Dr. Vonda G. Reeves, MD, MBA, FACP, FACG, AGAF, was born in Mount Olive, Mississippi. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Millsaps College in 1978 and attended Meharry Medical College in Nashville, where she graduated with honors in neuroanatomy and obstetrics and gynecology. Dr. Reeves completed her internal medicine residency at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and later completed a fellowship in gastroenterology, becoming the first three-year fellow in the program’s history.
She received multiple awards during her time at UTMB, including the John McLaughlin Research Award for her work on cholera toxins. She conducted both bench and clinical research, earned top honors at the National Gastroenterology Fellows Research Competition, and presented research internationally. As an assistant professor, Dr, Reeves served as interim director of the endoscopy unit and co-director of the motility unit. She continues her membership in the Texas Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
In 1997, family commitments influenced her transition to private practice at Gastrointestinal Associates, PA, in Jackson, Mississippi. She has remained active in the Mississippi State Medical Association and has advocated for patients and medicine in Mississippi through legislative efforts and organized medicine. Her work with the American College of Gastroenterology has included serving as governor for Mississippi, trustee, and appointments to multiple national committees, including Practice Management, Professionalism, and Legislative Practice and Policy. She continues to advocate for patients and gastroenterologists locally and on Capitol Hill, including efforts surrounding prior authorization, step therapy, and screening colonoscopy access. She also serves on the Gastroenterology Board for the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a nationally sought speaker on private equity and corporate medicine.
Her desire for community activism has spawned numerous mission trips in the countries of Honduras, Malawi, Nigeria, Greece, and Thailand. She has lectured to mission doctors in foreign countries, allowing these physicians to maintain their United States licenses by providing CME-accredited lectures. The Baptist Medical and Dental Mission in mainland Honduras has benefited from her instrumental role in establishing an endoscopy lab there.
Dr. Reeves’ passion for community action is reflected in her role as commissioner and vice-chairwoman for the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, where she has helped secure both state and federal funding for redevelopment projects. As executive vice president of the Andrew Jackson Council of the Boy Scouts of America, she helped implement programs supporting the inclusion of female Scouts. Her three sons are Eagle Scouts.
With her is her oldest son, Galen Reeves Darby, Esq., an entertainment attorney in Los Angeles, and her only daughter, Peryn Reeves Darby, vice president for productions, Annapurna Productions. Her other two children, who could not attend tonight, Royce Reeves-Darby, an entertainment executive for an AI startup in Los Angeles, and Jaren Reeves-Darby, PhD, neuroscientist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. In addition, she is honored by the presence of Dr. Marc Shabot, her lifelong friend and mentor, without whom this award would not have been possible.
She is grateful for the blessings that The University of Texas Medical Branch has afforded her throughout her professional life. She is a philanthropist in both academic and non-academic circles and is a member of the Guardian Society for Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Reeves is extremely thankful for the opportunity to celebrate the Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Award with the other awardees. Without UTMB, her success would have been abbreviated.