Our Team

Dr. Vaughn McCall has served as Professor and Case Distinguished Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Augusta University since 2012, and retired June 2024, returning as a Professor Emeritus in September 2024. Dr. McCall comes to Augusta University from Wake Forest University School of Medicine after having served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine since 2003. He completed his medical degree and post-graduate psychiatric training at Duke University. He completed a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Wake Forest University. He is board-certified in general psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and sleep disorders medicine. His research interests include depression, electroconvulsive therapy, quality of life, insomnia, and suicide.  Areas of forensic expertise include wrongful death, Medicare fraud, medical malpractice-to (including suicide, inappropriate prescribing, and allegations of brain damage from ECT, lithium toxicity, trazodone side effects), standard of care for ECT,  and patent infringement.

Dr. Michael J. Vitacco has served as Director of Forensic Psychology Training at Augusta University since 2011. Dr. Vitacco previously served as Assistant Professor and Director of Forensic Psychology Training. Dr. Vitacco received his BS in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and his Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Dr. Vitacco completed a pre-doctoral internship at a program dually sponsored by the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the United States Department of Justice. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. Dr. Vitacco is board certified in Forensic Psychology Dr. Vitacco has published on topics related to mental health and the law, with emphases on psychopathy, risk assessment, forensic assessment, and malingering. Areas of expertise include assessment for malingering, risk assessment, fitness for duty, and clinical issues related to the insanity defense.

Dr. Carlos Isales is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School and did his residency in Internal Medicine at the San Juan Veterans Administration Hospital.  Dr. Isales completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Yale University School of Medicine and was a faculty member in the Division of Endocrinology at Yale until he moved to the Medical College of Georgia to help establish the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics.  Dr. Isales is currently a Professor and Chief Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.  In addition to his clinical duties, Dr. Isales has an active research laboratory and is the author or co-author of over two-hundred research articles and reviews. Areas of forensic expertise include wrongful death, medical malpractice and standard care for patients with endocrinological disorders.

Dr. Walsh has served at the Medical College of Georgia since 2019.  Dr. Walsh comes to Augusta from Vanderbilt University where he served as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine. Dr. Walsh received his medical degree from the University of Louisville and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.  He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Walsh’s current research interest is in new treatments for Covid-19 in hospitalized patients.  Dr. Walsh area of forensic expertise is in standards of care for hospitalized patients.

Dr. Bedder joined the Faculty of Medical College of GA in 2020. Prior to that, he was in a private pain management practice. He has served as a Program Training Director for both Addiction and Pain Fellowships. Dr. Bedder received his medical degree and completed an anesthesiology residency at the University of Manitoba. He is certified by the ABA, American Board of Anesthesiology, also ABA certified in additional qualifications in Pain Medicine. Credentialed in Addiction Medicine by ABAM. A member of the American College of Academic Addiction Medicine. Dr. Bedder’s areas of expertise include Areas of forensic expertise include malpractice, misprescribing, wrongful death, accidents related to substance abuse, the standard of care for addiction treatment, and the interface of addiction with pain.

Dr. Elam joined the faculty of Medical College of Georgia in 2016. Prior to that, he served as a hospitalist at University Hospital, Augusta. Dr. Elam both received his medical degree and received residency training in Internal Medicine and Radiology from Medical College of Georgia. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.  Dr. Elam’s areas of forensic expertise include medical malpractice and standard of care for hospitalization.

Dr. Dexter joined the faculty at Medical College of Georgia in 2020. She received her medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Dexter completed her residency in general psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia, followed by a Forensic Fellowship at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine at Columbia. Dr. Dexter is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Dexter consults on a wide array of both civil and criminal cases involving mental health questions that come before the courts. She has an active clinical practice treating adults committed to inpatient forensic services at East Central Regional Hospital.

Dr. Derek Backer has served as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine since 2020. He holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Georgia with an emphasis on health promotion and behavior.   He completed his medical training at the Medical College of Georgia in 2011 and completed residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2014. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Backer’s areas of expertise include standards of care of the hospitalized adult with a particular interest in the areas of medical ethics and diagnostic dilemmas.

Dr. Henle has served as Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Georgia since 2011. He has worked as the Director of Psychology and the Forensic Program Director at East Central Regional Hospital (ECRH) and currently also serves there as the Interim Administrative Clinical Director. Prior to this, he served as a forensic psychologist at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, GA. He completed his Doctor of Psychology with a concentration in Forensics at Nova Southeastern University. He then completed an APA accredited internship at Nova Southeastern and a fellowship at Central State Hospital. He has provided competency restoration services, completed assessments regarding competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility and risk of violence assessments.

Dr. Perard has served as an Assistant Professor at Medical College of Georgia since 2019 and as Family Medicine Inpatient Service Director since 2020 and Telehealth Medical Director since 2021. She completed her medical training at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Family Medicine Residency at Michigan State University. She also completed a year-long Graduate Certificate in Population Health at the University of Michigan. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Dr. Perard’s areas of forensic expertise include medical malpractice and standard of care for hospitalization.

Dr. Staats joined the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia in 2021. She is currently working as a unit psychologist at East Central Regional Hospital. She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Indianapolis. She then completed an APA accredited internship focused on forensic psychology and a forensic fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia. Her areas of forensic expertise include competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, and violence risk assessments.

Dr. Jeremy G. Gay joined the Medical College of Georgia faculty in 2022. He received both a BA in Psychology and a MS in Clinical Psychology from Augusta University and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Georgia Southern University. Dr. Gay completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Medical College of Georgia, with an emphasis in forensic psychology, and a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at the Medical College of Georgia. He currently serves as an inpatient psychologist at East Central Regional Hospital. Dr. Gay’s areas of forensic expertise include police officer evaluations (e.g., pre-employment and annuals), fitness for duty evaluations, violence risk assessment, and malingering assessment, as well as competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at a number of professional conferences on a variety of topics including factors predicting both initial opinions of incompetency to stand trial and ultimate prediction of competency restoration outcomes; psychopathy; and moral decision making. He is a member of Division 41 (American Psychology-Law Society) of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Dr. Dale Peeples joined the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia in 2006 and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior. He received his medical doctorate from The University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2001. Dr. Peeples completed his training as a child psychiatrist at the Medical College of Georgia in 2006. He is Board certified in both general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.  His areas of expertise include standard of care and appropriate assessment in child psychiatry and the effects of social media on mental health.

Alan R. Furness, DMD, is currently the Associate Dean for Patient Services at the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University.  Dr. Furness is a 1999 graduate from MUSC and successfully completed an AEGD residency in the Navy. He owned and operated a dental practice in Charleston, SC, and was recruited by The DCG in 2010.  He is currently a guest lecturer in the operative, esthetics, and advanced prosthodontics courses where he lectures on technology and posterior indirect ceramic restorations using CAD/CAM technology.  In 2014, he was awarded the Pierre Fauchard, “Excellence in Dental Education” and “Outstanding Faculty Member” from the International College of Dentists both in 2014 and 2016.  In his current role, Dr. Furness oversees clinical and simulation activities for pre and postdoctoral programs and faculty practice. Dr. Furness’ forensic expertise includes making dental evidence meaningful within a legal context in the assessment of the standard of care and interpretation of dental evidence.

Dr. Zachary Klaassen serves as Associate Professor, Director of Urologic Clinical Research, and the Ronald W. Lewis Endowed Chair for Urologic Education in the Department of Urology since 2018. He became the Program Director of the Residency training program in 2020. Dr. Klaassen completed his medical education at St. George’s University School of Medicine. He subsequently completed a Urology residency at the Medical College of Georgia and a Society of Urologic Oncology fellowship at the University of Toronto. While on fellowship, he completed a Master of Science at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. He is Board Certified American Board of Urology. He serves on the review board of seventeen academic publications and is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications.  His areas of expertise include treatment and outcome prediction in prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular, and penile cancer.

Rodger D. MacArthur, MD, FIDSA, FACP, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Office of Academic Affairs at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Dr. MacArthur earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1983.  He completed his residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1986.  Subsequently, he completed his fellowship in infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland in 1988.

Dr. MacArthur has published extensively in the fields of sepsis and HIV, including antiretroviral (AR) resistance, adherence to AR therapy, and complications of AR therapy.  He has provided clinical care to HIV-infected persons for over 30 years.  He served on the NIH/DAIDS/ Underrepresented Populations Committee from 2010 – 2014, and was the HIVMA representative to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Public Health Committee from 2013 – 2016.  He is a Fellow of the IDSA, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

His current research interests include HIV, sepsis, and viral respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2.  He has received funding from the NIH to conduct clinical trials research, primarily in the field of HIV, for over 30 consecutive years.  He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications to his credit.

Dr. MacArthur is a recipient of the Medical College of Georgia Exemplary Teaching Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020.  He has supervised multiple student-led projects, which have led to publications in peer-reviewed journals and international oral presentations by the students.  He teaches CBL, PCL, and gives many of the microbiology/infectious diseases lectures in the pre-clinical curriculum.

Dr. Imam has served at the Medical College of Georgia since 2020. Dr. Imam received his medical degree from Tishreen University School of Medicine in Latakia, Syria in 2012, after which he relocated to the United States and joined the Medical College of Georgia as a research assistant in the departments of Otolaryngology and Obstetrics/Gynecology. He then completed his residency training in internal medicine at Mercer University School of Medicine/Orange Park Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Dr. Imam serves as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.  Dr. Imam’s area of forensic expertise is in the standards of care of hospitalized patients and medical malpractice.