Meet our Postdoctoral Clinical Genetics Trainees
Current Genetic Residents
Regina Zambrano, MD | I was born, raised and attended Medical School in Barranquilla, Colombia. After obtaining my MD degree from Universidad del Norte, I moved to the United States to pursue a career in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics. I completed my Pediatrics residency training at LSUHSC in New Orleans, Louisiana. Early in life I decided to become a physician, and becoming a Clinical Geneticist has been my goal ever since. My main interests are dysmorphology, birth defects, and the significance of minor congenital anomalies in the healthy child, prenatal diagnosis and newborn screening programs. I am very excited to be a part of the Medical Genetics training program at JHU, and I am looking forward to work hard towards becoming a skilled clinical geneticist. |
Vinayak Kottoor, MD | My educational experience began with schooling in the Midwest followed by the study of molecular biology at Vanderbilt University then to the cosmopolitan city of Bangalore, India where a fascinating medical as well as cultural education ensued. Most recently, I have completed a 4 year Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency in Saint Louis and an additional year as Chief Resident of Pediatrics. Following upon these mind-broadening life experiences, the pleasure of interacting with a multitude of teachers (including my patients) and an abiding desire throughout to ‘make a difference’, I am looking forward to strengthening my educational foundation in the Medical Genetics program at Johns Hopkins University. My interests are broad with my clinical experiences thus far having motivated me to the area of complex genetics and the interplay of genetic predisposition and environmental variables and newer avenues for intervention. As clinical genetics evolves from determining destiny to finding ways to modify it, I feel privileged to be a part of this increasingly relevant field. |
Current Combined Internal Medicine/ | |
Mark | I am very excited to be the first selected into the Combined Internal Medicine/Genetics Residency Program at the Johns Hopkins University. I will be completing my MD from the University of Arizona as well as PhD from Arizona State University in Molecular and Cellular Biology by the summer of 2007. As an undergraduate at UCLA, I studied multiple endocrine neoplasia and Huntington disease at the molecular level. In graduate school, I studied the effect single nucleotide polymorphisms on the genes involved in anti-viral host defense. During medical school, I developed an insitu hybridization technique for the detection of a metalloprotease implicated in the metastasis of prostate cancer. Finally, my PhD work focuses on studying the effect of oxidized LDL on monocytes and their contribution to atherosclerosis and CVD. I look forward to my training at Johns Hopkins to further educate me on the many facets of genetics while continuing to develop my knowledge within human molecular genetics and its application towards medical care. |
Current Combined Pediatric/Genetics Residents | |
Michael | Graduated from the University College of Dublin, Ireland in 2005. Joined the Pediatric Residency program at Johns Hopkins University in 2006. Applied and was accepted into the Institute of Genetic Medicine combined Ped/Gen Residency program. Michael will begin his first set of clinical genetics rotations in January 2008. |
| Graduated from the University of Iceland medical school in June 2001. Graduated with his PhD from the Human Genetics Predoctoral Program at Johns Hopkins University in March 2007. Hans will be joining the combined Pediatric/Genetics Residency Training Program July 1, 2007. |
Hilary | In January of 2004 I completed my PhD in Molecular Genetics from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ and in May of that year graduated from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, UMDNJ, Piscataway, NJ. 2006-2007 Margaret Ellen Nielsen Fellowship in Genetic Medicine |
Current Combined MFM Fellows/ | |
Teresa Martino,DO | I am the first trainee in the combined Maternal Fetal Medicine/Genetics Residency at Johns Hopkins University. I graduated from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2001. I recently completed my Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center of The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York. My goal is to become a highly skilled prenatal geneticist/diagnostician. Training at Johns Hopkins University will give me the opportunity to study with leaders in both MFM and genetics. I am thrilled to be in an institution that strives to provide a breadth and depth of knowledge while excelling in clinical medicine and research. |
Maria Palmquist,MD | I am a graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine class of 2001. After completing a year of Family Medicine Residency, I transferred to the University of Kansas in Wichita to continue my education in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Through my obstetrical training I have witnessed the importance of genetics, especially when counseling patients with infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, fetal anomalies and aneuploidy. I am very excited to be apart of the Medical Genetics Program at Johns Hopkins University. As I continue my education, I hope to focus my training in the areas of fetal dysmorphology and prenatal diagnosis. |
Current Postdoctoral Clinical Cytogenetics Fellow | |
Feng Li, PhD | I received both my clinical training and PhD degree in Pathology at Beijing Medical University (currently Peking University Health Science Center). My PhD thesis consisted of developing a novel application of a molecular biological technique in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormality. During my postdoctoral training, I studied association of gene transcription with chromatin structure, regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and glucose metabolism by transcriptional factor c-Myc and investigated the genetics of the imprinting gene H19 and its possible role in hepatocellular carcinoma. I am excited to join the medical genetics training program to strengthen my clinical cytogenetics diagnostic skill and broaden my knowledge on many facets of human genetics. I look forward to being a part of this fast growing field. |
Graduates 2007 | |
Amr Al-Saif | Molecular GeneticistI graduated with an MBBS in 2001 from the College of Medicine, King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, after which I spent one year as an intern. From 2002-2004 I was hired as an assistant scientist at the King Faisal State Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Since 2004 Finally I am also working on a disease with possible complex inheritance pattern called Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy. |
Medical Geneticist | |
Veronica Mardo,MD | I was born and grew up in Mexico. After graduating from La Salle University School of Medicine in Mexico City, I moved to the United States to train in Medical Genetics. I completed my Family Medicine residency training at the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where in my final year I was chief resident. Awards and Honours 2005-2006 Margaret Ellen Nielsen Fellowship in Genetic Medicine AFTER GRADUATION: Dr. Mardo will join the Florida Medical Clinic in Pasco Florida as a staff physician. |
Medical Geneticist | |
Reem | I was born in Lebanon and grew up in Athens, Greece. I came to the U.S. for university where I attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and medical student. I completed my residency in Pediatrics at NYU Hospitals in June 2004. My interests include craniofacial dysmorphology and population genetics, particularly for genetic diseases affecting people of Mediterranean descent. I am excited to be a part of the genetic medicine training program at Johns Hopkins University. Especially important to me, is the strength of JH’s metabolic service. I believe it is important that a geneticist be exposed to and become comfortable and confident in a wide variety of genetic subspecialties. Awards and Honours 2004-2005 Margaret Ellen Nielsen Fellowship in Genetic Medicine AFTER GRADUATION Dr. Saadeh has accepted a position as a clinical genetics at Sibley Memorial Hospital Washington, D.C. |
| Graduate 2006 |
Ronald Cohn, MD | Medical GeneticistI am the first combined pediatric/genetic resident at Johns Hopkins University. I attended medical school in Essen, Germany and completed two years of pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of the University of Essen, during which time I was responsible for the immunofluorescence diagnostics in the neuromuscular diagnostic laboratory. As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Kevin Campbell at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Iowa, I focused on the mechanism of cardiomyopathies associated with muscular dystrophies and the abnormal muscle regeneration in muscular dystrophies. I joined the five year combined program at Johns Hopkins because of the abundant teaching and research opportunities. This training will facilitate my goals of becoming a physician scientist, board-certified in clinical genetics as well as a highly capable pediatrician skilled in the application of scientific progress to clinical medicine. I also plan to continue my research in muscular dystrophy and aspects of muscle regeneration. Awards and Honours 06/2004 David M.Kamsler Award Outstanding Compassionate and Expert Care of Pediatric Patients, Johns Hopkins Children's Center Staff 05/2005 Award for best postdoctoral research presentation 09/2005 Young Investigator Award 01/2006 Johns Hopkins Clinician Scientist Award 04/2006 Helen B. Taussig Award 06/2006 Inaugural Award in Medical Genetics, Harvard Medical School-Partners Health Care Center for Genetics and Genomics AFTER GRADUATION: |
| GRADUATING CLASS 2005 |
Tyler 2002-2005 | Medical/Biochemical GeneticistI graduated from Rush Medical College in 1997 and completed my residency training in pediatrics and child neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. I am board-certified in neurology with special qualifications in child neurology. Currently, I am a member of the Ethics Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Ethics, Law, and Humanities Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. My areas of clinical interest include neurometabolic diseases, mental retardation, and the neurological manifestations of skeletal dysplasias. I am actively involved in research on Barth syndrome and nail-patella syndrome. One of the best aspects of training at Johns Hopkins is the opportunity to collaborate with faculty who are both excellent clinicians and preeminent researchers in their areas of expertise. AFTER GRADUATION: |
Michelle Nino, MD 2002-2005 | I graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1998 and completed my Internal Medicine/Pediatric Residency at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital. As a genetic fellow at Johns Hopkins I have had the opportunity to be educated by some of the most respected geneticists in the field of metabolic medicine. One of the most rewarding experiences in my clinical training has involved treating patients with Hurler-Scheie syndrome using enzyme replacement therapy. Currently, my laboratory training includes working with Dr. Nancy Braverman to improve the evaluation of patients with chondrodysplasia punctata, to offer molecular and biochemical verification for the clinical diagnosis of X-linked recessive chondrodysplasia punctata (CDPX1), and to evaluate the function of arylsulfatase E in normal bone and cartilage development. It is truly a remarkable educational experience. AFTER GRADUATION: Dr. Nino accepted a position with the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Molecular Neurobiology Research Branch in Baltimore Maryland. |
Douglas Riegert-Johnson, MD | Medical GeneticistI was born and raised in Alabama where I also attended medical school at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. I completed my internal medicine residency training at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester MN where in my final year I was chief resident. I was drawn to medical genetics because of the rapid pace of the field’s growth and the application of bench research to the bedside. My training at Johns Hopkins has exposed me to a large cross section of genetic diseases from methylmalonic aciduria to Marfan syndrome. My current research interests include stiff skin syndrome and congenital disorders of glycosylation.Awards and Honours 2003-2004 Margaret Ellen Nielsen Fellowship in Genetic Medicine AFTER GRADUATION: Dr. Riegert has returned to the Mayo Clinic to pursue his studies as a Fellow in Gasteroenterology. |
Group Picture 2007 | |
From left to right: Garry Cutting, Program Director Reem Saadeh Maria Palmquist Hilary Vernon Veronica Mardo Teresa Martino Victor McKusick June 7, 2007 |  |
Group Picture 2006 | |
From left to right: Maria Palmquist Reem Saadeh Ron Cohn Veronica Mardo Teresa Martino June 29, 2006 Back Picture includes: Victor A. McKusick & Garry R. Cutting |
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Group Picture 2005 | |
From left to right: Ron Cohn June 23, 2005 |
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Group Picture 2004 | |
From left to right: Victor McKusick Bart Loeys Tyler Reimschisel Melissa Loscalzo Michelle Nino Ron Cohn Douglas Riegert-Johnson Garry Cutting |
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