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New Employees - August 2020


New Faculty - August 2020


Yazan Abou-Ismail, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies

Yazan Abou-Ismail, MD (Mouhamed Yazan Abou-Ismail) is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies. He specializes in treating non-malignant hematologic disorders, with special interest in disorders of hemostasis and thrombosis, in which he has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications. He was born in Syria and grew up in Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. He earned his medical degree from Weill Cornell Medicine in Doha, Qatar in 2014, and then completed Internal Medicine residency training at Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, New York, followed by Hematology and Oncology fellowship training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was the recipient of the 2018 Harris Foundation award for hematology fellows.

Dr. Abou-Ismail is passionate about non-malignant hematology, and his research interests include immune-mediated disorders of hemostasis and thrombosis, such as immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and acquired hemophilia, as well as von Willebrand disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a recurrent medical correspondent on live primetime national news in the Middle East. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, drawing, playing the keyboard and composing music.

Kyle is an eager math and computer science student from Salt Lake City. As a junior at the University of Utah, he has developed a strong interest in answering questions in medicine using math and computer science. He hopes to continue to get involved with this research at the University of Utah.

Marja Anton
Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine

Sarah Gilligan
Assistant Professor
Nephrology

Joanne Jeter, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical Director of the Family Cancer Assessment Clinic
Oncology - Huntsman Cancer Institute, Sugarhouse Clinic

Joanne Jeter, MD, MS, is the Medical Director of the Family Cancer Assessment Clinic and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She is board-certified in Medical Oncology. After receiving her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, Texas, she earned a Master of Science degree in Clinical Trials Design and Statistical Analysis from the University of Michigan. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and her Medical Oncology fellowship at the University of Michigan. She has authored numerous scientific publications and has been an invited lecturer at over 100 academic seminars, medical conferences, and symposia presenting on multiple topics in cancer genetics, breast cancer, melanoma, and other skin cancers. Her research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, as well as industry sources. She received the Coltman Fellowship from the Southwest Oncology Group, as well as a Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health. She currently serves on the National Cancer Institute's PDQ Cancer Genetics Editorial Board and the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Scientific Program Committee.

Her primary research interest is in personalized chemoprevention for individuals at hereditary risk of cancer. She is passionate about improving education in cancer genetics and finding new means to provide access for genetic counseling and testing, as well as medical care for those with hereditary cancer syndromes. She also takes care of patients with advanced cutaneous malignancies in her medical oncology clinic. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, geocaching, and travel when public health conditions allow it.

Tara L. Jones, MD/PharmD
Interventional Cardiologist
Cardiovascular Medicine

Dr. Jones is originally from Mitchell, SD. She graduated from the South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy where she received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2005 and her Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2007. She then graduated from the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine with her MD in 2012. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and her Cardiovascular Fellowship at the University of Washington. She subsequently came to the University of Utah to complete her Interventional Cardiology and Structural Heart Disease Fellowships.

Dr. Jones specializes in both interventional cardiology and structural heart disease cases including Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Her clinical responsibilities include invasive management of acute heart attacks, evaluation and management of valvular heart disease, coronary stent implantation/balloon angioplasty, and PFO/ASD closure.

She is also an active researcher, with her academic interests focused on cardiogenic shock, acute coronary syndromes, and structural heart disease. She has authored several articles in cardiovascular journals focusing on these interests. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, hiking, and running.

Katie Kerrigan, DO
Medical Oncologist
Oncology - Huntsman Cancer Institute, Sugarhouse Clinic

Dr. Kerrigan was born and raised in Ohio, and became interested in oncology during her first year in medical school. She moved west to pursue a life in the mountains and to train and work at the NCI designated Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. Kerrigan loves gardening, traveling, and spending time with her new puppy Cooper.

Janet Lee, MD
Assistant Professor
Pulmonary - University of Utah Medical Center

Janet grew up in New York and New Jersey. She received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in Chemistry and received her medical degree from New Jersey Medical School. She trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and practiced as a hospitalist for two years in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho before moving to Salt Lake City to pursue further training in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University of Utah. When not working, Janet enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, their daughter, and their vizsla. 

Patricia Liu, MD
Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine - University of Utah Main Hospital

Pat is originally from Madison, WI. She completed medical school at the University of Wisconsin before moving to Portland, OR for residency and chief year at Oregon Health and Science University. At work, she is passionate about medical education and curricular development. When she's not in the hospital, you can find her running, hiking, camping and hanging out with her dog and cat.

Megan Puckett, MD
Assistant Professor
Geriatrics - Madsen Clinic

Megan was born in Kansas City, MO, but spent most of her childhood growing up in Lincoln, NE. She attended medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical School in Omaha, NE. She went on to do her residency in Internal Medicine here at the University of Utah and stayed for an additional year of fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. She recently started as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, working at Madsen Clinic doing outpatient Geriatric primary care and consultations. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, backpacking, and skiing with her husband and dog as well as tending to her garden and flock of backyard chickens.

Jacob Stever
Assistant Professor
Rheumatology

New Adjunct Faculty - August 2020

Bob Mazzola
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Pulmonary 

Kira Watson, MD, MPH
Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Physician Assistant Professor, Adjunct Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine, Pediatrics - Sugarhouse Clinic

Kira Watson, MD, MPH is a primary care provider at Sugarhouse Clinic. She is trained in both internal medicine and pediatrics, and now practices as a general internist and pediatrician. Her clinical interests include population health, social determinants of health, transitional care of complex pediatric patients, and quality care for non-English speaking patients. Dr. Watson speaks both English and Spanish.

Dr. Watson grew up in Miami, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from Pomona College in Claremont, CA and her MD, MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. She completed a four-year Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency, and a one-year Quality Improvement Fellowship at LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. She is Board Certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Watson completed six half marathons during residency, and hopes to compete in her first triathlon someday soon.

New Staff - August 2020

James Bailey
Outpatient Manager
Dialysis-Utah

Kenneth Batchelor
Clinical Nurse
Dialysis Idaho

Elizabeth (Betsy) Charron, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow, PARCKA
Epidemiology - Salt Lake City

Betsy Charron is from Athens, GA.  She recently joined PARCKA in the Division of Epidemiology as a postdoctoral fellow. Betsy is a health services researcher interested in improving health care delivery for vulnerable populations. She received her PhD from Clemson University and MPH from Tulane University. Betsy enjoys spending her free time exploring the great outdoors with her hound dog, Sammy.

April Conlon, APRN, FNP-C
Nurse Practitioner
Rheumatology - Sugarhouse and ACC

April was born is Arizona but moved to Utah before she could walk. She has called Utah home ever since. She graduated from Westminster College, in Salt Lake City with her BSN in nursing. She went on to complete an MSN degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Although most of her nursing career has been spent in Nephrology, she has always had an interest in Rheumatology. She is excited to have finally planted her feet in this specialty. In her spare time, April enjoys running, painting, and crafting.

Robert Ervin Cruz
Clinical Nurse
Dialysis - Utah

Danielle Delucchi
Clinical Instructor
General Internal Medicine

Sage Doelling
Dialysis Technician
Dialysis - Utah

Shealyone Galetka
Dialysis Technician
Dialysis - Utah

Shelby Hall
Graduate Research Assistant
Geriatrics

Kyle Kazemini
Student Research Assistant
Epidemiology - Salt Lake City

Kyle is an eager math and computer science student from Salt Lake City. As a junior at the University of Utah, he has developed a strong interest in answering questions in medicine using math and computer science. He hopes to continue to get involved with this research at the University of Utah.

Augustine Kpaleh
Clinical Nurse
Dialysis - Utah

Preston Larsen
Cell Therapy Tech
Cell Therapy/Regenerative Medicine

Jisok Lim
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Geriatrics

Sara Lorscheider, PA-C
Inpatient Meidcal Oncology APC
Oncology - Huntsman Cancer Hospital

Sara grew up in Centerville, Utah and attended Utah State University where she played soccer and got her Bachelors of Science in Biology. She then worked as a phlebotomist and tech at the Loveland Clinic for Blood Cancer Therapy at LDS Hospital for a year prior to moving to Virginia to attend PA school. She graduated with her Masters of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia and recently returned to Utah to begin her career as a Physician Assistant. She is very excited to join the Inpatient Medical Oncology team! She enjoys hiking, camping, skiing, and biking in the Utah mountains.

Alexander Mensinger
Dialysis Technician
Dialysis - Utah

Kyron Nielsen
Graduate Research Assistant
Cardiovascular Medicine

Ritika Ohri, MD
Clinical Attending
Nephrology and Hypertension - University of Utah Main Hospital

Ritika Ohri, M.D., is a nephrologist at University of Utah School of Medicine. She did her Medical School in India and graduated from Government Medical College, Amritsar in 2010. After working briefly in India, she went on to join Internal Medicine Residency at St Vincent Charity Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio in 2013 and finished it in 2016. Thereafter, she moved to University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) for Nephrology fellowship and successfully graduated in 2018. She was the Chief Nephrology Fellow for academic year 2017-2018 at UAB.

After finishing fellowship, she worked at Banner University Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Nephrology. In 2020, she and her family moved to Salt Lake City for her husband’s Gastroenterology fellowship at University of Utah. She joined University of Utah as Clinical Attending in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. Dr Ohri is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. Her clinical interests include chronic kidney disease, kidney stones and polycystic kidney disease.

Apart from medicine, Dr Ohri enjoys spending time with her 2 year old son. She speaks English, Hindi and Punjabi.

Kaitlyn Pelletier
Nurse Practitioner
Oncology

Adriana Reyes
Graduate Research Assistant
Cardiovascular Medicine

Ali Roghani
Postdoctoral Fellow
Epidemiology

Kelsee M. Stromberg, MPH
Research Analyst
Epidemiology - University of Utah School of Medicine

Kelsee grew up in St. George, Utah, but her passion for snowboarding lead her to leave the desert for the snowy mountain ranges of Salt Lake City. Since receiving her Master of Public Health, she has been inspired to work in research. As a proud spouse to a husband who works for the United States Air Force, Kelsee is excited to be working on the TORCH team in the Department of Epidemiology, with a research focused on military members and veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries . Kelsee is dedicated to research that links data to life stories, which goes on to change outcomes and improve lives.

Kaitlyn Sumner
Clinical Nurse
Dialysis - Utah

Heather Youngberg
Dialysis Technician
Dialysis - Utah

Kevin Zhang
Dialysis Technician
Dialysis - Utah