Etc.

Class Notes

1973

Bertram (Bert) Garrett (M.D., ’73) is residency director of the Southern New Mexico Family Practice Residency Program (2001-present). He served as president of the New Mexico Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (2005-2006) and is currently Board Chair of the Chapter (2007-2008). He also served as president of the Dona Ana County Medical Society (2004-2006).

1974

William Robert Jarvis (M.D., ’74) and his wife, Dr. Janine Jason, have two daughters, Danielle (oldest) and Ashley. They enjoy spending their winters on Hilton Head Island, S.C., while their summers are split between San Francisco and on the ocean in Port Orford, Ore. William and his wife worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 23 years. They left the CDC in August 2003 to start their own private medical consulting firm, with an emphasis on health care epidemiology and infection control.

1975

Richard Smalling (Ph.D., M.D., ’75) was included in the 6th edition of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. America’s Top Doctors. Richard was one of 21 physicians chosen from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 12 of 25 board-certified medical specialties recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. The outstanding physicians listed in this newest edition of America’s Top Doctors represent the top 1 percent of U.S. physicians, as chosen by their peers.

1978

Chris Conner (M.D., ’78) reports that he is moving back to Texas – to The Woodlands.

Kirt Walker (M.D., ’78) was married to Mary Harris in September. He says “emergency medicine remains fun, especially in controlled doses. I’m still working on open source software to make these dang computers speak OUR language and think like we do, or at least stay out of the way.” His children, Adah, Ted, and Chloe are all now graduates of at least four years of higher education and on their own, scattered around the country.

1981

Joel Dunnington (M.D., ’81) is now the interim section chief for body imaging for the U.T. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. “I now get to herd 32 cats (faculty) for an undisclosed amount of time. I also start as Faculty Senate chair on Sept.1,” he writes.

1983

Mark Brown (M.D., ’83) is still living in Tucson, where he has been on faculty at the University of Arizona since 1995. His wife, Susan, finished her master’s degree in accounting last spring and is now completing CPA exams. Their oldest son, Kris (born during third-year surgery rotation) is an electrical engineer in Tucson; daughter, Rebecca (born during internship) is finishing law school at Notre Dame and will start work in Austin next summer; and youngest son, Jeff (born during fellowship) is an accomplished distance runner and graduates high school this spring and will be off to college in California.

Melissa Hudson (M.D., ’83) was selected as the 2007 W.W. Sutow Visiting Lecturer in Pediatric Oncology at the UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. She presented “Optimizing Health After Childhood Cancer: The Challenges of Translating Research Findings into Clinical Care.” She is director of the Cancer Survivorship Division in the Department of Oncology at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and is professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee’s College of Medicine.

1985

Elizabeth (Costa) Roseberry (M.D., ’85) was born in the small college town of Athens, Ohio, but has moved all over the country since she was just 8 years old. She has lived in states including North Carolina, Oregon, West Virginia, Connecticut, Arizona, and Texas but now makes Marion, Ohio, her home. She has toured the Mediterranean, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and England. She also plans a trip to the Galapagos Islands this fall. She is a neonatologist in a level two nursery at a local hospital. Her side job as a locum tenens for a group of doctors allows her to pursue more challenging work in her field.

John Donnelly (M.D., ’85) received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award for outstanding accomplishment and contribution to both the University of Dallas and his community. The University of Dallas Alumni Association and Board of Trustees established the award in 1989 to honor alumni whose post-graduate lives have embraced and applied the qualities UD fosters through its educational principles. John is associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and associate professor in the Department of Community Health at Wright State University School of Medicine.

George “Sealy” Massingill (M.D., ’85) accepted a position as associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.

1987

Elizabeth Hartwell (M.D., ’87), visiting professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Medical School, was selected by the second-year students as recipient of the Fall Semester 2006-2007 Best Teacher Award for Histology. She received the Medical School’s John Freeman Faculty Teaching Award in 2007.

Kevin Finkel (M.D., ’87) was promoted to the rank of professor, internal medicine (renal disease and hypertension) at the Medical School.

1988

Pedro Mancias (M.D., ’88), associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical School, was selected by the second-year students as the recipient of the Spring Semester 2006-2007 Best Teacher Award for Clinical Neuroscience.

Frank Domino (M.D., ’88) writes that after finishing his family medicine residency in New Jersey, he took a position at a health center in Poughkeepsie, NY for three years and then started his own practice there. In 1996, he took a position at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he continues to work as an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. He is the family medicine clerkship director and is editor of the 5 Minute Clinical Consult. His wife, Sylvia, is a reading specialist at a local school, and his daughter, Molly, “a great kid,” is a sophomore in high school. In 2005, he spent a three-month sabbatical at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Jane C.K. Fitch, (M.D., ’88) was born and raised in North Carolina but now lives in Oklahoma with her husband of 30 years, John Fitch, who incidentally is also her high school sweetheart. The Fitches admit to being very low maintenance and have no children, pets, or live plants but simply enjoy each other’s company. Jane is currently professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, where she also serves as the residency program director. Another hat she wears is chief of the anesthesia service for OU Medical Center.

Rosemary Kozar, M.D., Ph.D. (R., ’88) associate professor in the Department of Surgery, was named chief of Trauma Service at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

1991

Sheila Coogan (M.D., ’91) moved back to Houston in October to join Dr. Hazim Safi and the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at the Medical School. “I have had fun catching up with Melanie Springer-Tollet and Heidi Seifert,” she writes. Her daughter, Katie, was born in January 2007.

Chik-Fong Wei (R ‘91) was announced as the new chief of medical staff at the Kingwood Medical Center, an HCA Affiliated Hospital in Kingwood. As chief of staff, Chik-Fong will preside over medical staff meetings and serve as chair of the Medical Executive Committee and as chief administrative officer for the medical staff. He has practiced on staff at Kingwood Medical Center since 1996 and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

1993

Eyas Al Mousa, M.D., (R., ’93) served as director of cardiology division from 1997-2005 at the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. He established the invasive and interventional services at the university hospital and helped in developing the fellowship program in clinical cardiology. He moved to private practice in 2005, where he established the first cardiopulmonary unit in Jordan. He is currently the general manager of Al-Istiklal Hospital in Amman and a senior interventional cardiologist and head of the cardiopulmonary unit at the same hospital.

1995

Joel Kneitz (M.D., ’95) completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency at Baylor College of Medicine in 1999. He worked at the St. Luke’s Health Center in Houston until 2003, when he moved to Fredericksburg in private practice and as chief of medicine at Hill Country Memorial Hospital. His four younger children are still in Fredericksburg. He moved back to Houston this year and is working for St. Luke’s at the newly opened St. Luke’s Medical Clinic in the O’Quinn Medical Tower. His practice is adult internal medicine, but he says his passion is diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

Regan (Stuart) Killion (M.D., ’95) and her husband, Sean, welcomed a daughter, Boyd, Aug. 17, 2007. She is working as a pediatric ICU/CVICU attending at Stanford, and they live on Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

1997

Timothy King (M.D., ’97) finished his residency training in plastic surgery at New York University last June and is now doing a one year fellowship in pediatric plastic surgery at Northwestern. He and his wife, Christy (Tock) (M.D., ’98), had another daughter Feb 7, 2007 (Evelyn Faith). Her big sister, Emily Grace, turned 4 on Dec 3. Christy stayed in New Jersey in private practice while he is in Chicago for the year. They will be moving together to a new, as yet undecided, location at the end of his fellowship.

Richard Reynolds (M.D., ’97) completed a fellowship on plastic and reconstructive surgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He completed his five-year general surgery residency at Texas Tech. He is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has been performing plastic surgery at his own private practice in El Paso for over three years.

1998

Lisa Armitige (Ph.D., M.D., ’98), assistant professor of internal medicine at the Medical School, was selected by the second-year students as recipient of the Spring Semester 2006-2007 Best Teacher Award for Clinical Immunology and also for Clinical Microbiology.

1999

Dipika Dandade (M.D., ’99) married Jim Arteaga in 2002. She finished her obstetrics and gynecology residency at UCLA in 2003 and started work for Kaiser in Los Angeles. Jim finished his general surgery residency in 2006 and started his plastics fellowship at USC soon after. Their daughter, Yasmeen, was born in September of 2006.

2000

Chris Noyes (M.D., ’00) and his wife, Lisa, announce the birth of their fifth child, Joseph. They live in Frisco (a suburb of Dallas) where he is in solo practice family medicine. “We are tired but healthy,” he writes. “If anyone wants to visit, feel free to stop by as long as you don’t mind having a whole bunch of kids around!”

Michael Hambrick (M.D., ’00) joined Midwest Family Medical Care in Carthage, Ill., as a family physician. He completed his residency at the Montgomery County Medical Education Foundation in Conroe, Texas. He later served at the Austin County Medical Clinic in Sealy, Texas, and the East Texas Medical Center in Jacksonville, Texas.

2001

Ryan Nash (M.D., ’01) is chief of staff of Cooper Green Mercy Hospital and medical director of the Balm of Gilead Palliative Center at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital. He also is a director of Jefferson Clinic P.C., a multispecialty physician practice in Birmingham, Ala., and teaches at the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical School. He and his wife, Sarah, are expecting their fourth daughter, to be named Meredith, in June.

2002

Caitlin (McAneny) Giesler (M.D., ’02) reports that she married Eric Giesler (M.D., ’02) during their intern year in Cincinnati. Eric completed his urology residency this past July and stayed on staff as an assistant professor with the Division of Urology, the University of Cincinnati, while Caitlin completed her fellowship in cardiology. They will relocate to Austin this summer. They say the greatest event post-graduation has been the birth of their son, Michael James Giesler.

Maggie (Bishop) Lueg (M.D., ’02) writes that she gave birth to Caroline Elise Lueg, Jan. 15, 2008. They recently moved to Augusta, Ga., and she is planning to return to work as a pediatric hospitalist in May.

Maj. Patrick Osborn (M.D., ’02) is back on active duty with the U.S. Air Force in Korea. He is going to do a fellowship in orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery and trauma surgery this year in Charlotte, N.C.

2004

Benjamin Anderson (M.D., ’04) writes that he is living in Honolulu, after finishing a pediatrics residency at the University of Hawaii in August 2007. He is employed at a Community Health Center on the west side of the island, and his daughter, Addie, turned 2 this past November.

2005

Ana Maria Arango, M.D., (R., ’05) has joined the allergy/immunology/rheumatology division of the Genesee Health Service of Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. She completed both her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in rheumatology at the Medical School. She is board certified in internal medicine.

Benfard Hicks (M.D., ’77) passed away on Jan.19, 2008. Since 1996, he was a pediatrician at the Kelsey Seybold Clinic in Katy. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Hicks; his children, Benfard E. Hicks, Jr. and Kelly Hicks; his parents, Jim and Fay Hicks; and his siblings, Jimmy Hicks, Kent Hicks, and Melinda Eller, and their families.

Billie Smith, M.D., (R., ’78) passed away on Feb. 26, 2007. Her husband, Marvin, died Feb. 14, 2006.

Karen (Kadrovach) Banner (M.D., ’82) passed away on Jan. 3, 2008, following a long illness. Karen served in the U.S. Army as a flight surgeon, clinic chief at Fort Greely, Alaska; occupational medicine physician at Fort Bragg, N.C.; and with several reserve units as a unit surgeon. She left military service at the rank of Major. She is survived by six children. She was buried at the U.S. Veteran’s Cemetery on Cape Cod, Mass.

Paul Frank Lanier (M.D., ’86) passed away on Feb. 29, 2008. Born Nov. 14, 1960, in Mount Pleasant, Texas, to Robert and Marilyn Singletary Lanier, Paul was raised in Henderson, Texas. After interning at Scott & White in Temple, Paul practiced medicine in Kerrville and then moved to Carrollton where he was a partner with Pinnacle Anesthesia Associates. Paul’s medical career was cut short in 1998 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Toward the end of his nine-year ordeal with the disease, Paul wrote a book called “A Change in the Flight Plan.” Written while almost completely paralyzed, the book contains his inspiring writings about how God has advanced His kingdom through Paul’s disease. He is survived by his wife, Dee Ann, and their daughters, Brittney, Meagan, and Katie; as well as his mother, Marilyn; brother, Mark Lanier and his wife Leslie, and their sons, Preston and Logan.

Mai Oanh Le (M.D., ’06) passed away on Sept. 4, 2007. She was a second-year resident in psychiatry at the UT Harris County Psychiatric Center. She is survived by her husband, Thien “Tristan” Nguyen, and many relatives in the Houston area.

Additional class notes at www.utmshalumni.org