Robert Wood Johnson Medicine • Fall 2021

Alumni Updates

Message from
the Alumni Association President

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association continues to advance engagement opportunities for our alumni and provide education to our students.

Taking advantage of our new virtual world, the Office of Alumni Affairs started an “Alumni Lecture Series,” during which some of our most prominent alumni shared their career trajectory and answered questions about different paths in medicine. Alumni panelists included Robert Palumbo, MD ’86, orthopaedic surgeon and team physician and consult for national sports teams; Kemi Alli, MD ’95, CEO of Henry J. Austin Health Center in Trenton; and Sukumar Nagendran, MD ’94, president of R & D at Jaguar Gene Therapy.

Many alumni also spoke to different student interest groups and developed relationships with students one-on-one through the mentorship database.

The Alumni Association hosted a virtual event on physician wellness in June, with another event planned in October. Explore our events (virtual and in person), update your contact information, sign up for mentoring students, meet the Alumni Association Board, and more at
rwjms.rutgers.edu/alumni.
You are important to us!

Deborah Saez-Lacy, MD ’86, President, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Alumni Association

Ways Alumni
Can Connect:

For Upcoming
Alumni Events:

Tenth Annual Scholarship Gala

April 9, 2022 • New Brunswick, NJ

For more events, visit:
rwjms.rutgers.edu/alumni/events

Support our students!

Donate to student
scholarships at:
support.rutgers.edu/rwjms

Interested in learning

more about joining our alumni

board? Email Jillian Prior:

jillian.prior@rutgers.edu.

Improving the Health of Marginalized Communities: Jennifer Tan, MD ’06, FAAD, Provides Skincare to the Homeless Community in Boston

From her medical school days as a student director of HIPHOP’s Community Health Initiative and volunteer with the Promise Clinic, Dr. Jennifer Tan has had a passion for helping the underserved. Today, she oversees the Boston Health Care Homeless Program’s dermatology clinic, caring for the skin of the homeless population in that city.

‘It’s Been a Wild Ride’: Serendipitous Events Guide
William Shaffer, MD ’04, to a Fulfilling Career in Neurology

Long-haired drummer, multiple sclerosis patient, life-changing neurologist. Learn how serendipitous events led Dr. William Shaffer to a fulfilling career in neurology and co-director of a Colorado-based comprehensive MS center.

Alumni Profiles

Alumni News

Meet our Newest Alumni:

Students also celebrated graduation virtually this year in a May special convocation event.

Congratulations to the Class of 2021, who graduated in a virtual celebration held on May 21. Out of the 162 graduates who participated in the National Resident Matching Program, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School had a 95 percent Match rate, higher than the national match rate!

Of those students, 21 will continue their residency training at a program based at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School or at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Forty-six percent will be pursuing a primary care field. Of the nearly two dozen specialties in which the students matched, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, and psychiatry were among the most popular.

“Our medical students have my greatest respect for the work they have accomplished these past four years, and for the exemplary way that they have conducted themselves during the pandemic,” said Interim Dean Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP. “Their success and resilience are evidenced by the excellent programs into which our students matched to continue their specialized education as residents.”

The complete list of programs our medical students matched to can be viewed here. Please join us in welcoming this new group into the alumni community!

Above:
The Alumni Association gifted students with champagne glasses, steins, and swag for graduation.

Left and below:
Students celebrated their matches virtually this year in March.

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New Brunswick, NJ 08901

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ALUMNI

NEWS

PROFILES

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

1994:
Keith David Mortman practices at George Washington MFA Thoracic Surgery in Washington, D.C.

1996:
Richard J. Meagher joined Salem Medical Center in Massachusetts, practicing the full gamut of neurosurgery with an emphasis on minimally invasive spinal surgery.

1997:
Brian H. Chon sees patients at Princeton Radiation Oncology in Plainsboro and Freehold, N.J.
Garrett S. Hyman practices physical medicine and rehabilitation and sports and spine medicine in Bellevue, Wash. Dr. Hyman shares that he has enjoyed learning musculoskeletal ultrasound starting in 2007, and currently, diagnostic ultrasound and ultrasound-guided procedures are a major part of his practice. He is married with three children and a dog, living in Mercer Island.

1998:
Maria Kwok practices pediatric emergency medicine at NewYork–Presbyterian and Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUMC). Dr. Kwok is also an associate professor of pediatrics at CUMC.
Jennifer Weglowski practices pediatrics at the Summit Medical Group in New Jersey.

1999:
Camille Archer is a child and adolescent psychiatry specialist in Bayside, N.Y.
Hernan Del Arca is a diagnostic radiologist with Lawnwood Regional Medical Center–Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Jennifer Santiago has been inducted into the Marquis Who’s Who Registry. Dr. Santiago is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist practicing with The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates.
Krystine Swannick-Konopczynski is a nephrology specialist in Naples, Fla., and is associated with Naples Community Hospital and Physicians Regional Medical Center–Pine Ridge.
Mark C. Tekrony practices at the Neurology Center of Fairfax in Virginia.
Matthew Wells is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

2000:
Joshua Wallenstein is the recipient of the Deans Teaching Award and the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine Young Educator Award. Dr. Wallenstein is an associate professor and clerkship director of emergency medicine at Emory School of Medicine.

2002:
Jonathan Blume has been with Westwood Dermatology in Westwood, N.J., since 2006.
Eric Chang is a plastic surgeon at The Plastic Surgery Center in Shrewsbury, N.J.
Deepa Verma is an integrative and anti-aging expert at the Exclusive Haute Beauty Network. Dr. Verma also founded Synergistiq Integrative Health, her private practice, in 2013. Recently, she expanded and created Continuum, an offspring of Synergistiq that includes IV therapy, bioidentical hormones, exosomes, peptides, gut health, weight loss, detox, aesthetics, medical marijuana, and more. When she is not busy raising her three boys, she enjoys music, the beach, healthy cooking, reading, exercising, and hopes to travel the world one day.
David Wild practices at the Cardiovascular Specialists of North Jersey.

2003:
Irina Burd is the director of the Integrated Research Center for Fetal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and also professor of gynecology and obstetrics.
Jennifer Lynn Kulp is a reproductive endocrinologist in New York, N.Y.
Schubert Perotte is the chair of emergency medicine at Jersey City Medical Center.

2004:
Douglas S. Berkman sees patients primarily at Delaware Valley Urology in Mount Laurel, N.J.

2005:
Jeffrey Gander is a pediatric surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Gander is the surgery clerkship director and recently won the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Lawrence Siew is the interim medical director of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s emergency department. Dr. Siew is also an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine.
Arvin Yang was appointed senior vice president and chief medical officer at Mersana Therapeutics. Dr. Yang spent more than a decade at Bristol Myers Squibb in various roles for the clinical development of oncology and immuno-oncology therapies. Most recently, he was vice president and head of clinical hematology, where he was responsible for the clinical development of the late stage hematology pipeline.
Joseph Yi opened up Modern Behavioral, an outpatient behavioral health clinic specializing in helping people struggling with substance addictions and mental health. Dr. Yi also founded a supplement line known as Beyond Recovery, along with three colleagues including Joel Fuhrman, MD, NY Times best-selling author of Eat to Live.

1976:
Robert P. Chvala practices at Lyons Chvala Nephrology Associates in West Chesterland and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, seeing patients for renal electrolyte and hypertension.
Brenda Shank retired in 2015 from Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, Calif. After medical school and finishing a radiation oncology residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Shank joined the staff at New York Hospital. In 1989, she became chair and professor of radiation at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and director and attending in the Radiation Oncology Department at Mount Sinai Hospital. She moved to Berkeley, Calif., in 1998 and served as medical director of the Regional Cancer Center at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo. Currently, Dr. Shank sits on the board of the Bay Area Tumor Institute.

1977:
Harvey Allen Sternbach retired from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California–Los Angeles in August 2020.

1978:
Paul M. Smolen published his second parenting book in October 2019, Great Kids Don’t Just Happen. Dr. Smolen’s blog/podcast, “Portable Practical Pediatrics,” is in its 11th year of production. He retired from the full-time practice of pediatrics in 2017.

1981:
James Hutchins is a psychiatrist at Ascension Medical Group in Bartlesville, Okla.
Marc Lieberman has been practicing otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery in Vero Beach, Fla., since 1987.

1983:
Cheryl Courtlandt is a pediatrician in Charlotte, N.C.
Kevin Kelly is an ophthalmologist in Wellington, Fla.
Salvatore Molica completed his 33rd year at the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester, Mass., where he serves on the faculty of the Boston University Family Medicine Residency program. Dr. Molica lives with his spouse, Susan, in Sharon, close by to his sons Chris, a software engineer, and Greg, a biomedical engineer.

1984:
Drew Locandro practices at Northwest ENT and Allergy Center in Marietta, Ga. Dr. Locandro is also a physician partner board member at SENTA Partners.

1985:
Michael Keogh is a cardiologist in Hendersonville, N.C.
Douglas E. Pitchford practices pain management at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Pitchford sees patients primarily at North American Spine and Pain-Hainesport and has hospital privileges at Penn Medicine Princeton Health’s Princeton Medical Center.

1987:
Thomas J. Magliaro practices obstetrics and gynecology at Saint Peter’s Physician Associates in New Jersey.
Peter J. Pappas is a general and vascular surgeon and chair of the Department of Surgery at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Fort Greene.

1989:
Vincent F. Colón is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey.

1990:
Christopher Comey is a neurosurgeon at Advanced Neurosurgery Associates, specializing in the treatment of a comprehensive range of brain, spine, and peripheral nerve disorders and conditions in Atlanta, Ga.

1991:
Maryellen Hanley practices at Maternal Fetal Medicine, part of Atlantic Health System, in Morristown. Dr. Hanley specializes in prenatal ultrasounds, fetal diagnosis, and preterm birth.
Ira Klein was appointed vice president and chief medical officer of Health New England.
Jonathan A. Lebowitz is the president of Princeton Radiology.
Roma A. Vasa is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

1992:
Sabatino Ciatti was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a “Top Dermatologist” for his dedication at Advanced Dermatology, Mohs and Laser Surgery Center. Dr. Ciatti was recognized among America’s Top Surgeons in 2008, New Jersey Top Doctors in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and was named NJ Magazine’s Elite Plastic Surgeon of 2020. He has also been listed in Marquis Who’s Who. In his spare time, Dr. Ciatti enjoys golf and vacations, especially traveling to Aruba.

1993:
Stephen DePasquale is a gynecological robotic surgeon with Erlanger Gynecology Oncology, a division chief of Gynecological Oncology, and chief of Women’s Health at Erlanger. Dr. DePasquale also serves as chair and associate professor of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga.
Karen Russo-Stieglitz practices at Maternal Fetal Medicine, part of Atlantic Health System, in Morristown. Dr. Russo-Stieglitz specializes in placental disorders, prenatal diagnosis, and medical complications in pregnancy.

Please send your professional and personal news and photos to:

Jillian Prior, MPA, assistant director of alumni affairs, at jillian.prior@rwjms.rutgers.edu. In addition to updates we receive from alumni, we use public news information and stories to share in our Class Notes section.

2006:
Paul H. Bornemann is a family medicine physician with Palmetto Health-University of South Carolina (USC) Medical Group and also associate director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at Prisma Health–Midlands/USC School of Medicine Columbia.
Marie M. Camacho-Halili is a board-certified physician in allergy and immunology and pediatrics, practicing at ENT & Allergy Associates’ Bridgewater, N.J., office and was recently promoted to full equity partner status.
Ian Hoffman is the health officer for Humboldt County, Calif.
Nadia Pile is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Women’s Care Florida in Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg.

2007:
Maame Yaa A. B. Yiadom has been named interim vice chair for research for Stanford Emergency Medicine in California.

2008:
Emily Harrison was voted Palm Beach Illustrated’s Top Doctor 2020 in Family Medicine.

2009:
Katherine O. Castle is a radiation oncologist in Baton Rouge, La., and a member of Southeast Louisiana Radiation Oncology Group. Dr. Castle treats patients at the Breast and GYN Cancer Pavilion at Women’s Hospital.
Irlna Ingrid Tantchou specializes in colon and rectal surgery and general surgery at Mercy Hospital in Arkansas, primarily seeing patients at Highlands Oncology Group.

2010:
Zhe Chen is an associate director of medical informatics at Leigh Valley Health Network.
Nancy Ibrahim is an attending radiologist at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Galloway Township, N.J.
Meir Olcha is an obstetrician and gynecologist, fellowship trained in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Dr. Olcha practices at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine–Montefiore Medical Center, in New York, N.Y.
Sherif S. Saad is the medical director of musculoskeletal radiology at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Manahawkin, N.J.

2011:
Jaheedah A. Roane is a pediatric cardiologist in Colombia, S.C., practicing at the Children’s Heart Institute.

2012:
Elizabeth Ghazi is a pediatric dermatologist in Westwood, N.J.
Edward Len sees patients at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
Scot Anthony Niglio practices hematology and oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Kaitlin Reilly practices neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, N.Y.

2013:
Andrew Butler practices pediatrics at St. Christopher’s Pediatric Associates Critical Care in Philadelphia.
Kristen Danielle Donohue is a general surgery specialist in New Brunswick, N.J., practicing with Rutgers Health.
Daniel A. Schaer is a hospitalist who primarily sees patients at Princeton Medical Center.

2014:
Sanaa Arastu joined Austin Gastro in Texas.

2015:
Jusleen Ahluwalia has been practicing dermatology in San Diego, Calif., since 2017.
Era Caterina Murzaku practices at the Dermatology Center of Dallas. Dr. Murzaku also serves as an assistant professor of dermatology at University of Texas Southwestern, where she teaches residents at Parkland Hospital, and also volunteers at the Agape Clinic, a free medical clinic in Dallas.

2016:
Carolyn Ward is an internal medicine specialist in Newport Beach, Calif.

Residents
& Fellows:
Abdelhamed I. Abdelhamed practices peripheral vascular disease cardiology at Premier Cardiovascular Institute at Miami Valley Hospital North Campus in Englewood, Ohio.
Shalini M. Bansil practices vascular neurosurgery at Penn State Neuroscience Institute in Hershey, Pa.
Miruna Carnaru is a fellow of rheumatology, allergy, and immunology at The Yale School of Medicine.
Philip Chaikin is an internist in Sarasota, Fla., and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
Saurabh Chhabra is an oncologist and associate professor at Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Jessica Chow is a family physician at Angela Family Care, in Clifton, N.J.
Michael Gannon is a family medicine physician who serves the Clearwater, Fla. community.
Sana Jivraj practices family medicine in Burlingame, Calif.
Sally Mravcak is a family physician, primary care doctor, and acupuncturist in Jersey City, N.J.
Falguni Patel practices obstetrics and genecology in Matawan, N.J.
Annie M. Peter is a clinical cardiologist at The Heart House in Southern New Jersey.
Leonard J. Pianko is a cardiologist with Aventura Cardiovascular Center in Aventura, Fla.
Taylor Shaker is a primary care physician in Waldwick, N.Y.
Benny E. Titus practices psychiatry at St. Luke’s Health Center in Edison, Pa.
Steven Benjamin Watson is a general surgeon and a fellowship-trained hand surgeon practicing in Atlanta, Ga.

125 Paterson Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to
direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues with Rutgers websites
to

accessibility@rutgers.edu

or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier/Provide Feedback Form.

Alumni Updates