Faculty

Amy Blatt, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics

Dr. Blatt is Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency. She was a resident and chief resident in the Medicine-Pediatrics Residency at the University of Rochester from 2002-2007. She served as Director for the Internal Medicine Third Year Clerkship from 2016 through 2021 and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine and Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residencies before becoming Program Director in 2022. She has worked as an adult and pediatric Hospitalist and currently attends on the adult inpatient teaching service at Strong Memorial Hospital. Her academic interests include learner assessment, addressing bias in the clinical learning environment and the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, running, kayaking, and local music and theater with her family.

Brett Robbins, MD
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Program Director, Medicine-Pediatrics Residency

Dr. Robbins has served as Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine since 2018. He graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his Medicine-Pediatrics Residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Upon completion of residency in 1997 he became the Associate Director and ultimately the Program Director for the Med-Peds residency in 1999. He is dual boarded in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.

After 25 years as a primary care physician for adults and children, he transitioned to being an adult inpatient hospitalist in 2022. He continues to provide primary care to the Rochester Red Wings, Rochester's AAA baseball team. He is also assistant Designated Institutional Official for the Graduate Medical Education programs at URMC. Dr. Robbins has special interests in medical education, the transition of youth with chronic illness to adulthood, and diversity/equity/inclusion. His outside interests include travel and the live local music scene in Rochester.

Catherine Gracey, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine

Dr. Gracey serves as Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Education and directs our Primary Care Program. She chairs the residency program’s Clinical Competency Committee and directs the Medical Educator Pathway. In addition to having her own primary care clinical practice, she precepts residents in the residency continuity clinic practice and develops curriculum for the Ambulatory Block Education Thursdays.

Her research interests include teaching humanism and communication skills, in part through her work with the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, running, and playing with her family.

Joseph Nicholas, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
William and Sheila Konar Family Professor of Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, and Person-Centered Care 

Dr. Nicholas is the director of Medical Education at Highland Hospital, and serves as Associate Program Director for the IM and Med-Peds residency programs. His training has included residencies in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine and Public Health. His educational interests include clinical reasoning, medical decision making and individualizing guideline-directed care for hospitalized older adults, and has an academic focus in orthogeriatric care for fragility fracture patients. He attends on the Highland Inpatient Geriatrics teaching service. His interests include all things Finger Lakes.

William Novak, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine

Dr. Novak serves as Associate Program Director for Inpatient Services and attends regularly as a Hospitalist on the inpatient teaching service at Strong Memorial Hospital.  He is also passionate about point-of-care ultrasound and directs our program, found scanning most days with residents during their ultrasound rotation.  

Dr. Novak was an Internal Medicine resident, chief resident, and Infectious Diseases fellow at the University of Rochester from 1999-2005 before joining the University of Rochester faculty.  His outside interests include all things in the great Upstate New York outdoors, particularly off-road cycling, sailing, kayaking, and skiing.

Alec O'Connor, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
William L. Morgan, Jr. Professorship in Medicine

Dr. O’Connor was a resident and then chief resident in the Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Rochester (1996-2000) before becoming an Associate Program Director for the Medicine and Medicine-Pediatrics residencies in 2003. He then served as Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency for 10 years before resuming his role as Associate Program Director.

He is a Hospitalist at Strong Memorial Hospital, where he attends on the Inpatient Teaching Service. He has published on a variety of topics related to improving prescribing practices and residency education, and he has served on national committees within the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine. His outside interests include cycling, sculling, traveling, and watching soccer, especially Manchester City.

Marie A. Laryea, B.Sc., M.D.C.M. 
Associate Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and a Transplant Hepatologist and Educator

Prior to joining UR Medicine, Dr. Laryea was an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Medical Director of Liver Transplant in the Multi-Organ Transplant Program and a member of the Division of Digestive Care and Endoscopy, Department of Medicine at QEII Health Science Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

She also worked as an Adjunct professor of Medicine and Transplant Hepatologist at Universite de Montreal. She was Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Dalhousie University and Chief Resident in Gastroenterology as well. She has been recognized as an excellent educator and clinician. She authored numerous publications and frequently presents on topics related to Hepatology at the national and international level.

Marc Berliant, MD
Professor of Medicine
Raymond J. Mayewski Professorship in Medicine
Chief, General Medicine Division
Vice Chair for Clinical Programs

Dr. Berliant is the Associate Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Medicine and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. He is also the Director of the Internal Medicine Faculty-Resident Practice. He has had a longstanding interest in medical education and he has received numerous teaching awards. He served as Chief Resident after completing his internal medicine residency at the University of Rochester. He previously led hospital initiatives to enhance the quality and safety of care for patients across the Medical Center. His research interests include transitional health care and new models of primary care delivery. Outside of work he enjoys biking, sailing and cross country skiing.

Jennifer Anolik, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Microbiology and Immunology
Associate Chair of Research, Department of Medicine
Program Director, Physician Scientist Training Program

Dr. Anolik is an adult rheumatologist who practices in the University of Rochester's Lupus Clinic. Her research interests include the role of B cells in the pathophysiology of human systemic lupus, the study of new immuno-modulatory treatments for lupus, and B cell regulation of bone homeostasis in rheumatoid arthritis. As part of the research group at the University of Rochester she has been one of the pioneers in the use of B-cell depletion for the therapy of autoimmune diseases and investigation of the effects of B cell depletion on immune function in SLE patients. She has also pioneered the use of tonsil and bone marrow biopsy as a means of probing immune dysregulation in autoimmune diseases, including SLE and RA.

Andrea Garroway, PhD 

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry
Assistant Program Director for Communication Coaching and Wellness

Dr. Andrea Garroway is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Assistant Program Director for Communication Coaching and Wellness in the Internal Medicine residency, and Director of Behavioral Health Integration at Strong Internal Medicine. She teaches patient and family-centered communication skills, psychosocial medicine, and promotes physician wellness and self-care. She is a clinical psychologist and enjoys collaborating with residents and faculty on patient care as an embedded behavioral health clinician in Strong Internal Medicine. Her professional interests include integrating mental health into primary care settings and teaching trauma-informed approaches to medical care. She also is a site director and clinical supervisor for the URMC Psychology postdoctoral fellowship Integrated Care Family Track. Outside of work, she spends time with her family, plays tennis, and enjoys reading fiction.

Mahala Schlagman, MD
Assistant Program Director for Health Equity

Dr. Mahala Schlagman is the Assistant Program Director for Health Equity, overseeing residency education on the social determinants of health as well as their impact on individual patient and community health.  As a primary care doctor she serves her own patient panel and precepts residents in continuity practice. She has a particular interest in care for patients with complex medical, social and psychiatric needs.

In addition, she acts as the Medical Director of a Medical Legal Partnership that provides free civil legal serves to patients at Strong Internal Medicine. Dr. Schlagman trained at Barnard College in English Literature and at Weill Cornell Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Rochester in Internal Medicine. Outside the hospital Dr. Schlagman enjoys canoeing, hiking, and spending time with her children.

Meghan Train, DO

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Program Director of Quality Improvement for the Internal Medicine Residency

Dr. Train is the Assistant Program Director of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for the Internal Medicine Residency.  She completed Med-Peds Residency at the University of Rochester in 2014 and has since been working as an Academic Hospitalist as well as a Clinic Preceptor in the Internal Medicine Ambulatory Care Clinic.

Dr. Train’s academic interests include medical education, quality improvement and high value care.  She serves as Medical Director for the 6-1400 inpatient unit and is Director of the Quality, Safety and Inter-Professional Communication course for students in the Schools of Medicine and Nursing.  Her outside interests include spending time with her family and remaining active outdoors.