Melissa R. Kerin, associate professor of art history at Washington and Lee University, has been selected as the next Roger Mudd professor of ethics and director of the university’s Roger Mudd Center for Ethics. She will serve for three years beginning July 1.

Kerin first arrived at W&L in 2011 as an assistant professor of art history. She was promoted to associate professor in 2017 and served as the program head for the Middle East and South Asia Studies program from 2020-23.

Retired Judge Diane Strickland has been selected for the 17th year as a member of Virginia’s Legal Elite for her mediation work.

The Virginia law firm Gentry Locke has announced that 23 of its attorneys have been named to Virginia Business magazine’s 2023 Legal Elite list, which is determined by peer votes and divided into 21 specialties. The attorneys recognized include: Thomas J. Bondurant Jr., criminal law; William E. Callahan Jr., bankruptcy/creditors’ rights; Karen L. Cohen, real estate/land use; Chip (John G.) Dicks, administrative/government/legislative; Michael J. Finney, civil litigation; Alicha M. Grubb, young lawyer; W. William Gust, taxes/estates/trusts; Gregory D. Habeeb, administrative/government/legislative; Gregory J. Haley, administrative/government/legislative; Erin M. Harrigan, criminal law; Kevin W. Holt, civil litigation; Carlos L. Hopkins, administrative/government/legislative; Herschel V. Keller, business law; Paul G. Klockenbrink, labor/employment law; Todd A. Leeson, labor/employment law; K. Brett Marston, construction law; Monica T. Monday, appellate law; W. David Paxton, labor/employment law; John M. Scheib, business law; J. Scott Sexton, civil litigation; Bruce C. Stockburger, taxes/estates/trusts; Spencer M. Wiegard, construction law; and Clark H. Worthy, real estate/land use.

Roanoke-based AccessU, a rebranded iteration of Access Advertising & Public Relations, has announced its growth and expansion with the addition of two executives to its leadership team: Randy Belcher as vice president of creative services and J. Dontrese Brown as executive vice president of community relations & strategic partnerships.

Belcher, previously the executive creative director for Strategic America, has been an influential figure in advertising as the co-creator of iconic campaigns including the GEICO Gecko, which earned a place in the Advertising Icon Hall of Fame.

Brown, CEO and co-founder of Hidden in Plain Site, has made marks in uncovering and celebrating the stories of the Black experience across America, most recently in Richmond and Roanoke. He also stewarded brand development for the Black Educators and Arthur Ashe Boulevard as the CEO/co-founder of Brown-Baylor, a Richmond-based creative agency.

The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has recruited molecular biologist Sumita Mishra to investigate new treatments for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF.

Mishra joins the institute’s Center for Exercise Medicine Research as an assistant professor. Her laboratory studies the molecular pathways that go awry in heart failure and the biological differences underlying cardiometabolic processes in men and women with heart failure.

Previously a postdoctoral fellow and then a research associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Mishra completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Calcutta University and her doctoral degree in chemical biology at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology. She has completed research fellowships at the Indian Institutes of Science and Chemical Biology and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea.

Lisa Sprinkel, vice president of Carilion Clinic Home Health and Hospice, has been selected to also serve as vice president of Carilion Mental Health. She will lead the mental health team with dyad partner and Carilion Mental Health Chair Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. Sprinkel has served as interim vice president since May 1.

She has held various clinical and leadership positions during her tenure with Carilion and has led the Home Health and Hospice department for 17 years.

Sprinkel began her nursing career as a diploma graduate from Roanoke Memorial Hospital’s School of Professional Nursing, received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mary Baldwin University and earned a master’s degree in nursing administration from Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

Jeannie L. Dudding of Craig County has been elected to a second three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. Dudding will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Alleghany, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, Henry, Patrick and Roanoke counties.

Dudding, president of the Craig County Farm Bureau, has served on that organization’s board for the past 17 years. She also chairs the VFBF Equine Advisory Committee.

Lexi Thompson has joined ETS Recruit in the newly created position of recruiter support trainer. A Roanoke native, Thompson has a bachelor’s degree in health education and health promotion and a master’s degree in healthcare informatics.

Geana Salerno has joined ETS Recruit as a recruiter support associate. Originally from Rocky Point, New York, Salerno has a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in teaching.

Ben Kennedy has been promoted to recruiter for ETS Family Medicine. Kennedy, a Roanoke native, is a graduate of the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business.

Chris LaBrecque has joined ETS Family Medicine as a recruiter. LaBrecque brings 16 years of experience in sales and operations management. He is also a lifelong volunteer member of the Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department.

ETS Pediatric has announced that Evyn Duff has been promoted to a recruiter from Recruiter Support Associate. A Roanoke native, she earned a bachelor’s in communications with a minor in psychology from Radford University.