Biography

Dr. Steele attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine’s combined 6-year medical program receiving his B.A./M.D. degrees in 1980. Dr. Steele has served on the faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UMKC School of Medicine/Truman Medical Center since his graduation from residency in 1983. He was named Vice Chairman for the Department of Emergency Medicine in 1987, Program Director in 1990, and in 1997 he was selected as Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine. In 2000, he was selected to be the first Chief Medical Officer for Truman Medical Center and became Associate Dean for Truman Medical Center Program at the UMKC School of Medicine and was promoted to full professor at the UMKC School of Medicine. Dr. Steele is also board certified in Emergency Medicine.

Academically, Dr. Steele has over 60 publications. His interests have been in the areas of infectious disease, wound care, circadian rhythms and shift work, and emergency medicine practice and work force issues.In 2002, Dr. Steele was named as one of Ingram’s Top Doctors of Kansas City. Other honors and awards include becoming a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians in 1988, receiving the UMKC Alumni Achievement Award in 1990, induction as a faculty member into Alpha Omega Alpha society at the UMKC School of Medicine in 1992, receiving the UMKC Excellence in Medical Education Award in 1992 and in 2000, being the recipient of the UMKC School of Medicine E. Grey Dimond Take Wing Award.Dr. Steele’s professional memberships include the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM), Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA), and the American Medical Association (AMA). Dr. Steele serves as secretary-treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors, for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), as well as chair of the Test Administration Committee, chief examiner for the oral examination, and as an item writer.

Research Focus
Infectious diseases relevant to the practice of emergency medicine

Steele is heavily involved in a nationwide network of top emergency departments that are researching infectious disease threats and testing innovative ways to deal with them. The School of Medicine/Truman Medical Centers is one of 11 founding research sites in the network.

Research Summary
Dr. Steele’s research interests are in the areas of infectious disease, wound care, circadian rhythms, shift work, emergency medicine practice and workforce issues. He has published works in these areas and has presented nationally as well.

Dr. Steele currently serves as a site investigator for the EMERGEncy ID NET. The EMERGEncy ID NET is an interdisciplinary, multicenter, emergency department-based network for research on emerging infectious diseases. It was established in cooperation with the National Center for Infectious Diseases, as part of the CDC’s strategy to expand and complement existing disease detection and control activities. The network is based at 11 university-affiliated, urban hospital emergency departments with more than 900,000 combined annual patient visits.  It also was developed to be a mechanism for rapidly responding to new infectious diseases or epidemics