Class Notes

If you see any alumni whom you would like to contact, use the Online Directory at www.alumniconnections.com/URMC to find address information.

Submit your class notes to your class agent or to RochesterMedicineMagazine@urmc.rochester.edu.

Note:  MD Alumni are listed alphabetically by class, Resident and Fellow alumni follow in alphabetical order, and Graduate Alumni are listed separately in alphabetical order.

MD Alumni

Class of 1947

William L. Parry is a professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine after serving 32 years as its first academic full-time chairman of the Department of Urology.

At the 2012 meeting of the American Assoc­iation of Genito-Urinary Surgeons, Parry was appointed historian. He is a former president and one of eight honorary members. He also has started his tenure as historian of the Society of University Urologists, of which he is a founding member, the first Secretary-Treasurer and president. He is recipient of the first SUU Presi­dential Award.

Class of 1955

David L. Rogers retired July 1, 2012 from his position as health officer for Calvert County, Maryland, a post that he has held for the past 39 years. The Maryland State Medical Society recently presented Rogers with its Dr. Henry P. & M. Page Laughlin Award for his “long and dis­tin­guished service to physicians and patients in Maryland and his commitment to improving public health in Calvert County.”

Class of 1960

William E. Powell (BA ’56) writes: “I have been working as physician oversight for the University of Houston Downtown student health clinic. I also am teaching physical assessment to the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Nursing in Houston. I function as feature editor for the Harris County Medical Society Retired Physician Organization, singing bass in the Houston Symphony-Bay Area League chorus “Noteables”; Maestro the Magnificent hand puppeteer, teaching all first graders in the Clear Creek Independent School District the four families of a symphony orchestra for the Houston Symphony; ushering at the Alley Theater and doing all those retired things forbidden by a busy obstetrical practice which I left 10 years ago.”

Class of 1961

Hechmat (Heshy) Tabechian (R ’64) retired in July after 10 years as the executive director of the Rochester Academy of Medicine. Formerly, he served as chief of the Nephrology Division at the then Genesee Hospital in Rochester. He remains active with the School of Medicine and Dentistry as a clinical professor of medicine, preceptor in the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, and interviewer of first-year student applicants. Tabechian also serves as the class agent for the Class of 1961 and maintains a close relationship with the School’s Alumni Relations Office.

Class of 1962

Jerry Moress writes: “After 43 years of neurological practice, I retired in September, 2011. The last 11 years were spent in Ketchum, Idaho, where having a BMI over 23 is a punishable offense. Due to health issues, I was unable to attend my 50th reunion. Best to all my classmates.”

Robert Newman has been awarded the EUROPAD Chimera Award by the European Opiate Addiction Treatment Association; the award recognizes those most committed to “realizing their dream of helping drug addicts.” He is only the second non-European (among some 20 awardees) to be a recipient.

Class of 1966

President Barack Obama has appointed Warren M. Zapol to a second term on the Arctic Research Commission. Zapol, who was first appointed in 2008, is director of the Anesthesia Center for Critical Care Research at Mass­achusetts General Hospital. From 1994 to 2008, he served as the Anesthetist-in-Chief. He also is the Reginald Jenney Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He also served on the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, the United States Board on Geo­graphic Names named a glacier after him.
He has also been part of nine expeditions to Antarctica since 1974 to study the diving physiology of the Weddell Seal.

Class of 1967

Kenneth J. Maiocco has been named to Top Doctors in Connecticut, Best Doctors in America in U.S. News and World Report and again as Best Doctors in America, Top Docs in the New York Metropolitan Area and Top 128 Physicians in Fairfield County as a dermatologist.

Class of 1969

Richard Peer (R ’75) was elected chairman of the Medical Society of the State of New York board of trustees at its 206th annual House of Delegates (HOD) meeting in Saratoga Springs in April. He is in private practice with the Buffalo Medical Group and is the medical director of two health care facilities and a consultant for Roswell Park Cancer Center. Peer also is an associate clinical professor of surgery at the State University of new York at Buffalo, where he has taught since 1977.

Class of 1970

Ron Worland (R ’77) writes: “I have recently retired from the active practice of plastic and reconstructive surgery after 35 years in Medford, Oregon. I plan on continuing my medical practice as an international humanitarian surgeon. I have completed 26 in­ter­­- national missions to India, China, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and many missions to Oaxaca, Mexico. Thus, I am only retired from active private practice.”

Class of 1974

Robert F. Ozols (BS ’66 PhD ’71) received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) this year for his leadership in the field of oncology. Ozols is an internationally known expert in ovarian cancer and a leader in advancing chemotherapy research. His research has focused on how cancer cells develop drug resistance and on strategies for overcoming resistance. Ozols has chaired ASCO’s Cancer Research Committee and Cancer Com­munications Committee. He has served on the board of directors of the American Association of Cancer Institutes and ASCO. He is a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Class of 1977

William Y. Hoffman is chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and vice-chair of the Department of Surgery at University of California at San Francisco.

Class of 1978

Jeffrey Charen (R ’80) writes: “My son, Daniel Charen, is attending the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He just graduated from Cornell University. I graduated from the U. of Rochester School of Medicine in 1978 and did two years of general surgery residency at Strong Memorial Hospital. I subsequently did an orthopedic surgery residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center. I currently practice in a four-man orthopedic group in Edison and Old Bridge N.J., specializing in the hip and knee.

I am married to Karen Charen, a physical therapist and have a daughter Rebecca who is a junior at the U. of Michigan.”

Leslie Scoutt has been inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR). Scoutt is medical director of the non-invasive vascular lab at Yale University School of Medicine and chief of the ultrasound section at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She is a member of the ACR, a member of the board of trustees of the American Registry of Radiologic Tech­nologists and a member of the board of governors of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Alan G. Palestine writes: “After 30 years of practicing ophthalmology in the Washington, D.C. area, I have retired to Colorado to ski, hike, shoot shotgun sports and spend more time enjoying the outdoors. I may return to part-time practice, but am really enjoying retirement.”

Class of 1982

Mark Adams (R ’84 MBA ’93) was elected to the council steering committee of the American College of Radiology.

Robert A. Herbstman (BA ’78) was elected to the executive board of the New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Harold L. Paz (BA ’77), Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center CEO, Penn State’s senior vice dean for health affairs, and dean, Penn State College of Medicine, has been named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s recently released “100 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems” list, which features some of the top physician leaders in health care.
Paz has held the top position at Penn State Hershey since April 2006.

Joseph Serletti (R ’88) has been elected a member of the American Surgical Association. Serletti is the Henry Royster-William Maul Measey Professor of Surgery and chief of plastic surgery at the University of Penn­sylvania. He also is a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Class of 1985

Dennis Kraus (BA ’81) writes: “After 22 years at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, I have joined the Northshore Health Care System as the director of the head and neck oncology program. My clinical practice is located at the Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. My position includes responsibility for the clinical and research efforts for head and neck oncology across the 15 hospital health care system.”

Class of 1986

Robert McGowen has joined Southcoast Physicians Group as the chief of primary care services for the Wareham, Mass., region. McGowen also practices internal medicine at Southcoast Health System at Rosebrook in Wareham.

Class of 1988

Jeffrey M. Lyness (BA ’83), professor of psychiatry, has become the senior associate dean for academic affairs for the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Lyness, who was appointed associate dean for Academic Affairs a year ago, has been director of curriculum for medical student education since 2008 and medical director of continuing medical education since 2010.

David L. Waldman (MS ’83, PhD ’88, R ’90) has been inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR). Approximately 10 percent of ACR members achieve this distinction. Waldman is a professor and chair of radiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Class of 1989

Peter Hotvedt writes: "I sent my daughter to Rochester. She started as an undergrad this fall."

Class of 1994

Joseph E. Losee (R ’99) currently serves as the program director for the University of Pitts­burgh’s plastic surgery residency program and chief of plastic surgery at the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. Losee recently was elected a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Class of 1995

Dwight Heron has been inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR). Heron is a professor and vice-chairman of clinical affairs in the department of radiation oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Med­icine (UPMC), where he also is a professor of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery; deputy director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; and the director of radiation services at UPMC Cancer Centers.

Manish Vig (BA ’91 BS ’91) writes: “The family and I recently moved from Mass­achusetts where I served as medical director and chief of the emergency department at the Holyoke Medical Center. I led a turnaround of a department in demise and managed to recruit a full-time team of 14 physicians and eight mid-level providers in the midst of 33 percent growth in the annual population we served. I also implemented best-practice pro­cesses and altered the various systems that lead to efficient and safe patient care, particularly in the areas of acute stroke and coronary disease, and managed to do all of this as we adapted to state health care reform.

“More importantly, during this time, we welcomed our daughter, Sofia Rani Vig, who was born in July 2010, and has quickly become best friends with her big brother Rohan. The kids are now learning to settle in the metro Atlanta area as I assume a new role with the Schumacher Group as its State of Georgia Area Medical Officer. The company provides leadership and staffing solutions at over 200 emergency departments and hospitalist departments nationwide, and my territory will eventually expand to providing oversight at our 18 sites in the state … The support I get from my wife and kids along with the ongoing friendships from medical school has been something to cherish as I continue to find novel ways to integrate clinical excellence, operational oversight and business development in medicine.”

Class of 1998

Robert Whorf (R ’01) writes: “On a personal note I, my wife, Patty, and two sons are living in Southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.

We are having fun kayaking, jet skiing and sailing and continuing my tradition of damaging local golf courses.” Whorf is director of research operations at Florida Cancer Special­ists and Research Institute. In addition to the goal of increasing participation in clinical trials, he helps oversee the expansion of the drug development unit. He has served as principal and sub-investigator on almost 60 clinical research trials. He has been named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the Top Doctors in the United States in their 2011 and 2012 Rankings Guides.

Class of 2000

Christopher Ellis, assistant professor of cardiac electrophysiology at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, and his wife Wendy Drew Ellis M.D. (pediatric radiologist, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital), announce the birth of their first child, a girl, Parker Josephine.

Class of 2006

Cara Agerstrand has accepted the position of assistant professor for clinical medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in New York City. She is specializing in critical care and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). She completed her residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

Ryan Anthony recently completed a cardiology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and has joined Mount Carmel Columbus Cardiology Consult­ants in Columbus, Ohio.

Tracey Henderson writes: “My husband, Joe Henderson (M ’05) and I welcomed our first child, Elizabeth Violet, on Jan. 24, 2012.

I completed my chief residency in pediatrics and have joined Bay Creek Pediatrics in Webster, N.Y.”

Lenny Lesser finished a research fellowship at UCLA and has taken a research physician job at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, where he will be working on obesity and nutrition research. He continues to enjoy the California lifestyle, and is in his second season of amateur bike racing.

Benjamin Petre writes: The Petre family is moving again. Kristen and Ben with their two daughters, Grace (3) and Hannah (1), have finally finished his orthopedic training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and subspecialty training in sports medicine at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo. Ben is excited to be joining an orthopedic practice in Annapolis, M.D.

Class of 2007

Gregg Lawrence Chesney (BA ’03) and Taylor Blake Lubitz were married at the Woodmere Club in Woodmere, N.Y. Rabbi Debra M. Bennet officiated. Chesney was a chief resident in emergency and internal medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He recently began a fellowship in critical care medicine at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, Calif.

Class of 2008

Vasanth Kainkaryam completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at Baystate Medical Center. He joined Hartford Medical Group in Connecticut. He and his wife, Pranjali, had their first baby, a daughter, Vihana Prishti Kainkaryam, in April, 2012.

Class of 2009

Alexis Weymann (M ’09) and David Perlmutter (M ’10) were married in Shelburne, Vermont, on May 26, 2012. They write that Dr. Chin-To Fong (genetics, pediatrics at URMC) was the wedding officiant. Many MDs from the classes of 2009 and 2010 were in attendance. David is a third-year Wills Eye ophthalmology resident, and Alex is just finishing up her pediatrics residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She will be working for a year at CHOP and then will start a dermatology residency at Geisinger with plans to pursue pediatric dermatology.

Class of 2010

Brian Jenssen writes: “I’m finishing up my pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia this next year, where I’ll be chief resident for the academic year of 2013–2014. More importantly, I’m recently engaged to one of my co-residents, Kate Henry, and we’re planning to marry the summer after residency.”

David Perlmutter (M ’10) and Alexis Weymann (M ’09) got married in Shelburne, Vermont, on May 26, 2012. They write that Dr. Chin-To Fong (genetics, pediatrics at URMC) was the wedding officiant. Many MDs from the classes of 2009 and 2010 were in attendance. David is a third-year Wills Eye ophthalmology resident, and Alex is just finishing up her pediatrics residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She will be working for a year at CHOP and then will start a dermatology residency at Geisinger with plans to pursue pediatric dermatology.

Resident/Fellow Alumni

Mark J. Adams (MD ’82, R ’84, MBA ’93) – See MD Class of 1982.

Teresa Ainsworth (R ’97) is an emergency medicine staff physician for Finger Lakes Health in Geneva, N.Y. She is pursuing international medicine and is engaging a part-time appointment in Guam. Her husband David Ainsworth is a system analyst for Summit Federal Credit Union. They reside in Honeoye Falls, N.Y. Their daughter, Aspen Ainsworth, is completing her third year clerkships at State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. Their son, Austin, will be a sophomore at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School, with emphasis in Latin and instrumental music.

Scott Bissell (R ’02) has joined the medical staff of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. He is practicing as a member of Connecticut Orthopedic Associates.

Vladimir Bogin (R ’01) is chairman of the board at Medistem Inc. Medistem is a clinical stage adult stem cell company that has discovered Endometrial Regenerative Cell, a universal donor cell that has potent vasculogenic properties. The company has received approval for phase Ib study in patients with critical limb ischemia from the FDA and is conducting a phase IIa study in patients with congestive heart failure.

Jeffrey H. Charen (MD’78, R ’80) – See MD Class of 1978.

Joseph Edward Losee (MD ’94, R ’99) – See MD Class of 1994.

Navin C. Nanda (FLW ’73) is Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, and director of Heart Station/Echocardiography Laboratories at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In May, 2011, Nanda was presented the “Father of Modern Echocardiography” award by the Chinese Ultrasound Doctors Association in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. In February, 2012, he also received “The Father of Modern Echocardiography” award from the Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Anesthesiologists for his pioneering contributions in all fields of cardiac ultrasound, including perioperative echocardiography. Among several other awards, Nanda was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Heart Rhythm Society. He was the first in the world to image cardiac catheters and pacemakers by echocardiography and assess pacemaker function including detection of complications, such as pacemaker perforation and thrombosis.

He was the first to show increase in stroke volume by Doppler with sequential pacing compared to regular ventricular pacing and developed the Doppler technique to maximize stroke volume and minimize mitral regurgitation during cardiac pacing.

Richard Peer (MD ’69, R ’75) – See MD Class of 1969.

Lance Rodewald (FLW ’87) received the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2012 from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Rodewald is the director of the immunization services division in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The awards from the School’s Alumni Society board of governors recognize out­standing contributions to medicine and distinguished service to humankind. Rodewald supervises 215 personnel stationed both at CDC headquarters in Atlanta as well as throughout the United States and oversees a budget of $4.4 billion. Record or near-record highs in immunization coverage and record or near-record lows in incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases have been achieved since Rodewald was named director in 2000.

Ann Rosenthal (R ’86) has been appointed chief of the division of rheumatology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Rosenthal also is the new Will and Cava Ross Professor of Medicine, and assumes the new position of vice chair for faculty development in the Department of Medicine.

She heads the rheumatology practice at Froedtert Hospital, and practices at the Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center. Rosenthal is internationally known as an innovative laboratory investigator in the fields of crystal-related arthritis and cartilage degeneration. Her research program has been continuously funded from the VA and/or National Institutes of Health since 1992.

Joseph Serletti (MD’82, R ’88) – See MD Class of 1982.

David L. Waldman (MS ’83, MD ’88, PhD ’88, R ’90) – See MD Class of 1988.

Robert Whorf (R ’01) – See MD Class of 1998.

Ron Worland (MD ’70, R ’77) – See MD Class of 1970.

Graduate Alumni

Joseph G. Brand (PhD ’72) has retired after 39 years and more than 110 publications, from Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. He served as associate director of Monell from 1991 until his retirement.

Mary Fox (MPH ’89), an assistant professor in the Health Policy and Management Department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has been selected to serve on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science Advisory Board Ad-hoc Panel. Fox and others on the Ad-hoc panel will focus on developing advice based on current information about perchlorate, a naturally occurring and processed chemical found in drinking water.

Steven Gilbert (BS ’73, MS ’83, PhD ’86) writes: The second edition of my book A Small Dose of Toxicology: The Health Effects of Common Chemicals was just launched as a free e-book for downloading for an iPad, kindle or PDF.

It is published by Healthy World Press (www.healthyworldpress.org). All the chapters were updated and several new chapters added with links into Toxipedia (www.toxipedia.org) and free PowerPoint presentations for each chapter (www.asmalldoseof.org). A Small Dose of Toxicology is an introductory toxicology textbook that examines the health effects of common chemical agents and places toxicology within the framework of everyday life. Agents covered include not only obvious candidates such as lead, mercury, and solvents, but familiar compounds such as caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Additional chapters cover basic toxicology, targets of toxic agents, risk assessment, history, and ethics.

Kelly Goonan (MPH ’97) is the director of care coordination for Cornerstone Health Care in High Point, N.C.

John Joseph Karijolich (MS ’08, PhD ’11) and Katie Michelle Lovria were married Jan. 28, 2012, at Casa Larga Vineyards in Fairport, N.Y. The couple lives in New Jersey.

Heather Lankes (MS ’03, MPH ’06, PhD ’06) and Amit Lugade (MS ’03. PhD ’06) were married on June 6, 2012.

Carol Warren Nichols (BA ’72, MS ’75) has been certified by IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association the United States) as an Intro­ductory II Iyengar Yoga Teacher.

This certification is approved and signed by B.K.S. Iyengar of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune, India

Robert Felix Ozols (BS ’66, PhD ’71, MD ’74) – See MD Class of 1974.

Rachel Lee Roper (MS ’90, PhD ’92) was issued a patent covering discovery and characterization of the A35 pox virus gene. If this gene is removed from vaccine strains the vaccines are much safer. In addition, since this gene encodes an immunosuppressive protein, removal of the gene from vaccine strains yields a vaccine that gives improved immune responses. This technology can be used for vaccines against a number of diseases and for cancer treatment. The patent also covers the potential future use of this gene, or its cognate protein, to clinically suppress undesirable immune responses, such as in organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases. Also covered is the detection of the A35 gene or protein in pathogens carrying the gene.

Marcia Joslyn Scherer (MPH ’86, PhD ’86) has published two books, Assistive Technologies and Other Supports for People with Brain Impairment (Springer Publishing Company) and Assistive Technology Assessment Handbook (CRC Press). She is president of the Institute for Matching Person & Technology in Webster, N.Y.

David L. Waldman (MS ’83, MD ’88, PhD ’88, R ’90) – See MD Class of 1988.

Deborah Warner, Ph.D. (PDC ’80), ran for the New Hampshire Senate District 1, the northern most area in the state, which includes Mt. Washington. She says: “All are welcome to visit the North Country and enjoy its mountains, lakes, rivers and people.”

Stephanie Wragg (PhD ’96) was appointed associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Medicine of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also associate professor of biochemistry.