Philadelphia, July 24, 2024 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced several new appointments to its Specialty Boards, Advisory Committees and Approval Committees today.
ABIM's Governance, which consists of the Board of Directors, Council, Specialty Boards and Advisory Committees, and Approval Committees comprises physicians with a variety of practice experience as well as members of the healthcare team and public who provide important insights into what constitutes excellence in patient care. All physicians in ABIM Governance participate in Maintenance of Certification (MOC), and all members collaborate across the medical community to set strategy, lead innovation in assessment methods and explore opportunities to enhance Certification and MOC.
“The role of ABIM’s governance is critical in helping ABIM provide the best options for medical professionals to keep their knowledge current and for patients to know that they are receiving care from a physician who is keeping up with the latest developments in medicine,” said Richard J. Baron, MD, MACP, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABIM. “I am grateful for the work governance does to ensure ABIM meets the needs of busy physicians, while maintaining the value and importance of certification.”
Specialty Boards and Advisory Committees
Specialty Boards and Advisory Committees are composed of physicians from a diverse range of practice types as well as members of the interprofessional healthcare team and public who are responsible for the broad definition of the discipline across Certification and MOC, assuring that the credential speaks to the evolving needs of the discipline.
Approval Committees
Approval Committees, composed entirely of physician experts, are responsible for approving all assessment content and maintaining the blueprints for Certification, MOC and the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®) in internal medicine and its subspecialties. As such, they play a crucial role in defining their respective disciplines.
Cardiovascular Board
Jameel Ahmed, MD, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Program Director of the Electrophysiology Fellowship Training Program at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society and is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.
Joseph Rogers, MD, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Heart Institute and a board certified specialist in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.
Mellanie True Hills, CSP, is an atrial fibrillation (A-fib) patient (more than 18 years A-fib-free), founder and CEO of the American Foundation for Women's Health and StopAfib.org—a global atrial fibrillation patient advocacy organization—and a passionate advocate for patients. In addition, she is the author of three bestselling and multiple award-winning books, including A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life.
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Approval Committee
Daniel Yip, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Medical School and Medical Director of Heart Failure and Transplant in the Department of Pharmacy and Enterprise Transplant Marketing at the Mayo Clinic Florida, where he also serves as a consultant in the Department of Transplantation, Division of Heart Failure and Transplant. He is the Chair of Patient Experience Surveying and Research and Co-Medical Director, Enterprise Transplant Informatics, for the Mayo Clinic. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.
Cardiovascular LKA Approval Committee
Andrew Calvin, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Science and a clinical cardiologist with Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease; he is also a Diplomate in Adult Comprehensive Echocardiography and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Cardiology.
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Approval Committee
James P. Daubert, MD, has been named chair of the Approval Committee. Dr. Daubert is a Professor of Medicine with tenure at Duke University School of Medicine, a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute faculty and Associate Director of the Heart Center at Duke University Medical Center. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.
Michael Lloyd, MD, is a Professor of Medicine and the lab director for Emory University Hospital Cardiac Electrophysiology Center. He serves as the Vice Chair of the Heart Rhythm Society's Digital Education Committee. He is board certified in cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.
Babak Nazer, MD, is a board certified cardiac electrophysiologist and Associate Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is the Director of the Multi-Disciplinary Ventricular Arrhythmia Program and the Translational Electrophysiology Laboratory.
Interventional Cardiology LKA Approval Committee
Georges Ephrem, MD, is a clinical and interventional adult congenital, coronary and structural heart diseases specialist. He is the Director of Structural Heart Interventions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center/Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is board certified in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. Dr. Ephrem also joined the Cardiovascular Board in January.
Jonathan D. Marmur, MD, is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He received funding from several organizations, including the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Medical Research Council of Canada and the National Institutes of Health, to support his research in interventional cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology.
Critical Care Medicine Board
Allison Greco, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine within the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine, where she also serves as an Assistant Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program. She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine.
Sandra L. Kane-Gill, Pharm.D., MSc, FCCP, FCCM, is a tenured professor and Interim Chair of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. In addition to her academic appointments, Dr. Kane-Gill is a critical care medication safety pharmacist in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Leonard Stallings, MD, FCCP, is a community and academic intensivist with Advocate Health based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Stallings is on the faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunologic Diseases and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Section of Critical Care Medicine. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine and critical care medicine.
Critical Care Medicine LKA Approval Committee
Gina Iacovella, MD, MS, has been named chair of the Approval Committee. Dr. Iacovella is a critical care physician at Moffitt Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She is board certified in internal medicine, nephrology and critical care medicine.
Sarah Hadique, MD, FACP, FCCP, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at West Virginia University and Chair of the Practice and Policy Steering Committee in the Critical Care and Trauma Institute. She also serves as Program Director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship and Clinical Preceptor for Nurse Practitioner in the Pulmonary Clinic. She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine.
Critical Care Medicine Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Ryan Maves, MD, FCCM, FCCP, FIDSA, has been named chair of the Approval Committee. Dr. Maves is a Professor of Medicine and Anesthesiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he serves as an attending physician in infectious diseases and critical care medicine. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, infectious disease and critical care medicine.
Jonathan Paladino, MD, Ph.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he serves as an academic and research advisor. He is the System Director of Critical Care for Hawai‘i Pacific Health as well as the founder and Director of the Hanuola Adult ECMO [Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation] Program. He serves as the Chief of Medicine at Pali Momi Medical Center and the Medical Director for Critical Care at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine in emergency medicine, internal medicine – critical care medicine and neurocritical care medicine.
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Board
Christine Twining, MD, has been named chair of the Specialty Board. Dr. Twining is the Medical Director at the Maine Medical Partners Center for Endocrinology and Diabetes in Scarborough, Maine, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine. She teaches Tufts medical students and residents at Maine Medical Center, where she also serves as an advisor to internal medicine-pediatrics residents. She is ABIM Board Certified in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
Andrew Gianoukakis, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Certified in internal medicine and endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, he is the Program Director of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Endocrinology Fellowship Program as well as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.
Christina M. Lovato, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center and Sandoval Regional Medical Center. She is the Program Director for the UNM Endocrinology Fellowship Program and is also Co-Director for the medical specialties clinics at UNM. She is ABIM Board Certified in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
Gastroenterology Board
Rocio Castrillon is a Crohn’s disease patient since 2003 and has been involved with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation in various capacities, including as a fundraiser, advocate, mentor, stakeholder reviewer, associate editor and task force member within the Foundation. She believes in the power of the patient voice and openly shares her personal experience of living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Fluent in Spanish and French, and as a Latina IBD patient of Peruvian descent, she is committed to addressing the unique needs of diverse IBD communities and expanding patient accessibility to quality IBD information, resources and research.
Gastroenterology Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Mohamed Shoreibah, MD, is a physician and academic leader in the field of internal medicine with specialized expertise in transplant hepatology. Currently serving as an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Shoreibah holds the position of Director of the Hepatology Section. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology and transplant hepatology.
Gastroenterology LKA Approval Committee
Ravi Vachhani, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, and Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System. He is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Vachhani has received many awards, including Leadership in Graduate Medical Education, Distinguished Clinical Care and the ABIM Item-Writing Task Forces Extraordinary Performance Award.
Geriatric Medicine LKA Approval Committee
Niharika N. Suchak, MD, has been named chair of the Approval Committee. Dr. Suchak is a clinician-educator and Associate Professor in the Department of Geriatrics at Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee. She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, geriatric medicine and hospice and palliative medicine.
Ecler Jaqua, MD, MBA, FAAFP, AGSF, FACLM, DipABOM, AAHIVS, is an Associate Professor of Family and Geriatric Medicine and the Associate Program Director of the Loma Linda University Family Medicine Residency. She is board certified in family medicine, geriatric medicine, lifestyle medicine and obesity medicine. She is also a certified HIV specialist.
Hematology Board
Shaina Rozell, MD, MPH, is a medical oncologist at Affiliated Oncologists in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, affiliated with Advocate Christ Medical Center and Advocate South Suburban Hospital. She is triple-board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology.
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Carolyn Leftkowits, MD, MPH, MS, is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, jointly appointed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, and the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Palliative Medicine. She serves as the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Fellowship Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, gynecologic oncology and hospice and palliative medicine.
Infectious Disease Board
Raghavendra Tirupathi Govindaraju, MD, is the Medical Director of Keystone Infectious Diseases/HIV and Keystone Community Health Services in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He also serves as the Chair of the Infection Prevention Committees of both WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital and WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital. He has a teaching appointment at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine. He serves as the clinical consultant at CURE ID/CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory, a joint initiative of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.
Infectious Disease LKA Approval Committee
Christian Rojas Moreno, MD, FACP, FIDSA, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He also serves as Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.
Infectious Disease Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Col. Roseanne A. Ressner, DO, FIDSA, FACP, is a Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She is the Senior Medical Advisor at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and clinically active as an infectious disease staff physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC). She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.
Internal Medicine Board
Richard M. Wardrop III, MD, has been named Chair of the Internal Medicine Board. Dr. Wardrop is a career clinician-educator and is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He serves as faculty at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University. He is board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics.
Col. Steven Coffee is an active duty career military officer who serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Force Management Integration on the Secretary of the Air and Space Forces Staff. Col. Coffee began his journey as a patient advocate and activist following his then eight-week-old son's liver transplant due to a diagnostic error. He is a founding member of the Patients for Patient Safety U.S. chapter of the World Health Organization and Chief Executive Officer of Head-2-Heart Connections, LLC.
Erin Ramelb, MD, is a board certified internist practicing hospital medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine. She teaches within all phases of the college of medicine curriculum and serves as a member of the curriculum committee and the Observed Structured Clinical Examination grading leadership team.
Internal Medicine: Inpatient Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Sharon Kim, MD, FACP, is the Physician Director of Medical Education in the San Diego service area for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and Assistant Chief of Hospital Medicine over Quality and Education. She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine.
Medical Oncology Board
Desirée A. H. Walker is the President of the Young Survival Coalition Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center's Patient Family Advisory Council. She facilitates support groups for women of African heritage with breast, ovarian or uterine cancer. Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38 and again at 47, she is a dedicated patient advocate, health educator and health equity activist, striving to be a voice for the voiceless and empowering diverse communities worldwide.
Medical Oncology Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
John Jakob, MD, Ph.D., is a community-based adult hematologist oncologist at Summa Health Systems in Akron, Ohio, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University. He is board certified in medical oncology and hematology.
Nephrology Board
Edward V. Hickey III is the President of the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) and an attorney with O’Melveny & Myers. He served as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps as a lieutenant with postings in Quantico and Camp Pendleton. His distinguished public service career includes posts on Capitol Hill as an administrative assistant, a special assistant at the Department of Commerce and Senior Advisor for Homeland Security for the Director of the Office of Personnel Management under former President George W. Bush.
Pulmonary Disease Board
Abdullah Alismail, Ph.D., RRT, FCCP, FAARC, ATSF, is a registered respiratory therapist and an Associate Professor of Cardiopulmonary Sciences and Medicine at Loma Linda University (LLU). He is the Program Director of the entry-level Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care and Master of Science in Respiratory Care programs at LLU. He holds neonate and pediatric and sleep disorders specialist certifications.
Rheumatology Board
Amish J. Dave, MD, MPH, is a board certified internist and rheumatologist practicing in Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Washington. He has served as Co-Chair of the Arthritis Foundation Great West Chapter, Vice President of King County Medical Society, Executive Committee Member of the American College of Physicians Washington Chapter and a board member of the Washington State Medical Association.
Sleep Medicine Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
Catherine McCall, MD, has been named the new chair of the approval committee. Dr. McCall is an academic sleep medicine physician. She serves as the Assistant Professor at VA Puget Sound Health Care Center. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology in psychiatry and sleep medicine.
Ashima Sahni, MD, FCCP, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine, critical care medicine, pulmonary disease and sleep medicine.
Muhammed Ali Syed, MD, FACP, is the Medical Director of the Sleep Medicine Department and the Fellowship Director of the Sleep Medicine Program at the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, Florida. He also serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at UF. Dr. Syed is ABIM Board Certified in internal medicine and sleep medicine.
Sleep Medicine LKA Approval Committee
Colin Huntley, MD, FACS, is an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery with a secondary appointment in Sleep Medicine. He has dual board certifications in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery and sleep medicine. His primary research focus surrounds sleep disorders and sleep disordered breathing.
Mariam Louis, MD, MSc, FCCP, FRCPSC, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine and is ABIM Board Certified in pulmonary disease and sleep medicine. She is the Director of the Sleep Program at UF Health and currently serves as the Chair of the Non-Respiratory Section of the Sleep Network at the American College of Chest Physicians.