Happy International Women’s Day! Meet the Women Faculty of UNMC ID

March 8, International Women’s Day, was created as a day to recognize the women’s rights movements around the world. This year’s theme is #PressforProgress, fueled by ongoing global activism and advocacy for women’s rights in all facets of life.

In an age where more women than men are enrolled in US medical schools, and 52% of adult Infectious Disease Fellows are women,  young aspiring female doctors may look to the composition of faculty in their desired specialty as an indication of their likelihood to “fit in” with that specialty.  UNMC ID is a division that embodies #PressforProgress. Of 21 Faculty members within our division, 12 are women, and we are proud of every one of them.

Meet the Women Faculty of UNMC ID:

Dr. Sara Hurtado Bares, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Specialty Care Clinic which serves our patients living with HIV. Her primary research and clinical interests lie with HIV prevention, and she is currently principal investigator of several studies looking at delivery of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis to high-risk patients. Dr. Bares is also passionate about medical education; she is the director of the HIV track of the UNMC College of Medicine Enhanced Medical Education Tracks Course and co-directs the medical student microbiology/infectious disease courses called Defenses & Invaders with Dr. Andrea Zimmer.

Dr. Kelly Cawcutt, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Medical Director of Infection Control and Epidemiology.  She is also a board-certified Critical Care Physician, and regularly attends on the ICU services at UNMC. Dr. Cawcutt is also creator and co-administrator of the UNMC ID Social Media platforms with Dr. Jasmine Marcelin, and recently published a commentary on the value of Social Media in academic medicine.

Dr. Razan El-Ramahi, MBBS is an Assistant Professor of Medicine.  Her clinical and research interests include infections in Oncology/Immunocompromised patients. She also attends on the inpatient Oncology Infectious Disease service and sees patients in the General Infectious Diseases clinic.

Dr. Diana Florescu, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Florescu’s clinical and research interests include infections in solid organ transplant recipients. She attends on the inpatient Transplant Infectious Diseases service and is regularly involved in teaching residents and fellows.

Dr. Alison Freifeld, MD is a Professor of Medicine. Her clinical and research expertise lies in the Oncology/Immunocompromised patients, and she is the founder and Director of the Oncology Infectious Disease Service at UNMC. Dr. Freifeld is internationally known in her field and has published/edited several books, countless peer-reviewed publications, including authoring the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Febrile Neutropenia. Dr. Freifeld sees immunocompromised patients with infections in the outpatient clinic, and works closely with oncologists at UNMC.

Dr. Andrea Green Hines, MD is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. Dr. Green Hines is also the Program Director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at UNMC. Her clinical practice comprises both adult and pediatric medicine. She attends on the Oncology Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Infectious Diseases services at UNMC and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. Her research interests include antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric populations.

Dr. Angela Hewlett, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate director of Infection Control and Epidemiology. Dr. Hewlett is also the Medical Director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit which was selected to care for Americans affected by the recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Her work with the BCU allows her to collaborate with the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that personnel are always trained to be ready for any possible global health threat. Dr. Hewlett also has an interest in Orthopedic Infectious Diseases, which comprises much of her outpatient clinical practice. She attends on the inpatient General Infectious Disease service, and is an adviser for the medical student ID interest group on campus.

Dr. Jasmine Riviere Marcelin, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Medical Director of the Nebraska Medicine Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. Her clinical and research interests include HIV treatment and prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship.  She is passionate about medical education and co-directs the HIV track of the UNMC College of Medicine Enhanced Medical Education Tracks Course with Dr. Sara Bares.  She is also co-adminstrator of the UNMC ID Social Media platforms with Dr. Kelly Cawcutt and is passionate about improving diversity in medicine.

Dr. Kari Neemann, MD is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. Like Dr. Green Hines, Dr. Neemann’s clinical practice comprises both adult and pediatric medicine. She attends on the Oncology Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Infectious Diseases services at UNMC and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. Her research interests include infections in children and in adults with cancer.

Dr. Kimberly Scarsi, PharmD is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy. Her clinical practice is as an HIV pharmacist at the Specialty Care center. She also facilitates the Infectious Disease sections of the School of Pharmacy, and precepts the ambulatory clinic rotation for pharmacy students. Dr. Scarsi’s  primary research focus is on pharmacologic studies of treatments for HIV, focusing on women living with HIV and treating co-infections with HIV/TB, and she collaborates with Dr. Swindells and Dr. Bares on many local, multi-center and multinational research projects.

Dr. Susan Swindells, MBBS is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Specialty Care Clinic which serves our patients living with HIV. She was honored as a Distinguished Scientist at UNMC in 2011, and in 2013 received the UNMC Innovation, Development and Engagement Award (IDEA) award. Her clinical and research interests include treatment of persons living with HIV and persons co-infected with HIV and Tuberculosis.  Dr. Swindells is on the writing group for the Department of Health & Human Services HIV guidelines as an HIV/TB co-infection content expert, and the Principal Investigator on a multinational study recently presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) that showed 1 month of treatment for latent TB infection is as effective as 9 months of treatment in persons living with HIV.

Dr. Andrea Zimmer, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include infections in Oncology/Immunocompromised patients. She attends on the inpatient Oncology Infectious Disease service and sees immunocompromised patients with infections in the outpatient clinic also. Dr. Zimmer is also involved with medical education and co-directs the medical student microbiology/infectious disease courses called Defenses and Invaders with Dr. Sara Bares.

Join us today on #InternationalWomensDay and everyday as we #PressforProgress and celebrate these women who are invaluable assets to our Faculty and Division. Learn more about the UNMC Division of Infectious Diseases here.


 

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