WakeMed congratulates Dr. Bryon Boulton of WakeMed Physician Practices – Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates, Dr. Islam Othman of WakeMed Physician Practices – Raleigh Cardiology and Blair Reynolds of the WakeMed Foundation for being named to the Triangle Business Journal’s elite list of “40 Under 40” for 2015. According to the TBJ, the 40 Under 40 leadership awards recognize outstanding professionals under the age of 40 for their contributions to their organizations and to the community. This year, five judges from TBJ and the local business community reviewed nearly 300 nominations to determine the 40 winners.
Dr. Bryon BoultonDr. Bryon Boulton is board certified in both general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery, which requires 10 years of additional training after medical school. In 2012, he joined WakeMed Physician Practices – Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates, bringing with him expertise in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This minimally invasive surgical procedure repairs the valve without having to open and stop the heart. Dr. Boulton co-leads the TAVR program at WakeMed with Dr. Walter Tan.
Part of why Dr. Boulton has become one of the leading cardiac surgeons in minimally invasive procedures is research. At WakeMed, he is currently one of two principal investigators involved with an atrial fibrillation (AFib) study called the Converge Trial, a clinical trial that compares two minimally invasive procedures for treating persistent AFib.
As surgical director of the Structural Heart Program at WakeMed, Dr. Boulton is responsible for the surgical portion of the transcatheter valve team and developing other therapies for specific structural heart issues as an alternative to traditional open-heart surgery. He also serves on WakeMed’s Surgical Quality Improvement committee to ensure that all patients receive safe, high quality surgical care.
Apart from WakeMed, Dr. Boulton is a youth soccer coach, a participant in the YMCA’s Y Guides program and an active member of the Church of the Apostles in Raleigh. He and his wife also volunteer with “Pride for Parents,” a ministry to help underprivileged families purchase Christmas gifts. Globally, Dr. Boulton places medical mission trips high on his list of priorities. His next trip is planned for a missionary hospital in Kenya where he can serve as both a general surgeon and a cardiac surgeon.
Dr. Islam OthmanAt 39, Dr. Islam Othman has quickly risen to the top of the interventional cardiology field and leads one of the most successful heart disease programs on the East Coast. He is director of the Complex PCI/ Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) Program at WakeMed, where he pioneered new, minimally invasive techniques using state-of-the-art equipment to restore blood flow to completely blocked coronary arteries that otherwise would be deemed too risky or would require a patient to undergo open heart surgery. To date, Dr. Othman has performed the most CTO procedures in North Carolina with a 97 percent success rate and excellent patient outcomes.
Dr. Othman stands firmly on the forefront of invasive cardiovascular skill in this state and is among a small but growing number of American physicians specially trained to safely and successfully restore blood flow in blocked heart arteries. Dr. Othman also serves as medical director for WakeMed’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and chairman of the Peripheral Vascular Committee.
Apart from WakeMed, Dr. Othman is actively involved with the Mariam Clinic, a Raleigh non-profit organization that provides free health care to uninsured individuals, and he serves on community boards to address the needs of the uninsured. Dr. Othman also works with the local pharmaceutical industry to ensure that area patients have access to the heart medications they need. He even challenged pharmaceutical representatives to ensure that the national program, Lilly Cares, was available here in the Triangle so that indigent patients could receive free life-saving medicine for the duration of their required treatment.
Dr. Othman also publicly advocates for prevention of disease through speaking engagements and various community and hospital events.
Blair ReynoldsBlair Reynolds joined the WakeMed Foundation in 2010 as a Major Programs & Gifts specialist. Her effect on fundraising and ability to build and nurture relationships, as well as her ability to establish processes for more efficiency in her department, led her to become the Foundation’s director of Annual Giving & Stewardship.
As director, Reynolds works with the executive director and Board of Directors to set Annual Campaign goals and identify/implement new annual giving approaches. She also plans and directs Annual Campaign segments for all divisions. One of Reynolds’ crowning achievements with the Foundation is the establishment of “Friends of WakeMed,” a volunteer group designed to create and sustain future leaders while supporting community projects and fundraisers.
Apart from WakeMed, Reynolds has served as vice chair of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) (next year, she will be chair) as well as leader of the YPN Programs Committee. Under her leadership, the YPN programming evolved and received superior reviews. In addition, Reynolds made notable contributions as a leader in the Chamber’s total resource campaign, and she was selected to participate in the Chamber’s 2013 Leadership Raleigh program.
Prior to joining WakeMed, Blair worked for InterAct, a private, non-profit United Way agency that provides support for victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault. At the time, she became the youngest director at InterAct, and she led efforts to establish the first stand-alone rape crisis center in this state, now located at InterAct’s main office. In the community, Reynolds served on the Board for Bailey’s Fine Jewelry from 2013-2015, and she is currently participating in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year Campaign.
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