Robert Means Jr., MD | Hematology/Oncology
Division Statement | Faculty | Research/Scholarly Activities | Fellowship | Oncology at ETSU Health
Robert Means Jr., MD | Professor | Hematology
325 N. State of Franklin, 2nd Floor
Office 423.439.7280
Dr. Means joined the ETSU faculty in 2014 to serve as dean of the ETSU Quillen College of Medicine and continued as dean until 2018. He is board certified in internal medicine and hematology. He is internationally recognized for his research in hematology and brings his valued knowledge and experience to serve Northeast Tennessee and the surrounding regions. Dr. Means offers services to patients with non-malignant blood disorders including anemias, white blood cell diseases, platelet and coagulation/thrombosis problems, red cell/hemoglobin issues including polycythemia and pure red cell aplasia, and hemochromatosis and other iron disorders.. While physician referrals are preferred, patient self-referrals will be considered if they are in one of the areas of Dr. Means’s practice. Patients wishing to self-refer should contact the clinic about submitting records to be reviewed before an appointment is scheduled.
Dr. Robert T. Means Jr. came to ETSU from the University of Kentucky (UK) where he served as executive dean and professor of internal medicine and was a member of the hematology and blood and marrow transplant division. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.
A magna cum laude graduate of Rice University, Means earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University and completed an internal medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine before returning to Vanderbilt for a hematology fellowship.
He remained at Vanderbilt University as an instructor and assistant professor in the hematology division before he was recruited by the University of Cincinnati in 1992 to become associate professor of medicine and director of the diagnostic hematology laboratory, as well as associate chief of the hematology/oncology section at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
In 1998, he joined the Medical University of South Carolina faculty as professor of internal medicine, associate director of the hematology/oncology division, and chief of the hematology/oncology section at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. He became director of the hematology/oncology division in 2000, serving until his recruitment to the University of Kentucky.
UK named Means as associate chair for research in the Department of Internal Medicine in 2004 when he also became chief of the medical service at Lexington VA Medical Center. He was later appointed interim director of the Markey Cancer Center from 2006-2009 and senior associate chair of the Department of Internal Medicine from 2007-2011. UK promoted him to executive vice dean in 2011, and he was named executive dean in 2012.
Means gained significant attention in the research arena for his work on the pathogenesis of the anemia of chronic diseases. His studies have received funding support from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and he is the author of more than 150 original scientific reports, invited commentaries or editorials, review articles, and book chapters.
He is an editor of the 12th through 14th editions of Wintrobe's Clinical Hematology and of textbook on nutritional anemia and on anemia in the young and old. He serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Hematology, Blood Research, and the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, and is an associate editor of the Journal of Investigative Medicine, as well as a frequent referee for other journals.
His wife, Dr. Stacey McKenzie, grew up in Kingsport and graduated from Lynn View High School. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. They are the parents of three children.