VCU news

By Dedrain Davis

Gwynne Jenkins, Ph.D., a member of the leadership team at the All of Us research programat the National Institutes of Health, has been named the new chief of staff for Marsha Rappley, M.D., CEO of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System and senior vice president for health sciences at VCU. Jenkins will begin her new role July 29.

At the NIH, Jenkins served as chief of staff for All of Us, where she helped develop the program’s strategic direction and implemented and evaluated program and consortium governance.  

Prior to becoming chief of staff, Jenkins served as executive secretary on the advisory committee of the Precision Medicine Initiative working group, where she worked closely with the NIH director and the deputy director for science, outreach and policy to lead four national workshops and draft the final report establishing the vision for the program.

“I am most excited to join the VCU community because of its commitment to addressing health disparities. I am impressed by the city’s energy, vibrancy and beauty and I look forward to working at the junction of health research, teaching and the provision of care,” Jenkins said.

Before joining the NIH, Jenkins served as a faculty member at the University of Kansas where her scholarly research focused on vulnerable women and men and their agency relating to health care systems, including the role of community midwives in creating access to safe birth among poor, rural families.

“Dr. Jenkins is a strategic thinker who observes and closely listens to understand organizational challenges. She believes in forming close-knit, matrixed teams to drive processes, policies and organizational culture that gets the job done efficiently,” Rappley said.