Our Programs

Dr. Val Akopov serves as SVP of Wellstar Medical Group (WMG). In this capacity he helps oversee one of the largest multispecialty medical groups in the nation.

He earned his medical degree from the Tbilisi State Medical University, USSR. After completing residency training in internal medicine at Emory-affiliated hospitals, he joined the Emory School of Medicine Department of Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital. In 1998, he co-founded the Section of Hospital Medicine at Grady—the first academic Hospital Medicine program in a public hospital. Dr. Akopov practiced and taught at Grady from 1997 to 2003. In 2003, he started Hospital Medicine Service at Emory Crawford Long Hospital (now named Emory University Hospital Midtown).

In addition to his leadership of WMG, Dr. Akopov serves as chair of the Board of Managers of Wellstar Health Network, Wellstar’s Accountable Care Organization. He also serves on the board of Wellstar Clinical Partners, which is Wellstar’s clinically integrated network.

In 2014, Dr. Akopov earned an MBA/MHA from the Robinson School of Business at Georgia State University.

Dr. Brandi Allen is a fellowship trained healthcare executive with 15+ years of progressive management experience in healthcare administration. She currently serves in the role of assistant vice president of GME & UME at Wellstar. In this role, Dr. Allen oversees the day-to-day operations of the Office of Academic Affairs, managing the GME, UME, Academic Partnerships, The Wellstar Center for Healthcare Simulation, Library Services, Continuing Medical Education and Continuing Nursing Education departments. She was instrumental in the development of the Office of Academic Affairs, which trains nearly 275 residents and fellows annually, while placing over 10,000 students with 300,000 contact hours a year. Dr. Allen leads a multidisciplinary team to develop and execute strategy around major academic partnerships, accredited training programs and pipeline initiatives to advance Wellstar’s academic enterprise goals.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, she is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in health promotion, education and behavior. She holds both a master’s and doctorate in healthcare administration. She has held numerous executive positions within healthcare organizations and is a proven leader in operational excellence, clinical outcomes, evidenced-based medical practice, adult education and start-up programs. In 2012 Crain’s Detroit Business recognized her as one of the 20 Executives in their 20s, the first ever healthcare recipient. She is a wife and a mother of three beautiful children who is personally devoted to community outreach and service in both her professional and personal life.

Jim Shehy is nationally board certified as a training administrator for graduate medical education and has been with Wellstar Kennestone’s Graduate Medical Education Department from its inception. From the first Wellstar Sponsoring Institution application and first two residency programs, Jim now oversees Wellstar Kennestone’s seven residency programs and one fellowship with a highly qualified team of program coordinators for each of its eight medical specialty programs.

Jim earned his Bachelors of Science from Youngstown State University in Ohio before earning his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Akron School of Law. After graduation Jim worked with a nationally renowned nonprofit organization that brought him to Georgia. During his time in Georgia, he found the healthcare environment exciting and attractive and moved into operations within the medical field in Southeast Georgia before eventually coming to Wellstar Kennestone in the summer of 2011.

In his spare time Jim enjoys the outdoors with his husband and stepson, along with their two rambunctious dogs, Scout and Chief. Travel, gardening and his lifelong passion for Lego that started when he was a child continues to keep him busy.

Dr. George Brown has been the program director of the Wellstar Douglas Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program since 2010.  He received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was an AOA graduate. Dr. Brown completed his family medicine residency at the University of Virginia Hospital, Charlottesville, where he received the Mead Johnson National Award of Excellence for family medicine residents.

He has his boards in both family medicine and geriatrics. Dr. Brown has been voted Top Doc about 20 times, most recently in Atlanta Magazine and Medicine and Doctors magazine.

Dr. Byrd received her undergraduate degree in biology/pre-medicine from Florida A&M University and her medical degree from Meharry Medical College. She completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas at Houston Health Sciences Center.

After residency, she returned to serve on the faculty at Meharry Medical College. Before coming to Wellstar, Dr. Byrd advanced to the rank of associate professor at University of Texas Health at McGovern Medical School where she served as both residency program director and clerkship director.

Dr. Byrd’s clinical focus as an academic generalist has been in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, office gynecology and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. She currently serves on the ACOG District IV Committee on Health Equity and Respectful Care, CREOG Executive Council, the Georgia Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (GOGS) Advisory Board, and on the Georgia Perinatal Quality Collaborative as the maternal co-chair and health equity liaison.

Her most recent initiatives are aimed at reducing Black maternal mortality through focusing on cardiac disease. Dr. Byrd is dedicated to improving the training of future OB/GYN physicians and working diligently to create a more inclusive work environment while eliminating disparities in healthcare.

Dr. Gordon started her training in the UK, where she graduated from the University of Manchester. She pursued training in medicine obtaining MRCP (Edi). She pursued further training in acute care before moving to the United States for more training. She completed internal medicine training at St. John Medical Center in Detroit, and was appointed chief resident before pursuing a hospice and palliative fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. Following her fellowship, she came to Wellstar and has worked in palliative care consults for over 10 years. Her research interests include increasing scholarly activity in a community palliative setting, resident well-being, and quality improvement. She is VitalTalk faculty, EPEC trainer, a member of the item writing task force for the ABIM Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship board exam, and a fellow of the AAHPM.

Dr. Headrick is board certified in internal medicine. She joined Wellstar in 2017 and has played an instrumental role in the program since June 2018, when she was recruited to become the associate program director for ambulatory services and the medical director of the Wellstar GME Internal Medicine Clinic in Marietta.

A decorated educator, she has received several awards since joining the faculty, including Ambulatory Teacher of the Year (2018) and recognition for the Grand Rounds Presentation of the Year for her presentation on medical cannabis in 2020. She was recognized by the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Physicians as the Early Career Physician of the Year in 2019.

Dr. Headrick is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis. She completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville in 2009, where she also served as chief resident. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians as well as a member of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, the Society for General Internal Medicine and the AMA. Prior to joining Wellstar, Dr. Headrick practiced primary care general internal medicine in Waco, Texas, and Knoxville, Tennessee, for more than eight years. Her clinical interests include hypertension, diabetes and social determinants of health.

Dr. Kane graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in orthopedic surgery with Carolinas Medical Center. From there, he completed a fellowship in orthopedic sports medicine and arthroscopy at Utah State University. His first academic position was as a full-time faculty at UTMB in Galveston. After several years at UTMB he was asked to join the orthopedic surgery faculty at the University of Missouri, where he served as chief of sports medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He is currently the chair and program director for the orthopedic residency at Wellstar Kennestone.

Dr. Kane has served in many positions including president of faculty affairs for the University of Missouri, chair of peer review committee at both AMC and Wellstar Kennestone, medical director for the Atlanta public school systems, a team physician for three D1 university athletic departments as well as numerous high school programs and a test writer for the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. He currently is an assistant professor at Mercer University and has research affiliations with Utah State University and Georgia State University.

Originally from India, Dr. Ashok Kanugula relocated to the United States after completing his medical education at Rangaraya Medical College in India. He completed his internal medicine residency at Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Drexel University Philadelphia and is board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine. In addition, Dr. Kanugula earned a master’s in public health from Missouri State University, holds fellowships with the American College of Physicians and the Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review. He is also a member of the American College of Physicians, the Scientific Research Honor Society and the American Association of Physician Leaders.

Following residency, Dr. Kanugula served as a hospitalist at Miami Valley Hospital and a clinical assistant professor at Wright State University. Subsequently, he held the position of associate program director at the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Hurley Medical Center, Michigan State University. In 2021, Dr. Kanugula joined Wellstar as the founding program director to establish the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Wellstar Spalding Medical Center.

Dr. Kington is a proud graduate of the Atlanta Medical Center general surgery program. She completed her fellowship at Augusta University in surgical critical care before returning to AMC to practice in general, trauma and acute care surgery.

Upon returning to AMC, Dr. Kington took on the role of associate program director under Dr. Philip Ramsay. At the time of the hospital closure, Dr. Kington was instrumental in completing the transfer of the residency program to Kennestone.

Dr. Kington completed her medical education at East Tennessee State University. She is an active member of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery, with a position on the global surgery taskforce committee. She is also a member of the Southeastern Surgical Congress and the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and she is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

With a passion to ensure everyone has access to world-class trauma care, Dr. Kington is an active course director of Advanced Trauma Life Support. Her research interests include access to and disparities in medical care, as well as resident wellness. She lives with her husband and two children in the Old Fourth Ward, where she is an active member of the community and a board member of the Hope-Hill Foundation.

Dr. Louis Lovett is the associate designated institutional official for graduate medical education at Wellstar in addition to being the Wellstar Cobb Medical Center internal medicine program director.

At Wellstar, Dr. Lovett has also the served as the physician leader of quality and patient safety and works on the clinical documentation team, addressing denials and peer-to-peer reviews.

Dr. Lovett earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Chicago as well as a bachelor’s degree from the University of Perugia in Perugia, Italy. He earned a doctorate in medicine from the University Of Turin School of Medicine, in Turin, Italy.  He returned to the United States for his primary care internal medicine residency and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington.  He also completed a fellowship in lung transplant at Emory University School of Medicine. He is board certified in pulmonary medicine and internal medicine. He is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Dr. Lovett previously served as clinical professor with the Department of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He also served as the medical staff president and chair of the Department of Medicine at Atlanta Medical Center, where he earned multiple Outstanding Educator awards and has published a variety of articles in his specialty.

Dr. Gabriella Maris received her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine in Charleston, South Carolina, and completed her family medicine residency at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

She is passionate about LGBTQIA primary care, serving as the medical director for Wellstar’s LGBTQ+ primary care. Dr. Maris is also dedicated to medical student education, serving as Wellstar Douglas Family Medicine’s clerkship director. Her current faculty appointments include clinical assistant professor at the Medical College of Georgia and clinical preceptor for Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a mom of two, an avid exerciser, lifelong vegetarian and loves teaching.

Dr. Viktoria Nurpeisov earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and completed her residency at Atlanta Medical Center. Her commitment to excellence led her to complete a geriatric medicine fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, earning dual board certifications in family medicine and geriatrics.

She is a board-certified geriatrician and certified medical director of Cobb A.G. Rhodes Nursing Home. Dr. Nurpeisov is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She also is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Geriatrics Society. Currently she practices at Wellstar Family Medicine GME Smyrna Clinic, and she serves as the program director of Wellstar Kennestone Family Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Nurpeisov’s passion lies in stress management, group facilitation and educational programming focusing on physician well-being. Beyond her professional life, Dr. Nurpeisov enjoys deep-sea fishing, gardening and cherishing moments with her family.

Dr. Stettner is a displaced Californian, having been born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After high school, he moved east and obtained his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He slowly began to migrate south, completing his medical training at Jefferson Medical College, followed by residency at Temple University, both in Philadelphia. Upon graduation from his training in 2003, he moved to Atlanta to begin his academic career as emergency medicine faculty at Emory University School of Medicine.

While at Emory, he served in numerous educational roles including clerkship director and spent his final few years as associate program director. In 2017 he was recruited to Wellstar Kennestone to develop the emergency medicine residency program and has served as program director since then. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine and the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine. Notable leadership roles have included the Wellstar Kennestone Medical Executive Committee, the Georgia College of Emergency Medicine Education Committee and the CORD Match Task Force.

Dr. Stettner is committed to balancing resident education and wellness, with the goal of preparing each graduate of the program to practice in their ideal job environment and location. A dedicated city dweller and life-long foodie, he lives in intown Atlanta with his wife and son and can often be found at local restaurants, wine shops and coffee bars.

Dr. Zhu graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. She then completed residency training in internal medicine at University of North Carolina Hospitals and has been practicing hospital medicine ever since.

Dr. Zhu joined Wellstar more than 10 years ago. In addition to being the program director for the Wellstar Kennestone Transitional Year Residency Program, Dr. Zhu is one of the teaching faculty for inpatient medicine at Wellstar Kennestone. She is the immediate past president for Greater Cobb County Medical Society for 2023. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Hospital Medical Education (AHME). She is also the chair for the Council of Transitional Year Program Director at AHME.

Her other professional interests include developing curriculums for QIPS and perioperative medicine, healthcare advocacy and physician wellness. Dr. Zhu is the clinical assistant professor at the Medical College of Georgia.