ist at Tri Rivers Surgical Associates at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pa. It opened in April and provides musculoskeletal care to patients in Slippery Rock, Grove City and New Castle. The facility has on-site digital radiography, fluoroscopy and electrodiagnostic services.
Class of 2007 Joshua Kentosh, D.O., is serving active duty with the United States Navy. He is currently employed in a dermatology residency at the National Navy Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He lives in Silver Spring, Md. Jennifer Vandevelde, D.O., was recently featured in a story in the Akron Beacon in Ohio. The article focused on her work with robotic-assisted surgeries at Akron Summa Hospital. Dr. Vandevelde and her husband, Nicholas, live in Akron with their son, Vincent.
Class of 2008 Shawn Adkins, Pharm.D., is the pharmacy manager at Walgreens in Brevard, N.C. He is
married to Pinar Polat Adkins, Pharm.D. They live in Fletcher, N.C.
Chief Resident of Policy for the UPMC St. Margaret Family Residency Program in Pittsburgh.
Pinar Polat Adkins, Pharm.D., works as a pharmacist at Park Ridge Health in Fletcher, N.C.
April Smith-Gonzalez, D.O., took first place in the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association’s Resident Research Poster Competition. Her poster explained how hypertension medications play a role in the treatment of complicated migraine headaches.
Shalia 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. Nnecka Nzegwu, D.O., is enrolled in a fellowship in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.
Class of 2009 Paul Been, D.O., was named Chief Emergency Medicine resident at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio. His duties will include scheduling, administrative work, and coordinating weekly educational conferences for residents. Kevin Kotar, D.O., has been selected to serve as
Class of 2010 Eda Cristina Abuchaibe, D.O., won second prize in the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association’s Resident Research Poster Competition for the poster describing a missing chromosome in an unusual case of an aortic Sinus of Valsalva rupture. Ahed Salamen, Pharm.D., is a co-owner of compounding pharmacy Clark Professional Pharmacy and Wellness Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. It is one of only five pharmacies in Michigan to receive accreditation from the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB). He lives in Novi, Mich., with his wife and son.
|In Memoriam| Silvia M. Agresti Ferretti, 92. The recent passing of Silvia M. Ferretti, the beloved mother of LECOM President John M. Ferretti; Academic Affairs Dean and Provost Silvia M. Ferretti; and Anthony Ferretti, D.O., assistant dean of clinical education, saddened the entire LECOM Family. The resultant outpouring of care, concern and support throughout the community was reflected through countless memorial gifts to the LECOM Student Scholarship Fun to honor the life of Silvia M. Ferretti. The more than $50,000 received by the scholarship fund in memory of Silvia M. Ferretti will make the calling of medicine and the promise of a healing hand a reality for many students who otherwise would have found their dreams unrealized. Silvia M. Ferretti continues to live through the legacy of students who will reach others with their gifts; students who will give hope to the afflicted; and students whose curative skills will better the lives of those whom they touch. The hand of Providence who called home his daughter, Silvia, will hold her presence ever near us and keep her motherly love with us for generations to come. As time brings reflection, and with it memories, each memory becomes a treasure. The legacy created in tribute to Silvia M. Ferretti will keep those treasures of her life alive, and it will make them a part of the tapestry of all that is LECOM.
Class of 1997 Nicholas DePizzo II, D.O., 42, died April 18, 2011, in Youngstown, Ohio. He was board certified in family practice and shared a practice with his father in Youngstown. Dr. DePizzo was an avid runner who completed his first marathon in 2009 in Chicago. He was a member of the American Osteopathic Association, the Ohio State Medical Association and the Mahoning County Medical Association.
Class of 2011 Jennifer Lee LaRue, 28, died October 20, 2010. She was a medical student at LECOM in Erie who would have graduated this year with the Class of 2011.
Class of 2013 Jacob Daniel Fowler, 22, of Riverview, Florida, died June 27, 2011. A graduate of the University of South Florida, Jacob was currently a third-year student at LECOM Bradenton and was eager to begin serving people in his hospital rotations beginning in July. He was past vice president of the LECOM Christian Medical Association and was dedicated to serving others. He is survived by his wife, Diana Rivera Fowler; his parents, Bill and Patty Fowler; and his brothers, Matthew and Zachary.
SUMMER 2011 | LECOM CONNECTION | 47