Special edition newsletter
Inside this edition 2-4 Awards 9 Thank You
5-8 Where are they headed?
Neurology and Neurotherapeutics
From the Chair Dr. Mark Goldberg
Graduation 2015 was a big success with eleven residents and nine fellows completing their training.
I would like to thank our program directors and faculty for preparing our residents and fellows for the next step in their careers.
In this special edition newsletter, we recap the night with award winners and photos from the evening. We will also tell you where our trainees are headed next.
Congratulations to all!
Resident and Fellow Graduation 2015
Saturday, May 30
Dallas Petroleum Club
Awards
Ugo Chukwueke, M.D., served as the 2014-2015 co-
Chief Resident for the Adult Neurology Residency Program.
Her outstanding patient care and teaching were recognized
with several awards: Dr. Hal Unwin Outstanding Resident
Award; Parkland Hospital Resident Award; and Resident
Teaching Award. (Photo: Dr. Ugo Chukwueke and Dr. Steven
Vernino, Director, Adult Neurology Residency Program.)
Isaac Marin-Valencia, M.D., served as the 2014-2015
Chief Resident for the Child Neurology Residency Program.
His outstanding patient care and research were recognized
with the Dr. Hal Unwin Outstanding Resident Award and
the Weisberg-Rivera Manuscript Award. (Photo: Dr. Isaac
Marin-Valencia and Dr. Rana Said, Director, Child Neurology
Residency Program.)
Dr. Hal Unwin Outstanding Resident award
Resident teaching award
Dr. Lauren Phillips, Co-
Director, Neurology Clerkship,
and Meredith Bryarly, M.D.,
Teaching Award Recipient.
Dr. Lauren Phillips with Ugo
Chukwueke, M.D., Teaching
Award Recipient.
Dr. Lauren Phillips with Yuan
Xing, M.D., Teaching Award
Recipient.
Awards Graduation 2015
Dr. Oliver Sum-Ping was recognized for his
excellence and compassion in patient care with
the Stephen Damm Memorial Award.
Damm was an influential advocate for quality
patient care during his tenure with Children's
Medical Center and as a cancer patient. His
wife Tyra, and children, Katie and Cooper,
presented the award along with Dr. Shilpa
Chitnis, who was one of Steve’s physicians.
Child Neurology Resident
Excellence in care award
Neuroscience nurses at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas
recognized Daniel Gossett, M.D., for his excellence in
patient care. (Photo: Dr. Gossett with Dr. Rana Said)
Stephen damm memorial award
for compassion and excellence
Dr. Roger Rosenberg
outstanding fellow award
Outstanding Fellow for 2014-2015 was Dr. Chirantan
Banerjee who trained in Stroke and Vascular Neurology.
(Photo: Dr. Banerjee with Dr. Shilpa Chitnis, Associate Director
of Adult Neurology Residency Program.)
Graduation 2015 Awards
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Awards Graduation 2015
Dr. Roger Rosenberg (center) presented the Fred Baskin Young Investigator Award to Dr.
Sterling Ortega (left), Postdoctoral Research in the Neurorepair Lab, and Dr. Divyanshu
Dubey, Adult Neurology Resident. Dr. Dubey also received the Rivera-Weisberg Manuscript
Award.
RESEARCH DAYS
Our adult and pediatric
residency programs held
Research Days in Spring
2015. All trainees (medical
students, residents and
fellows) were invited to
present research posters
while senior residents gave
presentations on the
culmination of the research
projects they conducted as
residents.
Med Student Prize
Niyatee Sumadra, M.D., (left) won the Medical
Student Prize for her research. Dr. Sumadra joins
the neurology residency program for 2015-2016.
(Photo: Dr. Sumadra and Dr. Lauren Phillips.)
Trephined cranium award
Residents gave the Trephined Cranium Award to Dr. Ryan Hays in
recognition of his outstanding teaching skills. This was Dr. Hays’ second
time to win the award. (Photo: (l-r) Dr. Isaac Marin-Valencia, Dr. Ryan Hays,
Dr. Ugo Chukwueke and Dr. Zakraus Mahdavi.)
Fred baskin young investigator award
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Where are they headed? Graduation 2015
(From l-r) William Renthal, Meredith Bryarly, Yuan Xing, Aashoo Mentreddi, Ugo
Chukwueke, Claudia Perez, Zak Mahdavi and Oliver Sum-Ping.
Adult neurology residents take next step
Where are they
headed?
William Renthal, M.D.,
Ph.D.
Headache Medicine Fellowship,
Harvard Medical School
Meredith Bryarly, M.D.
Neuromuscular Fellowship, UT
Southwestern
Yuan Xing, M.D.
Movement Disorders
Fellowship, UC-San Diego
Aashoo Mentreddi, M.D.
Movement Disorders
Fellowship, UT Southwestern
Ugo Chukwueke, M.D.
Neuro-Oncology Fellowship,
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Claudia Perez, M.D.
Neurocritical Care Fellowship,
UT Southwestern
Zak Mahdavi, M.D.
Neurocritical Care Fellowship,
UT Southwestern
Oliver Sum-Ping, M.D.
Sleep Medicine Fellowship,
Stanford Adult Neurology Residents with Neurology Residency Program Directors, Dr. Steve Vernino
(far left) and Dr. Shilpa Chitnis (far right.)
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Where are they headed? Graduation 2015
(From l-r) Isaac Marin-Valencia, Kellie Shaw (Education Coordinator), Jennifer Muncy
Thomas, Dr. Rana Said, Daniel Gossett.
child neurology residents take next step
Where are they
headed?
Isaac Marin-Valencia, M.D.
Instructor in Molecular
Genetics, Rockefeller
University Hospital
Jennifer Muncy Thomas,
M.D.
Instructor, UT Southwestern
Daniel Gossett, M.D.
Epilepsy Fellowship, University
of Colorado School of Medicine
Child Neurology Program (above)
The awesome and agile duo of Dr. Rana Said and Kellie Shaw.
Graduating Child Neurology Residents: Isaac Marin-
Valencia, Jennifer Muncy Thomas and Daniel Gossett.
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Where are they headed? Graduation 2015
Chirantan Banerjee, M.D.,
pictured with Dr. Mark Johnson,
completed a Stroke and Vascular
Neurology Fellowship. He joins the
faculty of the Medical College of South
Carolina.
Fellows head into the future
Abdulradha Alqallaf, M.D., pictured
with Dr. Ryan Hays, completed a
Neurophysiology Fellowship and will
continue at UT Southwestern as an
Epilepsy Fellow.
Hamid Kadiwala, M.D., pictured
with Dr. Ryan Hays, completed a
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship and
will be in private practice in Dallas-Fort
Worth.
Omar Elghawanmeh, M.D., pictured
with Dr. Ryan Hays, completed a
Neurophysiology Fellowship and will
continue at UT Southwestern as an
Epilepsy Fellowship.
Andrea Lowden, M.D., pictured with
Dr. Susan Arnold, completed a Clinical
Neurophysiology Fellowship and will
continue at UT Southwestern as an
Epilepsy Fellow.
Sudama Reddi, M.D., pictured with
Dr. Deborah Friedman, completed a
Headache Medicine Fellowship and will
join Texas Neurology Consultants at
Texas Health Presbyterian-Plano.
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Where are they headed? Graduation 2015
Christine Saldivar, M.D., pictured
with Dr. Jaya Trivedi, completed a
Neuromuscular Fellowship. She will be
in private practice in Austin, TX.
Fellows head into the future
Gulshan Uppal, M.D., pictured with
Dr. Ryan Hays, completed a Clinical
Neurophysiology Fellowship. He is in
private practice with Freeman
Neurospine in Joplin, Missouri.
Drew Thodeson, M.D., completed a
Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship and will
continue at UT Southwestern as a
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellow.
Faculty members with Outstanding Fellow
of the Year, Chirantan Banerjee
(From l-r) Dr. Stephen Figueroa, Dr. Mark Johnson,
Dr. Chirantan Banerjee, Dr. Alejandro Magadan and
Dr. Mark Goldberg, Department Chair.
Neurophysiology Fellows
(From l-r) Abdulradha Alqallaf,
M.D., Omar Elghawanmeh,
M.D., Andrea Lowden, M.D.,
Hamid Kadiwala, M.D., and
Gulshan Uppal, M.D.
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A big “Thank You!” goes out to our Program Directors and Education Coordinators who made our graduation
ceremony a big success, but most importantly, who work hard all year-round to make all of our programs strong.
Thank you Graduation 2015
Thank you!
Dr. Rana Said, Child Neurology
Program Director, and Kellie
Shaw, Education Coordinator,
Child Neurology Program.
Dr. Shilpa Chitnis, Adult Neurology
Program Associate Director and
Fellowship Programs Director, and
Dr. Steve Vernino, Adult Neurology
Residency Program Director.
Pepper Wedgewood, Sr. Education
Coordinator for Adult Neurology
Residency Program, and Angela
Colon, Assistant Education
Coordinator.
Thank you also to our emcees for the evening, Shaida
Khan, Adult Neurology Resident, and Dallas Stobaugh,
Child Neurology Resident. Shaida also gathered hundreds of
photos of our residents for the slideshow. And thank you to
Julie Kirchem, our department photographer and
newsletter maker.
Photo: (l-r) Dr. Shilpa Chitnis, Shaida Khan and Dallas
Stobaugh.
Neurology and Neurotherapeutics