[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18089]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        A TRIBUTE TO DAVID LEE 
                               SIMEL, MD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE McINTYRE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 3, 2013

  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a truly 
outstanding doctor, a loving father, and an exceptional North 
Carolinian, Dr. David Lee Simel, of Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Simel 
was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, before attending the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduation, he 
completed medical school and an internal medicine residency at Duke 
University, and he has been an avid Blue Devils fan ever since. Dr. 
Simel is now a Professor of Medicine and also Vice-Chair for Veteran's 
Affairs at the prestigious Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. 
Simel has dedicated himself wholly to our veterans across North 
Carolina. I ask you to join me in recognizing his long and honorable 
career.
  Dr. Simel's hard work and leadership have been vital to the continued 
success of the Duke University School of Medicine. After being the 
Associate Chief of Staff of Ambulatory Care for the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, he was named the Vice-Chair for Veteran's Affairs in 
the Department of Medicine. Both of these honorable positions have 
given Dr. Simel the opportunity to serve those who have served us, and 
he does so with integrity and discipline. The influential book of which 
he was co-author, The Rational Clinical Exam, is a comprehensive guide 
for patient exams, and has become a powerful reference tool for those 
in the field of medicine. He has been the recipient of several honors 
throughout his career, including the Joseph Greenfield, Jr. Award for 
Research Mentorship from the Duke University Medicine Housestaff in 
2011, accepted the Barnett Berris, MD Lectureship from the University 
of Toronto in 2006, and was inducted as a member of the medical society 
of high achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha, in 1985.
  Mr. Speaker, even as Dr. Simel has dedicated many years of his life 
to life-saving medical research and educating future physicians, he has 
managed to remain a devoted father and husband to his family. He and 
his wife, Dr. Joanne Piscitelli, have three accomplished children: 
Lauren, Michael, and Bryan. All of his children were active in soccer 
and basketball growing up, and Dr. Simel rarely missed a game. They 
maintain a strong tradition of an annual family trip to Hilton Head, 
South Carolina, during the summer during which the entire family 
participates in baseball games and sandcastle building competitions. 
Dr. Simel and his wife also share a passion for bike riding that has 
taken them around the world. Together they have visited Tuscany, the 
Canadian Rockies, Patagonia, Vermont, and Slovenia, with Argentina and 
Nova Scotia planned for later this year.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Simel's enduring commitment to his family, his 
students, his patients, and our veterans makes him an exemplary 
citizen, and someone that I am proud to know. His passion for medicine 
and improving the health of others will continue to benefit North 
Carolina for many years to come. Please join me in honoring Dr. David 
Simel for his intelligence, compassion, and selfless dedication. I pray 
that he and his family may receive God's richest blessings.

                          ____________________