Meet our Clinicians

Kevin A. Carneiro, DO

Kevin Carneiro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the Medical Director of the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes as well as the Executive Director of the Brain and Body Health Program. He is the physician for all patients in the Matthew Gfeller Concussion Clinic. Kevin is a native of Canada, and received an honors undergraduate degree in Human Biology from the University of Toronto. He received his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He then completed residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and a fellowship in Sports and Spine Rehabilitation at Northwestern University Medical School / Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as Sports Medicine. When he is not at work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Liane, and their three kids. 

James Kurz, MD

James Kurz, MD, serves as the Medical Director and Internal Medicine physician for the Brain and Body & Milestone Wellness Assessment Programs. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and is board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Kurz is originally from St. Louis, MO, but moved with his family to Raleigh, North Carolina when in middle school. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1988 in Mechanical Engineering, then worked a year for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft in St. Louis before attending the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia. He then moved back to North Carolina for his residency training at UNC in Chapel Hill and has been working for UNC since 1993. He helped start one of UNC’s first off-campus primary care clinics and served as Medical Director there before directing UNC’s Executive Health Program. He is listed in Best Doctors in America and America’s Top Physicians. His focus is primary care and preventative care but also has an interest in medically complex individuals.

Karla Thompson, PhD

Karla Thompson, PhD, serves as the BBHP/MWA’s neuropsychologist and provides neuropsychological evaluations and consultations.  She is an assistant professor in the UNC Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, with a joint appointment in Psychiatry.  She is a neuropsychologist with more than 17 years of experience in evaluating and treating patients with traumatic brain injuries, strokes, anoxic brain injuries, brain tumors, dementias, and other forms of cognitive impairment.  She also works with patients with other kinds of disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries.  She is a research collaborator with the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, has served on the Board of Directors for the Brain Injury Association of NC, and is the faculty facilitator of UNC’s Brain Injury Support Group.

Ana Felix, MBBCh

Ana C.G. Felix serves as Lead Neurologist Brain and Body Program at UNC. Dr. Felix is a Board Certified Adult Neurologist with additional fellowship training in Vascular Neurology. She graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand (MBBCh) in South Africa in 1989 and completed her Neurology Residency at Boston City Hospital and the Combined TUFTS Neurology Training Program, followed by Vascular Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA. Dr. Felix joined the faculty at UNC in 2002 and has a strong interest in clinical neurology, with a focus on patient-centered care and shared decision-making. In addition to her work with The Brain and Body Program at UNC, Dr. Felix serves as an embedded Neurologist in the Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Clinics. Dr Felix has been awarded the Medical Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professorship, for her ongoing work teaching, advising and mentoring students, residents and fellows in multiple specialties at the UNC School of Medicine.

Abbie Smith-Ryan, PhD

Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, Ph.D., CSCS*D, FNSCA, FACSM, FISSN serves as the Nutritionist for the BBHP/MWA program by providing a comprehensive nutrition and body composition consult.  She is an Associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, where she serves as the Director of the Applied Physiology Lab. She is also and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Nutrition. Her research interests center around exercise and nutrition interventions to modify various aspects of body composition, cardiovascular health, and metabolic function.  She is an active researcher in the field of metabolism, sport nutrition and exercise performance, in both healthy and clinical populations, leading projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and International and National industry sponsored clinical trials.   She was recognized by the NSCA as the Nutrition Researcher of the Year (2013) and the Young Investigator of the Year (2015). Dr. Smith-Ryan currently serves as a University liaison for the ‘Working on Women in Science (WOWS)’ initiative. She has a passion for improving the health and quality of life of others through evidenced-based research.

Dana Lebo, PhD

Dana Lebo serves as one of the BBHP/MWA’s Life Skills and Transition Coaches. She is a coach, leadership trainer, and licensed psychologist with Bell Leadership Institute. For 20 years, Dr. Lebo has applied her extensive background in psychologies of performance, health, sports, and whole brain integration to help hundreds of individuals, teams, couples, and families achieve their goals in their professional and personal lives. Dr. Lebo devotes her career to helping people build the skills of leadership and manage the stress, conflict, and complexities of busy home and work lives.

Dr. Lebo earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University and Master’s degrees from Columbia’s Teachers College and Georgetown University’s School of Graduate Studies. She began her career in the field of international development with fellowships to study anthropology and Arabic in the Middle East, manage projects at a global relief agency in Cairo, and teach resettlement skills to refugees at the American Cultural Center in Alexandria, Egypt.

Shawn F. Kane, MD

Internal Medicine

Shawn Kane is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the UNC-Chapel Hill. A native of New York, he attended Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA where he played varsity football and was in ROTC.  Upon graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Medical Service Corps and attended the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences for medical school.  Upon medical school graduation, he was promoted to Captain and completed his Family Medicine Training at Womack Army Medical Center at FT Bragg, NC and then completed his Sports Medicine Fellowship at the National Capital Consortium at Ft Belvoir, VA/Bethesda, MD.  He went on to serve a total of 27 years in the US Army, most of them as a physician in the US Army Special Operations Command.  In 2018, he retired from the Army and started his second career here at UNC.  He is board certified in Family Medicine and has a certificate of added qualification in Primary Care Sports Medicine.