Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Residency and Fellowship Training Program

Steve Bloechl, MD

• Home State: Wisconsin
• Undergraduate School: Winona State University, 2004
  BS Cell and Molecular Biology
• Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Leah Dvorak, MD

• Home State: Iowa
• Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School, 2009
• Undergraduate School: St. Olaf College, 2003
• Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School-Twin Cities, 2009
• Research: The role of mucin in intestinal wound healing. The role of synaptotagamin in synaptic vessel docking in neurons.

Alesia Kaplan, MD

• Home Country: Belarus
• Undergraduate School: Charter Oak State College, New Britain, CT, 2004
• Medical School: Vitebsk State Medical University, Belarus, 2006
• Research area of interest: Dermatopathology

Annie Meares, MD

Justin Peltola, MD

• Home State: Minnesota
• Undergraduate School: University of Minnesota
• Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School, 2009
• Awards: Junior AOA, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Award, Pathology Award, Physiology Award

Charanjeet Singh, MBBS

• Home Country: India
• Undergraduate School: D.A.V. College, Chandigarh, India, 1998
• Medical School: Government Medical College Hospital, Chandigarh, India, 2004
• Additional Training: Fellowship, Clinical Teaching at St. George's University, Grenada
• Awards: Best Graduate (1999-2004), University Gold Medal, Full-ride scholarship recipient, Honors in Biochemistry & Anatomy
  Swami Award for Best student in Community Medicine, Indian Council of Medical Research, India: Medical Student Research Grant

Jennifer Duven, MD

• Home State: Iowa
• Undergraduate School: B.S. at University of Iowa, 2004
• Medical School: University of Nebraska, 2008
• Research: Undergraduate research in cell cycle changes in neoplastic cell lines

Ayesha Hameed, MD

Melissa Hart, MD

• Home State: Minnesota
• Undergraduate School: University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, 2003
• Medical School: University of Minnesota School of Medicine, 2008

Amy Karger, MD/PhD (CP only)

• Home State: Kansas
• Undergraduate School: M.I.T., 1998
• Medical School: Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 2006
• Additional Training: PhD in Biomedical Sciences
• Awards: Corella & Bertram Bonner MD/PhD scholar (Mayo Clinic)
• Research: Current projects on clinical labs which fail proficiency testing and clinical utility of quantitative EBV titers Previous projects: Molecular mechanism of communication between the subunits of the myocardial ATP-sensitive potassium channel (PhD thesis at Mayo)
  Biopolymers and their use as vehicles for drug delivery systems (MIT)
  Effect of decoy peptides on beta-amyloid plaque formation (MIT)
  

Tetyana Mettler, MD

Arbaz Samad, MBBS

Kritsanapol Boon-Unge, MD

• Home Country: Thailand
• Medical School: Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Thailand
• Graduate School: PhD Neuroscience Program
  University of Massachusetts Medical School/Mahidol University
• Awards: Graduated first in class with MD First Class Honors, Best Performance in Internal Medicine Clinical Clerkship, recipient of Chua Prapaisilp (Chief of Dermatology Scholarship), Royal Thai Government scholarship for PhD dissertation at University of Massachusetts Medical School, Dean's Award for highest GPA at PSU Medical School
• Research: Alternative Splicing of Bcl-x through a Protein Phosphatase 1-Dependent Mechanism

Roberto Gamez, MD

Ted Honebrink, MD

• Home State: Minnesota
• Undergraduate School: University of Minnesota- Twin Cities, 2001
• Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School, 2007
• Awards: Medical school rotation honors
• Research: Development of heart failure in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
  Prognostic implication of increased hematogones in bone marrow biopsies of AML patients status post umbilical cord transplant.

Sarah Meyers, MD

Noelle Blue Arm, MD

• Home State: California
• Undergraduate School: Creighton University, 2001.
  B.S. Biology
• Medical School: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks 2002-2004
  University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine, Sioux Falls Campus 2004-2006

Rhonda Peters, MD (Co-Chief)

• Home State: Minnesota
• Undergraduate School: University of Colorado at Boulder, 2000
• Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School, 2006
• Awards: AOA, Glasgow-Rubin Citation for Academic Achievement, Marshall H. & Nellie Alworth Scholarship Recipient (2001-2006), Alice Tweed Tuohy Scholarship Recipient (2002-2004), Honors in Dermatology, Pathology, Medicine II, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Psychiatry, Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Elena Puscasia, MD

Lori Ryan, MD/MPH

• Home State: Iowa
• Undergraduate School: Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
• Medical School: Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
• Additional Training: Masters of Public Health, Epidemiology, University of Minnesota
• Awards: CAP Resident Leadership Award 2008-2009, University of Minnesota Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology Enrnst Surgical Pathology Research Award 2006, University of Iowa Gold Humanism in Medicine Award, University of Iowa Wilson Internal Medicine Research Award 2005, University of Minnesota Bioethics Essay Award 2001
• Research (selected listings): Hereditary Gastrointestinal Polyposis and Cancer Syndromes.
  Surgical Pathology Protocol for the Evaluation of Lumpectomy Specimens.
  Plasma Exchange Therapy in the Management of Acute Hemorrhagic Leukoencephalitis.

Jared Schmidt, MD (Co-Chief)

• Home State: North Dakota
• Undergraduate School: University of North Dakota, 2002
• Medical School: University of North Dakota, 2006
• Awards: University of Minnesota Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology Ernst Award 2007 & 2008

David Tasso, MD (Cytopathology Fellow)

Jaena Wisniewski, MD

Buck Austin, MD (Hematopathology Fellow)

Monika Roychowdhury, MD

• Home Country: India
• Medical School: Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras
• Additional Training: Hindu University, India Residency - Lab Medicine & Pathology
• Research: Banaras Hindu University, India research experience
  Several cytology studies including: Long-term follow-up of women with a diagnosis of ASC-H on liquid-based pap tests & The identification of fungal organisms in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens.

Thomas Bollinger, MD (Hematopathology Fellow)

Karla Dunning, MD (Cytopathology Fellow)

Sophia Yohe, MD (Molecular Fellow)

Jon Wilson, MD (Molecular Fellow)