Program Leadership

Zeb Henson, MD
Program Director, Medicine-Pediatrics Residency
Professor, Division of General Medicine & Pediatrics
Medical Chief of Staff

Dr. Henson is a native Mississippian and, as he likes to say, he entered UMMC in August 2001 for medical school and never left! A native of Jackson, he studied biomedical engineering at Mississippi State University prior to med school. He completed his med/peds training at UMMC in 2009, then spent one year as a chief resident in the Department of Medicine. He was brought onto the UMMC faculty following his chief year and began serving as an associate program director in the internal medicine residency program in 2010 and also the Med/Peds residency program in 2013. He became med/peds program director in 2018.

Clinically, he prefers to be as "med/peds" as he can - still working in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings in both internal medicine and pediatrics. He has a particular interest in resistant hypertension and adolescent hypertension and was the principal investigator for the SPRINT trial at UMMC. As a native Mississippian, he has always felt called to serving his home state and his home city and volunteers at several local charities around the city.

His greatest achievement was convincing his wife, Anna, to marry him between his first and second year of medical school. They live just three miles from the hospital with their three children and one rotten dog. He can be seen running around the local neighborhoods early most mornings of the week to clear his mind and get him ready for the day. He is also active as a deacon and Sunday School teacher at his church, and he is still holding out hope of becoming a roadie for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band one day.

Meagan Robbins, MD
Associate Program Director, Medicine-Pediatrics Residency
Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine & Pediatrics

Dr. Robbins was born and raised in Mississippi, and obtained her undergraduate degree from The University of Mississippi. She attended medical school, internal medicine/pediatrics residency and chief residency in Pediatrics at UMMC.

Ashley Villarreal, MD
Associate Program Director, Medicine-Pediatrics Residency
Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine & Pediatrics

Although born in Illinois, Dr. Villarreal is otherwise a lifelong Mississippian. Raised in Hattiesburg where she also attended undergrad at Southern Miss, she then moved to Jackson first as a researcher then to attend medical school. She chose to stay here for residency and serve an additional year as an Internal Medicine Chief Resident. She was asked to join faculty immediately following her chief year as an Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine and Hospitalist with the Hospital Medicine division. Thus, in addition to her role as Associate Program Director, you will find her precepting residents in the clinic and hospital setting as well as her individual practice in both. 

While she has a spirit for adventure and loves to travel the world, the unique opportunity to serve a community like Jackson has kept her roots here. In her free time, you'll find her going for a run through Fondren, reading at a coffee shop, dining out, playing soccer or tennis, dancing at a concert or spending time with her favorite people in the world, her niece and nephew.

Jennifer P. Chappell, C-TAGME
Director of Health Education, Department of Medicine
Program Administrator, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics