Faculty
Steven Angus, MD, FACP
Program Director
Dr. Angus was born and raised in Connecticut. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his MD degree from Ross University. He completed his residency including a chief medical resident year at the University of Connecticut. Upon completing his residency Dr. Angus joined the faculty at UConn and was an Associate Program Director before assuming the role of Program Director in 2004. Dr. Angus has a special interest in educational innovations design and research.
Jacqueline (Kiki) Nissen, MD, FACP
Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education
University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Kiki Nissen is currently the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and acting Designated Institution Official at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. In her role as DIO, she is involved in the oversight of approximately 50 graduate medical education programs and over 600 residents and fellows. She has been in this role since January 1, 2007.
In addition to her work as Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Nissen has remained in the Department of Medicine in her capacity as Vice Chair of Education. She was the Program Director for Internal Medicine from 2000-2005. Overall, she has been involved in graduate medical education at the University of Connecticut since 1986. Dr. Nissen enjoys educational innovation and she is working to become a leader and advocate for innovation in her role as Associate Dean at the University of Connecticut.
Paul R. Skolnik, MD, FACP, FIDSA
Chairman, Department of Medicine
University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Paul R. Skolnik, an internationally prominent infectious diseases specialist and academician, has been appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He joins UConn from Boston University School of Medicine, where he served as a professor of medicine, and Boston Medical Center, where he served as chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases, founding director of the Center for HIV/AIDS Care and Research, and program director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program.
Bernard A. Clark, III, MD
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Associate Chief, Section of Cardiology
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Clark obtained his B.S. (Chemistry) from Dickinson College in 1973. He received his M.D. from the George Washington University School of Medicine in 1977. His Internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship performed at Hartford Hospital. After his fellowship, Dr. Clark joined the faculty at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center as director of the cardiac rehabilitation program and exercise laboratories in 1984. His academic interests have been in exercise training and testing, particularly in patients with ischemic and valvular heart disease and heart failure.
Michael C. Lindberg, MD, FACP
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Hartford Hospital
Dr. Michael Lindberg received his bachelor of science and medical degrees from Georgetown University. After completing his internal medicine residency training at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT, he spent four years in the National Health Service Corp, stationed in rural Alabama. He joined the faculty of the University of Alabama Capstone Residency Program and then returned to Connecticut for fellowship training in Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Lindberg assumed the position of Director of the Department of Medicine at Hartford Hospital in 2008. His special interests include the development of patient safety programs and quality initiatives.
Ralph Martin, MD
Associate Program Director, Saint Francis Hospital
Site Director, Saint Francis Hospital
Born in New York, Dr. Martin grew up in suburban New Jersey. He graduated from MIT, Cambridge, Mass., with a double-major and two Bachelor of Science degrees (Chemistry and Life Sciences). He earned his Medical degree from New Jersey Medical School, Newark, then returned to Massachusetts for his Internal Medicine residency at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Mass. Dr. Martin entered private practice in Worcester for five years before a career in academic medicine. As a faculty member, he taught internal medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at Ohio State University, Columbus, and was Associate Program Director of the Helene Fuld Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program, Trenton, N.J. He was then recruited by Dr. J. David Schnatz to his current position as Director of Educational Programs in the Department of Medicine at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Martin's major academic interests are medical education and the basic science underpinnings of modern medical practice.
Wendy A. Miller, MD
Associate Program Director, UCHC
Site Director, UCHC
Dr. Miller joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut Health Center in 2005. She received her undergraduate degree from Villanova University. She received her MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1996. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1999. Dr. Miller serves as an Associate Program Director for the Categorical Internal Medicine Residency Program. She is also the Site Director for both the Categorical and Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Programs at John Dempsey Hospital. Dr. Miller’s clinical practice is as a hospitalist at John Dempsey Hospital.
Rebecca Andrews, MS, MD, FACP
Clinic Director, UCHC
Associate Program Director, UCHC
Dr. Andrews is the Director of General Medicine Associates practices at the University of Connecticut and an Assistant Program Director. As such, she is involved in the daily activities of the resident ambulatory clinic, mentoring, teaching, and increasing the quality of delivered care. Dr. Andrews received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA before relocating to Connecticut for medical school at the University of Connecticut. She remained at the university to complete a residency including a chief medical resident year. Upon completing her residency, she practiced for three years at a community health center where she served as the medical director and a member of the company’s QA/QI team. She joined the faculty at UConn in 2009 where she developed the Office Based Medicine track and developed patient-directed care pathways for chronic disease care. Special interests include heart failure, women’s health, disease-driven care models, and healthcare policy.
Peruvamba R. Venkatesh, MD
Associate Program Director, Hartford Hospital
Site Director, Hartford Hospital
Dr. Venkatesh graduated in 1978 from Bangalore Medical College in India. He trained in medicine in India before moving to the United Kingdom in 1984. He trained in the National Health Service of Great Britain in Internal Medicine and several of the medical specialties. He is a member of The Royal College of United Kingdom. He moved to the United States in 1993 and trained in the Internal Medicine Training Program at the UCONN Health Center. He joined the full-time medical staff of Hartford Hospital in 1995 specializing in acute inpatient medical care and has been an integral part of the Internal Medicine Training Program since that time. He is the Site Director for Hartford Hospital and one of the Associate Program Directors. His areas of interest include clinical medicine, medical education, patient safety and quality.
Gregory R. Czarnecki, DO
Osteopathic Program Director
Hartford Hospital
Dr. Czarnecki is currently the Assistant Director in the Department of Medicine at Hartford Hospital and is on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Osteopathic Medical Society. He began his schooling at Providence college where he earned his undergraduate degree and went on to complete medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. From there, Dr. Czarnecki participated in an Internship at the University of Connecticut for one year as an Osteopathic Resident and finished his additional two years of residency at the University of Connecticut in the Internal Medicine Program. In 2005, he spent a year at the Fitchburg Family Practice Center at U.Mass where he completed a fellowship in Sports Medicine. He is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine.
Eugene Constantinou, MD
VA Ambulatory Director
VA Site Coordinator
Dr. Eugene Constantinou received his undergraduate and MD degrees from Boston University. He completed residency in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Yale University in 1999. Dr. Constantinou worked in private practice in Massachusetts until 2001 then in Connecticut in affiliation with Griffin Hospital, Derby, CT and its Primary Care Residency program. In 2007 he joined the VA Primary Care department in Newington, CT and the teaching faculty of the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine. He holds the position of Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and oversees the training of UConn Internal Medicine residents at the VA in Newington. He is also the liaison for the Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education (COE) between VACT and the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine.
Mihaela Tiru, MD
Ambulatory Director
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Tiru holds the position of Director of Adult Medicine at the Gengras Ambulatory Clinic of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center and Ambulatory Site Director for the University of Connecticut Internal Medicine Residency program. She received her medical degree from Titu Maiorescu University Bucharest Romania. She completed her residency including a chief medical resident year at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Bridgeport CT before joining the faculty at St. Francis Medical Center. Her areas of interest include quality improvement and transition of care.
Cunegundo Manuel Diego Vergara, MD, FACP
Ambulatory Director
Hartford Hospital
Dr. Vergara received his Bachelors of Arts in chemistry from The College of The Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) in 1987 and his MD degree in 1992 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Newark. After graduating from UMDNJ, he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine in 1995 at The New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center. He is certified, and successfully recertified in 2005, in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Vergara currently holds the rank of Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine and adjunct staff at the University of Connecticut College of Pharmacy. He currently serves as the Director of Ambulatory Education at Hartford Hospital for the Department of Medicine, Ambulatory Site Director for the University of Connecticut Internal Medicine Residency Program over the last eight years.
Surendra P. Khera, MD
Director of Academic Inpatient Medical Services
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Khera was born in India and attended Burdwan Medical College, India and completed his Post-graduate training in UK prior to coming to the US. He completed his Residency and a subsequent year of Chief Residency at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport in affiliation with Yale School of Medicine. He then worked as an Academic Hospitalist at St. Raphael's Hospital, New Haven followed up by 3 years as Clinical Instructor, Section of Hospital Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York. After spending a year as Associate Program Director at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Florida, he headed back to Connecticut as Director of the Academic Inpatient Medical Service and Section Chief of Hospital Medicine at St. Francis Hospital, Hartford. He completed an Executive Fellowship Program in Patient Safety from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia and has a special interest in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality.
Robert J. Gionfriddo, DO
Assistant Medical Director/Clinical Instructor
Hartford Hospital
Under Graduate: University of Hartford 1983-1989 BS
Post-Graduate: University of Hartford 1986-1999 MA, Neuroscience
Medical School: University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine 2000-2005
Residency: UCONN School of Medicine 2006-2008 Internal Medicine
Anat Bergner, MD
Key Clinical Faculty
University of Connecticut
Dr. Bergner, Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut, completed her residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, MA. Before that, she attended Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University in Rhode Island.
Douglas C. D’Andrea, MD, MPH
Key Clinical Faculty
University of Connecticut
Dr. D’Andrea, an Internal Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine specialist, is a graduate of New York University School of Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency followed by a Masters in Public Health and a residency in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He is board- certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine and works as a hospitalist at the John Dempsey Hospital at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He is a key faculty member of the internal medicine residency program and his academic interests include hospital medicine, quality improvement, evidence-based medicine practice and teaching, and public health policy.
Sundaram V. Ramanan, MD, MS (Pharmacology)
Key Clinical Faculty
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Ramanan is Professor of Clinical Medicine, Senior Attending Physician St. Francis Hospital. He is a current fellow of The Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh) and of The Royal Society of Medicine (London). He attended medical school at CMC Vellore in India and completed his residency at British National Health Service. From there he went on to complete a Fellowship at the Royal Infirmary in Manchester, England. Dr. Ramanan is the Former Chairman of Hematology/Oncology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital Hartford. He is also the recipient of several teaching awards. His special interests involve History of Medicine, Medicine in Literature, and Creative Writing (Medical and Non-Medical).
Adam R. Silverman, MD, FACP
Key Clinical Faculty
University of Connecticut
Dr. Silverman joined the University Connecticut Health Center in 2001 after 7 years in private practice. He completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in 1995, received his MD from the Pennsylvania State University in 1991, and graduated from Middlebury College in 1986. In addition to serving as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Programs, Dr. Silverman is also the Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine.
Nicole Silverstein, MD
Key Clinical Faculty
University of Connecticut
Dr. Silverstein grew up in sunny San Diego. She attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and then completed her Internal Medicine Residency, including a Chief Medical Resident year at the University of Connecticut’s Internal Medicine Residency Program. Her area of expertise and interest lies in the co-management of medical issues during the peri-operative period and she is the director of our medical consultation service here at John Dempsey Hospital.
Shiromini Herath, MBBS
Assistant Professor
University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Herath completed her residency at University of Connecticut and joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut Health Center as a Hospitalist at John Dempsey Hospital in 2007. She graduated from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her interests include quality improvements and practice of evidence based medicine.
Edgar Naut, MD
Assistant Professor
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Naut received his Bachelor of Science degree in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) and his MD degree from Universidad Iberoamericana (Santo Domingo, DR). He completed his residency including a chief medical resident year in primary care internal medicine at the University of Connecticut. He is board certified in Internal Medicine. After completing his residency Dr. Naut joined Saint Francis Hospital as an academic hospitalist. He is currently holds the academic rank of assistant professor in medicine from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Naut is the associate hospitalist director at Saint Francis Hospital and his interest include transitions of care across the healthcare system.
Sareen Kevork, MD
Chief Medical Resident
University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Kevork was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She received her Honors BS in Human Biology and Physiology and subsequently attended graduate school at California State University where she received her M.S. in Nutritional Science. She received her M.D. from St. George’s University and completed her Internal Medicine Residency training at University of Connecticut in 2011. She is currently serving as Chief Medical Resident at the University of Connecticut and plans to pursue a career in Primary Care next year. Her interests include running, swimming, travelling, cooking and reading.
Tarun Rustagi, MBBS
Chief Medical Resident
University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Rustagi was born and raised in Delhi, India. He received his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College (University of Delhi, 2007) in India, after which he pursued a research fellowship in Gastroenterology basic science at VA Boston/Harvard Medical School. He completed his Internal Medicine residency training at University of Connecticut in 2011, and continues as Chief Medical Resident at UConn Health Center. He is excited to begin Gastroenterology fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine next year. He is highly involved in research and scholarly activities and loves teaching. He enjoys outdoor activities, sports including cricket, and spending time with his family and friends.
Nicolas Mead, DO
Chief Medical Resident
Hartford Hospital
Nicolas Mead was born and raised in northwestern Pennsylvania. He attended Gannon University and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelors in Science (Biology) and then went on to attend medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in 2008. Nicolas then completed his Internal Medicine training at the University of Connecticut in June of 2011 and is now currently one of the chief medical residents. Following the completion of his chief medical resident year, Nicolas will be continuing his medical training with a fellowship in the subspecialty of cardiology.
Christine Murakami, MD
Chief Medical Resident
Hartford Hospital
Dr. Murakami was born and raised in the Philippines. She received her B.S Public Health degree and MD degree from the University of the Philippines. She is currently one of the two chief residents at Hartford Hospital. She has great interest in Nephrology and electrolyte/acid-base abnormalities. She will pursue a Nephrology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University after her chief residency.
George Sunny, MBBS
Chief Medical Resident
Saint Francis Hospital
Dr. Sunny grew up in Kerala, India. He graduated from Trivandrum Medical College in 2005, after which he moved to the United States. He then completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Connecticut. He is currently one of the Chief Medical Residents at St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center and will begin his fellowship in Nephrology at Yale University next year. Apart from medicine, he is interested in enjoying nature, digital photography, playing the guitar and spending time with his family.
Diane Tran, MD
Chief Medical Resident
Saint Francis Hospital
Diane Tran originally born in Vietnam, immigrated to the US at a very young age and was raised in sunny California. She received her Bachelors of Sciences in Physiology & Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, San Diego and her MD at Ross University. Currently she is continuing her residency in Internal Medicine by doing a chief resident year before heading to University of Hawaii for a fellowship in Cardiology.
Racha Dermesropian, MD
Chief Medical Resident
Newington VA Hospital and Medical Center
