Faculty Educators

The Three Rivers Curriculum features educators hired by UPSOM to perform specific duties—as longitudinal educators (small group facilitators), clinical skills preceptors, and content leads.

Faculty in these roles will play a crucial role in the success of the curriculum, and will connect over time with our learners. We have a diverse group of educators—MDs and PhD’s, junior and senior faculty, and diverse demographics/backgrounds that will be of excellent contribution to our curriculum. 

Content Leads

Content
Faculty
Email
Pathology/Histology
Steve Truschel
Anatomy
Lydia Strattan
Radiology
Char Branstetter
Pharmacology
Jon Beckel
Biochemistry
Martin Schmidt
Physiology
Yolandee Bell-Cheddar
Genetics
Mylynda Massart/Christine Munro
Immunology
Penelope Morel
Microbiology/Infectious Disease
Jim Bina/Peter Veldkamp
Antiracist and Health Equity Solutions (AHES)
Felicia Savage-Friedman 
Intro to Being a Physician
Amanda Brown/Jason Chang
Population and Community Health
Alfred Shoukry
Statistics for clinicians and biomedical researchers
Aaron Brown
Research design/LRP
Peter Drain/John Maier
Ophthalmology
Evan Waxman
Otolaryngology
Rachel Whelan 
Ethics/Law
Julie Childers
Hematology
Louis Rapkin

Course Directors

Course
Faculty
Email
Cardiology
Jenifer Lee
Nephrology
Mohan Ramkumar/Blaise Abramovitz
Pulmonology
TBA
TBA
Digestion and Nutrition
Kristen Critelli/Lama Farhat
Rheumatology
Siamak Moghadam-Kia
Dermatology
Angela Guerrero
Endocrinology
Alexandra Clark/Ron Codario
Reproduction, Sexual Health, Gynecology
Rob Powers/Sara Sakamoto
Musculoskeletal
John Fowler/Deniz Olgun
Psychiatry/behavior
Melanie Grubisha
Shelly Kucherer 
Oncology
Louis Rapkin
Neuroscience
Bill Yates/Alexis Franks
Medical Interviewing
Beth Bollinger/Brianna Rossiter
Physical Exam Skills
Andrew Klein
Intro to Clinical Medicine
Ben Sprague, Danielle Heffner, Erin Cummings

Thread Leads

Thread
Faculty
Email
Social Medicine
Thuy Bui
Interprofessional Education
Greg Castelli/Joe Suyama
Leadership
Suzi Templer/Sarah Merriam
Clinical Reasoning
Deborah Dinardo/TBA

Program Leads

Program Faculty Email
Primary Care Accelerated Track (PCAT)
Amanda Casagrande
Longitudinal Alliance Program (LAP)
Lisa Podgurski/Beth Oczypok
Community Alliance Program (CAP)
TBA/Andrew McCormick
Clinical Skills Preceptors (CSP)
Drew Klein/Eloho Ufomata
Longitudinal Educators (LE)
Melinda Hamilton/TBA
Professional Enrichment Courses (PEC)
Stephanie Gonzalez
Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
Emily Lovallo

Block Directors

Block
Faculty
Email
Keystone Funadmentals
Martin Schmidt
Organ Systems
Rob Powers
Patient Centered Care
Reed Van Deusen

Longitudinal Educators (LEs)

Faculty
Department
Email
Primary Class
Andrew McCormick
Pediatrics
2027
Amber Hoffman* Pediatrics hoffmana13@upmc.edu 2028
Brett McAninch
Pediatrics
2027
Claire Yanta
Neurology
2027
Cesar Escobar-Viera Psychiatry escobar-viera@pitt.edu 2028
John Maier
Family Medicine
2027
Kishore Vellody
Pediatrics
2027
Laura Lillien Neurobiology lillien@pitt.edu 2028
Louis Rapkin
Pediatrics
2027
Michael Best
Anesthesiology
2027
Mohammad Al-Bataineh
Medicine
2027
Oscar Escobar* Pediatrics escobaro@pitt.edu 2028
Ossama Kashlan Medicine ossamakashlan@pitt.edu 2028
Peter Drain
Cell Biology
2027
Robert Powers
OB/GYN
2027
Robin Maier
Family Medicine
2027
Smita Iyer
Pathology
2027
Sylvia Choi
Pediatrics
2027
Tatiana Villatoro Pathology tvlltr@pitt.edu 2028
Tony Tarchichi* Pediatrics trt25@pitt.edu 2028
Vanathi Gopalakrishnan Pediatrics vanathi@pitt.edu 2028
Wassim Chemaitilly* Pediatrics wac42@pitt.edu 2028
William McIvor
Anesthesiology
mcivor@pitt.edu 2027
*jobshare

Clinical Skills Preceptors (CSPs)

Faculty Department Email Primary Class
Adam Yates Emergency Medicine amy35@pitt.edu 2027
Agnieszka Bialy Emergency Medicine bialya@upmc.edu 2027
Allison Cipriani* Medicine ciprianial3@upmc.edu 2028
Amanda Casagrande Family Medicine casagrandeaj@upmc.edu 2027
Amanda McCoy Orthopedic Surgery ajm390@pitt.edu 2027
Ankur Doshi Emergency Medicine doshiaa@upmc.edu 2028
Anna-Binney McCague Pediatrics mccaguea2@upmc.edu 2027
Anthony Cyr Surgery cyrar@upmc.edu 2027
Arjun Pennathur CT Surgery arjunp@pitt.edu 2028
Ashten Ebersbacher* Medicine ebersbacheram@upmc.edu 2028
Benjamin Sprague* Medicine spragueb@upmc.edu 2028
Brian Heist Medicine heistb@upmc.edu 2028
Bryce Bredell Emergency Medicine bredellb@pitt.edu 2027
Chelsea Dahl* Medicine dahlcf@upmc.edu 2027 & 2028
Christopher Wynkoop* Medicine wynkoopcl@upmc.edu 2028
Daniel Atwood Pediatrics dta24@pitt.edu 2028
Deborah Brooks Emergency Medicine brooksdm@upmc.edu 2027
Desiree Neville Pediatrics desiree.neville@chp.edu 2027
Eric Anish Medicine anishea@upmc.edu 2027
Erin Cummings Pediatrics eec70@pitt.edu 2027
Evelyn Reis Pediatrics reise@pitt.edu 2027
Evette Yassa Family Medicine yassaes@upmc.edu 2028
Gaetan Sgro Medicine gaetan.sgro@pitt.edu 2027
Gary Pollock Emergency Medicine gfp7@pitt.edu 2027
Graziela Gauza Surgery   2028
Heather Mikes Family Medicine mikesh@upmc.edu 2028
Jacqueline Weaver-Agostoni Family Medicine agostonijs@upmc.edu 2027
James Van Meerbeke Emergency Medicine jpv23@pitt.edu 2027
Jason Chang Emergency Medicine changjs2@upmc.edu 2027
Jason Edinger PM&R jme58@pitt.edu 2028
Jen Chen* Medicine jecchen@ucdavis.edu 2028
Jessica Oh* Medicine ohjh@upmc.edu 2028
Jillian Kyle Medicine roperj@upmc.edu 2028
Joshua Shulman Emergency Medicine jas135@pitt.edu 2027
Julie McCausland Emergency Medicine mccauslandjb@upmc.edu 2027
Karla Bernardi Surgery bernardik@upmc.edu 2028
Kathryn Levens* Medicine leyensk@upmc.edu 2028
Kory Gebhardt Emergency Medicine Gebhardtkm2@upmc.edu 2028
Krupa Patel* Medicine patelks4@upmc.edu 2028
Laura West Pediatrics laura.west@chp.edu 2028
Lauren Navitasky Medicine navitskylg@upmc.edu 2028
Leah Koenig Medicine koeniglj3@upmc.edu 2028
Linda King Medicine lik6@pitt.edu 2027
Lisa Podgurski Medicine podgurskil@upmc.edu 2027
Louis Rapkin Pediatrics lbr17@pitt.edu 2027
Margaret Shang Pediatrics shangm2@upmc.edu 2028
Mary Ratay Emergency Medicine rataymk@upmc.edu 2027
Matan Arnon* Medicine arnonm2@upmc.edu 2028
Matthew Dougherty Emergency Medicine doughertymj3@upmc.edu 2027
Matthew Pihlblad Ophthalmology matthew.pihlblad@pitt.edu 2027
Melinda Hamilton Critical Care Medicine mlf13@pitt.edu 2027
Melissa Tavarez Pediatrics mmt49@pitt.edu 2027
Michael Best Anesthesiology bestmw2@upmc.edu 2027
Michael Simonson* Medicine mgs107@pitt.edu 2027 & 2028
Michael Turturro Emergency Medicine turturro@pitt.edu 2027
Mohamed Hagahmed Emergency Medicine hagahmedmb2@upmc.edu 2027
Natan Cramer Pediatrics nmc67@pitt.edu 2027
Nursen Gurtunca Pediatrics nursen.gurtunca@chp.edu 2028
Palash Samanta* Medicine samantap@upmc.edu 2028
Peter Volpe* Medicine volpepj@upmc.edu 2028
Pooja Bhatt* Medicine mahadeshwarps@upmc.edu 2028
Raquel Zemtsov Family Medicine zemtsovrk@upmc.edu 2028
Rebecca Green Medicine reg62@pitt.edu 2027
Rickquel Tripp Emergency Medicine tripprp@upmc.edu 2027
Robin Maier Family Medicine maierrm@upmc.edu 2027
Rowena Pingul-Ravano Family Medicine pingulravanord@upmc.edu 2027
Sara Spinella Medicine sas1136@pitt.edu 2028
Sarah Jones Medicine jonessa3@upmc.edu 2028
Shea Ford* Medicine fordsa2@upmc.edu 2028
Stacy Bartlett Family Medicine stb125@pitt.edu 2028
Stasa Tadic Medicine std45@pitt.edu 2028
Steven Leers Surgery leerssa@upmc.edu 2028
Tahniat Syed Pediatrics tahniat.syed@chp.edu 2028
Tara Sunder* Medicine sundert@upmc.edu 2028
William Trautman Family Medicine trautmanwj@upmc.edu 2028
Yolandee Bell-Cheddar Critical Care Medicine yrb2@pitt.edu 2027
*jobshare