Host of New Department of Medicine Hires Named, More to Come

A host of new faculty have joined the University of Arizona Department of Medicine since the last issue of the departmental newsletter, The Pulse.

These include two new division chiefs — Elizabeth Connick, MD, in Infectious Diseases, and Larry Mandarino, PhD, in Endocrinology—nephrologist Akinlolu O. Ojo, MD, MPH, PhD, the new UA Health Sciences associate vice president for Clinical Research and Global Health Initiatives, and Daruka Mahadevan, MD, PhD, the new director of the UA Cancer Center’s Clinical Trials Phase I Program and Experimental Therapeutics co-director.

Drs. Ojo and Mahadevan started in January and Drs. Connick and Mandarino started in April. Also new in Endocrinology is Moulun Luo, PhD, a research associate professor who began in May, and Juan Galvez, MD, a former UA Endocrinology fellow who joined our faculty in August 2015. In Hematology-Oncology, Virginie Olive, PhD, also began as a research assistant professor in October 2015.

Starting in July in Infectious Diseases, Dr. Connick said, would be Lori E. Fantry, MD, a physician scientist who comes from the University of Maryland where she’s an associate professor and director of the Evelyn Jordan Center, an HIV clinic that’s part of the Institute for Human Virology (IHV). She’s also chair of the IHV Data Safety Monitoring Board.

“Dr. Fantry headed the Evelyn Jordan HIV clinic at the University of Maryland for the past 19 years and brings tremendous experience in the care of persons with HIV infection. She will serve as the Medical Director of the Refugee Clinic as well as the Director of HIV Translational Research at the University of Arizona,” Dr. Connick said.

New in Rheumatology are Sabina Mian, MD, an assistant professor, who started in February, and Charles Ratzlaff, PhD, a research assistant professor, who began in March. In Geriatrics, General Internal Medicine and Palliative Medicine (GGP), new are assistant professors Nema Toosizadeh, PhD (Center on Aging), and Corinne Self, MD (Geriatrics). And new in Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine (PACCS) are Tammi Ojo, MD, a cystic fibrosis specialist who began in May and is the wife of Dr. Lolu Ojo, and Joseph Mascarenhas, PhD, a research assistant professor who began in August 2015. Drs. Mian, Self and Ojo come in as Banner Health new hires.

With a dozen new faculty, the majority of new hires over the past year are in the Division of Translational and Regenerative Medicine, led by division chief Jason X.-J. Yuan, MD, PhD, who also is the UA Health Sciences associate vice president for Translational Health Sciences.

“The newly recruited faculty members in the DTRM are all actively engaged in translational medical research to reveal pathogenic mechanisms and develop novel therapeutic approaches for various diseases like idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, acute and chronic lung injury, and breast and pancreatic cancer,” Dr. Yuan said.

“The new members, along with the existing DTRM members, are also actively involved in identifying genetic and epigenetic signatures associated with disease treatment and prognosis between Hispanic White and Non-Hispanic White patients, an important research focus toward promoting breakthroughs in precision medicine and health disparities.”

New Translational & Regenerative Medicine FacultyAmong Dr. Yuan’s new faculty hired over the past year are:

  • Kimberly McDermott, PhD (July 2015), Research Assistant Professor
  • Xiaoguang Sun, PhD (July 2015), Research Associate Professor
  • Saad Sammani, PhD (August 2015), Research Assistant Professor
  • Qing Lu, PhD (August 2015), Research Assistant Professor
  • Evgeny Zemskov, PhD (November 2015) Research Assistant Professor
  • Pablo Fernando M. Terran Arce, PhD (January 2016), Research Associate Professor
  • Erik Knudsen, PhD (February 2016), Professor
  • Steffan Nawrocki, PhD (January 2016), Associate Professor
  • Joanne Berghout, PhD (January 2016, Research Assistant Professor (Informatics)
  • Jian Wang, PhD (February 2016), Research Associate Professor
  • Jennifer Carew, PhD (March 2016), Associate Professor
  • Manuel Gonzales-Garay, PhD (April 2016), Research Associate Professor (Informatics)
  • Haiquan Li, PhD (December 2013), Research Associate Professor (Informatics) — Dr. Li will be promoted to tenure eligible Assistant Professor as of Aug. 1.

Informatics faculty are associated also with the UA Center for Biomedical Informatics & Biostatistics, which is led by Yves A. Lussier, MD, UAHS associate vice president for health sciences and chief knowledge officer.

In the Division of Inpatient Medicine, we have four new hospitalists:

  • Priyanka Sultaniya Dudani, MD, Start: June 6
  • Hrishikesh Kulkarni, MBBS, Start: June 21
  • Aaron Fernandes, MD, Start: July 1
  • Neha Jaswal, MD, Start: July 24

Several other new physicians, who’ve been hired by Banner – University Medical Center and recently credentialed, will begin practicing with the Department of Medicine later this summer. They include (with their specialty and primary practice site):

  • Prathab Devaraj, MD, Gastroenterology, Banner – UMC Tucson (6OPC) — Start: July 1
  • Bhupinder Natt, MD, Pulmonary & Critical Care, Banner – UMC Tucson (2OPC) — Start: July 1
  • Aaron Scott, MD, Hematology & Oncology, Banner – UMC / UA Cancer Center North Campus — Start: July 1
  • Serena Scott, MD, General Internal Medicine, Banner – UMC Tucson (2OPC) — Start: July 1
  • Vivian Shi, MD, Dermatology, Banner - University Medical Group Dermatology (7005 N. Oracle Road) – Start: July 18
  • Simran Sindhu, DO, Hematology & Oncology, Banner – UMC / UA Cancer Center Orange Grove Campus — Start: Aug. 1

As for UA/UAHN legacy employees transferring to Banner Health, they include the following physicians:

  • Katherine Beeler, MD, Assistant Professor, Inpatient Medicine
  • Carlos Borras, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • Eric Brody, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
  • Gordon Carr, MD, Assistant Professor, PACCS, and Chief Medical Officer, Banner - UMC Tucson & South
  • Vijay Chandiramani, MD, Assistant Professor, Inpatient Medicine
  • Jennifer L. Cook, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
  • Samir Dahdal, MD, Affiliate DCC, Cardiology
  • Michael Darragh, MD, Affiliate DCC, Inpatient Medicine
  • Jason DuPont, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Dermatology
  • Jennifer Flynn, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Mark Friedman, MD, Clinical Professor, Cardiology
  • Juan Galvez, MD, Assistant Professor, Endocrinology
  • Paul Gee, MD, Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Firas Gorges, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • David Gortner, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • Vicki Greiff, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • Juan Guzman, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • Rajesh Janardhanan, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
  • Ravi Krishnadasan, MD, Assistant Professor, Hematology & Oncology
  • Dawn Lemke, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Kapildeo Lotun, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
  • Peter Ott, MD, Associate Professor, Cardiology
  • Indu Partha, MD, Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Hitendra Patel, MD, Assistant Professor, Hematology & Oncology
  • Elise Reinhard, MD, UA Associate, GGP
  • James Sameshima, MD, Associate, GGP
  • Asjad Sardar, MD, Assistant Professor, Nephrology
  • Manish Shah, MD, Assistant Professor, Inpatient Medicine
  • Tasneem Shah, MD, Assistant Professor, Inpatient Medicine
  • Sundeep Shenoy, MD, Assistant Professor, Inpatient Medicine
  • Kathryn Sisterman, NP, UA Associate, Cardiology
  • Ana Stepczynski, MD, Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Prakash Surayanarayana, MD, Assistant Professor, Cardiology
  • Jennifer Suriano, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Bijin Thajudeen, MD, Assistant Professor, Nephrology
  • Monica Vandivort, MD, Assistant Professor, GGP
  • Duane Whitaker, MD, Clinical Professor, Dermatology
  • Gerald Wolff, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Cardiology

Additionally among new nurse practitioners hired are Kristie Fry, NP, Cardiology (January), and Kane Gronback, NP, Hepatology/GI (April).Drs. Ron Weinstein, Jeff Lisse and Kent Kwoh

Among those departing are Rheumatology's Jeffery Lisse, MD, who'll be a medical fellow at Eli Lilly & Company; Aiden Abidov, MD, PhD, associate chief of Cardiology and medical director of Cardiovascular Imaging; and soon-to-be retirees Rafael Grau, MD, also from Rheumatology, and David Gortner, MD, from Geriatric Medicine.

Stay tuned for other new faculty and staff hires coming soon. 

UA Telemedicine Program founder Drs. Ron Weinstein, Jeff Lisse and Kent Kwoh, chief, Division of Rheumatology, and director, UA Arthritis Center, at Dr. Lisse's retirement party.

ALSO SEE:
"Banner, College of Medicine Welcome Host of New Faculty Physicians" | Posted Aug. 6, 2015

Release Date: 
06/09/2016 - 5:15pm