ABIM Announces New Specialty Board and Exam Committee Members

Philadelphia, PA, July 9, 2018 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) today announced new appointments to its governance structure, including new Specialty Board and Exam Committee members.

Specialty Boards are composed of physicians from a diverse range of practice types as well as members of the healthcare team and public who provide important perspectives on what constitutes excellence in patient care. Specialty Board members work with physicians and medical societies to develop Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credentials to recognize physicians for their specialized knowledge and commitment to staying current in their field.

"Specialty Board and Exam Committee members are on the front lines of innovations happening at ABIM and work closely with doctors in their specialty to create standards-driven assessments that are more reflective of the rapid pace of change in medical practice," said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM. "New members will bring the expertise and practice experience they have gained in their field to inform exciting enhancements to Certification and MOC."

ABIM's 20 Exam Committees are responsible for developing relevant, clinically valid and rigorous assessments for Certification and MOC. Committee members are involved in assessment innovations including incorporating the clinical resource UpToDate® into assessments, launching shorter Knowledge Check-Ins and developing co-created assessment pathways with medical specialty societies. Exam Committee members are involved in direct patient care in a variety of geographic locations and institutional settings.

"Last month, ABIM introduced a new assessment option that has been designed using input from thousands of doctors across the country," said Patricia M. Conolly, MD, Chair of ABIM's Board of Directors. "Specialty Board and Exam Committee members have made these changes possible and will continue to guide future updates to make ABIM programs even more meaningful to doctors and the patients they serve."

New members of the ABIM Specialty Boards and Exam Committees are:

Cardiovascular Board:

Craig Beam, President of Petra Integrated Construction Strategies in La Palma, California

Cardiovascular Board Adult Congenital Heart Disease Exam Committee:

Craig Broberg, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Disease and Radiology, and Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Program at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon

Cardiovascular Board Cardiovascular Disease Exam Committee:

Chair, Mario J. Garcia, MD, Chief of Cardiology at Montefiore Medical Center, co-Director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care and Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, New York

Garrie Haas, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Medical Director of Heart Failure and Section Chief of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio

Geoffrey A. Rose, MD, Chief, Division of Adult Cardiology for the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute at Atrium Health in Concord, North Carolina

Cardiovascular Board Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Exam Committee:

Jodie Hurwitz, MD, partner at North Texas Heart Center, Director of Electrophysiology and Chair of Cardiology at Medical City Dallas Hospital and Head of Electrophysiology/CIED at North Texas Heart Center in Dallas, Texas

Cardiovascular Board Interventional Cardiology Exam Committee:

Kirk N. Garratt, MD, Medical Director, Heart & Vascular Health, and the John H. Ammon Chair of Cardiology with Christiana Care Cardiology Consultants in Wilmington, Delaware

Julie M. Miller, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, and Director of the Vascular Cardiology Program and Director of the Quantitative Angiographic Imaging Laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland

Critical Care Medicine Board:

Jeffrey F. Barletta, PharmD, Professor and Vice Chair of Pharmacy Practice at Midwestern University, College of Pharmacy in Glendale, Arizona

Rahul S. Nanchal, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit, Critical Care Fellowship Program and Chair of the Critical Care Committee for Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Critical Care Medicine Board Exam Committee:

Gina M. Iacovella, MD, intensivist for the Intensive Care Consortium at Brandon Regional Hospital in Brandon, Florida

John McArdle, MD, full-time clinical practice of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for Connecticut Multispecialty Group, P.C., Chief of the Pulmonary Division at Hartford Hospital and co-Director of the Marie and Raymond Beauregard Central Connecticut Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program in Hartford, Connecticut

Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Board:

Alyson K. Myers, MD, Clinical Educator and Medical Director of Inpatient Diabetes at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, and Assistant Professor at the David and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University/Northwell Health in Hempstead, New York

Christine Twining, MD, Medical Director at the Maine Medical Partners Center for Endocrinology and Diabetes, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine and advisor to internal medicine-pediatrics residents at Maine Medical Center

Gastroenterology Board:

Laura Wingate, Senior Vice President, Education, Support, & Advocacy for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation in New York, New York

Geriatric Medicine Board Exam Committee:

Danelle Cayea, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Associate Vice Chair for Education for the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Daniel and Jeannette Hendin Schapiro Geriatrics Medical Education Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Elizabeth Eckstrom, MD, Professor and Section Chief of Geriatrics in the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon

Hematology Board:

Marc J. Kahn, MD, the Peterman-Prosser Professor and Senior Associate Dean at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, with appointments in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology and in the A.B. Freeman School of Business

Hematology Board Exam Committee:

Chair, Anne Neff, MD, staff physician in Benign Hematology at the Cleveland Clinic Hospitals' Department of Hematology/Medical Oncology

Kelly M. Davidson, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Virginia and practicing hematologist at the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center

Chancellor E. Donald, MD, practitioner at Lourdes Oncology Associates in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Medical Director of the oncology service line at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center

Infectious Disease Board:

Erica N. Johnson, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Louis D. Saravolatz, MD, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan

Infectious Disease Board Exam Committee:

Chair, Randall S. Edson, MD, Internal Medicine Program Director at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, California, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco

Stephen C. Threlkeld, MD, Managing Partner of an infectious disease group practice, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences and Infectious Disease Director of the Baptist Memorial Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Program in Memphis, Tennessee

Internal Medicine Board:

Letitia Browne-James, board certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors and licensed mental health counselor and owner of Victorious Living Counseling and Consulting, LLC; Assistant Clinical Director and Counselor at a secured residential facility for juvenile boys and young men with severe mental health and substance abuse needs; adjunct faculty at Stetson University and the University of Central Florida and member of Patients Like Me Ethics and Compliance Advisory Board

Internal Medicine Board Exam Committee:

Inginia Genao, MD, Associate Professor, Graduate Medical Education Director and Department of Medicine Associate Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut

William N. Hannah Jr., MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine for Mercer University School of Medicine, Savannah Campus, and faculty for the Memorial University Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency in Savannah, Georgia

Medical Oncology Board:

Suresh Nair, MD, Physician-in-Chief of the Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute and Medical Director of the Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute membership in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Alliance in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Nephrology Board:

Paul T. Conway, President of the American Association of Kidney Patients

Nephrology Board Exam Committee:

Chair, Bernard G. Jaar, MD, private practice physician with the Nephrology Center of Maryland in Baltimore and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Michal L. Melamed, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in New York, New York

Pulmonary Disease Board:

Corrine R. Young, MSN,FNP-C, board-certified Nurse Practitioner in Family Practice working in private pulmonary practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Pulmonary Disease Board Exam Committee:

Chair, Peter H. S. Sporn, MD, Professor of Medicine and Cell and Molecular Biology at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University and Program Director of the Northwestern University Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program in Chicago, Illinois

Ellen L. Burnham, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado, Medical Director for the University of Colorado Hospital Medical Intensive Care Unit and Associate Program Director for the Colorado Clinical and Translational Science Institute's KL2 Program

Anne E. Dixon, BM BCh, Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

Neil S. Freedman, MD, Division Head of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunology at the Northshore University Health System in Evanston, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine </li>

Rheumatology Board:

Carlos M. Gadea Jr., MD, rheumatologist and clinical instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine Multispecialty Clinic at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery, Alabama

Joan F. Meissner, JD, Assistant General Counsel at BeiGene and a member of the Board of Directors of the Scleroderma Foundation of New England

Rheumatology Board Exam Committee:

Chair, Kenneth S. O'Rourke, MD, Rheumatology Associates in Portland, ME

Joanne Valeriano-Marcet, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine and staff member at Tampa General Hospital, the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and the University Medical Practice Group

Sleep Medicine Test-Writing Committee:

Sabra M. Abbott, MD, Assistant Professor in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Reena Mehra, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Director of Sleep Disorders Research in the Sleep Center of the Neurologic Institute, with joint appointments in the Respiratory Institute, Molecular Cardiology Department of the Lerner Research Institute and the Heart and Vascular Institute

Mark L. Splaingard, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Director of the Pediatric Sleep Medicine Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital

Test and Policy Committee on Transplant Hepatology:

Chair, Hugo E. Vargas, MD, Transplantation and Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona

Andrew Keaveny, MD, Consultant Hepatologist in the Departments of Transplant and Internal Medicine and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Paul Kwo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Hepatology at Stanford University in Stanford, California

Cynthia Levy, MD, Program Director for the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship program, Assistant Director of the Schiff Center for Liver Diseases and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida

Test-Writing Committee on Hospice and Palliative Medicine:

Chair, Martha L. Twaddle, MD, Medical Director for Palliative Medicine & Supportive Care at Northwestern Medicine - Lake Forest Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Nathan Fairman, MD, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California Davis School of Medicine

Joanne G. Kuntz, MD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Palliative Medicine and Site Director for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia

View lists of current ABIM Specialty Board members and current Exam Committee members.

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Internists and subspecialists who earn and maintain board certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) differentiate themselves every day through their specialized knowledge and commitment to continual learning in service of their patients. Established as an independent nonprofit more than 80 years ago, ABIM continues to be driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Visit ABIM's blog to learn more and follow ABIM on Facebook and Twitter. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties.