Maryjean Schenk, MD, MPH, has been appointed chair of Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and specialist-in-chief of family medicine for the Detroit Medical Center. She is the first woman to serve as chair of a clinical department at the school, where two women currently serve as chairs of basic science departments.

“I am extremely pleased and honored by this appointment and I look forward to working with Dean Crissman and the faculty to achieve a department of excellence in research, teaching, and clinical service,” Dr. Schenk said. 

Dr. Schenk has headed the family medicine department since October 1998. In this capacity, she secured external funding to strengthen and further develop practice-based research in the department. In addition to serving as associate professor of family medicine, she has a joint appointment at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, where she is a member of the Population Studies program. Dr. Schenk is board certified in family practice and preventive medicine (occupational medicine).

John Crissman, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, said Dr. Schenk is an outstanding individual who will serve the school well.

“Dr. Schenk has been an exemplary member of the School of Medicine faculty and administration,” said John Crissman, MD, dean of the School of Medicine. “We are extremely pleased she will be helping us continue our mission to provide a solid education to our students while continuing to serve the community with our research and clinical service.”

Dr. Schenk is a cancer epidemiologist and is involved in research to determine whether environmental chemicals that are generally considered safe are linked to cancer. Currently, this is being evaluated in both pancreas cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In addition, she enhances the work of the National Cancer Institute-funded Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program through collaborative research based upon this cancer registry.

Dr. Schenk is also a nationally recognized medical educator. She received a College Teaching Award for her teaching and service to the School of Medicine. As director of clinical curriculum development for the School of Medicine, she was responsible for the reorganization of the school’s public health and preventive medicine course and the design and implementation of two federally funded curricula in occupational and environmental medicine and managing care.

Dr. Schenk is an alumnus of WSU’s School of Medicine and holds master’s degrees in health planning and administration as well as industrial health from the University of Michigan.

She belongs to several major professional societies, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She was honored by WSU President Irvin Reid for her exceptional service to WSU as well as by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for teaching environmental and occupational medicine.