Forging Her Own Path
Karen Cyndari, MD/PhD '19
As a child who loved to read and draw, Karen Cyndari, MD/PhD '19, spent her adolescence creating her own worlds within comic books, refining her drawing style over time. As she approached college, Cyndari was at a crossroad. she was serious about art. Read more>>
The Art of Listening
Mark Erlebacher, MD '79
For Mark Erlebacher, MD '79, the euphoria of medicine is in a successful diagnosis. Even after 45 years of practicing medicine, the satisfaction hasn't waned. "Anything can walk in the door," he says. "I like to solve the puzzle." Read more>>
A Dream Achieved
Donna-Ann Thomas, MD '99
Donna-Ann Thomas, MD '99, knows she's a role model. "To be able to tell a kid that looks like me that if I was able to go to medical school, they can too; to instill hope and desire to strive toward something, that's what makes me successful, not money or a title," she says. Read more>>
From Emergency to Prevention
Amy Sue Biondich, MD '09
After completing her first year of medical school, Amy Sue Biondich, MD '09, F'15, returned to her home state ofWisconsin and spend the summer earning her pilot's license. She bought a small propeller plane that would serve her well flying home for visits and in her future career as a locums tenens emergency medicine physician. Read more>>
Fighting Children's Cancer
Stacy Cooper, MD '08
As assistant professor of oncology and clinical director of the Pediatric Oncology Inpatient Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Stacy Cooper,MD '08, helps families navigate their worst nightmare, treatment for a child with leukemia or lymphoma. Read more>>
Psychiatry and the Law
Michael Norko, MD '83
In 1999, Connecticut became the first state to enact a law allowing police to seize firearms from people deemed violent or suicidal. Since then, 22 other states have enacted some version of a risk-based gun removal law, often referred to as red-flag laws. Forensic psychiatrist Michael Norko, MD '83 believes those laws have saved lives, at least from suicide. Read more>>
Fighting Childhood Cancer
Michael A. Weiner, MD '72
When pediatric oncologist Michael Weiner, MD '72, graduated from medical school, nearly 90 percent of children diagnosed with cancer succumbed to their illness and died. Today, some 50 years later, the cure rate is close to 80 percent. Read more>>
Manging Military Medical Readiness
Matthew Liepke, MD '00
Matthew Liepke, MD '00 arrived at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in March 2020 to spend eight months as Division Surgeon of the U.S. Army 42nd Infantry Division during its deployment in the Middle East. Read more>>
The Doctor Who Prescribes Books
Jaclyn Sisskind, MD '09
Upstate Golisano pediatrician Jaclyn Sisskind, MD '09, doles out prescriptions at every office visit, using her special pad that's always in her pocket. But she's not dispensing pills to chew or liquids to swallow. Instead of the pharmacy, she sends patients to the library. Read more>>
Pioneering Spine Surgeon
George B. Jacobs, MD '58
When George B. Jacobs, MD '58 began his career as a neurosurgeon in the 1960's, the field was very small. "Today, there are probably 3,500 members of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons but the AANS did not exist at the time." Read more>>
Setting New Standards of Care
Timothy Kane, MD '92
Achalasia is a rare disorder that makes it difficult for food and liquid to pass through the esophagus, thought to happen when nerves in the esophagus stop working properly. In children and teens, the condition is a one-in-a-million diagnosis, and sometimes first misdiagnosed as an eating disorder. Read more>>
The Perils of Too Much Screen Time
Clifford Sussman, MD '03
If you're worried about your kids spending too much time playing video games, you might not be wrong. In 2018, the World Health Organization officially recognized video game addiction as a behavioral addiction among its International Classification of Diseases. That came as no surprise to Clifford Sussman, MD '03, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who recognized the problem early on... Read more>>
A Lifetime of Achievement
Richard Cantor, MD '76, HS '79
For many physicians, retirement is a time to set medicine on the shelf to focus on leisure pursuits. For Richard Cantor, MD '76, HS'79, retirement from clinical medicine provides more time for the advancement of pediatric emergency medicine on a state and national scale. Read more>>
The Second Act
James Wilson, MD '89
For 25 years, James Wilson, MD '89, was the sole pediatric neurosurgeon practicing in the state of Maine. "The average neurosurgeon does 150 to 200 cases a year, and I averaged more than 425 cases," he says. Those patients were... Read more>>
Refugee Care
John Lofrese, MD '18
Having newly completed his internal medicine residency, John Lofrese, MD '18, was looking forward to beginning work as an attending at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. He had barely settled in when he received notice he was being deployed... Read more>>
The Aftermath of Disaster
Patricia Williams, MD '78
On December 10, 2021, a devastating tornado hit Mayfield, Kentucky, killing 130 people and flattening much of the town, including the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory, where nine workers died. Read more>>
Demystifying the EKG
Anthony Kashou, MD '18
Growing up as the son of an interventional cardiologist in Binghamton, NY, Anthony Kashou, MD '18, dreamed of following his father's career path. But as a third-year medical student, Dr. Kashou found learning to read EKG's a challenge during his internal medicine rotation. Read more>>