Class Notes
Fred Swing, M.D. ’65, has been practicing medicine for 50 years. For the first 30 years, he specialized in anesthesiology and for the past 20, he has been practicing acupuncture.
Howard Ruskin, M.D. ’66, has been in the private practice of neurology for 47 years in Plantation, Florida, and continues to enjoy practicing medicine.
Nelson Zide, M.D. ’66, is semi-retired after practicing for many years as an infectious disease specialist in the South Florida area. He remains a member of many professional organizations.
Ted Nicholas, M.D. ’69, retired in 2001 as chair of the pathology department and medical director of the laboratory at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California.
Trisha Roth, M.D. ’69, is a pediatrician on staff at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, is co-chair of the local American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Climate Control and has spent 30 years as chair of AAP’s substance abuse committee. She enjoys playing with her 11 grandchildren and walking at the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.
Barry Katzen, M.D. ’70, is chief medical executive at the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute at Baptist Health South Florida. Dr. Katzen was recently awarded honorary membership in the German Vascular Society.
Charles Tate, M.D. ’73, is happily retired after serving on the medical staff at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale for more than 33 years. He was elected to fellowship in the American College of Radiology and the Society of Interventional Radiology.
Paul Wetter, M.D. ’75, was one of the first surgeons to champion advanced laparoscopic surgery in the 1980s and helped start the Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons, which has become the largest group of its kind worldwide. He later became a social and education entrepreneur and innovator.
Joseph Camunas, M.D. ’77, is the division chief of surgery for Prisma Health and the M3 surgical clerkship director at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville.
Lee Katims, M.D. ’78, is happily retired after practicing radiology in Palm Beach County for many years. He has been a Boca resident for 36 years.
Frederic Guerrier, M.D. ’81, was honored by the Florida Academy of Family Physicians with the 2019 FAFP Family Physician of the Year Award. The prestigious award was created to recognize an outstanding family physician for their dedication to the profession and service to patients.
Barry Greene, M.D. ’85, is the co-founder and chief medical officer of Vicarious Surgical, a company dedicated to transforming surgery through robotics and virtual reality. Dr. Greene is a board-certified bariatric and general surgeon with more than 25 years of experience performing advanced laparoscopic surgical procedures.
Monica Broome, M.D. ’89, is the southeastern co-chair of AMWA (American Medical Women’s Association) and southeastern co-chair of AMWA PATH (Physicians Against Trafficking of Humans). Dr. Broome is also an assistant professor of medicine and director of the Communication Skills Program at the Miller School of Medicine.
A. Evan Lewis, M.D. ’89, is a hospitalist specializing in internal medicine at Holston Valley Medical Center, a part of Ballad Health in Tennessee. For two months every year, he vacations in New Zealand, making steam engines using a 2,000-year old Greek design.
Adam Bright, M.D. ’90, and Rose Bright, M.D. ’90, are now practicing together. The couple has four children, and Rose stopped working in pulmonary and critical care 10 years ago to focus on the family. Last year, she joined husband Adam to help him with his thriving total joint replacement practice.
Luis Valls, M.D., Ph.D. ’90, recently retired after 25 years of providing emergency medical care for injured skiers in the Mt. Hood area of Oregon. He recently became medical director of Harmony Events Medical, which provides medical aid to patrons of large gatherings, events, and concerts.
Andrew Reisman, M.D. ’93, was recently sworn in as the president of the Medical Association of Georgia at the organization’s 165th House of Delegates meeting.
Joelle Vlahakis, M.D. ’95, is the program director of the new FSU-College of Medicine at Sarasota Memorial Hospital Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship, beginning in July 2020.
Rooptaz Sibia, M.D. ’97, is starting his 20th year of private practice in internal medicine at Florida Healthcare Associates in the Boynton Beach area.
Oscar Villaverde, M.D. ’97, lives in Naples, Florida, and works as section chief for mental health at the Bay Pines VA Health Care System. He is also active in the Florida Psychiatric Society.
Debra Andree, M.D. ’99, was named president/CEO for Community Health Centers Inc. Dr. Andree has been CHC’s chief medical officer since 2015.
Adam Ball, M.D. ’99, was recently nominated as secretary-treasurer for the Florida Urological Society. Dr. Ball is a solo practitioner in Port St. Lucie, with a focus on minimally invasive BPH procedures, stone disease and urinary incontinence.
Suzanne Minor, M.D. ’99, was promoted to assistant dean for faculty affairs at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, where she has worked since 2010.
Anna Sfakianaki, M.D. ’99, is back in South Florida after 20 years living up north and is currently a faculty member in maternal-fetal medicine in the Department of OB/GYN at UHealth. Dr. Sfakianaki is the director of OB/GYN ultrasound and the fellowship program.
Geeta Nayyar, M.D. ’03, M.B.A, recently received the HIMSS Most Influential Women in Health IT Award, an honor that recognizes women who harness the power of information and technology to transform health and health care. Dr. Nayyar is the chief medical officer at Greenway Health.
Jose Rodriguez, M.D. ’03, is a board-certified radiologist with 14 years of experience. He specializes in diagnostic and interventional radiology, as well as nuclear medicine at Mercy Medical Center and the HCA East Florida Division.
Daniel Roque, M.D. ’08, was recently promoted to associate professor and vice chair of outpatient operations in the Department of Neurology at UNC School of Medicine.
Kenneth Crandall, M.D. ’09, is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland and a neurotrauma consultant for the NFL. He is also a section editor for the International Journal of Spine Surgery.
Catherine Crawford Hodge, M.D. ’10, lives in Nkhoma, Malawi, in southeastern sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 with her husband and their three daughters. During her time at Nkhoma Mission Hospital, Dr. Crawford Hodge started a neonatal unit for the hospital. She currently serves as program director for the new Family Medicine Residency and the Deputy of Medical Education.
Tara Conway Copper, M.D., ’10, was the first alumna to be part of a rotation of University of Miami physicians volunteering at Marsh Harbour Healthcare Clinic on Great Abaco Island, where they are providing treatment to residents in the hurricane-ravaged area. Dr. Conway-Copper is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and works in the emergency room at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Jamee Walters, M.D. ’10, is the associate program director for the UF at Orlando Health Pediatric Residency Program.
Sean Murphy, M.D. ’13, co-founded a physician-owned hospital with a full-capability emergency department in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Murphy serves as chief medical officer, laboratory director, and a full-time emergency physician.
Sapir Karli, M.D. ’15, is practicing comprehensive ophthalmology at Eye Surgeons and Consultants in Hollywood, Florida. Dr. Karli completed her ophthalmology residency at the University of South Carolina, where she was chief resident during her senior year.
Christopher Kumetz, M.D. ’15, is the assistant facility medical director of four community emergency departments for Naples Community Hospital. Dr. Kumetz was awarded the Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville in 2019 after finishing his emergency ultrasound fellowship.
Elizabeth Sierocinski, M.D. ’19, is currently working in a research and clinical setting at Greifswald University Medical Center in Germany while she transitions her American medical degree to her new home country of Germany. Her goal is to practice in family medicine in a rural setting.
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