School of Medicine Class Notes*
Calling all Jumbos! Have you recently gotten married? Welcomed a new baby? Celebrated a professional achievement? Find out what your classmates have been up to and share your own news as well!
*This page will be updated on a monthly basis.
May 2025
Rose Glynne, MD, M88 has accepted a new position at Mercy Clinic Women’s Health in St. Louis as obstetrician-gynecologist. Dr. Glynne will provide pregnancy, childbirth and other women’s health care to women across southeast Missouri. Read more.
Rahul Kakkar, MD, A97, M02 has joined the bio platform innovation company Flagship Pioneering as CEO-Partner and Quotient Therapeutics as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Kakkar is a biotech entrepreneur and physician-scientist with nearly 20 years of professional experience founding and building biotechnology companies and practicing medicine. Read more.
Ron Riesenburger, MD, MMM, A97, M01 has been appointed Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Riesenburger will provide leadership across the department’s mission areas with subspecialty clinical expertise in areas including spine, vascular, cancer, epilepsy, and trauma neurosurgery. He has held these positions on an interim basis since October 2024.
Rahul Sharma, MD, M01 has been awarded the 2025 Roger Schenke Award by the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL). This award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to leadership education, management training, and professional development in healthcare. Dr. Sharma was recognized for his work in telemedicine and virtual care. Read more.
Maximillian Martinez, MG10 has joined Tennova Medical Group’s Orthopedics and Sports Medicine team in Clarksville, TN. Dr. Martinez, an orthopedic surgeon, will focus on performing knee replacements and improving athletes’ physical health.
Michael Tung, M01 has joined vTv Therapeutics as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Tung joins the biopharmaceutical company with over 20 years of experience in finance, corporate strategy, investor relations, and business development in the life sciences industry.
April 2025
Emily S. Levine, MD, MTA, M21 has been awarded the Ophthalmic Genetics Specialty Fellowship Award by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine. Dr. Levine will begin a clinical fellowship in ophthalmic genetics at the Casey Eye Institute of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR this summer. Read more.
March 2025
Erica Bisson, MD, MPH, M00 has been named Chair of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves. Dr. Bisson is a Professor of Neurosurgery and Adjunct Professor of Orthopedics at the University of Utah, where she also serves as Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs and Executive Medical Officer for the faculty practice. Read more.
Colleen Fant, MD, MPH, M13, MG13 has been appointed co-director of the Center for Global Pediatric Health, a part of the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health. Dr. Fant is currently an attending physician in emergency medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Read more.
February 2025
Miguelangelo Perez-Cruet, MD, M91 will lead the 14th annual Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Society (MINS) meeting held March 13-15, 2024 at Los Suenos Marriott, Costa Rica. This is the first international meeting for the organization which promotes minimally invasive neurosurgery through health care provider education, research, and collaboration. Read more.
Elizabeth Burnside Rollins, MD, MPH, M93, MG93 accepted the prestigious Gold Medal award from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) at the annual meeting in December 2024. This honor highlights her exceptional impact on the field of radiology. Read more.
Christian D. Pulcini, MD, M14 has published a children’s book called The Family Squeeze, a story that highlights the importance of strengthening familial relationships through physical touch. Dr. Pulcini is a pediatric emergency physician and researcher focused on children with disabilities, children's mental health and trauma, and firearm injuries. Read more.
Joseph Gerstein, MD, M61 recently addressed the Leadership Council on SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) Recovery's Correctional Programs and their Efficacy. Dr. Gerstein has facilitated over 4,000 SMART Recovery mutual aid meetings since 1990 in almost 800 in prisons and jails. He lectures on the SMART Recovery program annually at the TUSM Addiction Medicine course. Read more.
Jaideep Talwalkar, MD, M00, A27P, has been appointed as the inaugural associate dean for education technology and innovation at Yale School of Medicine, effective February 15, 2025. Read more.
Eric Sacknoff, MD, A67, M71 has been presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles. Read more.
December 2024
Justin K. Chang, MD, M16, MG12, has been named Lompoc Valley Medical Center Physician of the Year for 2024. Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) employees cast votes for the physician they believe exemplifies the hospital district’s values and maintains the trust of the community, patients and residents. The votes are also directed toward a doctor who strives continuously to improve services and who works as a team member with hospital staff. Dr. Chang joined the LVMC orthopedic service last fall. Read more.
Dean Xerras, MD, A92, M98 was honored by the Chelsea City Council with a celebratory resolution as Dr.Xerras plans to retire from the board of health after serving since 2006. Dr. Xerras, a Tufts University School of Medicine graduate, has been practicing at MGH Chelsea since 2002 and has been its medical director since 2009. He is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. During his tenure, the city enacted stricter tobacco regulations and the first U.S. city-wide ban on artificial trans fats. Dr. Xerras played a key role in the city’s Covid-19 response, assisting with quarantine efforts. Read more.
November 2024
Robert A. Harrington, MD, M86, will be presented with the 2024 Chairman's Award at the 2024 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. The ceremony is a leading international forum for exchanging the most recent findings, investigations, and evidence-based clinical practice updates in the field of cardiovascular science. Read more.
October 2024
Loni Rogers Belyea, MD, M14, as a triple board-certified physician with a distinguished career encompassing internal medicine, geriatrics, and obesity medicine, Dr. Belyea was appointed as the new Chief Medical Officer of Hello Alpha. Hello Alpha hopes to empower women to take charge of their own healthcare by giving patients access to basic, everyday medical requirements through an easy, inexpensive, and discreet online method. Read more.
September 2024
Jason Zaremski, MD, M07, highlights and shares his favorite memories from the Paris Games, as well as his time spent working with his medical team and serving in the Olympic Village as a Team USA Olympic Physician. Read more.
June 2024
Anna L. Desista, MD, MPH, M08, MG08, was selected as the new Contractor Medical Director (CMD) of the Medical Policy team at Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC. Dr. Amarnath will collaborate with Noridian's other 17 CMDs to review and amend local coverage determinations (LCDs) and create new policies. This effort ensures that Medicare beneficiaries receive high-quality treatment, while providers and suppliers are properly reimbursed. Read more.
May 2024
Anand S. Kenia, MD, M07, became the chief of cardiac electrophysiology at the Hamilton Cardiovascular Institute. Read more.
Rahul Sharma MD, MBA, CPE, FACEP, M01, chair of Emergency Medicine, celebrated the first endowed professorship in the Emergency Medicine Department, the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professorship of Emergency Medicine. Read more.
Robert A. Harrington, MD, M86, will receive the TCT® 2024 Career Achievement Award during Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics® (TCT®), the Cardiovascular Research Foundation® (CRF®) yearly scientific meeting. Read more.