About Our Current Residents
Denia Ramirez, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. (Univ. Autonoma de Centro America, Costa Rica)
Denia grew up in beautiful, sunny Costa Rica. She completed her MD and residency training in Pediatrics in Costa Rica and moved to Rochester, NY in 2000 with her husband Roberto –who just completed an Adult Neurology residency- to pursue an MPH and later a PhD in Genetics, working in the field of Batten Disease (JNCL). Her postdoctoral work is, in part, the basis of the first FDA-approved trial for JNCL, which just started recruiting patients. Denia is in her 5th year of the Child Neurology program, and will be finishing residency in April of 2012. She will continue to work as a clinician-scientist focusing on translational research in neurodegenerative/metabolic diseases. Denia and Roberto spend their time off visiting parks during the spring and fall, and they love and embrace Rochester winters by cross country skiing almost every weekend -as long as the snow sticks around!.
Laurie E. Seltzer, D.O. (Philadelphia
College of Osteopathic Medicine)
Laurie Seltzer is a graduate of Lehigh University and of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed residencies at Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia in Internal Medicine and at the University of Maryland Medical Center in General Pediatrics.
Seltzer has a background in scientific research work. Her first experience took place during a summer session at Cornell University where she studied the absorption and filtration of metals by lysimeter wicks, a technique used in agricultural research. Later, as an undergraduate at Lehigh, she studied viral and bacterial evolutionary change under selective pressure using bacterophages Φ x 174. And at Corning Incorporated, she conducted research involving the quality control of microarray slides in the Corning Life Science Department, working extensively with arrayer, electrophoresis, and PCR.
Currently Seltzer is in her second year of Child Neurology training and enjoys seeing children in both in-patient and out-patient settings.
A native of Elmira, NY, Seltzer says she is happy to be back in Upstate New York where she enjoys jogging, hiking, skiing, and biking. As for the latter, she is no slouch, having biked on one occasion from Seattle to San Francisco.
Laura E. Tomaselli, M.D.
(SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn College of Medicine)
Laura Tomaselli says that she always envisioned a future in medicine. At Allegheny College (where she was a scholar/athlete) “a great professor” ignited her interest in neuroscience through his course in physiological psychology. That interest led her to enroll in a PhD program in behavioral neuroscience at SUNY at Buffalo where she completed work on her master’s degree.
When she realized she was more interested in clinical medicine than in bench research, Tomaselli transferred to the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn. There she became a junior AOA member and received her medical degree in 2005.
In medical school, Tomaselli says, she was once again inspired by a great teacher, this time a pediatric neurologist whose enthusiasm for her work was infectious. “I had thought that Pediatrics would be my field, but seeing how much she loved her field changed my direction,” she says.
Tomaselli completed her three-year residency in Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, where she participated in a medical school-led program that targets obesity in primary schools. She is currently in her second year of Child Neurology training.
At Rochester, Laura says she has found a “comfort level” that is supporting her through the rigors of the residency years. She and her husband, Mark, recently welcomed son Noah into their lives. As for her interest in the outdoors, this former scholar/athlete says: “That will just have to wait a while.”
Inna Hughes, M.D., Ph.D. (Washington University – St. Louis)
Inna grew up in a small town in Southeast TX and attended undergraduate at both Simon's Rock College of Bard and Williams College in Massachusetts. She completed her MD and PhD in Developmental Biology at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine in 2007. Inna is in her 5th year of the Child Neurology program and is enjoying teaching in the Mind Brain and Behavior Course for the University of Rochester 2nd year medical school class. She is looking forward to starting her own research project in C. elegans neurodevelopment and genetics in the laboratory of Dr. Douglas Portman. She enjoys photographing the beautiful outdoors of Upstate New York and knitting warm things for the Rochester winters.
Amy Catalfamo, MD (SUNY Downstate Medical Center)
Amy grew up in Ithaca, NY. She participated in AmeriCorps NCCC for a year before starting college at Cornell University and attended medical school at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. She is currently in her first year of pediatrics at Rochester, and enjoying it very much, despite working very hard. She is pleased to have ended up here at University of Rochester because there are so many hardworking, caring people at this institution! She is interested in a bit of everything, but definitely closest to my heart is her 2 year old son, James. Her husband and son made the trek up here, and so far they have both been loving Rochester as well.
Jaclyn Cianciosi, DO (University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine)
Jaclyn grew up in Buffalo, New York and attended Canisius College. She completed her DO degree at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine in 2011. During medical school she participated in research on dopamine transporters in prenatally malnourished rats, participated on a medical brigade to Cuzco, Peru and was a teaching assistant for the neuroanatomy class for the second year students. Jaclyn is enjoying the 1st year of the Pediatric residency but is really looking forward to starting the Child Neurology portion of her residency in 2013. She is excited to be back in Western New York for residency, to be close to her family and friends, and to cheer on the Buffalo Sabres. In her free time she enjoys photography, hiking and skiing.
Marina Rubin Connolly, MD (New York University)
Marina was born and raised in New York City. She graduated with a BA from Harvard University and went to medical school at NYU. She completed two years of Pediatrics at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx and is now in her first year of the Child Neurology program. Marina finds many areas of Child Neurology to be interesting but has recently found herself gravitating towards issues of brain development- particularly at home, where she spends all of her free time watching her 6-month-old daughter, Olivia May (a robust and spirited baby with many other wonderfully exhausting characteristics) learn about life as we know it.
Erika Levy Wexler, MD (University of Rochester)
Erika is a graduate of University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where she also completed her Pediatrics residency training. She is originally from Lincoln, Massachusetts (just west of Boston) and went to Wellesley Colleg. As an undergrad and medical student, she worked with Dr. Mink on several projects involvingTourette Syndrome and Batten Disease. During her time off, she enjoys playing the piano, singing, and frequenting the trendy and delicious restaurants around town. She can't wait to start her Child Neurology training next year!
Yuliya Verbelchuk, MD, MMed ( Kharkov Medical University - Ukraine)
Yuliya grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Her medical education included the School of Nursing, Medical School (Kharkiv State Medical University), Masters in Medicine Program and a two year Internship in Pediatrics. She first visited Rochester, NY in 2005 as a recipient of the Daphne Hare Ukrainian Medical Fellowship Award, and during which she became fascinated by Child Neurology. Currently she is in her 4th year of training, and is enjoying Hip Hop dance classes and bike rides on the Erie Canal Trail in her free time.
