If you have relatives or friends who’ve served in the military or have worked with veterans, they may be interested in rewarding work available helping men and women who’ve served in the military. UMDNJ’s highly regarded peer-to-peer veterans helpline is actively searching for compassionate men and women to be trained for both full- and part-time positions as peer support counselors.
The helpline is an innovative support system for veterans returning from military service and attempting to resume their civilian lives. Many encounter challenges with this transition – such as mental health, financial, marital, employment issues – that they can address effectively with the confidential support of peer veterans or others with appropriate experience.
If you know someone who may be interested, encourage them to check the job requirements and apply online at
umdnj.hodesiq.com/ by entering Job Number 11PS917151.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
An Artist in the OR
Anthony Berlet, MD '86
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Anthony Berlet approaches his specialty—plastic surgery—with the passion of an artist. A trained architect, he specializes in the structure of the human body rather than a building. His creations are the planes of the face, the contour of a nose, the reconstruction of a breast. His materials are skin, bone and tissue; his tools are scalpels, clamps, lasers and probes.
As an undergraduate, Berlet majored in architecture in addition to pre-med. He classifies plastic surgery into two types of procedures: those that can be taught, like breast augmentation and tummy tuck; and the more creative three-dimensional procedures, such as rhinoplasty and breast reconstruction, “which are like sculpting.”
He’s illustrated and written many medical textbooks, and in 2009, was asked to curate an exhibition of plastic surgery: “I Am Art—An Expression of the Visual and Artistic Process of Plastic Surgery.” As curator, Berlet selected his own work and that of three colleagues, including photos and videos taken before, during and after surgery. When asked how he does it all, the physician smiles. “I don’t know,” he says. “I wake up every morning with so many great ideas. I just want to make it all happen.”
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Anthony Berlet approaches his specialty—plastic surgery—with the passion of an artist. A trained architect, he specializes in the structure of the human body rather than a building. His creations are the planes of the face, the contour of a nose, the reconstruction of a breast. His materials are skin, bone and tissue; his tools are scalpels, clamps, lasers and probes.
As an undergraduate, Berlet majored in architecture in addition to pre-med. He classifies plastic surgery into two types of procedures: those that can be taught, like breast augmentation and tummy tuck; and the more creative three-dimensional procedures, such as rhinoplasty and breast reconstruction, “which are like sculpting.”
He’s illustrated and written many medical textbooks, and in 2009, was asked to curate an exhibition of plastic surgery: “I Am Art—An Expression of the Visual and Artistic Process of Plastic Surgery.” As curator, Berlet selected his own work and that of three colleagues, including photos and videos taken before, during and after surgery. When asked how he does it all, the physician smiles. “I don’t know,” he says. “I wake up every morning with so many great ideas. I just want to make it all happen.”
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Recognition for Nursing Alum
Cathie Jones, RN, MSN
UMDNJ-School of Nursing ’08
As a finalist in the teaching category of the 2011 Greater Philadelphia/Tri-State Nurse Excellence Awards, sponsored by Nursing Spectrum magazine, Cathie Jones, a graduate of the Master of Science in Nursing program in Mental Health, was among the 30 finalists recognized for the extraordinary contributions nurses make to their patients, other nurses, and the community.
Jones was singled out for her work as a clinical adviser, liaison and resource to the clinical staff at Kennedy’s Health System’s Behavioral Health Services in Cherry Hill, where she serves as clinical director. With a focus on patient safety and clinical excellence, she has taken a leadership role in several key initiatives, including patient safety rounds, behavioral health’s personal assessment/patient search procedure (aimed at identifying potentially dangerous items), and the establishment of the Tier 1 Alert psychiatric emergency response team that has resulted in a substantial reduction in behavioral disturbances within the hospital setting.
Earlier this year, she was the recipient of a quality award at Kennedy for her leadership role in developing and implementing the Tier 1 Alert program.
Meet Gabby Giffords' Doctor
Gerard Francisco, MD, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School '94
His training at NJMS, UMDNJ-University Hospital (UH), and Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation prepared Gerard Francisco, MD, for almost anything but especially helping U.S. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords recover from her gunshot wound. When Francisco learned that he’d be leading the team responsible for Representative Giffords’ physical therapy at TIRR Memorial Hospital in Houston, TX, he was surprised but not overwhelmed. “I’ve had high-profile patients before,” he says. At TIRR, one of the premier brain injury treatment centers in the country, Francisco is the chief medical officer of the Brain Injury and Stroke Program as well as Chair and Clinical Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Medical School.
Francisco graduated from medical school in the Philippines and at first, he thought he wanted a career in hematology and oncology. He soon discovered that he was more interested in physical medicine and rehabilitation and under Joel DeLisa, MD’s mentorship at UMDNJ, he flourished in the NJMS Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and at UH. “Here was a Level 1 trauma center. The doctors treating traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries were doing an excellent job and were just as committed to education and research as they were to caring for patients. In a sense, we were taking the disabled and making them abled.” When dealing with the press, he walks a fine line now trying to provide appropriate information without violating privacy rules.” But Francisco reports that Giffords is doing very well and he’s proud of the work he and his colleagues have done. He completed the two year residency at UMDNJ-NJMS in 1994 — where he was chief resident that last year — went off to Texas, and returned to New Jersey to become Director of the Brain Injury Program at Kessler before being lured back south to TIRR Memorial Hospital. “Every day I am grateful for the training I received at UMDNJ. Dr. DeLisa was a great mentor and he’s become a good personal friend.”
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Road Trip Circa 1959
Roger Cracco, MD, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School ’60
Leo Pisculli, MD, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School ’60
Nowadays, med students can take virtual road trips on the internet to “see” where they might want to spend their futures. Back in the summer of 1959, Cracco and Pisculli, members of the charter class, then Seton Hall College of Medicine, had no such luck. “Roger and I drove across the country to check out all the great medical centers before we made decisions regarding internships,” says Pisculli, a neuro-psychiatrist. In Cracco’s 1956 Buick, “We started out in June, the same day I got my driver’s license and our first stop was the American Medical Association convention in Atlantic City.” The cost of gas, food, and motels was so low that they could eat breakfast, have dinner at a restaurant and sleep for about $300 the entire summer. “Of course, we stayed in places that charged $2 to $4 a night,” Pisculli recalls.
“It was a real Lewis and Clark expedition,” remembers Cracco, vice-dean of the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Neurology. Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Little Rock and Los Angeles were all stops on their journey. Pisculli says, “I was most impressed with Los Angeles County Hospital, a 3,000 bed facility at the time. For me the trip was a great transition from being a student to becoming a doctor and it opened my eyes to the world beyond the shores of the Hudson River. I went west to that Los Angeles hospital and never came back.” Cracco stayed true to the east coast choosing a Philadelphia hospital first before landing in Brooklyn.
Leo Pisculli, MD, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School ’60
Nowadays, med students can take virtual road trips on the internet to “see” where they might want to spend their futures. Back in the summer of 1959, Cracco and Pisculli, members of the charter class, then Seton Hall College of Medicine, had no such luck. “Roger and I drove across the country to check out all the great medical centers before we made decisions regarding internships,” says Pisculli, a neuro-psychiatrist. In Cracco’s 1956 Buick, “We started out in June, the same day I got my driver’s license and our first stop was the American Medical Association convention in Atlantic City.” The cost of gas, food, and motels was so low that they could eat breakfast, have dinner at a restaurant and sleep for about $300 the entire summer. “Of course, we stayed in places that charged $2 to $4 a night,” Pisculli recalls.
“It was a real Lewis and Clark expedition,” remembers Cracco, vice-dean of the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Neurology. Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Little Rock and Los Angeles were all stops on their journey. Pisculli says, “I was most impressed with Los Angeles County Hospital, a 3,000 bed facility at the time. For me the trip was a great transition from being a student to becoming a doctor and it opened my eyes to the world beyond the shores of the Hudson River. I went west to that Los Angeles hospital and never came back.” Cracco stayed true to the east coast choosing a Philadelphia hospital first before landing in Brooklyn.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Author Explores Surviving Cancer
Roger B. Granet, MD, FAPA
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School '74
Working with cancer patients and their loved ones and educating medical students, residents and fellows are Roger Granet’s true passions in life, along with his love of writing. Over the years, he has published a number of poems in oncology journals, and he has been the editor of the Dell Mental Health Series, a compilation of 10 books that began publication in 1999.
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School '74
Working with cancer patients and their loved ones and educating medical students, residents and fellows are Roger Granet’s true passions in life, along with his love of writing. Over the years, he has published a number of poems in oncology journals, and he has been the editor of the Dell Mental Health Series, a compilation of 10 books that began publication in 1999.
This prolific author and editor blends cutting edge academic psychiatry with years of empathic clinical practice. He has published more than 20 books, including “If You Think You Have Depression” and “Surviving Cancer Emotionally.” He is also the co-author of “Why Am I Up, Why Am I Down?: Understanding Bipolar Disorder” and “If You Think You Have Depression.” Both have been translated into Polish and Spanish editions.
In 2001, he wrote “Surviving Cancer Emotionally: Learning How to Heal,” which led him to establish The Center for Psychiatry and Psycho-Oncology to deal directly with this issue.
Granet is a consulting psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; a clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University; a lecturer of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Morristown Memorial Hospital. He maintains private practices in both New York City and Morristown, New Jersey. “My bottom line is this: I will do anything I can to help those with cancer.”
Granet is a consulting psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; a clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University; a lecturer of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Morristown Memorial Hospital. He maintains private practices in both New York City and Morristown, New Jersey. “My bottom line is this: I will do anything I can to help those with cancer.”
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Drowning Prevention
Peter Wernicki, MDUMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School ’84
Peter Wernicki, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, gave the keynote address at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention on May 10 in Vietnam. He is medical advisor to the International Life Saving Federation and a member of the American Red Cross advisory council on first aid, aquatics, safety and preparedness.
A native New Jerseyan, he worked as a lifeguard at the Jersey shore as a young man. “Most of a lifeguard's work is preventing drowning, not saving people from drowning, which they also do. If you are a lifeguard and make a whole lot of rescues, you probably aren't doing your job,” he states.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, he is the son of a pharmacist who served in the Medical Corps in an evacuation hospital during World War II. “My father’s amazing stories of what went on in surgery fascinated me. I always knew I wanted to be a surgeon,” Wernicki says. He and his wife, Joanne, a radiologist, practice in Vero Beach, FL.
Wernicki explains that 95 percent of the drownings in the world are in underdeveloped countries, where there are no lifeguards and there is not a culture of swimming. Even in Florida, he says, drowning is the second-leading cause of death in those younger than 15.
“Teaching people how to swim and having them teach others is a low-cost remedy,” he advises. “We have to get the knowledge out.”
Monday, May 16, 2011
Where Family Medicine Matters
Theodore A. DaCosta, Sr., MD, ’60
Theodore DaCosta, Jr., MD, ’89
John DaCosta, MD,’91
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Theodore DaCosta, Jr., MD, ’89
John DaCosta, MD,’91
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
and
Judith DaCosta, PhD, UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences ’91
Judith DaCosta, PhD, UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences ’91
In the DaCosta family, medicine matters very much. Father, mother, sons, daughters, daughter- and son-in-law, and a grandson are all following in the family footsteps, and many can thank UMDNJ. Eighty-year-old Dr. DaCosta, Sr, who still practices gastroenterology part-time in Orange, NJ, says, “In an afternoon, we’ll sometimes see 50 patients.” His wife, Johanne DaCosta, RN, is “the life support of the practice.” Oldest son Ted, Jr., says that all of them have chosen this career path because of “the passion for patients we learned from our parents.” Second son John spent last year in an area of Kentucky where the nearest gastroenterologist was hundreds of miles away but he’s back now. His wife, Judith, who veered just slightly away from the MD route, earned her doctorate in microbiology at UMDNJ and daughter Anna Maria is an MD who jumped states and went to the University of Pennsylvania where she met her husband, John Choi, an MD as well as a PhD. John’s wife, Maryann, is also an RN who has been a part of the family practice. Youngest daughter, Nancy Giten, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at Hahneman University and in private practice. Even grandson Teddy is a pre-med major at Seton Hall University. (In photo: Ted Sr., Johanne, Ted Jr., Teddy and Nancy DaCosta Giten)
Ted Sr. believes that being in the charter class of 1960 prepared him for almost anything on the job – and in family life too. “By the time I graduated I had already delivered more than 100 babies.” What’s next for this long line of healthcare-givers? Collaborating on a weight reduction center that will combine nutrition and exercise interventions with endoscopic and bariatric surgery. “Obesity is one of the most serious problems facing healthcare today,” says Ted Jr. To get in touch, email tdacosta1@comcast.net.
Ted Sr. believes that being in the charter class of 1960 prepared him for almost anything on the job – and in family life too. “By the time I graduated I had already delivered more than 100 babies.” What’s next for this long line of healthcare-givers? Collaborating on a weight reduction center that will combine nutrition and exercise interventions with endoscopic and bariatric surgery. “Obesity is one of the most serious problems facing healthcare today,” says Ted Jr. To get in touch, email tdacosta1@comcast.net.
Monday, May 9, 2011
One of Six RWJ Foundation Fellows
Echezona Ezeanolue, MD, MPH
UMDNJ-School of Public Health,’05
Last year, Echezona Ezeanolue was one of only six physicians selected nationwide to serve as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow by the Institute of Medicine. He is currently spending the 2010-2011 term in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Before his fellowship, he was director of pediatric research and associate professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Nevada’s School of Medicine.
“I joined the faculty after completing my fellowship training in pediatric infectious diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in 2005,” he explains. “At the same time, I graduated with an MPH degree in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health. That was a very busy year.”
UMDNJ-School of Public Health,’05
Last year, Echezona Ezeanolue was one of only six physicians selected nationwide to serve as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow by the Institute of Medicine. He is currently spending the 2010-2011 term in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Before his fellowship, he was director of pediatric research and associate professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Nevada’s School of Medicine.
“I joined the faculty after completing my fellowship training in pediatric infectious diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in 2005,” he explains. “At the same time, I graduated with an MPH degree in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health. That was a very busy year.”
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Honor for World War II Vet
Maurice Meyers, MD,’60UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Sixty years after serving in the U.S. Army in France, Maurice Meyers was one of 19 World War II veterans to be appointed a chevalier (French for knight) of the Legion of Honor by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The ceremony was held on November 11, Veterans Day, at the Lycée Français in New York City.
Sixty years after serving in the U.S. Army in France, Maurice Meyers was one of 19 World War II veterans to be appointed a chevalier (French for knight) of the Legion of Honor by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The ceremony was held on November 11, Veterans Day, at the Lycée Français in New York City.
While the award is generally reserved for French nationals, it is sometimes given to foreigners. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, General David Petraeus, Julia Childs, and Miles Davis are among the other Americans given this honor. The letter Meyers received says: “This prestigious distinction underlines the deep appreciation and gratitude for your contribution to the liberation of our country during World War II. We will never forget the commitment of American heroes like you to whom France owes so much.” He also earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart from the U.S. Army.
This is a red banner year for Meyers: His first book, entitled Reflections on My War, was recently published by Bluewood Publishing Ltd. Meyers, who lives in Watchung with his wife of 61 years, Ruth, earned his MD from NJMS in 1960 and worked for 40 years as an attending physician at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield. He has two children and a grandson.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
ACD Fellowship for NJDS Alum
Howard Ehrenkranz, DMDUMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School '72
Howard Ehrenkranz was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Dentists last fall in Orlando, in recognition of his contributions, leadership, and fine example as a professional person.
In addition, Ehrenkranz is one of only seven general dentists worldwide to receive fellowship status in the Academy of Osseointegration, an international dental implant organization with just 90 fellows among its 5,600 members He is also a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, and a member of the Academy of Periodontology, the Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and the Northeastern Gnathological Society. He serves as a full attending in the Department of Dentistry at St. Barnabas Medical Center. He has also been appointed to the North American Corporate Advisory Board of Nobel Biocare, the world’s leading dental implant company.
Ehrenkranz has lectured and published internationally on the subject of dental implants, including his paper in the January 2008 Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, “Complete-Arch Maxillary Rehabilitation using a Custom-Designed and Manufactured Framework: A Clinical Report” and his 2002 Quintessence of Dental Technology article, “The Incorporation of Teeth into the Full-Arch Implant Reconstruction.” He maintains a full-time family and restorative dental practice in Livingston, New Jersey. He has been recognized as a New Jersey Monthly Top Dentist for the last four years, one of only two general dentists in the state to be so honored.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Johnson Named NJMS Dean
Robert L. Johnson, MD
New Jersey Medical School '72
President William F. Owen, Jr., announced this week the appointment of Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP, as the Sharon and Joseph L. Muscarelle Endowed Dean at New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Johnson has been interim dean since 2005. Dean Johnson is the first alumnus to serve as the school’s leader. A member of the NJMS graduating class of 1972, he did his residency at Martland Hospital in Newark, then the principal teaching hospital for the medical school. After a two year research fellowship in adolescent medicine at New York University Medical Center, he returned to NJMS as an assistant professor in 1976.
His clinical expertise and research focus on adolescent physical and mental health, especially adolescent HIV and AIDS. Dean Johnson currently chairs the Governor’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Related Blood Borne Pathogens and the Newark Ryan White Planning Council. He is a board member of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies of Science and member of the Community Prevention Task Force of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
He has served as president of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Council on Graduate Medical Education, a member of the National Council of the National Institute of Mental Health and member of the NIH AIDS Research Council.
Alum Heads UMDNJ Board
Kevin Barry, MD, MBAUMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School ’87
The first alum to claim the top leadership position at UMDNJ, the nation’s largest public health science university, is Kevin Barry, a confident, calm, successful anesthesiologist at Morristown Memorial Hospital who was first appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees in 2007 by then Governor Jon Corzine. Last September, current Governor Chris Christie gave him the top spot on the Board. “It is both a privilege and an honor, especially returning to the Stanley S. Bergen Building which I still reflexively refer to as Martland Hospital.”
In an interview for the winter 2011 issue of Pulse magazine, Barry recalled completing his clinical rotations a few floors below the Board’s offices in the building that was once a hospital. “I received a set of vaccines here before heading off to Kenya for a medical mission,” he adds. “This is home. I’ve come full circle.” Barry was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in biochemistry from Rutgers in 1983 and interned at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center before going for his anesthesia residency at The New York Hospital and Hospital for Special Surgery. He also received his MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1995. A member of the Board of Directors at UMDNJ-University Hospital, president of Anesthesia Associates of Morristown since 1994, and on the healthcare transition team for the Christie administration, he believes, “This University is positioned to make greater strides towards becoming a national leader in health education and research.”
