad, India, Dr. Challa graduated with honors from Osmania Medical College in India, then completed his medical residency and cardiology fellowship at Coney Island Hospital in New York. After completing his training in Interventional Cardiology at New York Medical College, Dr. Challa and his family moved to Charleston in 1989. He has served as Chief of Staff at Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston.
Dr. Challa is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology and serves as a member of the Credential Committee and as cardiology subsection chairman at Thomas Memorial. He is also a member of the American College of Cardiology, American College of Chest Physicians, and the Kanawha Medical Association. Dr. Challa is the President of South Charleston Cardiology Associates. In February 2013, he was presented with a Distinguished West Virginian Award by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. In 2014, he was presented the Heart of Gold Award by the American Heart Association.
Dr. Challa and his wife, Jalasree, have one son and one daughter.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
September 2013 Complaint Committee, Chair
Executive/Management Committee
Legislative Committee
Personnel Committee
Dr. Sheth graduated from Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College in Amravati, India. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Jersey Shore Medical Center.
Dr. Sheth is affiliated with Thomas Memorial Hospital, where he has served on the hospital’s Peer Review Committee since 2005. Additionally, in 2005 he served as Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Family Practice.
Dr. Sheth lives in Cross Lanes with his wife Falguni, who is a respiratory therapist and assists in his medical practice, WV Primary Care. Together they have one son and one daughter.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Complaint Committee
Rahul Gupta, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., F.A.C.P. – Secretary
Dr. Gupta is State Health Officer and Commissioner for the WV Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Public Health. From 2009 to 2014, he served as executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and the Putnam County Health Department.
Dr. Gupta earned a Doctor of Medicine degree and subspecialty training in Pulmonary Medicine from the University of Delhi, and completed his internship and residency training at St. Joseph Hospital/Northwestern University in Chicago. Additionally, he earned a Master of Public Health degree in Healthcare Organization and Policy from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Innovation and Technology Management at the London School of Business and Finance. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Gupta serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine and adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Charleston's School of Pharmacy. He also serves as a medical consulting and teaching staff member at Charleston Area Medical Center.
Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Gupta was honored in 2014 by the West Virginia Legislature for his leadership during the Elk River chemical spill.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Executive/Management Committee
Rev. Bowyer is a native of Huntington, where he graduated from Huntington High School. After graduating from Marshall University with honors in Philosophy, he obtained his Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology from Duke University in North Carolina. He has been pastor of churches in Wayne, Ohio and Marion counties, and was the Campus Minister for the Wesley Foundation at Fairmont State University from 1962 until his retirement in 2005.
Active in various district and national positions for the United Methodist Church, Rev. Bowyer formerly served on the Committee on Ethics and Professionalism of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). Rev. Bowyer is an elected public member of the Coalition for Physician Accountability. He served, in the past, as a consumer member of the WV Lawyer Disciplinary Board. A past President of the Board, Rev. Bowyer is the only non-physician ever to hold office on the West Virginia Board of Medicine.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
July 1981 Executive/Management Committee
November 1983 Legislative Committee
October 1987 Personnel Committee
July 1998 Complaint Committee
May 2003
December 2008
Dr. Donatelli is affiliated with the Foot and Ankle Clinic of the Virginias in Princeton. The clinic maintains additional offices in Beckley, Bluefield, Charleston, Montgomery and Oceana. He also is affiliated with Bluefield Regional Medical Center and Princeton Community Hospital.
Dr. Donatelli specializes in general podiatric medicine, orthopedics, and foot and ankle surgery. He is a graduate of the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, and completed his residency training at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Legislative Committee
Dr. Duncan, a gastroenterologist, has practiced his entire career in Charleston. A graduate of West Virginia University and the WVU School of Medicine, he completed post-graduate training in Medicine, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the WVU- Charleston Division.
Now a private practitioner, Dr. Duncan worked in a group practice, Charleston Gastroenterology Associates, from 1980 to 2011, and as an emergency room physician from 1974 to 1981 in Charleston, Logan and Ripley. He is board certified in Medicine and Gastroenterology, and affiliated with Thomas Health Systems, Charleston Surgical Hospital and the Day Surgery Center.
Dr. Duncan and his wife, Paula, have six children and nine grandchildren.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Licensure Committee
Physician Assistant Committee
Ahmed Daver Faheem, M.D., D.L.F.A.P.A.
Dr. Faheem, from Hyderabad, India, completed his medical training and residency in India, England, and the U.S. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry, and by the American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry. He is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at West Virginia University, in addition to a full-time private practice in Beckley, where he resides.
Dr. Faheem is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Faheem has served as the President of Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital, President of the Raleigh County Medical Society, and President of the West Virginia Psychiatric Association. Dr. Faheem is currently Associate Medical Director of General Psychiatry and Medical Director of Adolescent Psychiatry at BARH. Dr. Faheem also served as the President of the WV State Medical Association from 2001 to 2002.
A former chair of the board's Complaint Committee, Dr. Faheem is a recipient of the WVSMA's Wyeth-Ayerst Outstanding Community Service Award, and in 2016 received the West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co.'s Robert L. Ghiz, M.D. award for outstanding service to the Mountain State's physician community.
Dr. Faheem is a member and ex-chairman of the WV Comprehensive Behavior Health Commission and a board member of Appalachian Regional Healthcare, which oversees nine hospitals in Kentucky and West Virginia.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
June 1993 Executive/Management Committee, Chair
June 1998 Legislative Committee
November 2010 Personnel Committee, Chair
Rev. Harman is a deacon, associate at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Charleston, and also serves as the campus pastor at The University of Charleston. She and her husband, John N. Harman IV (Newt), reside in Charleston. She has sung mezzo soprano with the WV Symphony Chorus for the past 20 years.
For the West Virginia United Methodist Church, Rev. Harman leads the Conflict Transformation Teams and has provided leadership with the Board of Ordained Ministry. She is a WV-licensed professional counselor and social worker.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Physician Assistant Committee
Licensure Committee
Dr. Lakin, raised in Millerton, PA, completed undergraduate studies with a degree in Health Sciences at Gannon University in Erie, PA. She earned a Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, and completed her podiatric surgical residency at Loyola University Medical Center.
She practices in Charleston, her special areas of interest are diabetic limb salvage and pediatric gait abnormalities.
Dr. Lakin’s previous roles include Chief of Surgery, Credentialing Committee Chair, and Ethics Committee member at St. Francis Hospital. She also serves on the TT&P Committee at Charleston Area Medical Center, where she is podiatric sub-section chief. She remains active in the West Virginia Podiatric Medical Association, formerly serving as Secretary/Treasurer and presently as the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee representative. She formerly served the uninsured at West Virginia Health Right, and is a member of the staff parish relations committee at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston. She has one daughter.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Licensure Committee
Physician Assistant Committee
Dr. Mullins is a graduate of the West Virginia University School of Medicine. He completed his surgical residency through WVU- Charleston Division, and since has successfully practiced as a general surgeon in the Princeton area.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Physician Assistant Committee
Licensure Committee
Mullins, of South Charleston, is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), and is affiliated with THS Physician Partners and Kanawha Urology Associates. She is a 2010 graduate of Alderson Broaddus College.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Physician Assistant Committee
Legislative Committee
Dr. Rahim graduated from Dow Medical College, University of Karachi, in Pakistan and completed his post-graduate training at Christ Hospital Medical Center, Oak Lawn, IL.
Dr. Rahim is Board Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine. Dr. Rahim is a member of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Advisory Board, the Bluefield State College Advisory Board and is Chairman of Credentialing at Appalachian Regional Healthcare in Beckley. Additionally, Dr. Rahim is Chief of Staff at Appalachian Regional Healthcare, and is the Medical Director at Raleigh Center in Daniels, Mullens Manor in Mullens, Glen Rogers Manor in Glen Rogers and Rescare.
He was formerly Chairman of the Department of Medicine at ARH, and was also the Medical Director of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, SWVC.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Licensure Committee, Chair
Dr. Steele was raised in Huntington. He completed his undergraduate studies at Marshall University and at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Steele is a West Virginia University medical school alumnae who likewise completed his residency in pediatrics through West Virginia University, where he served as chief resident.
Dr. Steele joined Pediatric Partners in Fairmont in July 1995.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Complaint Committee
After graduating from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, Dr. Upton received his Doctor of Medicine degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at WVU-Charleston Division. He is board certified in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Upton was a partner of Dunbar Medical Associates from 1996 to 2015. In 2011, Dr. Upton became the Chief Medical Information Officer of Thomas Memorial Hospital. In August 2015, he became Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer for Thomas Health System.
Dr. Upton resides in Charleston with his wife and two children.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Complaint Committee
Legislative Committee
Wooton practices at Wooton & Wooton, Attorneys at Law in Beckley. He is a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, and specializes in personal injury cases, as well as criminal defense and real estate law.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
Physician Assistant Committee
Licensure Committee
After completing a course in Cardiovascular Surgery and Post- Operative Patient Management at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Mr. Wright has been employed in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery operating out of St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. Prior to moving to Huntington, he was the Chief Physician Assistant at Wheeling Hospital for 13 years.
Mr. Wright attended Glenville State College and obtained his Physician Assistant / Bachelors of Science Degree from Alderson- Broaddus College. He completed his residency at Norwalk Hospital- Yale University Physician Assistant Surgical Residency Program in Connecticut. In August 2005, he was recognized by the Residency Program with the Scallon Alumni Achievement Award for his many contributions to the physician assistant profession.
He is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Association of Physician Assistants in Cardiovascular Surgery and the WV Association of Physician Assistants. He was named the WVAPA Physician Assistant of the Year in 2001. Mr. Wright is a member of Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington, where he resides with his wife, Judy. He has six children and five grandchildren.
Previous Board Appointments Current Committee Appointments
December 1998 Legislative Committee, Chair
September 2004 Physician Assistant Committee, Chair
October 2005
