Faculty

Academic Leadership
Anatomy
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Clinical Science
Genetics
Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Physical Diagnosis (ICMPD)
Medical Communications
Medical Librarian
Microbiology and Immunology
Neuroscience
Pathology
Pharmacology
Physiology
USMLE Review Course
Visiting Faculty

Chief Academic Officer

Arun Kumar Dubey, MBBS, MD

Dr. Arun Kumar Dubey is a Physician, Clinical Pharmacologist and an Administrator by training. After completing his MBBS degree from Guwahati Medical College in India, Dr. Dubey completed three years of Residency in Clinical Pharmacology at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).

Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of Clinical Sciences

Richard George Pestell, MB, BS, MD, PhD, MBA, FRACP, FACP, FRS (Medicine), FAAAS

rpestellmd@xusom.com

Dr. Pestell received an M.B.B.S. from the University of Western Australia, an F.R.A.C.P. (Endocrinology and Oncology training), an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne, an F.A.C.P. (Fellow American College of Physicians), and an M.B.A. from New York University. He has been in executive leadership at USA Universities and Medical Centers since 2002.

He completed Post Doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He was subsequently faculty at Northwestern University Medical School, Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Chairman of the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University and Associate Vice President at Georgetown University Medical School. He has previously Executive Vice President of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. He has served as Director of two NCI-designated Cancer Centers (Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, 2002-2015), founded two biotechnology companies and is the author of multiple issued patents.

He is concurrently Distinguished Professor, Translational Medical Research, and the President of the Pennsylvania Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Research Center at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute.

He has received a number of awards for his work in clinical activity, research and education in Medicine including elected membership to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Elected Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Western Australia, Doctorus Honorus Causa Medical Science from University of Melbourne, RD Wright Medallion, and the Eric Sussman Prize.

Dr Pestell’s work has more than 56,700 citations and an H-index of 129, i10 index 413 (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RYlsfBQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao). He is top ranked by Google Scholar for his areas of research including: cell cycle (#1), prostate cancer (#1), Oncology (#6) and Breast cancer (#7)

Regional Director of Medical Education

Eric Mizuno, MD

Dr. Eric T. Mizuno, a Chicago native, is a board-certified Internist, Associate Professor at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, and Philanthropist who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. Dr. Mizuno is an internationally recognized expert on geriatric and natural healing, and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows including ABC 7, WGN News, and CBS 2 Chicago. His medical education background includes Residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital – Northwestern University McGaw Medical Center, Chicago and MD from l University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago.

Dean of Graduate Medical Education

Sathish Karmegam, MD, MMM, FACP, CHCQM

Dr. Karmegam trained in the U.K. and Australia for 3 years before moving to the States. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of NV School of Medicine and then worked as Asst. Prof. of Medicine at the University of AZ College of Medicine. He completed his Nephrology and Interventional Nephrology training in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX. He is currently the Program Director for the North Texas Medical City Internal Medicine Residency Program in Arlington, TX.

Dean of Basic Science

Shankhar Majhi, MBBS, MD

smajhimd@xusom.com

Dr. Majhi completed his medical school training at VSS Medical College, Sambalpur, and Orissa. After completing his MD in Biochemistry, and a Senior Residency in JIPMER, Dr. Majhi moved to Nepal. During his time in Nepal, he became a founding Professor of Biochemistry in a new Medical College and also worked as an editor of the medical journal, NMCJ.

Associate Dean of General Professional Education

Shawn Cannon, DO, FACOI

Dr. Shawn Cannon is the Chief Academic Officer of Stony Brook Medicine at Southampton Hospital. He started his medical studies at NYIT-College of Osteopathic Medicine in an accelerated program. He earned his BS and DO degrees in seven years. From there, he studied medicine at the University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center in the City of New York. At Montefiore, he served as Chief Resident in the Department of Social Internal Medicine. He is a board certified osteopathic internist with sub-specialty boards in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Cannon is currently studying at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in the International Master’s for Health Leadership (IMHL). He is expected to finish his master’s curriculum in August 2018. He is also an active member of the American Osteopathic Association of Addiction Medicine and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is currently serving on the Board of the American Osteopathic Directors of Medical Education (AODME) as it transitions into an assembly of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM). He founded the Residency Program in Social Medicine at Southampton to ensure medical students and residents were being educated in the fields of medicine that are acutely affecting citizens of the United States.

Dean of Pre-med Program

Kevin Pawlak, PhD

kpawlakphd@xusom.com

Dr. Kevin Pawlak received his PhD in Biology from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He was nominated for a Teaching Assistant award twice, first in 2005 and again in 2006. He has numerous publications, has given many presentations, and has served as a supervisor to many students.

Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs

Ahmad Abazid, MD

abazidmd@xusom.com

Dr. Abazid graduated from Aleppo University School of Medicine in 2004. After that, he became the Assistant Medical Director at Carolina Medical Lab before he started a family medicine residency in Wichita Falls, Texas in 2007. During his last year, he was Chief Resident. Upon completion of his residency, he became core faculty. At that time he was the Vice Chairman and then the Family Medicine Department Chairman at United Regional Health Care System. In 2016, he and his family moved to New York so his wife could begin her OB residency. He has practiced as a hospitalist in LIJ Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital, and practiced urgent care in Brooklyn. His passion for academia led him to start a geriatric fellowship at State University of New York, Downstate Brooklyn.

Chair of Curriculum Committee, Associate Professor of Physiology

Gopikumar Shivaramaiah,MBBS, MD

gshivaramaiahmd@xusom.com

Dr. Kumar earned his MBBS from Bangalore Medical College in Bengaluru. Following that, he received his MD in Physiology from Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital. He is a life member of two scientific organizations: Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India (APPI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Dean of Student Affairs

Narasimha Prasad Vijayashankar, MD

nvijayashankarmd@xusom.com
Dr. Vijayshankar earned his MD in Pharmacology from Manipur University. He has given a number of presentations and participated in many workshops and conferences. His MD thesis is titled “Evaluation of Anti Gastric Ulcer and Anti Microbial Property of Impatiens Balsamina Linn.”

Associate Professor of Anatomy

Santosh Malwade, MS

Assistant Professor of Anatomy

Manisha Hansda, MBBS, MD

mhansdamd@xusom.com

Dr. Manisha Hansda received her MBBS and her MD from Lady Hardinge Medical College in India. She has served as a delegate for a number of conferences, workshops, and training programs, and has organized a number of these events, as well.

Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Science

Aleksandar Dusic, MD

Aleksandar Dusic, MD graduated in 1992 from The Medical Faculty of the University of Belgrade in Serbia and obtained his MSc degree in Population Health in 2003 from The University of Belgrade. Dr. Dusic is ECFMG certified and has 12 years of teaching experience. Presently, he teaches Behavior Science, and has taught subjects such as Physiology, Psychology, and Medical Ethics, and is involved in research activities in Health and Medicine and Clinical Correlation of Basic Science. He has actively mentored teams of medical students with statistical analysis and oversaw their research projects which resulted in several publications in scientific journals. Also, Dr. Dusic is engaged in community voluntary works and activities; he acted as a Chairman of the Curriculum subcommittee and Chairman of the Research Committee, and acted as a counselor for students doing clinical rotations in U.S. hospitals giving them directions and advice on how to study more efficiently for NBME and USMLE exams.

Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science

John D. Kulpa, PhD

Dr. Kulpa holds a PhD in Psychology from New Mexico State University in the United States. He has published research on the relation between perception and action, the learning of novel skills, and the effectiveness of educational interventions. His MA and PhD theses (respectively) explored performance of motor skills under pressure and computer-automated methods for measuring and modeling subjective similarity judgments. He has also conducted preliminary research on problem gambling. Dr. Kulpa is an experienced teacher and educational innovator, favoring close engagement with students through Socratic dialogue, team- and problem-based learning, teaching/learning theatre, and intelligently balancing technology-mediated and in-person experiences. His current research and pedagogical interests include the use of simulation in medical education, the place of medical humanities, medical ethics from a phenomenological point of view, contextual considerations in the practice of medicine, self-care for students and medical professionals, and how to live your best life with others.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology

Diana C. Wever-Salcedo, MD

Dr. Wever-Salcedo is currently a Director and Psychologist at MIND+, a company located in Aruba. She graduated from Leiden University in 2007 with her Bachelors in Psychology, and then in 2008 she graduated with her Masters in Occupational Health Psychology from Leiden University. Since 2013 she has been an active member of the organizing committee of the Professional Woman Network.

Dean of Basic Science

Shankhar Majhi, MBBS, MD

smajhimd@xusom.com

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics

Jeremy Laurence Rae, PhD

jraephd@xusom.com

Dr. Jeremy Laurence Rae holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University Of Otago (New Zealand), an adult teaching qualification, and has been teaching in the biological sciences for over 14 years. He has worked in New Zealand, Australia and the UAE. Dr. Jeremy Laurence Rae’s PhD concerned the characterization of an enzyme and its corresponding gene from infectious bacteria. For his post-doc, he helped develop a vaccine against a bacterial infection in livestock which was later patented.

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Jacques Odryzynski

jodryzynski@xusom.com

Professor Odryzynski received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida. He has since received A+ and MCP certifications. Professor Odryzynski worked previously as a process engineer for Valero Energy Corporation. In 2007, he started teaching at Xavier University School of Medicine. He began with parts one and two of general chemistry, working to help each student understand and apply chemistry. Professor Odryzynski has since taught organic chemistry, pre-calculus, and physics, as well. He is also a facilitator for PBL (Problem-Based Learning) for those respective subjects.

Professor, Internal Medicine

Bangalore Murthy, MD

bangaloremurthy@hotmail.com

Medical Director – Jackson Park Hospital

Professor, Internal Medicine

George Lawrence, MD

glawrence@stagnes.org

Director of Medical Education – St. Agnes Hospital

Associate Dean of General Professional Education

Shawn Cannon, DO, FACOI

Professor, Family Medicine

Regional Chair of Family Medicine

Lakshmi Dodda, MD

lpdodda@gmail.com

Dean of Family Medicine Residency and Medical Students – Jackson Park Hospital

Professor, Surgery

Surgery Chair

Madhu Rangraj, MD

ramaf@aol.com

Director of Surgery – Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital

Professor, Internal Medicine

Internal Medicine Chair

Parvez Mir, MD

pmirmd@gmail.com

Director, Pulmonary CC – Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Pediatric Chair

Sergey Kunkov, MD, MS, MBA

skunkovmd@xusom.com

Professor, Family Medicine

Peter Urazov, DO

purazov@bmhmc.org

Director of Medical Education – Brookhaven Memorial Hospital

Professor, Pediatrics

Sanjivan Patel, MD, FAAP

patelsanjivan@gmail.com

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Professor Family Medicine

Sonia Velez,MD

Program Director, Medical Education

St. Joseph’s Medical Center

sonia.velez@saintjosephs.org

Professor Internal Medicine

Pratap Kumar,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

pkumar352@aol.com

Professor Family Medicine

Chairperson Psychiatry

Ronald Brenner,MD

Chief of Behavioral Health Service Line for the Catholic Health System

Mercy Hospital Medical Center

Rbrenner16@aol.com

Professor Internal Medicine

Rebecca Fishman,DO

Director of Medical Education

Mercy Hospital Center

rfishmando@gmail.com

Professor of Internal Medicine

Chairman Internal Medicine

Richard Pomerantz,MD

Chairman Department of Medicine

St. Agnes Hospital

rpomeran@stagnes.org

Professor Surgery

Siddiq Hasan,MD

Chief of Surgery

Jackson Park Hospital

siddiqzehrahasan@yahoo.com

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

Rachel Karmally,MD

Dr. Karmally is currently an academic General Internist in Detroit at Henry Ford Hospital working both in outpatient primary care and inpatient medicine. She graduated as valedictorian of her class in 2012 at Xavier University. She completed her primary 3-year residency training at Rochester General Hospital and did a 4th year as a Chief Resident. Since residency, Dr. Karmally has practiced in academic medicine at Henry Ford Hospital. She absolutely loves to teach her residents and medical students and takes pride in taking care, educating, and making access to care available to the community and patients in the inner city of Detroit.

Associate Professor

Zhiping Li,MD

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center

Email: zpli2009@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

Aftab Khan,MD

Teaching Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

1368khan@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Surgery

Peter Geis,MD

Chair, Department of Medical Education

Northwest Hospital Center

wgeis@lifebridgehealth.org

Associate Professor

Xuanmao Jiao,MD, PhD

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Pennsylvania

Xuanmao.jiao@bblumberg.org

Associate Professor of Surgery

Frank Apantaku,MD

Attending Surgeon

Jackson Park Hospital

clinic.apantaku@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Gayle Kates,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

gaylekatesmd@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Family Medicine

Hee Han Kim,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

hkimjph@yahoo.com

Associate Professor of Surgery

Leonard Maffucci,MD, FACS

General and Bariatric Surgery

Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital

leomaff@aol.com

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

Mohammad Hussain,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

hussainmtj@yahoo.com

Associate Professor of Family Medicinwe

Rajiv Kandala,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

rajib26@hotmail.com

Associate Professor OBGYN

Ruksana Nazneen,MD

Program Director

Jackson Park Hospital

ruknazmd@yahoo.com

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Shirley Montgomery,MD

Director of Department of Pediatrics

Jackson Park Hospital

shirleymontgomery@jacksonpark.com

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

Thodur Ranganathan,MD

Director Medical Education

Jackson Park Hospital

ranganthant@aol.com

Assistant Professor of Family Medicine

Adebayo Bademosi,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

drbademosi@yahoo.com

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Carletha Hughes,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

carlethahughes@yahoo.com

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Clara Akhigbe,MD

Attending Physician

Jackson Park Hospital

UYINO@aol.com

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Hong Ming Lay,MD, FACS

Private Practice

Jackson Park Hospital

hllay@yahoo.com

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Shani Palmer,MD

Attending Physician: Colon and Rectal Surgery/General Surgery

Motefiore New Rochelle Hospital

shanipalmer@gmail.com

Assistant Professor Internal Medicine

Syed Ali,MBBS

Jackson Park Hospital

syed_ali60640@yahoo.com

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Michael Silberstein,MD

Director of Bariatric Surgery

Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital

msilbers@montefiore.org

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Stanley Lee,MD

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics

Jeremy Laurence Rae, PhD

jraephd@xusom.com

Professor of Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Physical Diagnosis (ICMPD)

Director of Standardized Patient (SP) Program and OSCE

Neelam Dwivedi,MBBS, DO, DNB

neelammd@xusom.com

Dr. Dwivedi is a trained Surgical Ophthalmologist. After finishing her M.B.B.S. at Jhansi Medical College in India, she completed her two-year Diploma in Ophthalmology at Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She went on further to complete three years of residency training at Icare EYE Hospital.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Zaheeb Choudrhy,MD

Dr. Choudhry graduated from Free University Medical School in Amsterdam in 2010. He then went on to do a number of Fellowships at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam including a Fellowship in Clinical Immunology and in transplant nephrology and interventional nephrology. Currently he works at Horacio Oduber Hospital in Aruba as an Internist and a Nephrologist.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Kareem Alijaf,MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Stefanie Lubbes,MD

Dr.Lubbes graduated from Amsterdam University with a degree in Biomedical Sciences. She also has graduated from Twente University with a Bachelor’s degree in Technical Medicine and Gronigen University with a degree in Medicine. She is a medical doctor at Horacio Oduber hospital in Aruba in the Emergency Medicine department.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Niloufar Rahim,MD

Dr. Rahim attended Leiden University Medical school. She worked at Kabul University since 2014 as a clinical skills trainer for Medical students. Currently Dr.Rahim works at Horacio Oduber Hospital in Aruba as a Junior Doctor in the department of emergency medicine. Dr. Rahim is a part of the KEIHAN Foundation which is a platform for students and young professionals to support and implement projects in the field of education, integration and development cooperation in the Netherlands and Afghanistan.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Rhiannon Blanchette,MD

Dr. Blanchette received her Bachelors and Masters in Medicine from Maastricht University. Currently she works at Horacio Oduber Hospital in Aruba in the Acute care department. Dr. Blanchette has knowledge in 5 different languages: Dutch, English, German, French, and Spanish.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Chris Franca,MD

Dr. Franca is a Gastroenterology and Hepatolgy Consultant at Horacio Oduber Hospital in Aruba, with a specific training and interest in advanced endoscopy and hepatolgy. He graduated Cum Laude with his medical degree from Vrije University in Amsterdam. Dr. Franca is fluent in 4 Languages; Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento, which is his native language.

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

J.M. Kuipers,MD

Librarian/ Assistant Professor of Medical Communications and Research

Patricia Brumley,Ph.D

pbrumleyphd@xusom.com

Dr. Patricia Brumley earned her M.A. in Library and Information Studies at Florida State University. She has also earned her B.S in special education, M.S in elementary education and Ph.D in higher education administration at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Over the last 20 years she has worked with schools and their staffs to develop supervise and evaluate Library media programs. She has been an adjunct professor at Nova University for over 15 years teaching Library Educational Media Courses. At her time there she sponsored reading readiness projects, and developed educational policies for the library. She was also selected and served on the committee to evaluate the on-line databases for library media services for all public schools in Miami-Dade.

Librarian/ Assistant Professor of Medical Communications and Research

Patricia Brumley,Ph.D

pbrumleyphd@xusom.com

Lecturer of Microbilogy

Joseph Jillwin,PhD

jjosephPhD@xusom.com

Dr. Joseph Jillwin graduated from Kasturba Medical College at Manipal University with his M.Sc in 2009. In 2019 he earned his PhD in Medical Microbiology from P.G.I.M.E.R IN Chandigarh. In 2018 he was a Demonstrator in Medical Microbiology at the Government Medical College & Hospital in Chandigarh. Dr. Jillwin has also worked at the Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh as a Senior Research Fellow.

Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience

Virginia De Frías, PhD

vdefriasphd@xusom.com

Dr. Virginia De Frías received her Bachelor’s in Science with a major in Bio Chemistry in 1986, and in 1999 she received her PhD in Basic Science with a focus in Pharmacology, from Universidad Central de Venezuela. From 1999 to 2018 she was a professor of physiology to undergraduate students at Universidad Central de Venezuela. She has also been a professor of Pharmacology in post graduate studies at Central University of Venezuela from 2002 – 2018. She was also the Professor of Neuroscience to students in the Residency programs of Neurology and Psychiatry from 2005 – 2013.

Assistant Professor of Pathology

Amit Bhoge,MD

Dr. Bhoge graduated from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences in Nasik, India. He completed his M.D. in Pathology from SKN Medical College in Pune, India. He also worked as an assistant lecturer at LTMC Medical College and Hospital and gained experience in Clinical Hematology in the Hemat-Oncology Department of Bombay Hospital and Medical College in Mumbai.

Chief Academic Officer

Arun Kumar Dubey, MBBS, MD

dubeymd@xusom.com

Dean of Student Affairs

Narasimha Prasad Vijayashankar, MD

Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience

Virginia De Frías, PhD

vdefriasphd@xusom.com

Dean of Pre-med Program

Kevin Pawlak, PhD

kpawlakphd@xusom.com

Chair of Curriculum Committee, Associate Professor of Physiology

Gopikumar Shivaramaiah,MBBS, MD

gshivaramaiahmd@xusom.com

USMLE Review Program

Mayank Gupta,MD

mguptamd@xusom.com

Dr. Mayank Gupta completed his M.B.B.S and one year of Compulsory Rotatory Internship at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College in Mumbai, India. He has years of teaching experience for medical students, and is ECFMG Certified.