Endocrinology Fellowship

The fellowship has strong educational, research and patient care components and is supported by the division’s full time and volunteer faculty. Training is based at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey, the primary teaching hospital of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. 

In order to achieve the goals of the program, the twenty-four months of training are structured into two progressively advancing levels of ACGME competency-based objectives, with an aim of building the medical knowledge, technical skills and competencies of the trainee.  

Fellows in the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism training program will acquire expertise to care for patients with a vast diversity of endocrine and metabolic problems. Our emphasis is to provide fellows with solid medical knowledge and technical skills that will make you a clinically astute endocrinologist. This will prepare fellows for productive careers as general endocrinologists or subspecialists. Clinical training with academic faculty motivated for inquiry and scholarship will also prepare the fellow for academic endocrinology as a clinician or physician scientist. We feel that the more career options fellows have once they leave the program the better.  

Through caring for our diverse patient population, fellows learn to treat a wide array of disease states including diabetes mellitus, obesity, thyroid conditions, bone and mineral metabolism disorders, adrenal and pituitary disorders.   

The curriculum addresses the art, science and business of medicine. Weekly conferences include journal clubs, research presentations, a core didactic curriculum conference, case management conferences, and tumor boards.

Fellows are involved in the educational training of residents and medical students during their electives in our division and as preceptors in the physical diagnosis course.  

Fellows participate in quality improvement/performance improvement projects and contribute to committees including but not limited to the graduate medical education committee, hospital diabetes committee, and hospital nutrition committee.   

In addition, fellows have the opportunity to take part in both laboratory-based basic scientific research and clinical research projects in the division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences.  Our fellows are funded to present their research at national conferences yearly.  

We encourage the fellows to seek educational and professional experiences outside of our institution by joining regional and national professional societies and attending outside educational opportunities. We purchase a subscription to the Endocrine Society’s “Fellows Training Series” for each fellow which includes an In-Training Exam, online procedural training modules, and subspecialty modules. Fellows are supported to attend a board review course in their second year of training. Our faculty is well connected to several major national societies such as the ADA, ATA, Pituitary Society, Endocrine Society and AACE and we encourage fellows to begin long-term involvement in these premier societies.  

The combination of the clinical activity, conferences and research opportunities creates a well-balanced program in which to develop in the field of endocrinology and launch successful careers.

Training takes place at the Rutgers Health faculty practice (outpatient) and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (inpatient).  The training program provides opportunities to observe and manage a diverse population of inpatients, outpatients and consults along the spectrum of endocrine disease. Fellows are supervised and closely mentored by dedicated faculty. 

Fellows rotate on inpatient consultation service, ambulatory clinic, and subspecialty/research blocks.   

In the Rutgers Health faculty practice the fellows rotate through general endocrine and subspecialty clinics including osteoporosis, pediatrics, transgender and thyroid procedure clinics. Each fellow maintains a continuity clinic which provides them with the opportunity to learn the course of disease and develop long-term patient relationships.  Our clinic has professional CGM, a DXA machine, an ultrasound machine, and a CDE/pump nurse always accessible to the fellows.     

Our trainees are an integral part of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital multidisciplinary teams that care for patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery, heart transplants, kidney and pancreas transplants, stem cell transplants, bariatric surgery and pituitary surgeries.  

 As part of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey we often collaborate on patients with neuroendocrine tumors and immune related endocrinopathies. 

We have the capabilities to treat our patients with radioactive iodine for hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer, gamma knife radiosurgery, gender affirmation surgery and perform petrosal sinus sampling, adrenal vein sampling and parathyroid venous sampling. 

Fellows may participate in research projects related to clinical, basic science or both with any of the fulltime faculty members in the division. Clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical industry are routinely conducted in the division. Current faculty research interests include osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases; hyperlipidemia; diabetes and obesity; exercise physiology; and thyroid disorders.

Recent Publications:

Sullivan AM, Beltran CP, Ranchoff BL, Hayes MM, Atkins KM, Tibbles CD, Cohen AP, Cohen DA, Huang GC, Schwartzstein RM; Clinician Educator Research Group. Enhancing Clinical Teaching in Critical Thinking, High-Value Care, and Health Care Equity. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2022 Jul 1;42(3):164-173. doi: 10.1097/CEH.0000000000000441. PMID: 36007516

Watari J, Vekaria S, Lin Y, Patel M, Kim H, Kang F, Lubitz S, Beninato T, Laird AM. Radiology report language positively influences adrenal incidentaloma guideline adherence. Am J Surg. 2022 Feb;223(2):231-236. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.06.015. Epub 2021 Jun 29. PMID:34243951

Cohen DA, Ricotta DN, Parikh PD. Things we do for no reason™: Routinely holding metformin in the hospital. J Hosp Med. 2022 Mar;17(3):207-210. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3644.  PMID: 34424186

Bassin SR, Kohm K, Fitzgerald N,  Cohen DA.  An Assessment of Nutrition Education in Endocrinology Fellowship Programs in the United States. Endocr Pract. 2022 Mar;28(3):310-314. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2021.12.012. Epub 2021 Dec 26. PMID: 34965450

Scherer T, Sakamoto K, Buettner C. Brain insulin signalling in metabolic homeostasis and disease.  Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2021 Aug;17(8):468-483. doi: 10.1038/s41574-021-00498-x. Epub 2021 Jun 9. PMID: 34108679

Bassin SR, Amorosa L. Prophylactic Antithyroid Treatment Prior to Contrast Imaging in Hyperthyroid Patients. Endocr Pract. 2021 Jul;27(7):757-759. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2021.03.003. Epub 2021 Mar 9. PMID: 3371148

Patel K, Levesque K, Mark V, Pierini E, Rojas B, Ahlers M, Shah A, Laferrère B. Proinsulin associates with poor β-cell function, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, and insulin resistance in persistent type 2 diabetes after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in humans. J Diabetes. 2020 Jan;12(1):77-86. doi: 10.1111/1753-0407.12964. Epub 2019 Jul 24. PubMed PMID: 31245904; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6923566.

King RA, Patel KC, Mark VM, Shah A, Laferrère B. Role of Ethnicity on Weight Loss and Attrition After Bariatric Surgery. Obes Surg. 2019 Nov;29(11):3577-3580. doi: 10.1007/s11695-019-04029-6. PubMed PMID: 31201695.

Shah A, Holter MM, Rimawi F, Mark V, Dutia R, McGinty J, Levin B, Laferrère B. Insulin Clearance After Oral and Intravenous Glucose Following Gastric Bypass and Gastric Banding Weight Loss. Diabetes Care. 2019 Feb;42(2):311-317. doi: 10.2337/dc18-1036. Epub 2018 Dec 6. PubMed PMID: 30523032; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6341286.

X Wang, LQ Meng, C Su, S Trooskin, ZF Sheng, S Shapses.  25-hydroxyvitamin D and Vitamin D Binding Protein Levels in Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism Before and after parathyroidectomy Frontiers in Endocrinology, Section of Bone Research, 2019, DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00171

K Sluis, H Kim, Y He, B Wong and X Wang. Therapeutic Challenges for Elderly Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism, Case Reports in Endocrinology 2019(1):1-3 DOI: 10.1155/2019/4807081

A Dayyeni, A Mahdi, Y He, L Meng, X Wang Parathyroid Gland Weight Is Associated with High Density Lipoprotein Levels in Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism. J Clin Transla Endocrinol. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcte.2019.100213

Wang X, Meng L, Su C, Shapses SA. LOW FREE (BUT NOT TOTAL) 25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D LEVELS IN SUBJECTS WITH NORMOCALCEMIC HYPERPARATHYROIDISM. Endocr Pract. 2020; 26: 174-178 doi: 10.4158/EP-2019-0325

J Zaidan, X Wang: TRANSIENT PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM: A RARE FORM OF HYPERPARATHYROIDISM. Endocr Pract 2020: 26(3):357-358. DOI: 10.4158/1934-2403-26.3.357

Xie, Z., Bikle, D. D., Wang, X. Editorial: Vitamin D Binding Protein, Total and Free Vitamin D Levels in Different Physiological and Pathophysiological Conditions January 2020. Frontiers in Endocrinology 11:40 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00040.

Meng L, Su C, Shapses SA, Al-Dayyeni A, He Y, Wang X. Lower total 25-hydroxyvitamin D but no difference in calculated or measured free 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum levels in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2020 Feb 3;199:105616. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2020.105616.

Zhang Z, Yan X, Wu C, Pei X, Li X, Wang X, Niu X, Jiang H, Zeng X, Zhou Z. Adding Vitamin D3 to the Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitor Saxagliptin Has the Potential to Protect β-Cell Function in LADA Patients: A One-Year Pilot Study. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2020 Feb 10: e3298. doi: 10.1002/dmrr.3298. [Epub ahead of print]

J Zaidan, X Wang, High-Dose Vitamin D3 for Critically Ill Vitamin D–Deficient Patients. N Engl J Med 2020; 382:1669-1671DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2000993

J Zaidan, X Wang. Total 25(OH)D level is not a reliable indicator of vitamin D status in normacalcemic PHPT. May 2020, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa275 [Epub ahead of print]

Magdalena Dragan , Mai-Uyen Nguyen , Stephania Guzman , Cameron Goertzen , Muriel Brackstone , Waljit S Dhillo , Paul R Bech , Sophie Clarke , Ali Abbara , Alan B Tuck , David A Hess , Sharon R Pine , Wei-Xing Zong , Frederic E Wondisford , Xiaoyang Su, Andy V Babwah , Moshmi Bhattacharya. G Protein-Coupled Kisspeptin Receptor Induces Metabolic Reprograming and Tumorigenesis in Estrogen Receptor-Negative Breast Cancer. Cell Death Dis. 2020; 11(2):106

Guzman S, Brackstone M, Wondisford F, Babwah AV, Bhattacharya M. KISS1/KISS1R and Breast Cancer: Metastasis Promoter. Semin Reprod Med. 2019; 37(4):197-206. PMID: 31972865

de Oliveira V, Schaefer J, Calder M, Lydon JP, DeMayo FJ, Bhattacharya M, Radovick S, Babwah AV.Uterine Gαq/11 signaling, in a progesterone-dependent manner, critically regulates the acquisition of uterine receptivity in the female mouse. FASEB J. 2019; 33(8):9374-9387. PMID: 31091422 

de Oliveira V, Schaefer J, Abu-Rafea B, Vilos GA, Vilos AG, Bhattacharya M, Radovick S, Babwah AV. Uterine aquaporin expression is dynamically regulated by estradiol and progesterone and ovarian stimulation disrupts embryo implantation without affecting luminal closure. Mol Hum Reprod. 2020; 26(3):154-166. PMID: 31977023

Dirice E, Kahraman S, De Jesus DF, El Ouaamari A, Basile G, Baker RL, Yigit B, Piehowski PD, Kim MJ, Dwyer AJ, Ng RWS, Schuster C, Vethe H, Martinov T, Ishikawa Y, Teo AK, Smith RD, Hu J, Haskins K, Serwold T, Qian WJ, Fife BT, Kissler S, Kulkarni RN. Increased β-cell proliferation prior to immune-cell invasion prevents progression of type 1 diabetes. (2019). Nature Metabolism. 5, 509-518.

Dirice E, De Jesus DF, Kahraman S, Basile G, Ng RWS, El Ouaamari A, Teo AK, Bhatt S, Hu J, Kulkarni RN. Human duct cells are a source of β-cell reserve in the compensatory response to insulin resistance. (2019) JCI insight 4(8): e99576.

Yang L, Garcia Canaveras JC, Chen Z, Wang L, Liang L, Jang C, et al. Serine Catabolism Feeds NADH when Respiration Is Impaired. Cell Metab. 2020 Mar 7;31(4):809-821.e6.

Liu J, Zhang C, Wu H, Sun X-X, Li Y, Huang S, et al. Parkin ubiquitinates phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase to suppress serine synthesis and tumor progression. J Clin Invest. 2020 May 18;130(6):3253–69.

Su X, Chiles E, Maimouni S, Wondisford FE, Zong W-X, Song C. In-Source CID Ramping and Covariant Ion Analysis of Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography Metabolomics. Anal Chem. 2020;14:37.

Chen L, Vasoya RP, Toke NH, Parthasarathy A, Luo S, Chiles E, et al. HNF4 Regulates Fatty Acid Oxidation and Is Required for Renewal of Intestinal Stem Cells in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2020 Mar 1;158(4):985-999.e9.

Dragan M, Nguyen MU, Guzman S, Goertzen C, Brackstone M, Dhillo WS, et al. G protein-coupled kisspeptin receptor induces metabolic reprograming and tumorigenesis in estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. Cell Death Dis. 2020;11(2).

Wang Y, Kwon H, Su X, Wondisford FE. Glycerol not lactate is the major net carbon source for gluconeogenesis in mice during both short and prolonged fasting. Mol Metab. 2020 Jan 1;31:36–44.

Du D, Tan L, Wang Y, Peng B, Weinstein JN, Wondisford FE, et al. ElemCor: Accurate data analysis and enrichment calculation for high-resolution LC-MS stable isotope labeling experiments. BMC Bioinformatics. 2019;20(1):1–9.

Kalemba KM, Wang Y, Xu H, Chiles E, McMillin SM, Kwon H, et al. Glycerol induces G6pc in primary mouse hepatocytes and is the preferred substrate for gluconeogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2019 Nov 29;294(48):18017–28.

Bott AJ, Shen J, Tonelli C, Zhan L, Sivaram N, Jiang YP, et al. Glutamine Anabolism Plays a Critical Role in Pancreatic Cancer by Coupling Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism. Cell Rep. 2019 Oct 29;29(5):1287-1298.e6.

Dong M, Dando EE, Kotliar I, Su X, Dzikovski B, Freed JH, et al. The asymmetric function of Dph1–Dph2 heterodimer in diphthamide biosynthesis. J Biol Inorg Chem. 2019;24(6):777–82.

Chiles E, Wang Y, Kalemba KM, Kwon H, Wondisford FE, Su X. Fast LC-MS quantitation of glucose and glycerol via enzymatic derivatization. Anal Biochem. 2019;575(March):40–3.

Bhatt V, Khayati K, Hu ZS, Lee A, Kamran W, Su X, et al. Autophagy modulates lipid metabolism to maintain metabolic flexibility for Lkb1-deficient kras-driven lung tumorigenesis. Genes Dev. 2019;33(3–4):150–65.

Youn, D.Y., Xiaoli, A.M., Kwon, H., Yang, F. and Pessin, J.E. (2019) “The subunit assembly state of the Mediator complex is nutrient-regulated and is dysregulated in a genetic model of insulin resistance and obesity””, J. Biol. Chem. 294, 9076-9083

Chiles, E., Wang, Y., Kalemba, K., Kwon, H., Wondisford, F.E. and Su, X. (2019) “Fast LC-MS Quantitation of Glucose and Glycerol Via Enzymatic Derivatization”, Anal. Biochem. 575, 40-43

Minakhina S., Bansal S., Zhang A., Brotherton M., Janodia R., De Oliveira V., Tadepalli S. & Wondisford F.E. (2020) A Direct Comparison of Thyroid Hormone Receptor Protein Levels in Mice Provides Unexpected Insights into Thyroid Hormone Action. Thyroid.

• USMLE steps
• ABIM board certified or board eligible
• NJ license (limited license if on visa)
• A valid ECFMG certificate for all foreign medical graduates
• Completion of a prior internal medicine residency

Renata Marques Jones, MD
Fellowship Year 1
Medical School: Centro Universitario Lusiada
Residency: St. Barnabas Hospital Program

Nikolina Markovic, MD
Fellowship Year 1
Medical School: University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Rutgers Health/New Jersey Medical School Program 

Carlos Rivera, MD
Fellowship Year 2
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Residency: CarePoint Health/Bayonne Medical Center 

Michelle Sheyman, MD
Fellowship Year 2
Medical School: Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Residency: Stony Brook Medicine/University Hospital Program

Louis Amorosa, MD, Professor

Christoph Buettner MD, PhD, Professor and Division Chief

David A. Cohen, MD, Associate Professor and Department of Medicine Vice Chair of Education

Aviva Cohn, MD, Assistant Professor

Hyon Kim, MD – Assistant Professor

Krish Khatri, MD, Assistant Professor

Sara Lubitz, MD, Associate Professor and Program Director

Anupam Ohri, MD, Associate Professor

Jacqueline Plick, APN, CDE

Ankit Shah MD, Assistant Professor

Kunal Shah, MD, Assistant Professor

Xiangbing D Wang, MD, PhD, Professor

Ranhika Bansal, MD – Assistant Professor

Faculty Emeritus

Dr. Avedis Khachadurian, MD, Emeritus Clinical Professor

Dr. Stephen Schneider, MD, Emeritus Clinical Professor

Volunteer Faculty

Dr. Arthur Santora, MD, Clinical Associate Professor

Dr. Afshin Salsali, MD, Clinical Associate Professor

Research Faculty

Dr. Moshmi Bhattacharya, PhD, Associate Professor

Dr. Kenichi Sakamoto, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor

Dr. Hyokjoon Kwon, PhD, Assistant Professor

Dr. Xiaoyang Su, PhD, Assistant Professor

Dr. Svetlana Minakhina, PhD, Assistant Professor