Woon Chow, MD, PhD, MSHA
Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System; Associate Professor
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Department: Pathology
Phone: (804) 828-7950
Fax: (804) 828-8733
Email: Woon.Chow@vcuhealth.org
Woon Chow, MD, PhD, MSHA, is the Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System.
A longtime member of the Richmond community, Dr. Chow completed nearly all of his academic training at VCU. He earned dual undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering and physics in 2003, followed by the combined MD/PhD program, receiving both degrees in 2011. After completing his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology in 2015, he moved to Nashville to pursue subspecialty training in neuropathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He returned to VCU in 2017 to join the faculty. He later completed a graduate degree in Health Administration in 2024, further broadening his expertise in healthcare leadership.
In addition to his pathology training, Dr. Chow is board-certified in Clinical Informatics. He previously served as Associate Director of Pathology Information Systems and as a Physician Informaticist at VCU, where he played a key role in the Epic implementation, contributing as a Physician Builder, Workgroup Chair, Trainer, and Specialty Champion. During this time, he also helped implement one of the first large-scale digital pathology platforms with case-level integration with Epic. In his current administrative role, he helps lead one of the most comprehensive health informatics services at a VA facility. Based at the Richmond VA Medical Center, the service encompasses four specialized teams—core EHR (VistA/CPRS), supplemental applications, data analytics, and nursing informatics—and includes more than 35 team members from diverse professional backgrounds.
Dr. Chow continues to maintain an active part-time clinical practice at VCU, where he serves as a neuro- and ophthalmic pathologist. He is passionate about patient care, medical education, and research, and is widely regarded as an in-house authority in ophthalmic pathology. Beyond VCU, he holds adjunct faculty appointments at multiple institutions and contributes to the mentorship and education of learners at Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Knoxville. He is active in national and international pathology and clinical informatics organizations and is also a member of the Ophthalmic Pathology Education System Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Chow actively collaborates on multiple federally funded projects focused on nanotechnology-based ocular drug delivery systems and novel photoactivated chemotherapeutic agents.
Contact Dr. Chow for a full CV
Print/Download Dr. Chow Web CV (pdf)
Dr. Woon Chow abbreviated CV
Education
2024 Virginia Commonwealth University, M.S.H.A.
2017 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Fellowship, Neuropathology
2015 VCU Medical Center, Residency, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology
2011 Virginia Commonwealth University, Ph.D., Anatomy and Neurobiology
2011 Virginia Commonwealth University, M.D.
2003 Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S., Biomedical Engineering
2003 Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S., Physics
Licenses & Certifications
Medical Licenses
Tennessee, Virginia
Board Certifications
American Board of Pathology (Clinical Informatics) American Board of Pathology (Neuropathology)
American Board of Pathology (Anatomic and Clinical Pathology)
Other Certifications
2019 Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety
2021 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Pathologist Builder
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Notecraft for Physician Builders
2022, 2024 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), Recertification 2024
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Power User
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Builder
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Builder Analytics
Selected Awards & Honors
2023 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
2022 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
2020 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
2017 Anatomic Pathology Fellow Teaching Award, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
2015 Voted “Most Diplomatic When Dealing with Clinicians,” Department of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University/VCU Health
Recent Grants and Funding
5/31/2019 to 6/2/2020
“Lipid Droplet Accumulation across Histologic Subtypes of Endometrial Carcinoma”
Contract for Histopathology Technical Assistance
$39,049.00
Role: Co-Investigator
75N91019P00230, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
6/1/2022 to 5/31/2023
“Development of a Light-Releasable Derivative of Cisplatin with Reduced Off-Target Toxicity for the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer”
$3,000.00
Role: Co-Investigator
DT2022-04, Developmental Therapeutics Program Funding, Massey Cancer Center, VCU
9/1/2022 to 4/30/2027
“Sustained Release of Fenofibrate for the Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy”
$551,841.00
Role: Co-Investigator, 1%
R01EY033477, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
8/3/2023 to 6/30/2024
“Light-Directed Therapy of Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancer with a Novel, Dual-Acting Therapeutic”
$406,186
Role: Co-Investigator, 2%
R41CA281440, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
6/1/2024 to 5/31/2026
“DSP Nanoparticles for Treating Nitrogen Mustard-Induced Corneal Injury”
$223,495
Role: Co-Investigator, 1%
R21EY035974, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
Professional Service (outside)
2020 to Present - Member, Executive Committee, International Association of Chinese Pathologists (IACP)
2021 to Present - Member, Ophthalmic Pathology Education System (OPES) American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
2022 to Present - Graduate Medical Education Faculty in Ocular Pathology, Ophthalmology Residency, Broward Health, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Recent Invited Presentations
“The Washing Away of Wrongs—Forensic and Pathologic Practices in Imperial China”, 22nd Washington Seminar on U.S.-China Relations, Kellogg Conference Center at Galludet University, Washington, D.C., 2016
Diagnostic Slide Session Case 7, “Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Inflammation” 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neuropathologists, Hyatt Regency Orange County, Garden Grove, California, 2017
Panelist, United Healthcare Network Annual Healthcare Summit, 11/11/2020 (Virtual; Recorded on 10/30/2020)
“Pathology Demystified: A Primer on Specimen Processing in the Clinical Laboratories” 2022 Perioperative Nursing Conference, Sponsored by VCU Health, (Live Virtual)
“The Big Short: Investigating Ocular Nanotechnology” American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists Companion Society Meeting, 2022
United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology 113th Annual Meeting, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, 2024
Recent Publications
Chow, W.N., Simpson, D.G., Bigbee, J.W., Colello, R.J. (2007). Evaluating Neuronal and Glial Growth on Electrospun Polarized Matrices: Bridging the Gap in Percussive Spinal Cord Injuries. Neuron Glia Biology. Vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 119-26
Wang, J., Li, B., Huang, D., Norat, P., Grannonico, M., Cooper, R.C., Gui, Q., Chow, W.N., Liu, X., Yang, H. (2021). Nano-in-Nano Dendrimer Gel Particles for Efficient Topical Delivery of Antiglaucoma Drugs into the Eye. Chemical Engineering Journal. Vol. 425, 130498
Meng, T., Zheng, J., Chen, M., Zhao, Y., Sudarjat, H., Alex, A., Kulkarni, V., Oh, Y., Xia, S., Ding, Z., Han, H., Anders, N., Rudek, M., Chow, W.N., Stark, W., Ensign, L., Hanes, J., Xu, Q. (2023). Six-Month Effective Treatment of Corneal Graft Rejection. Science Advances. Vol. 9, no. 12, eadf4608.
Poudel, S., Kaffash, E., Zhao, L., Pangeni, R., Chow, W.N., Xu, Q. (2024). Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate-Loaded Nanoparticles for Prevention of Nitrogen Mustard-Induced Corneal Injury. Experimental Eye Research. Vol. 243, 109902.
Ingabire, D., Qin, C., Sudarjat, Townsend, E.A., Pangeni, R., Poudel, S., Arriaga, M., Meng, T., Zhao, L., Raynold, A.A.M., Chow, W.N., Banks, M.L., Xu, Q. (2024). Nor-LAAM loaded PLGA Microparticles for Treating Opioid Use Disorder. Journal of Controlled Release. Vol. 373, pp. 93-104
Meng, T., Zheng, J., Shin, C., Gao, N., Bande, D., Sudarjat, H., Chow, W.N., Halquist, M., Yu, F., Acharya, G., Xu, Q. (2024). Combination Nanomedicine Strategy for Preventing High-Risk Corneal Transplantation Rejection. ACS Nano. Vol. 18, no. 31, pp. 20679-20693
Book Chapters and Monographs
Chow, W.N. (2018). Auditory Pathway. In J.S. Kreutzer, J. DeLuca, B. Caplan (eds.) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Cham: Springer. (First edition published in 2010)
Chow, W.N. (2018). Medulla. In J.S. Kreutzer, J. DeLuca, B. Caplan (eds.) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Cham: Springer. (First edition published in 2010)
Patents
Simpson, D.G., Bowlin, G.L., Colello, R.J., Chow, W.N., Jha, B.S. (Issued 2/21/2017). Electrospun Nerve Guides for Nerve Regeneration Designed to Modulate Nerve Architecture. United States Patent 9572909
Print/Download Dr. Chow Web CV (pdf)