David Driscoll joined UVA Wise as director of the Healthy Appalachia Institute (HAI) in January 2023. He has spearheaded community public health and research initiatives around the U.S., most recently serving as assistant dean for research and associate professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine. He leads HAI’s research portfolio and identifies, develops and implements population health programs in collaboration with various community, business, health and education partners across the region.

Kol Gold joined UVA Wise as program manager of the Healthy Appalachia Institute (HAI) in July 2024. He has supported and led health policy, opioid misuse, and disease outbreak interventions, community research, and educational programming. Most recently completing a fellowship with the Global Health Corp and published on the impact of peer-to-peer engagement on mitigating viral outbreaks on college campuses. He supports HAI’s research while also implementing institutional processes in service to partners across the region. In addition, he works with the UVA Wise campus connecting students to experiential learning opportunities and research experience within the region of Southwest Virginia.