Biography of Grattan Woodson, MD, FACP
Grattan Woodson, MD FACP obtained his MD at the Medical College of Georgia in 1980 and completed his internal medicine training at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY, an affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, New York in 1983. He joined the full-time faculty of Emory University School of Medicine where he taught internal medicine and worked as a diagnostician at Emory Clinic.
In 1986 he left Emory to pursue a career in internal medicine and clinical research. His areas of expertise include osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, Women’s Health, and vaccine studies including influenza. Since that time, Dr. Woodson has participated in over 50 clinical research trials and has been the principal or co-author of papers for peer-reviewed journals in the area of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, including the New England Journal of Medicine. He maintains his relationship with Emory University, where he serves as a Clinical Instructor of Medicine. Presently he is an attending physician in Internal Medicine at the Druid Oaks Health Center and the Medical Director of the Atlanta Research Center and the Osteoporosis Center of Atlanta.
Dr. Woodson first became concerned about avian influenza after learning about the first human cases in Hong Kong in 1997. His interest increased significantly when the disease re-emerged in Southeast Asia in 2003, a fact he discovered while researching the value of influenza vaccination in the fall of 2004. As the disease evolved, he became convinced that the likelihood of a worldwide influenza pandemic similar to the devastating 1918 Spanish Flu was increasing. To prepare his patients for a catastrophic event that many thought inconceivable at the time, Dr. Woodson authored his first book on the subject, The Bird Flu Preparedness Planner, published in November 2005 by HCI Books, Deerfield, Florida. The book was a success because it presented the risk we face from a bird flu pandemic in the clear and easy-to-understand style used by Dr. Woodson to explain medical issues to his patients. The success of this effort led to his writing the second book on this topic, The Bird Flu Manual, which presents a more comprehensive treatment of the topic.
Dr. Woodson is married to Margaret Lynn Woodson, RN, LCSW. Lynn is a social worker employed by the non-profit, Visiting Nurse/Hospice Atlanta where she coordinates in-home services for disabled children and adults allowing them to remain independent at home rather than being institutionalized. Lynn and Grattan have two adult children, Bonnie Elizabeth Woodson who is preparing to become a Physician’s Assistant and Simon Tucker Woodson who recently graduated from the University of Georgia majoring in history.