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The North Carolina Medical Board is pleased to welcome four new Board members and to welcome back Dr. Eleanor E. Greene, who was recently reappointed as a physician member of the Board. The Board’s four newest members include a Cary gastroenterologist, a Raleigh trauma surgeon, a Wilmington family nurse practitioner and a former senior advisor to Gov. Beverly Perdue. Perdue made the appointments before completing her term as Governor in January.

“The current Board and its staff are delighted to welcome each of the new Board members,” said R. David Henderson, executive director of the North Carolina Medical Board. “Serving on the Medical Board is a tremendous commitment of attention and time. We appreciate each new member’s dedication to North Carolinians and to the medical profession and look forward to working with each of them.”

“The Board is also extremely pleased that Dr. Greene will continue her tenure on the Board,” Mr. Henderson said. “She is a valued member of the Board and a dedicated public servant.”

Board member terms run from November 1, 2012 to October 31, 2015.

Subhash C. Gumber, MD, PhD
Dr. Gumber, who lives and practices in Cary, is a partner in the Wake Endoscopy Center and Raleigh Medical Group, both in Raleigh. He is the practice’s director of Gastroenterology and also serves on its Board.

Dr. Gumber earned his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Boston University Medical Center and a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Before training as a physician, Dr. Gumber earned a doctoral degree from the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, and a master’s degree, with honors, in biochemistry from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.

Dr. Gumber is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology. He is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology and is an active member of the North Carolina Medical Society and of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. He has authored numerous articles and abstracts for scholarly journals.

Helen Diane Meelheim, F-NP
Ms. Meelheim, of Beaufort, NC, is a family nurse practitioner at East Carteret Family Practice in Beaufort. She earned a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed the family nurse practitioner program and earned a master’s in nursing administration from East Carolina University. After a decade of clinical practice and teaching, she returned to Chapel Hill, where she earned a law degree from the UNC School of Law. She is the first NP to serve on the Board.

Ms. Meelheim served as an adjunct clinical instructor at the ECU School of Nursing, and as a nursing administrator and clinical instructor in surgery for the Department of Surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. After earning her law degree, she served as assistant executive director of the North Carolina Medical Board from 1992-2002. She has also practiced law.

Ms. Meelheim served active duty in the United States Army in the 1990s, as a clinic family nurse practitioner at Womack Army Hospital in Fort Bragg, NC, and then as acting head nurse and family nurse practitioner in support of OIF, in Germany. Ms. Meelheim has served for 28 years in the US Army Reserve, where her current rank is Colonel. Most recently, she served as Command Surgeon/FNP-BC for the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Forward Command Post at Camp Arifjan Kuwait.

Ms. Meelheim is a recipient of several awards, including the Army Commendation Medal for excellence as a family nurse practitioner and the Legion of Merit (2010) for excellence as a family nurse practitioner and command surgeon for Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq Task Force Sinai, Qatar and Ft. Bragg.

Pascal Osita Udekwu, MD
Dr. Udekwu has practiced at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh since 1991. He completed residency training in pediatrics and in general surgery at the University of Chicago, a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of Pittsburgh, PA and earned a master’s degree in business administration and health administration from Pfeiffer University in Meisenheimer, NC.

Dr. Udekwu holds multiple leadership roles including Director of Trauma, Vice Chairman of Medical Staff Quality Improvement and Director of Surgical Critical Care, all at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. He is also Associate Director of the Surgical Residency Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Udekwu currently serves as associate professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and is an adjunct professor at Campbell University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He is triple-board certified with certifications from the American Board of Pediatrics, the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Surgery—Surgical Critical Care.

Dr. Udekwu has authored numerous papers and abstracts for scholarly journals and is a member of several professional organizations. He is a fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and of the American College of Chest Physicians.

In addition, Dr. Udekwu served in the United States Army Reserve from 1988-2005 deploying to Bagram Afghanistan as Chief of Surgery in 2003. He currently serves as a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Michael J. Arnold, MBA
Mr. Arnold, of Wake Forest, has worked as a policy, research and public affairs professional at high levels of state government for nearly two decades, first serving nine years as a university administrator and on faculty at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and then later as a high-ranking senior official in the Executive branch of state government.

Mr. Arnold was recently appointed as Senior Advisor for Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. Prior to that, Mr. Arnold served as Senior Advisor for Policy and Research with Governor Beverly Perdue. He also served in the same role during Perdue's term as Lt. Governor.

Mr. Arnold has also worked as Senior Research Director for the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund, which was one of three entities created by the NC General Assembly to invest North Carolina's portion of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Prior to that, he served in a public affairs and development role for the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education in Raleigh, one of the state's largest health education centers.

Mr. Arnold earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and a master of business administration from the same institution. He also earned a certification in Nonprofit
Management, with an emphasis on communications and strategic planning from Duke University.

Eleanor E. Greene, MD, MPH
Eleanor E. Greene, MD, of High Point, earned a BS degree in medical technology from the former Bowman Gray School of Medicine (now Wake Forest University School of Medicine) in Winston-Salem, NC. She received her MD and a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. She currently practices with Cone Health Medical Group at Triad Women’s Center in High Point.

Dr. Greene is a member of the North Carolina Medical Society, Doctors for America, North Carolina Obstetrics and Gynecology Society, and the National Medical Association, where she served on the Board of Directors, Finance and Health Policy Committees. She serves on the Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency. She served on the North Carolina Advisory Committee on Cancer Coordination and Control, on the Board of Directors of the Healthy Start Foundation, completing two terms on each. Dr. Greene is past president of the Old North State Medical Society, and continues to serve on its current Executive Committee. She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Greene is the first physician from High Point, NC, and the first African American female physician to serve on the NC Medical Board. She speaks on the topic of Women’s Health and Women in Medicine at numerous church and community forums. Dr. Greene recently served as moderator for a conversation on Women’s Health and the Affordable Care Act featuring the Department of Health and Human Services Director, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Dr. Greene was appointed to the Board in 2010. She serves on the Review, Executive and Policy Committees.