SAVANNAH — Dr. Jean R. Sumner, dean of Mercer University School of Medicine, recently announced the appointment of Dr. James Knapp as associate dean of academic affairs for preclinical education.
“Dr. Knapp is an outstanding educator committed to the academic success and well-being of our students. He is a tremendous resource and has served in an interim capacity extremely well. I am certain he will continue to do so as associate dean of preclinical education,” said Dr. Sumner.
Dr. Knapp obtained his B.S. in chemistry and computer science from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He completed postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Dr. Knapp joined Mercer’s faculty in 2008 as assistant professor. He has a strong interest in the development of materials that support student learning using a diverse set of approaches, including written monographs, narrated PowerPoint presentations and practice question datasets.
In addition to his teaching interests, Dr. Knapp has research interests in the allosteric regulation of proteins, structure and function of hemoglobin, and red blood cell metabolism.
He has authored 18 peer-reviewed publications.
About Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah and Columbus)
Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and healthcare needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. Today, more than 60 percent of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent are practicing in rural or medically underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer medical students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. The School opened a full four-year campus in Savannah in 2008 at Memorial University Medical Center. In 2012, the School began offering clinical education for third- and fourth-year medical students in Columbus. Following their second year, students participate in core clinical clerkships at the School’s primary teaching hospitals: Medical Center, Navicent Health in Macon; Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The School also offers master’s degrees in family therapy, preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences.
