To:
From:
GI faculty, fellows, staff
Department of Medicine housestaff
Departments of Pathology, Radiology and Surgery housestaff
David A. Katzka, MD, GI fellowship director
Jonathan P. Katz, MD, GI associate fellowship director
Jeannine Moore, GI fellowship coordinator
Michael L. Kochman, MD, Endoscopy training director
Rick Wood, MD, Chief fellow
David C. Metz, MD
Anil K. Rustgi, MD
July 1, 2008
We are pleased to introduce you to the new GI fellows for July 2008, each of whom is an outstanding physician, teacher, investigator, and humanitarian:
Ranjeeta R. Bahirwani, MD - Ranjeeta received her undergraduate degree from Knox
College in Illinois with a major in Chemistry and Biochemistry and graduating Phi Beta
Kappa. She conducted research in the photochronic labeling of chemical compounds at
Northwestern, and also at Oak Ridge National Labs examining the effects of new insulin sensitizing drugs. She then completed her medical degree at Northwestern University, where she graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha Honors, and received the Golden
Stethoscope Award for Academic Excellence, Indian American Medical Association
Scholarship for Public Health Research, and the Stenn Award for Humanism and
Compassion in Medicine. While at Northwestern, Ranjeeta worked for a non-profit organization involved in providing health care nationally and internationally to the underprivileged. Ranjeeta has completed her internal medicine residency training at Penn and during that time, with Dr. Raj Reddy, has examined the progression of renal dysfunction after orthotopic liver transplantation in patients with chronic renal insufficiency in an attempt to determine which patients would benefit from combined liver and kidney transplantation.
Rotonya McCants Carr, MD - Rotonya, a native of Charleston, SC, graduated Cum
Laude from Harvard University where she received her Bachelors of Arts in Biology.
She was a Harvard Faculty and Radcliffe Scholar and National Achievement Scholar.
She went to medical school at Cornell University Medical College where she was a
National Health Service Corp Scholar, Hartford fellow and National Medical Fellow.
Her research led to a publication in Endocrinology. She graduated with honors and received the David Gladys Drusin Memorial Prize for scholastic achievement and qualities of a good physician. She did her Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and received the Partners in Excellence Award for
Innovation for creating and chairing a hospital-wide minority housestaff organization.
Since residency, she has been a board certified attending physician in Internal Medicine at Ferguson Medical Group in Sikeston, MO where she has received several honors,

including the key to Sikeston, outstanding physician award and volunteer recognition awards. She was a Clinical Assistant Professor for the University of Missouri, Columbia
Medical School where her work with medical students resulted in a recent publication of a review of Cat Scratch Disease in Infections in Medicine. Through local organizations and providers, she has also been working to improve screening for patients with Hepatitis
C. Rotonya will be joined by her husband, Tyree.
David S. Goldberg, MD - David received his undergraduate degree from Brown
University in Judaic Studies. He then completed his medical degree from Mt. Sinai
Medical School where he was elected into Alpha Omega Alpha, and received several other awards, including the Barry Coller award for excellence in clinical medicine, the outstanding service award for first the first year class and was elected into the Armold P.
Gold Humanism in Medicine Honors Society. David was elected to serve as a teaching assistant in the Physiology and Anatomy courses. David then completed his internal medicine residency training at Columbia Medical School (New York-Presbyterian-
Columbia University Medical Center) where he also conducted research in celiac disease, therapy of SBP, and HIV. David received the intern teaching award as well, and was the residency program housestaff representative to the GME committee.
Carolyn L. Kerner, MD - Caroline received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth
College with a major in Geography where she was involved heavily with the academic affairs of that department as well and conducted research to study immigrant health issues using qualitative health research methods (supported by the NSF). She then completed her medical degree from Wake Forest Medical School, where she was elected into Alpha Omega Alpha, and received the Glasgow-Rubin achievement award and the
American Medical Women’s Association’s Martin and Sandra Award for Excellence in
Internal Medicine. She served in several voluntary capacities both on and off campus.
Caroline then completed her internal medicine residency at University of California at
San Francisco (UCSF) with election into the PRIME program that involves lectures and journal clubs (Caroline served as journal club leader) focusing on clinical research methodologies. In addition, Caroline conducted a research study to assess quality of care in the San Francisco VA patients with chronic kidney disease.
Pari M. Shah, MD - Pari received her undergraduate degree from Brown University with majors in Biology and Political Science. She received an undergraduate teaching research assistantship (UTRA) grant and was elected into the Sigma Xi Honor Society.
Pari then completed her medical degree at Brown University Medical School. This was distinguished by volunteer work, and serving in different roles for the AMA (including as executive board member of the Brown Medical School Chapter). She conducted research in HIV drug therapy and also, neurocognitive sciences. Pari then completed her internal medicine residency training at Washington University Medical School, where her research has been in HIV and also, a retrospective study to evaluate factors that precipitate liver allograft injury following treatment of chronic hepatitis C. She has presented at meetings.

Syed M. Abbas Fehmi, MD - Syed is our advanced endoscopy fellow for July 2008-
June 2009. He received his medical degree (MBBS) from the Aga Khan University in
Karachi, Pakistan, for which he received the Al Habib Medical Education Trust
Scholarship. He then completed his internal medicine residency training at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He has completed his GI fellowship at the
University of Michigan, which as included a Robert Wood Johnson supported Master’s degree in health and health care research (RWJ-HHCR). Syed has received travel awards and honors through the American Society of GI Endoscopy, American College of
Gastroenterology, and endoscopic workshops. He has conducted clinical research and presented at national meetings.