January 28, 2010
For immediate use

Melissa Ockert, who has served as the director of the Clinical Trials Research Associate program at Durham Technical Community College for the last 10 years, has been named the college’s dean of Health Technologies. Ockert succeeds Margaret Skulnik, who was dean of the college’s Health Technologies Department from February 2003 through September 2010.  

The Health Technologies department includes Associate Degree Nursing, Clinical Trials Research Associate, Dental Laboratory Technology, Medical Assisting, Occupational Therapy Assistant, Opticianry, Pharmacy Technology, Practical Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, and Surgical Technology.

Ockert began her research career in 1989 at Wake Forest University, working on a grant for the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Institute (NIAMS). In 1992, she began work in the pharmaceutical clinical research industry as a clinical research associate.  She also has experience in data management, project management, and clinical operations management in several therapeutic areas. Ockert has led several federally-funded clinical research studies under the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Clinical Research Contract.
 
Ockert received her Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology in 1991 from Wake Forest University. She served as program leader for the Beginner Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Wake Forest University and taught undergraduate classes there and at Winston-Salem State University. Ockert was awarded the 2004 Durham Tech Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2006 Society of Clinical Research Associates President’s Award for Distinguished Service.

“In this tight economy, the health-related job market is the one in which there is growth and vacancies for new employees,” said Dr. Valarie Evans, vice president and chief instructional and student services officer for Student Learning, Development, and Support at Durham Tech. “As our college’s Strategic Plan calls for expanding health-related offerings, it is even more important to have the leadership required to move the Health Technologies Department forward. Of Durham Tech’s curriculum students, 25 percent are Health Technologies students.” Dr. Evans noted that the dean of Health Technologies position is critical to the role that the college has in the health care community. “Melissa knows the health care community and will provide a fresh perspective for the college in this area. I have every confidence that she is capable of moving the department in the direction it needs to go in this economically-challenged time and as we build capacity for cutting-edge technology in these programs.”