Class Notes

George Shorago, M.D. ’64, UM/Jackson Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Resident ’70, is retired following a career in ENT-otolaryngologist in Stanford, California.

Nicholas H. Kalvin, M.D., Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Ophthalmology Resident ’66, is retired.

Philip Villanueva, M.D. ’76, UM/Jackson Neurological Care Fellowship ’80, UM/Jackson Neurological Surgery Resident ’82, was named a Pinnacle Lifetime Member by The Inner Circle for his contributions to the field of neurosurgery. He is director of neurotrauma and critical care at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and a professor of clinical neurosurgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Steven Joseph Barker, M.D. ’81, professor emeritus, was named the 2023 Friend of FAER honoree by the Foundation for Anesthesiology Education and Research for having a broad impact on anesthesiology research.

Frederick Kelcz, M.D. ’82, Ph.D., played a pivotal role in establishing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a clinical screening tool and was one of the first physicians to advocate for MRI screening for breast cancer before retiring this year.

Sheldon Ball, M.D. ’83, is one of the authors of Aaushi, a California nonprofit website delivering a free, web-based intelligent medical reference for inpatient and outpatient diagnosis and management of patients in internal medicine and geriatrics.

Marc E. Csete, M.D. ’83, M.B.A. ’08, pulmonologist and critical care physician, joined the Lower Keys Medical Center and Keys Medical Group. After medical school, he completed his residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center and a fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Csete has been practicing pulmonology and critical care medicine in South Florida for more than 30 years.

Eduardo Alfonso, M.D., Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Ophthalmology Resident ’84, was elected to the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida. Dr. Alfonso is director of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and the Kathleen and Stanley J. Glaser Chair in Ophthalmology.

Michael Gold, M.D. ’88, is chief research and development officer for Compass Pathways, a biotechnology company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health.

Michael Hodges, M.D. ’93, specializes in cardiovascular disease and clinical interventional cardiology at Cape Fear Cardiology Associates, PA in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He is married to Ana Ceide Hodges, M.D. ’92.

Nelson Garcia, M.D. ’96, received the Excellence in Clinical Teaching in Internal Medicine award by the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

Shelley Collins, M.D. ’99, UM/Jackson Pediatrics Resident ’02, was named University of Florida College of Medicine Hippocratic Award winner for the second consecutive year.

Teshamae Monteith, M.D. ’04, was elected president of the Florida Society of Neurology. She is associate professor of clinical neurology and chief of the Headache Division at the Miller School.

George Marzouka, M.D. ’09, UM/Jackson Internal Medicine Resident ’12, UM/Jackson Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship ’15, was promoted to associate professor of clinical in the Department of Medicine at the Miller School. He has expertise in treating sleep apnea, chronic kidney disease and chronic high blood pressure, among other conditions.

Hansel Tookes, M.P.H. ’09, M.D. ’14, was selected by the National Academy of Medicine to join its exclusive ranks as an Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholar in recognition of his pioneering and influential work devising tenable solutions for addiction and infectious disease issues.

Alexander Tuchman, M.D. ’09, who specializes in treating adult spinal deformities, has been selected as co-director of the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center. A spine neurosurgeon, Dr. Tuchman completed his neurosurgery fellowship at the University of Southern California. He also completed a spine deformity fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Matthew Wideroff, M.D. ’10, UM/Jackson Surgery Resident ’12, general surgeon, joined AdventHealth Medical Group in Palm Coast, Florida, after caring for patients for nearly a decade at Monument Health in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Benjamin Vipler, B.S. ’08, M.D. ’12, hospitalist and longitudinal integrated clerkship director at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), and Erin Vipler, M.D. ’12, palliative care physician and assistant professor of medicine at UCH, will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary by attending a Miami-Florida State University game, as they did in medical school.

Joshua Weiss, M.D. ’12, who works in Boca Raton, Florida, as a head and neck surgery otolaryngologist, is a clinical instructor at FAU College of Medicine and faculty for the general surgery residency program.

Ekaterina Kostioukhina, M.D. ’13, co-founded the Medical Society for Optimization of Human Performance in Space Environments, for which she serves as an extreme environments and space medicine consultant. She is researching the possibility of human hibernation for long spaceflights.

Dominic Maggio, M.D. ’13, was named a “Champion of Healthcare” by Arkansas Money & Politics. A neurosurgeon, Dr. Maggio works at Legacy Spine & Neurological Specialists in Little Rock. He met his wife, Bruna, while both were students in UM’s neurobiology program.

Gillian Gordon Perue, M.D., UM/Jackson Neurology Resident ’13, UM/Jackson Vascular Neurology Fellowship ’14, chief of neurology at Jackson South and Jackson West Medical Centers and director of the stroke program at Jackson South Medical Center, was selected to be on Legacy Magazine’s 2024 list of the 50 most powerful and influential Black business leaders.

Jaclyn Rosenzweig, M.D. ’16, was recognized in Emory University’s 40 Under Forty awards, which honors a select number of notable alumni who are becoming pioneers in their fields. She earned her bachelor’s degree there and is an assistant professor of pediatrics specializing in hematology/oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Jean-Pierre Obeid, M.D. ’17, joined Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, specializing in the treatment of cancer using advanced radiation therapies. He has conducted research on the efficacy of radiation therapies and published his work in peer-reviewed publications.

Samuel A. Kareff, M.D. ’18, M.P.H., joined the Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital as a medical oncologist and hematologist. He was previously chief of medical education for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Gregor A. Rodriguez, M.D. ’18, has joined Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC in Southwest Florida as a medical oncologist. After earning his medical degree at the Miller School, Dr. Rodriguez completed a residency in internal medicine at UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital and a hematology and oncology fellowship at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida.

Rivka Stone, M.D., Ph.D., UM/Jackson Dermatology Resident ’18, Miller School dermatologist, has been honored with the Wound Healing Foundation’s H. Paul Ehrlich Rising Star in Wound Healing award for her achievements and discoveries in the translational science of wound healing.