Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoE)

Aatif Husain, MD  
SE ECoE Director

Aatif Husain, M.D. is Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Husain is the Director of the VA Epilepsy Centers of Excellence in Durham, North Carolina. He also serves as the Director of Intra-operative Monitoring Services for DUHS. Dr. Husain earned his medical degree from Rawalpindi Medical College in Pakistan in 1989. He completed his Neurology Residency training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1995. He then came to Duke to complete fellowships in Clinical Neurophysiology (1995-1996) and EMG/Neuromuscular Diseases (1996-1997)

 
Pamela R. Kelly, DHA,MBA/HCM 
SE ECoE Regional Administrative Director

Pamela R. Kelly was selected as the Veteran Healthcare Administration Administrative Director for the Southeast Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (SE ECoE) in May 2011. As a certified program manager, Ms. Kelly is responsible for coordination and management of activities, to include research and epidemiological studies, in the southeast region. Prior to her current role, Ms Kelly was employed as the Staff Assistant to the Network Director at the VA Mid-South Health care Network (VISN 9). In this role, she was responsible for all duties as the principle Administrative Officer for the Network Director and a key liaison for communication among facilities, the VISN, and VA Central Office. Ms. Kelly recently finished requirements for a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration and a Masters of Business Administration (Healthcare Management) from the University of Phoenix and completed undergraduate studies at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.

Ms. Kelly is a US Navy Veteran honored with multiple commendations and the Naval Achievement Medal for her roles in Quality Management for the laboratory at the Twenty-nine Palms Naval Hospital located in Twenty-nine Palms, CA. Following her enlistment, Ms. Kelly worked - and subsequently supervised - in a civilian medical laboratory, taught high school advance placement biology, and was proprietor of a retail store.  Wanting to serve Veterans, Ms. Kelly accepted employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration. Prior to her current VA position, Ms. Kelly was Laboratory Manager and later Health Systems Specialist in the Performance Improvement Department at the Fayetteville, North Carolina VA Medical Center. Ms. Kelly is also certified medical technologist, certified College of American Pathologist (CAP) surveyor, an active member of American College Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and North Carolina American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Outside work, she is very active in her two daughters (Mickeal and Maya) school activities. She volunteers with the high school and elementary Parents Association as newsletter editor and works with her church coordinating events and activities. She is also a board member and secretary for the Youth Vision, INC, non-profit organization supporting young, secondary school authors.

Rizwana Rehman, Ph.D 
SE ECoE Regional Statistician

Rizwana Rehman joined the Southeast Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (SE-ECoE) in July 2010 as a Statistician. Rizwana Rehman has a Ph.D in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University.  Her dissertation concerned an application in quantum statistics.  Prior to joining the Southeast Epilepsy Centers of Excellence, Rizwana served as a Statistician in Central Cancer Registry of North Carolina.  Rizwana taught several math courses at North Carolina State University as well as at University of Balochistan, Pakistan and at Government Girls College Quetta Pakistan.  She also tutored Statistics, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics to hundreds of students at Wake Technical Community College Raleigh where she served as an instructor in Individualized Learning Center for more than eight years.

Rizwana is responsible for a variety of activities related to the analysis, interpretation, and presentation of statistical data resulting from the conduct of SE-ECoE projects.  Rizwana also participates in teaching and education of staff and trainees in the ECOE in statistical and research methods. She is also a member of the national research workgroup of ECOE.  Rizwana is helping to design and maintain a database of Veterans with Epilepsy seen at ECoE which will be used for clinical research and management of epilepsy programs.

Winona Finley                                                                                                     Administrative Support Assistant

Winona C. Finley joined the Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoEs) in June 2010 as the Regional Administrative Support Assistant for the southeast region.  Mrs. Finley has 64 semester hours in accounting and a certificate of completion for secretarial school.  She previously served as an Administrative Assistant at BGF Industries, Inc. in South Hill, VA for three years.  Mrs. Finley has over 20 years of administrative experience, of which 18 years of that experience included working as an Accounting Technician and Voucher Examiner experience in the Federal Government at Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Justice/Immigration & Naturalization Service in Washington, DC. 
As the Regional Administrative Support Assistant, Mrs. Finley is responsible for the collection and tracking of data to prepare reports related to the administrative, clinical and technical aspects of the Southeast Epilepsy Centers of Excellence program. She provides administrative and clerical support to SE ECOE regional staff members in regards to responsibilities at the four Southeast Epilepsy Center of Excellence program locations (Gainesville, Miami, Durham & Tampa).  Mrs. Finley also assists National Epilepsy Centers of Excellence office with multiple workgroup projects.