Class Notes

What’s New? Your fellow alumni want to know!

Please send your professional and personal news and photos to: rwjmsalumni@rwjms.rutgers.edu, with the subject “Class Notes.”

In addition to updates we receive from alumni, we use public news information and stories to share in our Class Notes section.

1987

• Edward S. Goldberg, MD, is the founder of a private, membership-based concierge practice in New York City, featuring primary care/internal medicine, gastroenterology, travel medicine, and preventive medicine. He also is affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital.

1998

• Kasra Rastani, MD, PhD, is a board-certified otolaryngologist with Sutter Health in San Francisco. He is affiliated with California Pacific Medical Center – Van Ness Campus and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, where he offers specialized care for a wide range of conditions, including sinus problems, hearing loss, epistaxis (nosebleeds), deviated septum, and rhinitis.=

2000

• Svenja Albrecht, MD, MPH, recently was promoted to professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi. She joined the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in July 2007 as director of the Viral Hepatitis Program. She holds a master’s in public health and a certificate of knowledge in clinical tropical medicine (CTropMed), both from Johns Hopkins University. She has served UMMC as medical director of Outpatient Microbial Service since 2021 and is involved in Hepatitis C Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, which is a multi-state collaboration aimed at providing treatment for those with hepatitis C virus in rural areas.

2001

• Evan B. Shereck, MD, MEd, is professor of pediatrics in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Shereck also serves as associate director of Cancer Research Training at OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute, specializing in caring for children with bone marrow failure and immunodeficiencies, along with children undergoing bone marrow transplantation. She also directs clinical trials for patients with bone marrow failure disorders and immunodeficiencies and holds education leadership positions at OHSU.

2004

• Dong-Seok Lee, MD, is an associate professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai in New York. A board-certified surgeon and thoracic surgeon, Dr. Lee has extensive expertise in advanced minimally invasive surgical approaches, such as thoracoscopy (VATS) and laparoscopy, with particular interest in treatment of lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and benign esophageal diseases. His offices are located in New York City, as well as at Mount Sinai Queens and Brooklyn Heights-Mount Sinai Hospital.

2007

• Sarah Cate, MD, is chief of the division of breast surgery at Stamford Health in Connecticut. A breast surgical oncologist, she has a special interest in oncoplastic surgery, as well as nipple-sparing mastectomies with direct-to-implant reconstruction. She previously served at Mount Sinai Health System for 10 years, where she developed and led high-risk programs for the Mount Sinai Health System, as well as its breast surgery quality program for two years. She enjoys training the next generation of breast surgeons and was associate program director of the Mount Sinai West Breast Surgery Fellowship.

2011

• Matthew D. Treiser, MD, PhD, is chief of microsurgery and extremity reconstruction at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute. A board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, he specializes in cancer-related and non-cancer-related injuries, with advanced training and expertise in breast reconstruction and resensation surgery, and general hand surgery, orthopedic hand surgery, and plastic hand surgery. He has participated in multiple hand transplant surgeries and was a member of the surgery team that performed the first penile implant in the United States. He has a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering.
• Ashley T. Tsang, MD, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained breast surgeon at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West Breast Center, both in New York City. She specializes in the treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the breast and high-risk and/or genetic susceptibility to breast cancer. After completing residency training in general surgery at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, including two years as a postdoctoral surgical investigator at Rutgers Cancer Institute, Dr. Tsang completed fellowship training at Stanford School of Medicine.

2013

• Vanessa Narwani, MD, is a triple-board-certified endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist who founded the Institute of Metabolism, Endocrine, and Diabetes in Oakland, NJ. She sees patients with a spectrum of endocrine diseases and has a special interest in medical weight loss.
• Rajani Sharma, MD, is a fellowship-trained gastroenterologist with Columbia Surgery and an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University MC. She sees patients at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC)/Presbyterian Hospital, where she completed her residency and fellowship training in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology, and Vanderbilt Clinic in New York City. She earned a master’s degree in patient-oriented research at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. Her clinical practice is focused on management of all types of liver disease, with particular expertise in managing complications of end-stage liver disease and caring for patients before and after liver transplantation.

2014

• Steven C. Brousell, MD, is a board-certified urologist and urologic oncologist with UNC Health in Holly Springs, NC. He previously served as an attending urologist at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. He has a special interest in minimally invasive and robotic urologic surgery.
• Catherine E. Tomasulo, MD, is a pediatric cardiologist with Inova Children’s in Fairfax, VA. She is affiliated with Inova Fairfax Hospital. She completed fellowship training in pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, and in pediatric cardiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

2016

• Kathleen Capaccione, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiology in the Division of Cardiothoracic Imaging at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, was named a 2024 Gerstner Scholar. She will receive up to $300,000 in funding to support her project aimed at developing novel targeted therapies to treat lung cancer, investigating the mechanism by which targeted radiotherapy reduces tumor growth and how it interacts with immunotherapy.

2017

• Lauren Jiménez-Kurlander, MD, joined Bristol Myers Squibb’s oncology group, based in Lawrenceville, NJ, as a Clinical Trial Physician (Director) in July. A pediatric hematologist/oncologist, she is working to transform health outcomes for the most vulnerable populations through clinical drug development.

2018

• Mackenzie Neumaier, MD, is a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Geneva General Hospital and UR Medicine Department of Orthopaedics & Physical Performance, Geneva, NY. He sees patients at Interlakes Orthopaedic Surgery and specializes in hip, knee, and joint replacement surgery.

2019

• Emily Komarczyk, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist at Talkiatry, which she joined following completion of her psychiatry residency training at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where she served as chief resident. She focuses on treating adult patients with a diversity of disorders and has a special interest in treating patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

2020

• Kalyani Dhar, MD, joined NYU Langone Health in July as a preventive cardiology fellow and teaching assistant in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
• Austin Niu, MD, is a member of the 2027 class of cardiovascular disease fellows at The Texas Heart Institute’s prestigious program at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Residency/Fellowship Alumni

• Nancy Chen, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with Triborough GI Gastroenterology in Brooklyn, NY. She completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and also served as an assistant professor of medicine in its Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology before joining Triborough GI. She is affiliated with Maimonides Medical Center and NewYork–Presbyterian Queens.
• Peter Nicolai Fish, MD, a board-certified geriatrician and medical director for Tapestry Health and Hudson Valley (NY) Hospice, founded Reverse Parenting, a platform designed to empower families with the knowledge and resources needed to make informed decisions about long-term care for their loved ones. His more than two decades of medical practice include 21 years of dedicated service as a U.S. Army medical officer, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and serving as a qualified flight surgeon and brigade surgeon. He has served as the officer-in-charge of Military Medical Operations, Operation Gotham Shield, for the N.Y. Army National Guard since February 2021.
• Andrew Lelin, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist at Talkiatry in New York City, with a particular interest in care of young adults, LGBTQ+ mental health, patients with complex medical issues, and life transitions. He completed psychiatry residency training at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he trained in advanced psychopharmacology with diverse patient populations.
• Deborah Lue, MD, is a breast surgical oncology specialist with RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group and director of the breast cancer program at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset’s Steeplechase Cancer Center.
• Romualdo “Peter” Segurola, MD, renowned cardiothoracic surgeon and authority in minimally invasive cardiac, thoracic, and percutaneous catheter valve replacement procedures, has joined HCA Florida Heart and Vascular Care in Miami-Dade County. He previously served as chief of the Department of Cardiac Surgery for Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, as well as chief of cardiac surgery for Jackson Health System and medical director of the Jackson Heart Institute.