Faculty

Dr. Alan Jotkowitz is the Director of the Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and a Senior Physician at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. Prior to immigrating to Israel, he was an Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and an attending physician and Director of the Internal Medicine Grand Rounds Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Dr. Jotkowitz has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the fields of Internal Medicine, Medical Ethics, Jewish Medical Ethics, and Jewish Thought in prestigious journals. He is on the Editorial Board for the European Journal of Internal Medicine.

Research Interests

• Internal Medicine
• Medical Ethics
• Jewish Medical Ethics, and Jewish Thought

Education and Training

• B.A., Yeshiva University
• M.D., Yale University School of Medicine
• M.H.A., Hofstra University, Health Management
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Yale University
• Qualifications: M.D., M.H.A., F.A.C.P.

Dr. Benjamin Taragin is the Associate Professor for Academic Affairs at the Medical School for International Health. He is a Pediatric Radiologist at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. Prior to moving to Israel, he was the Director of Pediatric Imaging, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. He is a visiting Professor at Montefiore Health System.

Research Interests

• Pediatric Radiology

Education and Training

• B.A., Yeshiva University, New York, NY
• M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
• Internship, Internal Medicine, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, NY
• Residency, Radiology, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
• Fellowship, Pediatric Radiology, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY

Dr. Naim Abu-Freha is a Gastroenterologist at the Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Soroka University Medical Center. Dr. Naim is a Committee member for the Israeli Gastroenterology Association and the Head of the Gastroenterology Institute at Assuta Hospital in Beer-Sheva. He treats gastroenterology and hepatology in general, and specifically those with genetic syndrome of colorectal cancer. He has researched different topics in gastroenterology and hepatology, as well as different issues regarding the Bedouin Arab minority in southern Israel. In addition, Dr. Abu-Freha is one of the founders of the Arab Medical Associations in the Negev (AMAN) and the first Chairman of the Association since 2015.

Research Interests

• Gastroenterology, Colorectal Cancer, IBD among Bedouin populations

Education and Training

• M.D., Tuebingen University, Germany
• Residency in Internal Medicine at Soroka Medical Center
• Residency in Gastroenterology at Soroka Medical Center

Dr. Mick Alkan is Professor Emeritus, Infectious Diseases, Center for Emerging Diseases, Tropical Diseases and AIDS (CEMTA).  He served as Medical Director of a free clinic for unregistered and uninsured people, most of them asylum seekers in Israel, with Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Alkan is known to be the first on the scene to provide medical relief to victims of disasters worldwide. His passion for medical missions abroad began in 1979 at a field hospital in Thailand run by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Some of the medical rescue teams he has led have been to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, the 2004 tsunami in the Far East, and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. He has also taught medicine in rural Kenya, Ecuador, Nepal, Ethiopia, and Kyrgyzstan. Dr. Alkan also played a significant role in planning the curriculum for MSIH.

Research Interests

• HIV
• Tuberculosis
• Hospital infections control
• Medical education
• International health and health care in the developing world

Education and Training

• M.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Infectious Disease Specialty, University of Tennessee – Health Science Center College of Medicine

Dr. Jonathan Arbelle is Former Deputy Medical Director, Southern Region of Maccabi Health Services and currently serves as Senior Consultant to Maccabi Healthcare Services in Diabetes and Endocrinology. He worked as an Endocrinologist in the Department of Internal Medicine at Soroka Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. He lectured in the Department of Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, BGU. At MSIH, he coordinates the first course, Endocrine System.

Research Interests

• Endocrinology, thyroid, vitamin D, steroids

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Internal Medicine at Soroka University Medical Center
• Fellowship in Endocrinology at Soroka University Medical Center
• Research Fellowship at Cedars Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles

Dr. Lone Avnon is a Pulmonologist at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. She is an Academic Coordinator at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Dessert storms and respiratory health
• Lung cancer

Education and Training

• M.D., Copenhagen University, Denmark
• Residency in Pulmonology at Soroka University Medical Center

Prof. Nava Bashan completed her PhD in The Hebrew University Jerusalem, and her Postdoc in the Weizmann Institute of Science as a Research Associate and joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as a lecturer and later as Head of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at BGU. She became a Professor in Clinical Biochemistry in 1998 and headed the Pediatric Research Laboratory at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH, until 2010. She has coordinated and taught the first year Biochemistry course at MSIH from the inception of the school and has won numerous teaching awards during her career.

Research Interests

• Mechanism for the induction of insulin resistance: the role of oxidative stress and of HIV protease inhibitors

Education and Training

• Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Post-doctorate Research Associate, Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Gal Ben Arie is a Radiologist at the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Soroka University Medical Center, and coordinates and teaches the first year Physiology course at MSIH. He mentors several research students and is involved in a number of research projects.

Research Interests

• Diagnosing necrotic meningioma; Blood-Brain Barrier Leakage; Tech Coloproctol; Volumetric Quantification

Education and Training

• B.Sc., Life Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• MHPE, Maastricht University
• Residency in Diagnostic Imaging, Soroka University Medical Center

Following MD studies at Tel Aviv University, military service as a medical officer (Major) in the IDF and residency in Pediatrics at Sheba Medical Center, Birk did his PhD at the Weizmann Institute with Irun Cohen,delineating hsp60 as a crucial autoantigen in type 1 diabetes and allograft rejection, effective in their prevention. He then went on to do his training in clinical human genetics and post-doctorate with Heiner Westphal at the NIH, unraveling LHX9 as a gene critical for mammalian gonad formation. Dr. Birk has coordinated the first year genetics course since the school’s inception and is also teaching faculty at the Goldman School of Medicine at BGU.

Research Interests

• Genetics, cancer, bioinformatics, biochemistry, brain

Education and Training

• M.D., Tel-Aviv University
• Ph.D., Weizmann Institute of Science
• Residency: Sheba Medical Center (Pediatrics)
• Post-Doctorate: National Institutes of Health

Research Interests

• Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Education

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Soroka University Medical Center

Dr. Genia Brandstaetter is a Medicine Specialist at Soroka University Medical Center, and coordinates and teaches in the 3rd year Internal Medicine clerkship at MSIH.

Research Interests

Education and Training

Prof. Claude Brodski is an Associate Professor and Researcher in the Physiology & Cell Biology Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He teaches Embryology at the MSIH for second year students. He is the head of the Laboratory for Molecular Neuroscience. Prof. Brodski is on the editorial board of several journals including Nature Scientific Reports.

Research Interests

• Development, survival and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons
• Drug development for Parkinson’s disease

Education and Training

• M.D., Technical University of Munich
• Post-doctoral studies, Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology

Dr. A. Mark Clarfield is an Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics and Head of the Centre for Global Health of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is the former Director of the Medical School For International Health. He is currently the Associate Director for Global Health at the Medical School for International Health. He was on the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University from 1978-1992, and was the Assistant Dean of Students at the Faculty of Medicine at McGill. After moving to Israel, he was the Sidonie Hecht Chair in Geriatrics at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Research Interests

• Aging
• Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
• Medical education
• International medicine
• Medical history
• Organization of health care

Education and Training

• B.Sc., York University
• M.D., University of Toronto
• Residency, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto
• Fellowship American Geriatrics Society

Dr. Tomer Cooks is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He heads the Cooks Lab at BGU.

Research Interests

• Tumor microenvironment
• Extracellular vesicles
• Mutations in p53
• Cancer microbiome
• The emerging role of exosomes released by tumor cells giving rise to immuno-modulating changes in the microenvironment

Education and Training

• B.Sc., Tel Aviv University
• Ph.D., Tel Aviv University
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Weizmann Institute of Science
• Visiting Fellow, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, MD

Dr. Clay Davis is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is a member of the Israel Immunological Society (IIS), and he is the Coordinator of the 1st year course, Molecular Biology, at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Molecular Genetics
• Fetal immunology and fetal viral infection

Education and Training

• B.Sc. Biology, Queen’s University, Canada
• M.Sc. Biology, Queen’s University, Canada
• Ph.D. Medical Genetics University of Toronto, Canada
• Postdoctoral Fellow: California Institute of Technology

Dr. Jacob Dreiher is the Deputy Director General at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH.

Research Interests

• Diagnosis of malignancy
• Atopic dermatitis and the metabolic syndrome

Education and Training

• M.D., Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University
• M.P.H., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Dr. Aviram Dunsky practices Medicine at Clalit Health Services and is a Family Physician with the Yavna Group. He coordinates and teaches in the 3rd year Family Medicine Clerkship at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Subjectively assessing the degree of fever in children by parents

Education and Training

• M.D.

Prof. Yoram Etzion is Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Research Laboratory, Soroka Medical Center and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology. At MSIH he coordinates and teachers two second year anatomy courses: Anatomy of the Chest & Thorax and Anatomy of the Limbs.

Research Interests

• Pacing and arrhythmia research
• Cardiac repair and regeneration
• Human-genetics studies

Education and Training

• B.A., Ben- Gurion University of the Negev
• M. Med. Sc., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Ph.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Dr. Yacov Ezra is a faculty member of the Department of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and coordinates and teaches in the third year Neurology Clerkship at MSIH. He is the Head of the Functional Neurology Clinic at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH.

Research Interests

• Primary Headache Disorders, Clinical Hypnosis, Primary Care Apolipoprotein, Tension-Type Headache, Personality Assessment, Myotonic Dystrophy

Education and Training

• M.D. Technion, Israel Institute of Technology

Dr. Dmitri Fishman is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and coordinates and teaches two 2nd year anatomy courses at MSIH: Anatomy of the Abdomen & Pelvis and Anatomy of the Head & Neck. His major expertise and techniques in the lab include Signal transduction and Ca2+-signaling; confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.

Research Interests

• Melanoma cell biology and physiology
• Lipid rafts and tumor-promoting Ca 2+ -signaling in malignant cells

Education and Training

• M.D., State Institute of Medicine, Chelyabinsk, USSR
• Ph.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Prof. David Geffen is a senior oncologist and former head of the Oncology Ambulatory Care Unit. He is on the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He coordinates several courses at MSIH, including the first year courses, On Being a Doctor and Introduction to Oncology, a fourth year selective in Oncology, and a number of Oncology days taught inside the second year systems.

Research Interests

• Breast cancer, Chemotherapy, Neoadjuvant, Medical education

Education and Training

• B.S., Yale University 
• M.D., Tufts University  
• Internal Medicine Residency, Montefiore Hospital-University of Pittsburgh
• Oncology Fellowship, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland USA  

Professor Shimon Glick immigrated to Israel in 1974 to become a founding member of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS) at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, as well as Head of the Internal Medicine Department at Soroka Medical Center. He then became chair of Israel’s first Internal Medicine Division. Professor Glick served as Dean of the FOHS between 1986 and 1990. During his tenure, he played a key role in formulating the admissions process for medical students – a process based not only on achievements but also the candidates’ character. Professor Glick headed the Prywes Center for Medical Education and the Jakobovits Center for Jewish Medical Ethics, two domains that were assigned a central role in the professional education of students in the Faculty. He was also instrumental in the instruction on doctor-patient communications for first year medical students. In addition, Professor Glick has served as ombudsman for Israel’s Ministry of Health. He is widely recognized as an expert in medical ethics, with a particular focus on Jewish medical ethics, and is at the forefront of the efforts to bring a Jewish perspective to bear on the most important issues of modern bioethics.

Research Interests

• Internal medicine
• Medical ethics
• Endocrinology
• Medical education

Education and Training

• B.A. in Biology, New York University
• M.D., State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
• Internship, Maimonides Hospital, Brooklyn, New York
• Assistant Resident, Internal Medicine, Yale University, Grace New Haven Hospital
• Assistant Resident, Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
• Traineeship, Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders, U.S. Public Health Service

Dr. Daniel Grupel is currently a senior Infectious Diseases physician at Assuta Ashdod Medical Center. He also coordinates the Microbiology course at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Clinical Infectious diseases
• Kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 anti-s IgG after BNT162b2 vaccination

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Internal Medicine Soroka Medical Center
• Fellowship, Infectious Diseases Soroka Medical Center
• Diploma of Education, London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene

Prof. Yaakov Henkin is the Senior Cardiologist at Soroka University Medical Center, working in the echocardiography laboratory and in the general and preventive cardiology clinics. In parallel, he continues to work as a primary care physician in a community clinic in the small residential area of Meitar, Israel. He was one of the founders of the Medical School for International Health (MSIH) , and he served for 12 years as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. After that role, he transferred his energies into setting up a new medical simulation center at the university. He has served as the chairman of the Working Group for Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Preventive Cardiology of the Israeli Heart Society for 8 years and is currently the Head of MSIH’s Research Committee.

Research Interests

• Lipids and preventive cardiology
• Coronary risk factors
• Nutritional and drug treatment of dyslipidemia
• Risk factors for atherosclerosis
• Ultrasound

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Soroka University Medical Center
• Fellowship, General and Preventive Medicine,  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Fellowship, Cardiology at Soroka University Medical Center

Prof. Michal Hershfinkel is the Chair of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, part of the Basic Sciences division in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Research Interests

• Zinc homeostasis, zinc sensing receptor, zinc signaling in the brain, zinc transport, zinc in wound healing
• Studying the signaling and roles of a distinct zinc sensing receptor, ZnR/GPR39.

Education and Training

• B.Sc., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.Sc., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Ph.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Postdoc, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Dr. Danny Kaplan is a Professor & Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery at Soroka University Medical Center in Beer Sheva. Dr Kaplan is also Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at Soroka. He is the President of the Israeli Society of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Kaplan’s clinical practice is dedicated to Otology and Neurotology. This includes surgical restoration of hearing loss by middle ear reconstruction and cochlear implantation for the deaf. He also manage dizziness, vertigo and balance disorders.

Dr. Kaplan is an Academic Advisor at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Managing infections in cohlear implanted patients and the use of new vestibular testing
• Translational science, studying restoration of hearing and vestibular injury of different causes, with certain proteins

Dr. Ari Lauden currently works at Leumit Healthcare services in Israel, which is affiliated with the Division of Psychiatry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He teaches and coordinates the 2nd year Psychiatry course at MSIH and guides Balint groups with medical students.

Research Interests

• Balint groups: The use of Balint groups for medical students as a means for improving interpersonal and communication skills and competence
• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Community Psychiatry and Community Mental Health Services
• Higher rates of allergies, autoimmune diseases and low-grade inflammation markers in treatment-resistant major depression

Education and Training

Research Interests

• Infection and Immunity

Education and Training

• B.A. Biology, Dickenson College
• M.S. Microbiology, Thomas Jefferson University
• Ph.D. Molecular Biology, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Adi Leiba is the Chairman of the Israeli Society of Hypertension and the Chief Medical Officer of Shapa Health. He is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Attending Physician at Mount Auburn Hospital in Boston, MA. He is board certified in Internal Medicine in both Israel and the US.

Research Interests

• Catheter-based renal denervation for the treatment of hypertension
• Hypertsenion
• Novel diagnostic technology for personalized treatment of blood pressure & renal diseases

Education and Training

• M.D., Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology
• M.H.A., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency at Tel Hashomer Hospital, Israel
• Residency at Mount Auburn Hospital, Massachusetts
• Fellowship at Tel Hashomer Hospital, Israel

Dr. Noah Liel-Cohen is an Associate Professor of Cardiology at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and until July 2020 she was Head of the Echocardiography Unit at the Cardiology Division, Soroka University Medical Center. She is the 4th year Academic Advisor at MSIH. Dr. Liel-Cohen is a co-founder and active board member of DIA Imaging Analysis that develops automatic analysis of ultrasound clips. She spent several extended periods teaching the use of echocardiography in challenging health systems, including in Nepal, India and Ethiopia.

Research Interests

• Cardiology
• Ultrasound
• Echocardiography
• Cardiac arrhythmia and the implication on left ventricular function in rodents

Education and Training

• B.A., Social Work, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• M.A., Health Systems Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Soroka University Medical Center
• Fellowship, Cardiology, The Cardiology Institute, Soroka University Medical Center
• Clinical and Research Fellowship in Echocardiography, Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Carmi Margolis, served in the US Army prior to moving to Beer Sheva, in 1975, where he joined the nascent Faculty of Health Sciences and served in several senior positions before becoming the founding Dean of MSIH. Retired in 2011, he continues to teach and practice pediatrics in hospital and community settings and is also heavily involved in two new projects, Bellagio Global Health Education Initiative (BGHEI), begun at Bellagio in 2015, and teaching the practice, as opposed to the theory, of medical education using stories about difficult educational situations.

Research Interests

• Teaching clinical problem solving and decision-making
• Clinical algorithms
• Methodology and implementation of clinical practice guidelines

Education and Training

• B.A., English Literature, Columbia University
• M.A., Educational Psychiatry, Michigan State University
• M.D., New York University
• Residency, Pediatrics, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Connecticut
• Fellowship, Medical Education, Michigan State University

Dr. Jonah Mink practiced medicine in a private practice in Philadelphia for a number of years, prior to moving to Israel where he is a Family Medicine physician at Meuhedet Health Services. Dr. Mink has been involved as a clinical advisor or medical director with numerous companies ranging from telemedicine to remote patient monitoring, to mobile phone-enabled artificial intelligence diagnostics. He is currently co-instructing the MSIH first-year course “Introduction to Global Medicine”.

Research Interests

• Healthy.io: Turning Smartphones into Medical devices

Education and Training

• B.S., Brandeis University
• M.D., Medical School of International Health
• Residency in Family Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Hospital

Dr. Asher Moser is currently the Associate Director of Student Affairs at MSIH. He is the Deputy Director of blood services at Magen David Adom (MDA). Dr Moser has headed up Israel’s first national Mother’s Milk Bank of Israel. Among other relief work, he raveled with IsraAid to Nepal in May 2015 after the earthquake. Dr. Moser directed the set-up of an improvised neonatal intensive care unit for premature infants after damage to the hospital.

Research Interests

• International health
• Pediatrics
• Bioethics
• Hematology
• Healer’s art
• Cross-cultural issues

Education and Training

• M.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Residency, Pediatrics, Hadassah Medical Center
• Fellowship, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Dr. Anita Nudelman is an Applied Medical Anthropologist who lectures in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and most recently with MSIH coordinating and teaching the second year Global Health course – Global Health in Specific Contexts. She has worked for many years with immigrants in Israel.  As a consultant for international organizations such as UNAIDS and ActionAid, she has led participatory community-based Rapid Assessment Processes on culture and gender barriers to maternal and HIV health services, mostly in Africa. She participated in a network on “Femicide across Europe” (COST Action IS 1206), focusing on migrant victims of GBV and femicide survivors. She is Chair of the Commission on Anthropology of Pandemics of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Studies (IUAES).

Research Interests

• Gender issues, comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention – focusing on adolescents and young people
• Preparing health and educational professionals to work in different socio-ecological and cultural contexts
• Global Health

Education and Training

• M.A., Anthropological Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, National University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Ph.D., Health Education. Eotvos Lorand University, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary

Dr. Zvi Perry is a senior lecturer at Ben-Gurion University, where he has been teaching Epidemiology for the last decade. He is also active in promoting general Bariatrics at the state level in Israel, and is a member of the Israeli surgical society, and of the Israeli Endoscopic Society. His academic activities include improving health quality measurements in Israel, as well as being a part of the Clalit HMO simulation center for the surgical professions.

Research Interests

• Bariatric surgery, endocrine surgery and neuroendocrine tumors, epidemiology of obesity, medical education

Education and Training

• B.A. & B.Sc., Tel Aviv University
• B.Sc.. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Soroka University Medical Center (Surgery)
• M.A. Educational Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Ph.D. Surgical Epidemiology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Fellowship in Bariatrics, McGill University Hospital

Dr. Ilia Pinsk is the Head of the Unit of Colorectal Surgery at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. She specializes in providing surgical solutions for the whole spectrum of diseases of the colon and rectum: colorectal cancer, polyposis, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease, rectal prolapse, complicated diverticular disease and perianal disorders. Dr. Pinsk coordinates and teaches in the third year Surgery clerkship at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Long-term effects of Standardized Anal Dilatation for Chronic Anal Fissure on Anal Continence

Education and Training

• M.D., Grodno State Medical Institute, Grodno, Belarus
• Residency in General Surgery, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel
• Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Ottawa Hospital General, Ottawa, Canada
• Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery, Department of Colorectal Surgery, St. Paul’s Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Academic Research

• Public health aspects of psychiatry

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Psychiatry, Beer-Sheva Mental Health Center

Dr. Anat Rosenthal is a Medical Anthropologist and a Lecturer in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management. She has conducted fieldwork in Israel and Malawi on the social and cultural effects of AIDS, healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings, national and international health policy, and undocumented migration.

Research Interests

• Global Health policy and healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings in the developing world.

Education and Training

• B.A. Sociology and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University
• M.A. Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Ph.D. Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University
• Fulbright Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and the Global Health Delivery Project, Harvard Medical School
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Dr. Irina Rostovsky is a member of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is the Coordinator of 1st year course, Virology,  at MSIH.

Research Interests

• enteropathogenic bacteria, its basic biology, development of novel approaches for antibiotics and use of the bacteria as a potential drug delivery system.

Education and Training

Dr. Benzion Samueli is a 2016 graduate of MSIH and an Atomic Pathology Chief Resident at Soroka Medical Center, the main teaching hospital affiliated with BGU. In addition, he is Associate Lecturer for Pathology, and coordinates and teaches the first year Pathology course, as well as most second year systems courses at MSIH. During the pandemic and MSIH’s pivot to remote learning, Dr. Samueli taught a virtual pathology course that was a successful model for future virtual courses. Dr. Samueli published an article in the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology about the elective that provided students with much-needed exposure to diagnostic pathology in clinical practice.

Research Interests

• Genitourinary pathology, endocrine pathology, and molecular pathology
• Diagnostic implications of a peculiar biochemical property of fluorescent molecules

Education and Training

• B.A., Near Eastern Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• M.D., MSIH, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Anatomic Pathology, Soroka Medical Center

Dr. Michael Star is a Neurologist, specializing in stroke care.

Research Interests

• Neurological assessment for the prediction of subtle cerebral infarction

Education and Training

• B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
• M.D. with Thesis, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• Internship, Loyola University Medical Center IL
• Neurology Residency, Loyola University Medical Center, IL
• Vascular Neurology Fellowship, University of Cincinnati, OH

Research Interests

• Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Metabolic Diseases
• The effects of a Ketogenic Diet on patients with Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase Deficiency
• Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency with variable presentation due to a Homozygous Mutation in a Bedouin Tribe
• The incidence of inherited metabolic disorders in southern Israel

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Pediatrics at Soroka University Medical Center
• Fellowship in Neonatology, Soroka University Medical Center

Prof. David Stepensky is an Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.  He is the author of over 50 papers and book chapters, and serves as consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Health, pharmaceutical and start-up companies. He also delivers customized workshops and courses on drug development, pharmaceutics, pharmacology and other topics of his research expertise.

Research Interests

• Optimization and individualization of drug treatment based on biopharmaceutic, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of drugs.
• Delivery systems and their effects on the biopharmaceutical’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (small molecular weight drugs and biopharmaceuticals) .
• Intracellular targeting of biopharmaceuticals using nanotechnologies.
• Pharmacometrics; pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling.
• Development of nanovesicle- and nanoparticle-based systems that can efficiently deliver agents to their site of action.

Education and Training

• B.Sc., Pharmaceutical Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• M.Sc., Pharmaceutical Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Ph.D., Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Postdoc Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science
• Postdoc Immunobiology, Yale University

Dr. Yuval Sufaro is a member of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and he coordinates and teaches the second year system Neuroanatomy at MSIH. He is the Vice Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. He is training in skull base surgery under his mentor professor Andrew Kaye. He is also training in endoscopic and endoscopic assisted neurosurgery with Mr. James King and Mr. Nick Hall at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia.

Research Interests

• Traumatic brain injury
• Pituitary and skull base surgery, Endoscopic and Endoscopic assisted surgery

Education and Training

• M.Sc., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency in Internal Medicine at Soroka University Medical Center
• Residency in Neurosurgery at Soroka University Medical Center
• Skull Base Fellow at Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr. Jean Marc Weinstein completed medical rotations in London and Oxford prior to emigrating to Israel, where he completed board certification in Internal Medicine. He also attained board certification in Cardiology at Hadassah University Hospital, spending most of his last year there caring for heart failure and transplant patients. He now works at Soroka University Medical Center, the primary teaching hospital for MSIH. Dr. Weinstein works in invasive cardiology, heart failure and echocardiography, and is the Head of the Heart Failure service. He runs a Clalit Health Services community HF unit in Beer-Sheva. He is also the past chairman of the Israeli Working Group on Heart Failure. Dr. Weinstein is a lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and he has coordinated and taught in the second year Cardiovascular System at MSIH since the school’s inception.

Research Interests

• Heart failure and heart transplant, Transesophagealechocardiography, Transcatheter therapy

Education and Training

• M.D., Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London, England
• Residency in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Hadassah University Hospital

Research Interests

• Neurology
• Movement Disorder
• Parkinson’s Disease

Education and Training

• M.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Dr. Deckelbaum is Professor of Nutrition, Pediatrics, and Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He is the Director of theInstitute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Global Health at MSIH. Dr. Richard Deckelbaum has been dedicated to global health for decades. He has helped communities help themselves by improving local education, training and research. He also organized research programs between the Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli populations, using health and science as a bridge between different populations in the Mideast, Africa and Asia. Dr. Deckelbaum has chaired task forces for the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes, and has served on advisory committees of the National Institutes of Health, RAND Corporation, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is widely published in medical and scientific journals such as Biochemistry, the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, and is a regular author in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Research Interests

• Human plasma lipoproteins and the cellular effects of dietary fats and free fatty acids
• Nutrition with risk factors of cardiovascular disease in children
• Molecular biology of intestinal parasites with clinical and epidemiological manifestations of infection with emphasis on chronic diarrhea and malnutrition

Education and Training

• B.Sc., McGill University
• M.D., McGill University
• Residency, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hadassah Hospital, McGill University
• Residency, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Boston University
• Qualifications: M.D., C.M., F.R.C.P.C.

Dr. Lynne Quittell is Co-chair of the MSIH Committee Admissions and the Director of the NY Office for MSIH. She is a Special Lecturer in the Pediatric Pulmonary Division. Dr. Quittell is the former Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center and has served on multiple national committees, including the ATS Planning Committee and the Cystic Fibrosis Center Director’s Committee. She is currently a Medical Consultant, Patient Assistance Resource Center with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Research Interests

• Cystic fibrosis
• Lung disorders of children
• Data safety monitoring in clinical trials
• Medical education

Education and Training

• B.A., Hampshire College
• M.D., Sackler School of Medicine
• Residency and Internship, Pediatrics, Schneider Children’s Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
• Fellowship, Pediatric Pulmonology, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

Dr. Eric Barna is a 2004 graduate of MSIH. He is a board and certified internist with a specialty in Hospital Medicine. Dr. Barna is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Education at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.  He is also the Associate Program Director of inpatient medicine for the Internal Medicine Residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, the clerkship director for the Senior Medicine Acting Internship Clerkship for the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Director of Education for our Division is Hospital medicine. He is a guest Lecturer at MSIH and prepares an annual sub-I preparatory workshop for the 3rd year class.

Research Interests

• Medical education

Education and Training

• B.S., SUNY Albany
• M.D., Ben Gurion University of the Negev, MSIH
• M.P.H., Columbia University, New York
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Jacobi Hospital Center
• Chief Resident, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York

Dr. Jeremy Fowler is a Family Physician at the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group in California. Previously, he was a Staff Physician and Medical Director of Annoor Sanatorium for Chest Diseases in Al-Mafraq, Jordan. In this role, he provided oversight to physicians, established policy, systems and direction for the sanatorium, made decisions regarding hiring and management of employees, and liaised with governmental and NGO officials regarding care of TB in Jordan. He directed a multicultural medical team, treating medically and socially complicated drug sensitive and drug resistant TB patients, and coordinating care through partnership with local and regional governmental and non-governmental colleagues in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

Education and Training

• B.S., Biomedical Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman
• M.D., Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Family Medicine, Swedish Family Medicine

Dr. Elliot Goodman is the Associate Director for Systems Quality and Outcomes, Surgical Services, at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. He is also on the surgical faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Previously, he has been on the surgical faculty at the New Jersey Medical School and at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is a Visiting Professor of Surgery at several medical schools.  Dr. Goodman is a guest Lecturer at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Bariatric Surgery
• Obesity
• Endoluminal gastric surgery

Education and Training

• B.A., University of Cambridge, UK
• M.B.B., University of Cambridge, UK
• Postdoctoral Training, University of Cambridge, UK
• Residency, Surgery, Maimonides Medical Center, NY
• Fellow, Trauma and Critical Care, Coney Island Hospital, NY
• Fellow, Trauma and Critical Care, Columbia University Medical Center, NY
• Global M.B.A., Queen Mary University of London
• Certificate in Healthcare Leadership, Strategy and Change Management, Cornell University

Dr. Aviad “Adi” Haramati is currently is Professor of Integrative Physiology in the Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology and Medicine (Nephrology), and co-director of the CAM Graduate Program at Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Haramati has taught physiology for almost 40 years and has been recognized with awards at Mayo Clinic and at Georgetown University.

Dr. Haramati served as past-president of IAMSE, past Vice-Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health (ACIMH), past member of the Board of the Council of Faculty & Academic Societies (AAMC), and chaired the organizing committees for 8 international conferences on education and on integrative medicine.

Research Interests

• Medical education and rethinking how health professionals are trained
• The intersection of science, mind-body medicine and professionalism as it pertains to medical education and training
• Renal and electrolyte homeostasis

Education and Training

• B.S., Biology, CUNY Brooklyn College
• Ph.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Dr. Hungin is currently the Chair of Changing Face of Medicine (CFM). He has held the position of Professor in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, at Newcastle University. He was also a Professor of Primary Care and General Practice in the Centre for Integrated Health Care Research, and the Dean of Medicine at Durham University. Dr. Hungin previously served as President of the British Medical Association and Chair, NHS Research and Development Forum in the UK.

Research Interests

• Gastroenterology and associated clinical and psychological factors

Education and Training

• MBBS, M.D., Newcastle University
• Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Professor Harriet Mayanja-Kizza is currently a Professor of Internal Medicine and Immunology, and former Dean of the School of Medicine at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda. She has served on many national and international bodies, including: a WHO advisor in the area of tuberculosis and clinical research towards new TB vaccine research studies, IAVI, Uganda Heart Institute, the Ugandan Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, Hospice Africa (Uganda) Board chair and the Makerere University Council.

Dr. Mayanja-Kizza has been a guest lecturer in Internal Medicine and Immunology at MSIH.

Research Interests

• HIV/tuberculosis co-interaction, immuno-pathogenesis and immune-modulation treatment among patients with HIV and pulmonary tuberculosis
• New anti-tuberculosis treatments
• Improved ways of diagnosis, prevention, management of tuberculosis with and without HIV infection
• HIV/TB immune-pathogenesis
• Immune responses in newly HIV infected adults
• Epidemiology studies in neonates and adolescents in preparation for clinical trials sites in new tuberculosis vaccines in high endemic country sites

Education and Training

• MBBS, Makerere University, Uganda
• MMed, Internal Medicine, Makerere University
• M.S., Immunology and Pathology, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio

Lt. Col. Brian Neese is currently a Global Health Liaison within the United States Air Force International Affairs Division at the Pentagon. Previously, he has served as Commander of the 628th Medical Operations Squadron. There he oversaw clinical and administrative operations at an Air Force Base in South Carolina, supervising more than 70 medical personnel who delivered comprehensive health care to more than 24,000 people, including thousands of active duty personnel. He has also served as a staff physician and flight commander in Texas, where he collaborated with local groups to start a free health clinic for working, uninsured Hispanic patients. He has worked in the Dominican Republic and Panama, and has developed strategy and planned operations in more than 30 Latin American countries.

Lt. Col. Neese has won the Federal Health Care Executive Special Achievement Award, which recognizes him and his unit for exceeding Air Force standards and is awarded to a federal career health care executive who has distinguished themselves through singularly significant achievements which have contributed substantially to the mission of the federal health care system.

Dr. Neese has been at guest lecturer on many topics at MSIH, including a lecture entitled Levering Health for National Security.

Education and Training

• B.S., Louisiana State University
• M.D., the Medical School for International Health at Ben Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, Family Medicine, University of Virginia Medical Center
• M.P.H., Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Dr. Ora Paltiel is a Professor with the Braun School of Public Health and Department of Hematology at Hadassah-Hebrew University. Dr. Paltiel served as Director of Hadassah-Hebrew University’s International Master’s Program in Public Health (IMPH) from 2013-2016. She has been a visiting scholar at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.  Dr. Paltiel has also been a visiting professor at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia.

Research Interests

• Cancer Epidemiology in Israel concentrating on a variety of risk factors, especially perinatal events and exposures
• Genetic and environmental risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Serum Carbamazepine Levels Among Healthy Israeli Volunteers

Education and Training

• M.Sc,. Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 1988, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• M.D., McGill University, Montreal, Canad
• Resident, Internal Medicine, McGill
• Resident, Hematology, McGill

Dr. Neil R. Scheier is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. He is an internist in the Rochester, NY area and has founded many senior living facilities in the area. He is a visiting Lecturer at MSIH.

Education and Training

• A.B., Hamilton College, NY
• M.Econ, M. Fin. FACP, SUNY Binghamton
• M.D., New York Medical College
• Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Internship, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center

Dr. Neil Schluger is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine and Director of Medicine at Westchester Medical Center (WMC). Prior to this, he was Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).

He has been a principal investigator in the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium, an international collaboration sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 25 years and was the Chair of the consortium from 2000-2016. Dr. Schluger is a founder and director of the East Africa Training Initiative in Pulmonary Medicine. He also serves as senior advisor for science at Vital Strategies, a global not-for-profit organization devoted to public health issues. Dr. Schluger is a past-president of the American Lung Association of New York.

Dr. Schluger is a regular guest lecturer at MSIH.

Research Interests

• Tuberculosis epidemiology and diagnostics
• Elucidation of the nature of human host responses to tuberculosis; evaluation of novel diagnostic approaches; conventional and molecular epidemiologic studies
• Global lung health

Education and Training

• B.A., Harvard University
• M.D., University of Pennsylvania
• Internship Internal Medicine, St. Luke’s Hospital, New York
• Residency Internal Medicine, : St. Luke’s Hospital, New York
• Chief Resident, St. Luke’s Hospital, New York
• Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center
• Visiting Fellow, Pulmonary Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland

Dr. Javeed Sukhera is the Chair of Psychiatry at the Institute of Living (IOL), and Chief of Psychiatry at Hartford Hospital under the Hartford Healthcare Behavioral Health Network in Connecticut. In his role as Chair/Chief, Dr. Sukhera advances the IOL’s clinical, research, and educational mission, including training programs in psychiatry, psychology, social work, and nursing, as well as three endowed research centers. Dr. Sukhera is looking forward to developing a new research center focused on racial trauma.

Previously, Dr. Sukhera was an assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada where he was also Senior Designate Physician Lead for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at London Health Sciences Centre.

Dr. Sukhera is an internationally-recognized health professions education researcher and thought leader. He has participated on several committees and councils at local, national, and international levels. He is a Past President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association and has served on the London Police Services Board from 2018-21, including serving as Board Chair from 2020-21. He has also served on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)’s Board of Directors and is currently on the AAMC’s Research in Medical Education Committee and a member of the Group on Educational Affairs.

Dr. Sukhera has been a guest lecturer on various topics at MSIH, including presenting a lecture entitled Cognitive Bias. 

Research interests

• Unconscious bias
• Equity and social justice at an individual and organizational level
• Racism trauma
• Novel approaches to addressing stigma and bias among health professionals

Education and Training

• BSc,  University of Toronto 
• M.D., Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Residency, University of Rochester
• Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Rochester
• Ph.D., Maastricht University, Health Professions Education

Dr. Zevidah Vickery serves as the Director of Cervical Dysplasia Screening & Management Program at Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio (PPGOH), a network of 17 health centers staffed by nurse practitioners. In this role, Dr. Vickery supervises the organization’s nurse practitioners, receives referrals for colposcopy and LEEP, and manages the more complex patients.

A few years ago, Dr. Vickery completed a year-long Leadership Training Academy offered by the Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH). This fellowship trains pro-choice physicians of all specialties to become leaders in reproductive health care advocacy, developing the skills they need to be powerful advocates for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Vickery has been a guest lecturer at MSIH, including a lecture entitled Reproductive Justice.

Research Interests

• Women’s Health
• Reproductive health
• Physician advocacy

Education and Training

• B.A., Human Sexuality Education & Counseling, Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
• M.D., Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Internship and Residency, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Medical Center, Manhattan Campus of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY
• Fellowship, Family Planning, Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Louis, MO
• M.S., Clinical Investigation, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Dr. LaShawn Worsley-McIver is currently the Director of the Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which provides healthcare to over 130 million Americans every year. Previously, Dr. McIver led Government Affairs & Advocacy (GA&A) efforts at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as its Vice President of Public Policy & Strategic Alliances and later as its Senior Vice President of all GA&A. 

Dr. McIver is a recognized spokesperson and thought leader on health disparities, healthcare reform, and diabetes advocacy issues. She is also a frequent presenter before Members of Congress, public health and health care leaders, advocates and students.

Research Interests

• Public policy efforts aimed at promoting health equity, improving health outcomes, increasing access to care, and promoting health system reform
• Minority healthcare

Education and Training

• B.A., Randolph College, Virginia
• M.D., Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• M.P.H., Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health