Class Notes

Otto Kunst, M.D. ’71, of Fort Myers, Florida, writes: “I did about two years of locum tenens work in radiology before retiring, which was the best decision I could have made. When home and not working, it was the same routine as retirement life and led to a seamless transition. I am now limited in activity because of cardiac and orthopedic problems, but I am still active in my church plant as head of the Safety and Security Team, and I am still teaching, only as an instructor in the AARP Smart Driver program for seniors. I have been married now for 41 years to Laurel, still going strong, and the best decision I ever made!”

Douglas Miller, M.D. ’78, Ph.D. ’80, is a professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He is also chair of the Graduate Education Committee of the Association of Pathology Chairs, and reports that he is “still going,” with more than 180 peer-reviewed papers and chapters and three books.

John Villaverde, M.D. ’82, is director of emergency medicine and adult ambulatory care at Care Now Clinics Consulting in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mary S. Brady, M.D. ’83, is the section editor for the Journal of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Brady was recently appointed the director of Abdominal Wall Reconstruction and Hernia Repair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She was named a New York Times Top Doctor in 2022.

Steve Hahn, M.D. ’83, is a gastroenterologist at Gastro Health in Plantation, Florida. His daughter, Danielle, is a first-year student at the Miller School.

Russell Eggert, M.D. ’84, M.P.H., retired in September 2019 from the Florida Department of Health, where he had been chief of the Bureau of Epidemiology in the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection.

Steven Lay, M.D. ’86, retired in 2017 as president of the emergency medicine group practice at US Acute Care Solutions in Tampa. He lives in Gulfport, Florida.

William Steiner, M.D. ’86, Ph.D., is president of WWSteiner Consulting LLC in The Villages, Florida. He retired in 2018 as president/medical director of University Hospitals of Cleveland Accountable Care Organization.

Linda R. Nelson, Ph.D., M.D. ’87, is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

Antonio H. Wong, M.D. ’90, was named president of the Broward County Medical Association for 2023. As the 96th BCMA president, he will lead the 1,700 allopathic and osteopathic physicians, as well as Physician Assistants, toward the mission of promoting the integrity of patient care and public health and enhancing the professional interests of physicians in Broward County.

Timothy G. Groover, M.D. ’91, was promoted to senior vice president and system chief medical officer of Baptist Health in Northeast Florida. In this senior-most physician role, Dr. Groover leads the Baptist Health system medical staff, overseeing the full scope of physician practice across the health system.

Alex J. Mechaber, M.D. ’94, was elected a Master of the American College of Physicians. The qualifications to achieve Master status are rigorous and include notable contributions to medicine, from exemplary teaching to outstanding work in clinical research or practice. The designation is the highest level attainable in the 160,000-member ACP, the largest medical specialty society in the world.

Janice Block, M.D. ’96, writes: “I have been practicing pediatrics — general pediatrics and specialty ADHD care — for 20 years in Israel. I also have an interest in research. I am in the process of completing a part-time M.Sc. in computer science with data analytics. After that I hope to do a Ph.D. in biophysics/systems biology.”

Jason Campagna, Ph.D. ’97, M.D. ’98, is chief medical officer at Q32 Bio in Boston.

Venus Ramos, M.D. ’98, is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Rehabilitation Associates Medical Group in Long Beach, California.

Jennifer Heffernan, M.D. ’01, is regional medical director of geriatrics at the HealthTexas Provider Network, a member of the Baylor Scott & White Health system, in Dallas. Previously, she was medical director at Baylor Scott & White HouseCalls.

Sandra Narayanan, M.D. ’01, is an associate professor of neurology and neurological surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In 2021, she co-chaired the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s 18th Annual Meeting, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was elected as the SNIS member-at-large (interventional neurology) for 2021–22.

Eric Wechsler, M.D. ’02, is CEO of Southern California Kidney Associates in Newport Beach, California.

Christina deGuia, M.D. ’03, is chair of the psychiatry department at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida.

Bob Jeske, M.D. ’09, is a core faculty member at the Mankato Family Medicine Residency Program in the Mayo Clinic Health System. He served as the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) speaker of the house from July 2021 to June 2022. He was elected as MAFP president-elect and began serving his one-year term in that role in July. He will become the MAFP president starting in July 2023.

Raveesh Richard, M.D. ’11, is an orthopedic surgeon practicing at Centura Orthopedics Meridian in the Denver area.

Rebecca Sabates, M.D. ’12, specializes in pediatrics and neonatology at Baptist Hospital of Miami.

Alexandra Cocores, M.D. ’17, is an instructor of Clinical Neurology, Headache Division, at the Miller School.

Jonathan Sheu, M.D. ’19, is a resident in orthopedic surgery at McLaren Flint Hospital in Flint, Michigan.

Meghan Janette, M.D. ’20, M.P.H. ’20, is a pediatrics resident at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In August she got to pin her sister and first-year medical student Sofie Janette at the John G. Clarkson Freshman White Coat & Pinning Ceremony, among the same faculty who pinned her seven years ago. She is a proud ’Cane for life!

Nicholas B. Abt, M.D., UM/Jackson Head & Neck Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellow ’22, recently joined Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Abt specializes in skull base surgery and cancers of the skin, parotid, upper aerodigestive tract, sinus, neck, thyroid and parathyroid. In addition, he provides reconstructive surgery following cancer removal and minimally invasive robotic surgery.

Ashley Kreher, M.D. UM/Jackson Family Medicine Resident ’22, is currently an integrative medicine fellow and clinical instructor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona-Banner Health in Tucson.