WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Vaughn McCall, M.D., M.S., chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been presented the Eugene A. Hargrove, M.D., Award by the Psychiatric Foundation of North Carolina (PFNC).  

“Dr. McCall is the first Wake Forest Baptist physician in the award’s 30-year history to receive this honor,” said William B. Applegate, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., president of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “It recognizes his hard work and dedication to mental health care in North Carolina.”

PFNC presents this award annually to individuals who demonstrate outstanding performance in the field of mental health research. McCall received this award for his research in the areas of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), sleep disorders medicine focused on insomnia, and geriatric psychiatry. McCall investigates ways to optimize the treatments and effects of ECT, with a major emphasis on quality of life after treatment.

This award was named after Eugene A. Hargrove, M.D., for his contributions to mental health care and his support of research in North Carolina. Hargrove was the director of the North Carolina Division of Mental Health in developmental disabilities and substance abuse services from 1958 to 1973.

McCall received his medical degree and completed his residency at Duke University School of Medicine. He joined the Wake Forest Baptist faculty in 1999.