of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Among the journals that published LECOM’s research so far, JCEM has the highest impact factor. Authors of the paper were: Giorgio Rotoli, George Grignol, Walter Hu, Istvan Merchenthaler and Bertalan Dudas. Chet Evans, D.P.M. M.S., Vice President of Medical Education and Program Development for LECOM, spoke at the Florida Capitol during World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, 2011. Dr. Evans is the chair of the Florida Diabetes Advisory Council, a governor-appointed group that advises the Governor and the Department of Health Secretary on emerging diabetes issues effecting care, treatment and quality of life.
Randy Kulesza, Ph.D., will present “The effects of neonatal conductive hearing loss on neuronal morphology and development of perineuronal nets in the rat auditory brainstem” at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington D.C. He also received a LECOMT grant for a collaborative project with the Barber National Institute entitled: “Brainstem Auditory Processing in Children with Autism.” He completed the Erie Marathon on Sept. 18, 2011, and ran the Oil Creek Trail 100 marathon 50K (31.1 mile) race on Oct. 8.
Mark A. Terrell, Ed.D, published an article in a top-rated journal in the field of forestry. This article was competitively selected to be the “feature article” for the journal. The article was titled, “Comparison of Growth-Climate Relationships between Northern Red Oak and White Oak across Eastern North America,” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 41: 19361947.
Alumni Notes Class of 2000 Liam C. Holtzman, D.O., was appointed this past July as Medical Director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). He trains Special Response Team medics nationwide, provides on- and offline command, and hands on operational support to high threat federal law enforcement operations. Dr. Holtzman serves full time in academic and clinical roles as faculty in the Division of Special Operations of the Johns Hopkins University, Department of Emergency Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Class of 2001 Matthew Zaccheo, D.O., completed fellowship training in critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and accepted a position as an Intensivist physician in Adult Critical Care Services at Bronson Methodist Hospital. He was appointed an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine where he received a faculty teaching award. William Wright, D.O., MPH, has recently been appointed as the section editor for the new JAOA clinical images section. Class of 2003 Jon Lepley D.O., earned his board certification by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He recently accepted the position as full time medical director at The Retreat of Lancaster County, a 120 bed, fully licensed inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility located in Ephrata, Pa. Class of 2004 Jonathan M. Ricker, D.O., recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan. While stationed there, Ricker acted as the Gastroenterology consultant to Afghanistan. Currently, Ricker is the Chief of Gastroenterology at Mike O Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis AFB, Nev. Shaila Bhatt Gupta, D.O., is working at Northwest Indiana Neurological Associates in Munster, Ind. She is board certified in neurology and psychiatry. She completed her neurophysiology fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich.
Class of 2005 Lori Dulabon, D.O., graduated from the New York University Langone Medical Center’s Urology residency program. She has authored over 15 publications and has gained exceptional interest and skill in robotic-assisted surgery, urologic oncology, urogynecology/female pelvic reconstruction, prosthetics, endourology and gereral urology. Keith Sharf, D.O. & Shivani Reddy Scharf, D.O. Keith completed a general surgery residency and is now a Bariatric fellow at Stanford University in Palo, Alto, Ca. Shivani completed an internal medicine residency and has been in academic medicine for two years. Both are teaching at Loma Linda University as associate professors. They have two children, Jacob and Meera. Class of 2006 David Frate, D.O., was Board Certified in 2010 in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. He joined the medical staff at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital, in Lake City, Iowa. Currently, he is Director of ICU, Emergency Services, Cardiac Rehab and Cardiology.
Bret Jacobs, D.O., completed his Family Medicine Residency at York Hospital in York, Pa. and started Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, N.C. Yelena Kier, D.O., has completed an Internal Medicine residency at University of Massachusetts and has moved to Cleveland for a Fellowship in Transfusion Medicine/ Blood Banking. Matthew Wilson, D.O., has begun a Sports Medicine Fellowship at Pinnacle Health in Harrisburg, Pa. Class of 2009 Amanda Elliott, D.O., is finishing her second year of psychiatry residency at University of Iowa. In July 2012, she will be joining the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at University of Iowa.
Jacob B. Smith, D.O., has started a Spine Fellowship at the Florida Spine Institute in Clearwater, Fla. after completing an Orthopedic Surgery Residency at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Oh. Sundeep Ram, D.O. has joined the Memorial Hospital Medical Staff. in Gulfport, Miss. as a Hospitalist/ Internal Medicine physician. Dr. Ram is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.
Class of 2010 Rich Ernst, D.O., just completed an intern year in psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. before it closed and continues his residency at the New Walter Reed in Bethesda, Md. Scott Kunkel, D.O., just finished his transitional year and is continuing with flight medicine training with the Navy at the National Navy Medical Center. He has also worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Class of 2007 Nicole (Walters) Bernatowicz, D.O., is in her fourth year of serving as a flight surgeon in the USAF. She plans to continue with a family medicine residency in hopes of eventually studying in a sports medicine fellowship. Zeeshan Qureshi, D.O., became Chief Resident of the Diagnostic Radiology Residency at JPS Health Network at Fort Worth, Texas.
Class of 2008 Ariane Palmasani Conaboy, D.O., completed her internal medicine residency at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, formerly Scranton Temple Residency Program. In conjunction with Physicians Health Alliance, began an outpatient internal medicine practice in Scranton, Pa. He also serves as clinical faculty at The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, PA and is a member of the board of directors of the Lackawanna Medical Society.
Haipeng Zhang, D.O., was awarded “Outstanding Categorical Intern Award” (intern of the year) at Allegheny General Hospital.
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