Jinping Xu, M.D., M.S., professor of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, has been appointed chair of the department, effective immediately.

Wael Sakr, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, announced the appointment Feb. 24.

Dr. Xu has served as interim chair of the department since February 2021.

“During that time, she has demonstrated strong leadership and has earned the trust and respect of her faculty and students,” Dean Sakr said.

Dr. Xu joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2001.

She is a board-certified family physician with a master’s degree in clinical research design and statistical analysis. She is a member of the Division of Population Health Sciences and a faculty member of our Master’s of Public Health graduate program, as well as a member of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Population Studies and Disparities Research Program. She directs MetroNet, a primary care practice-based research network in metropolitan Detroit that supports evidence-based primary care and reducing racial disparities in health outcomes. She also leads the Michigan Area Health Education Center, a statewide program that seeks to increase access to quality primary care providers in underserved and rural communities.

Dr. Xu has been continuously funded for the last 18 years by various agencies, including the federal and state government, the American Cancer Society, and state and local foundations. She is widely published. Her research interests include primary care, cancer control and prevention, and helping patients make more informed decisions, as well as community engagement efforts to build research capacity for primary care practices and their patients.

A practicing physician at the Wayne Health Family Medicine Center in Troy, she is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She serves on the Professional Development Committee of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians and multiple committees in the North American Primary Care Research Group, an international multidisciplinary organization for primary care researchers.

Dr. Xu teaches medical students and residents in the ambulatory setting, has received the Faculty Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching during clinical clerkships twice, and has mentored many residents and junior faculty members in and outside the department and the university.

She received her medical degree and her master’s of medical science degree from Shandong Medical University in China. She then completed Family Medicine residency training at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001, and received a master’s of science degree in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis from the University of Michigan in 2005.