ACOEM Conference

Elmang Nchako, MD

Asher Turney, MD

Dr. Chin is a board-certified Occupational Medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Occupational Health, where he is the supervising Medical Review Officer and oversees OSHA medical surveillance programs, in addition to providing clinical care to Vanderbilt employees. He is a native of Boston and received his MD degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine, graduating with Research Honors Distinction. He received his MPH degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and completed his residency training at the Harvard Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program.Before entering Occupational Medicine, he had published widely on translational and clinical research in wound healing and radiation exposure through collaborations with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In addition to these research interests, Dr. Chin is passionate about innovating novel strategies to help professionals prevent burnout, optimize their work performance, and enhance stress resiliency. He has recently concluded a study using heart rate variability as a biomarker for task performance and the Flow experience.

ASHER TURNEY, MD, MBA, MSPH, CCHP, FACCP, is the State Medical Director of Centurion of Tennessee Managed Care, CEO of Choice Medicine, a nonprofit community clinic, and a preventive and occupational medicine consultant for Correct Diagnostics LLC. Providing direct clinical care as well as administrative leadership of more than 600 healthcare workers across the Southeast United States. Dr. Turney, or more adorably known as Dr. Asher, has been working in medicine since 2002.He currently serves on the board of the Tennessee component of the ACOEM. Dr. Turney received his MD, MSPH from Meharry Medical College and his MBA from Emory Goizueta Business. He has a health policy certification from the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy. He has also been an extern with the Department of Labor Office of Occupational Medicine in Washington DC during the Obama administration. Dr. Turney also has done some research in Seasonal/Migrant Workers and the effects of housing on wellness and health. He is certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, in occupational medicine, by the American College of Urgent Care Medicine in urgent care medicine, and by the NCCHC as a certified correctional health professional. Dr. Turney has also been a Certified Medical Review Officer and a diplomate of the American College of Correctional Physicians.ACOEM Activities Dr. Pike has previously served a term as Director on the ACOEM Board and was a member of the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee and Policy, Procedures, and Public Positions Committee and has served as Chair and Co-Chair of the Fellowship Examiners Committee. He currently is Chair of ACOEM’s Ethics Committee and member of the Fellowship Examiners Committee. He also served many years as a Delegate to the ACOEM House of Delegates (HOD) and chaired the HOD Internal Affairs Work Group. Dr. Pike was a member of the ACOEM Awards Committee and the Joint House/Board Nominating Committee and an alternate member of the House/Board Liaison Committee. He has also co-chaired the Leadership Committee and was a member of the Bylaws and Web Site Committees.Component Activities Dr. Pike is a member of the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (WOEMA) and has served that component as Chairman of the Board, President, Director, Treasurer, newsletter editor, and as WOEMA Delegate to the ACOEM House of Delegates.Professional Accomplishments Integrating practices of occupational medicine, toxicology, industrial hygiene, safety, and engineering; Applying such combined skills and knowledge to improve working conditions among construction workers in Lesotho, Africa; Training workers in maquiladoras along the U.S.-Mexico border; Epidemiological investigations of health effects among 1200 PCB exposed workers; Investigating outbreaks of disease among workers in government and industry; Developing techniques for environmental health assessments and risk management; Promoting and facilitating the creation of the Mexico component society in ACOEM.Position Statement I am mindful of members’ day-to-day needs, the importance of the private practice of OEM, and the need to develop resources useful to the practicing occupational physician in private practice as well as within corporate and academic structures. I view the HOD as an important voice of the clinical occupational physician and the role of an elected leader to advocate for members and ensure that resources used enhance value to members. I believe that nurturing close working relationships among Components, the Board, the HOD, and individual members is a high priority. I want to serve ACOEM as Vice President. I believe I am well prepared and have served ACOEM in many capacities for many years. I will be grateful for the privilege if I am elected and I will serve you, my colleagues, with humility and my best efforts. I ask and thank you for your vote.

Ana E. Nobis, MD, MPH is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency program. Prior to her fellowship, Ana completed a residency in Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, where she also attended medical school. Ana is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she was an Annika Rodriguez Scholar. Influenced by her family’s early travels through Latin America, she is passionate about occupational health at home and abroad, environmental medicine, and public health. Ana holds a Certificate in Global Health from Vanderbilt University and has participated in field-based research in Nicaragua, focusing on the epidemic of chronic kidney disease among young sugarcane harvesters. Ana is also passionate about resident well-being and was House Staff Association President during her residency at Meharry and was a resident representative to the ACGME. Ana started her career in Chicago at NorthShore University HealthSystem, an affiliate of the University of Chicago. She loved her patients, who included landscapers, bakers, and construction workers. In addition, Ana taught Environmental Health Sciences at Northwestern’s Program in Public Health for three years. In November 2019, Ana joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health as a physician in Occupational Health and Wellness. Her husband, Bill Nobis, also joined Vanderbilt as a physician-scientist epileptologist. Bill and Ana have a four year old little girl and twin 1 year old girls.

As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Dr. Watkins oversees all medical-related aspects for the Kroger Co. This includes enterprise-wide leadership through the development and implementation of clinical programs, associate benefit design, and the strategic direction for all health and wellness solutions including emerging digital and tele-health initiatives.

Dr. Watkins has a bold and passionate commitment for delivering quality healthcare by combining health, wellness and nutrition solution with a focus on simplifying the decision-making process for patients, customers, and employers in a rapidly changing healthcare ecosystem. With more than 2220 Retail Pharmacies and 220+ Retail Clinic locations his team is committed to improving the health of the communities they serve.

Prior to joining the leadership team at The Little Clinic, he served in various physician leadership roles with Concentra Health Services. Most recently, in his role as National Medical Director- Clinical Account Management, he provided strategic operational and clinical program development to major employers across the country.

Dr. Watkins earned his medical degree at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN on a U.S. Navy scholarship. After training, he served almost exclusively with the U.S. Marines, where he was twice awarded the Navy Commendation Medal (2) in direct support of combat operations while assigned in Iraq. Dr. Watkins is board certified in Occupational & Environmental Medicine and earned distinction as a Fellow of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and American College of Physician Executives. He is a Tennessee area board member of the American Cancer Society and executive board member of the Convenient Care Association. He is also Adjunct Clinical Faculty in the Division of Occupational Medicine/Family Medicine at Meharry Medical College and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy.

Director, Preventive and Occupational Medicine Residencies

Dr. Heather O’Hara-Rand, originally from St. Louis, MO, attained her B.S. in Chemistry from Tuskegee University, M.S. in Organic Chemistry from Georgia Institute Technology and, M.D. and M.S.P.H degrees from Meharry Medical College. She is a board-certified physician in Occupational Medicine and General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. As an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, Dr. O’Hara-Rand serves as the Director for the Preventive and Occupational Medicine Residency programs. Her interests through her residency training have primarily been focused on helping others to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle related to understanding nutrition, physical activity, and the harms of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use to promote overall wellness. She has interests that span the topics of obesity, breast cancer, integrative health care, and workplace wellness and safety. She has published in peer-reviewed journals on studies related to migrant farmworker work safety perceptions, perinatal factors and breast cancer risk, integrative medicine, adverse childhood experiences, and sports nutrition needs before, during and after exercise. She utilizes these interests in multiple settings to provide education to students, residents, healthcare providers, and other workers.

Select Scholarly Activity:

Co-Faculty Instructor, Occupational Health I and II, Meharry Medical College, School of Graduate Studies and ResearchChakrabarty S, Foderingham N, O’Hara H. Selected Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System. Family Medicine: Principles and Practice. March 2015. pp. 1545-1559.Arcury T, O’Hara H, Grzywacz J, Isom S, Chen H, and Quandt S. Work Safety Climate, Musculoskeletal Discomfort, Working While Injured, and Depression Among Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina. Am J Public Health. May 2012:102(S2):pp. S272-S278.Zoorob R, Chakrabarty S, O'Hara H, Kihlberg C. Which CAM modalities are worth considering? J Fam Pract. 2014 Oct;63(10):585-90. Review. PMID: 25343156Cooper R, Ekundayo J, Dunlap J, O’Hara H. Medical Students’, Residents’ and Social Work Students’ Knowledge of Substance Use Screening and Interventions. APHA, Denver, CO, November 2, 2016.Arcury TA, Furgurson KF, O’Hara H, Miles K, Chen H, Laurienti PJ. Conventional and Complementary Therapy Use among Mexican Farmworkers in North Carolina: Applying the I-CAM-Q. J Agromedicine. In press (

Kenton Dodd is a Compensation and Pension Physician who works with Veterans in the process of getting veterans medical benefits.Kenton is honored to serve those who served in the armed forces. He has 10 years of experience serving veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He currently acts as the Chief of Compensation and Pension at a VA Medical Center. Prior to that position, he served as a chief medical officer for several occupational medicine clinics in Nashville TN.Kenton completed his medical school education at Meharry Medical college in Nashville TN, and completed the Occupational Medicine Residency at Regions Hospital in Saint Paul MN. He maintains board Certification in Occupational Medicine.