Clinical Scholars Program Getting to Know Our Scholars 2008

Transcription

1 Clinical Scholars Program Getting to Know Our Scholars 2008 Arash Asher, MD Arash Asher, MD, is the director of cancer survivorship and rehabilitation at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai. His clinical and research interests focus on the rehabilitation of cancer patients to help restore maximal functional capacity and quality of life. He has a special interest in the physical and rehabilitative needs of cancer survivors who continue to experience the effects of their cancer or its treatment. Asher s expertise is in the nonpharmacologic management of pain, cancer-related fatigue, neuropathy, exercise prescription for cancer patients and the management of weakness, spasticity and other musculoskeletal problems. He completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the UCLA/Cedars-Sinai and Veterans Affairs of Greater Los Angeles Health System program, and a cancer rehabilitation fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is boardcertified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Asher has written the lymphedema summary for healthcare professionals for the National Cancer Institute, and his research on the effects of exercise on peripheral arterial disease was published as abstracts. He graduated summa cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with a bachelor of arts degree in neuroscience and earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York.

2 John Carmichael, MD John D. Carmichael, MD, is an attending physician in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Cedars-Sinai. In addition, he is an assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Carmichael is board-certified in internal medicine and diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. His clinical and research interests include the diagnosis and treatment of pituitary disease. He has written articles for The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and Clinical Endocrinology. Carmichael is a member of the Endocrine Society and the Pituitary Society. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and completed his internal medicine residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He completed both a clinical endocrinology fellowship and an endocrine research fellowship at the New York University School of Medicine. Victor Cheng, MD Victor Y. Cheng, MD, is a cardiologist at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. He is boardcertified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, echocardiology, nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular computed tomography. Cheng is also appointed at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA as an assistant clinical professor of medicine. He has published numerous original articles on subjects related to cardiac imaging in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging and the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. Cheng routinely presents his research in coronary artery disease, cardiac imaging and related subjects at national and international conferences. He holds membership in the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American College

3 of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. After graduating with a bachelor s degree in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Cheng earned his medical doctorate from Northwestern University in Chicago. He subsequently completed his internal medicine internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, and fellowships in cardiovascular medicine and cardiac imaging at Cedars-Sinai. Cheng was twice named Eliot Corday Fellow of the Year at Cedars-Sinai. His research efforts have earned him the Cedars-Sinai JHC Swan Research Award and the Clinical Scholars Program Award. Odelia Cooper, MD Mariko Ishimori, MD Mariko L. Ishimori, MD, is a staff physician with the Cedars-Sinai Division of Rheumatology. Board-certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, she serves as a full-time faculty member at Cedars-Sinai and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In addition, she is currently a principal investigator for the Genetics of Hand Osteoarthritis Study (GHOST), a research study, and is also involved in other rheumatic disease research projects, especially those involved with systemic lupus erythematosus. Ishimori received her medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. She completed her internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai.

4 Enrique Lopez, PsyD Enrique Lopez, PsyD, is a neuropsychologist at the Cedars-Sinai Department of Rehabilitation and a psychologist at the Cedars-Sinai Pain Center. He is an assistant clinical professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He also serves on the board of AIDS Project Los Angeles in their human subjects research division. From 1998 to 2000, Lopez completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology with specialties in pediatric, adult, cross-cultural and health-related issues at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital. After his training, he worked at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in their HIV Mental Health Services Program. Lopez attended Occidental College in Los Angeles from 1985 to 1989 with a major in psychology and minor in Spanish literature. He obtained his doctorate in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Yosef Nasseri, MD Tina Ng, MD

5 Shervin Rabizadeh, MD, MBA Shervin Rabizadeh, MD, MBA, is an attending physician in pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai. He is also an instructor at UCLA and an adjunct assistant professor with the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. Rabizadeh is a diplomate of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the American Gastrointestinal Association, the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has authored and co-authored numerous abstracts, book chapters and peerreviewed articles in pediatrics, pediatric gastroenterology and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His clinical interests include autoimmune disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, IBD, celiac disease and eosinophilic gastroenteritis. He is also active in laboratory research studying the relationship among bacteria, immunology and inflammation as it pertains to diseases such as IBD. Rabizadeh received his bachelor s degree from UCLA and his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his pediatric residency, pediatric chief residency and gastroenterology fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Wendy Sacks, MD Wendy Sacks, MD, is an attending physician with the Thyroid Cancer Center at Cedars- Sinai. She is an experienced researcher who has investigated the pathophysiology of Down syndrome, bone metabolism and prostate cancer. As the Levy Family Fellow in Thyroid Cancer at Cedars-Sinai, Sacks also specializes in thyroid cancer. She earned her bachelor s degree from Stanford University in California, where she was awarded a scholarship to play on the women s tennis team. She earned her medical degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, and completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Cedars-Sinai. Sacks sub-

6 specialized in endocrinology, completing her endocrine fellowship training at UCLA. While at UCLA, she worked in the laboratory of Peter Butler, MD, at the Hillblom Islet Research Center, where she performed a translational research project looking at islet cells from autopsy subjects with Down syndrome versus normal control cases. Danica Schulte, MD Danica J. Schulte, MD, is an attending physician in pediatric services at Cedars-Sinai and is board-certified in pediatrics as well as allergy and immunology. She is also an assistant professor in pediatrics at UCLA. Schulte s clinical practice focuses on pediatric infectious diseases and allergy and immunology in inpatient and outpatient settings. Her main research interests are Kawasaki disease and the innate and adaptive immune system. She has been awarded the prestigious National Institutes of Health loan repayment grant for the past four years for excellence in pediatric basic science research. Schulte has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including Circulation, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Journal of Endotoxin Research and the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She wrote a chapter on parvovirus in the Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases 6th edition. She has presented her research on immunology, infection, congenital infections and more at national and international research meetings. In addition to serving as diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics, Schulte is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Schulte earned her bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University (cum laude) and her medical degree (with honors) from Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She fulfilled an internship and residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Cedars-Sinai followed by an allergy and immunology fellowship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

7 Harmik J. Soukiasian, MD Harmik J. Soukiasian, MD, is an esophageal and thoracic surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and the Cedars-Sinai Esophageal Program. He is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Soukiasian is trained in both open and minimally invasive approaches to esophageal cancer and benign esophageal and foregut diseases, such as reflux, hiatal hernia and achalasia. Additionally, he is also trained in thoracic oncology and benign thoracic disease. Soukiasian s research interests include esophageal cancer, Barrett s esophagus, reflux and the surgical and medical interventions to help cure them. He is also a co-investigator in the ongoing clinical trial of the use of transoral gastroplasty, a minimally invasive procedure, for the treatment of morbid obesity. Soukiasian has also done research and published in stem cell harvesting and transplantation as well. He earned his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Soukiasian then went on to complete a general surgery residency at Cedars-Sinai. During this training, he took time off to be a research fellow in cardiothoracic surgery, dedicating an entire year to focus on research. Following this year of research, he returned to the clinical realm and completed his general surgery training. Soukiasian then went on to further training in cardiothoracic surgery at UCLA. For further specialized training in the field of thoracic surgery, Soukiasian went on to complete a second fellowship in minimally invasive thoracic surgery with Robert McKenna, MD, at the Cedars-Sinai Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, using video-assisted thoracic surgery as a treatment for both thoracic oncology and benign thoracic disease. Amir Steinberg, MD Amir Steinberg, MD, is a hematologist/oncologist in the Blood Marrow Transplant Program and also at the Cedars-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center at the Samuel Oschin

8 Comprehensive Cancer Institute. His interests include hematologic malignancies, particularly stem cell transplant therapy, as a treatment modality. His research on thrombocytosis and stem cell transplantation were published as abstracts in the Journal of the American Society of Hematology. His research on the relationship between blood type and coronary disease was published for the Society of Angiography and Interventions annual meeting. Steinberg graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas, Austin, with a bachelor s degree in history and a minor in biology. He earned his medical degree from Texas Tech University School of Medicine, in Lubbock, completing his residency in internal medicine at St. Luke s-roosevelt Hospital, a teaching hospital of Columbia University in New York. He completed a bone marrow transplant fellowship at Stanford University Hospital and Clinics and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, a teaching hospital of New York University. Balaji Tamarappoo, MD Tsuyoshi Todo, MD