Office of Development

What's Up, Doc?

Class of 1968

George Bunch, MD, Received the 2003 Local Hero in Community Pediatrics award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for local community action and advocacy for children. He was recognized for years of service to the children of Las Vegas, New Mexico, including starting and leading local bike rodeos, leading efforts to pass a city ordinance to require bike helmets for children, starting a local Safe Kids chapter, participating in the Reach Out and Read Program, and serving as a Boy Scout master for 14 years.

Class of 1971

Peter Hanson, MD, received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to do research on evidence-based management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in a tribal clinic in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. In September 2003, he and respected Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Tribal Elder Goldie Buckskin-Larson were married.

Class of 1973

Robert A. Williams, MD, will hold his biannual art show on July 2 from 4 – 8 p.m. in his art studio at 20 Main St. in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The show will feature the work of Albuquerque painter Larry Smith.

Stuart Sherry, MD, is an OB/Gyn consultant, and is developing a urogynecology outpatient clinic. He is also developing an endometrial ablation outpatient clinic/osteoporosis outreach screening program.

John Ryan, MD, retired from his large private practice in 2001 to do medical volunteer work. He spent six months with Doctors without Borders in the Sudanese Liberation Army-held territory of South Sudan, about 40 miles from Southern Darfur in East Africa. In August 2004, he went to Kabul, Afghanistan, for six months as a Department of Health and Human Services consultant for the International Medical Corps to teach OB/Gyn residents. He went back to Kabul last June to spend the remainder of 2005 teaching OB/Gyn residents at the Rabi Balkhi Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Ssu Weng, who served as a House Staff member from 1973-1974, lives in Santa Fe. She is married to Peter Pesic. The couple has two children, Andrei 22, and Alexei 18. Ssu served her residency at University of California in San Diego. A project she worked on while practicing was the South Dakota Tribal Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.

Class of 1975

Michael E. Lewiecki, MD, who completed his residency program at UNM SOM from 1972-1975, is the recipient of the 2006 Paul D. Miller ISCD Service Award from the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD). This award is presented annually for distinguished service and dedication to the ISCD. Dr. Lewiecki, the immediate past-president of the ISCD, is Osteoporosis Director of New Mexico Clinical Research & Osteoporosis Center, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He is an osteoporosis consultant, researcher, author, and educator. He has lectured healthcare professionals throughout the USA, as well as in Europe, South America, and Asia, on the management of osteoporosis. Dr. Lewiecki is President of the Osteoporosis Foundation of New Mexico, a non-profit foundation established for the benefit of osteoporosis education and research in New Mexico. Its premier educational event is the Santa Fe Bone Symposium, held every year in August, which attracts osteoporosis specialists from coast to coast and dedication to the ISCD. Dr. Lewiecki, the immediate past-president of the ISCD, is Osteoporosis Director of New Mexico Clinical Research & Osteoporosis Center, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He is an osteoporosis consultant, researcher, author, and educator. He has lectured healthcare professionals throughout the USA, as well as in Europe, South America, and Asia, on the management of osteoporosis.

Class of 1976

John Koster, MD, has been named president and CEO of the Seattle-based Providence Health System, where he has served as acting president and CEO for six months. He lives in Kirkland, Wash.

Class of 1979

Donald E. Wenner, MD, co-authored an article in the January 2005 issue of Surgical Endoscopy on “A stone extraction facilitation device to achieve an improved technique for performing LCBDE.” Dr. Wenner’s son, Donald III, a current UNM medical student, was one of the article’s co-authors.

Class of 1980

Daniel Blodgett, MD, lives in Oakhurst, California, in the foothills just outside Yosemite National Park, and is learning how to reverse disease through diet and nutritional supplements. In 2003, he received board certification in family practice and holistic medicine.

After seven-and-a-half years in the Navy and 15 years in corporate medicine, Mark Rieb, MD, opened his own clinic in Lakeville, Minnesota, in January. This clinic provides traditional family medicine combined with an integrative approach including acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, and other complementary treatments.

Class of 1982

Barbara McGuire, MD, FACP, is the regional medical director for Addus HealthCare, managing the health care of 6,000 prison inmates in New Mexico. She was elected president of the 1,200-member Greater Albuquerque Medical Association, and was elected to the UNM AOA Society in the spring of 2003. Dr. McGuire earned her master’s degree in medical management from the Tulane School of Public Health in the spring of 2004.

Class of 1984

Melvina McCabe, MD, has been selected to serve on President Bush’s Advisory Committee to the White House Conference on Aging. The conference will make policy recommendations to the president and congress on issues related to aging.

Class of 1986

Robert Sapien, MD, was recently appointed by Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson to the Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. Sapien will serve a two-year term, advising Thompson on programs that are directed to reduce infant mortality and improve the health status of pregnant women and infants. Dr. Sapien is an associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the UNM School of Medicine.

Class of 1987

Carole Gervais, MD, is a pediatrician in New York City, but said her most important project is raising her two children. Ella, 12, is a cheerleader, and Clay, 10, is aspiring to replace Derek Jeter as the Yankees’ shortstop. “I never would have dreamed I’d be working across from Lincoln Center in NYC – or have a cheerleader daughter,” she said. “God does have a sense of humor!”

In September, Richard Rolston, MD, FAAP, became president and CEO of the Prevea Clinic in Green Bay, Wis. Before joining Prevea, he was president and chief medical officer of Lovelace Sandia Health System in Albuquerque.

Class of 1990

Linda Garcia, MD, is living in Fairbanks, Alaska, and stays busy doing house calls for her frail, elderly patients and mentoring medical students. She has created a system of integrative therapy for patients who are problem drinkers, based on the book “My Way Out” by Roberta Jewell. The treatment combines Topamax, hypnosis, nutrition counseling, herbal remedies, homeopathy, and cognitive behavior therapy.

Class of 1992

Alexander Granok, MD, is part of a three-person infectious disease group in Nashua, New Hampshire. Dr. Granok is the medical director of Southern New Hampshire Integrated Care, a Ryan White Title III Program providing HIV prevention and ongoing medical services for low-income people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. He is also a clinical consultant to the Department of Health in the city of Nashua.

Class of 1993

Anne Simpson, MD, is the director of the Institute of Ethics at the UNM School of Medicine, and was awarded the Jack and Donna Rust Professorship in Biomedical Ethics in February. Dr. Simpson is a faculty member in UNM’s Division of Gerontology. She is chair of the biomedical ethics committee at University of New Mexico Hospital and serves as the medical director for Manzano Del Sol Long Term Care Facility.

Class of 1994

James T. Hardee, MD, was recently named chairman of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group board of directors. He also teaches clinician-patient communication at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and was named the school’s Teacher of the Year in 2004. He was Colorado Permanente Teacher of the Year in 2003. He published recently in the Journal of General Internal Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, but his proudest accomplishments are being a husband to his wife, Pam, and a father to their two children, 6-year-old Stephanie and 4-year-old Aaron. He and his family live in Westminster, Colo.

Class of 1996

Robert Hayes, MD, made a formal proposal of marriage to his wife Toni L. Harrison, MD, during the all class dinner at the 2006 Khatali Medical Association Alumni Reunion. The couple has three children; Jacob seven, Samantha five, and Eric 10 months. Photo courtesy of Tom Brahl.

Class of 1997

Since graduation,Claire Ashburn Shervanick, MD, has been serving active duty in the Air Force as a family physician. After residency at Travis Air Force Base in California, she spent three years at Vandenberg Air Force Base before returning to Travis as a faculty member in 2003. Dr. Shervanick is currently deployed with the 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron in Kirkuk, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her unit provides emergent trauma care and routine medical care to all area personnel including Air Force, Army, U.S. government employees and private contractors.

Class of 1998

Rhonda Chavez, MD, recently joined the Presbyterian Medical Group in Albuquerque.

Class of 2001

Katie Zang, MD, and Doug Zang, MD, are now living and working in Omak, Wash., at Mid-Valley Medical, a full spectrum family practice center.

Class of 2002

Mary Marfisee, MD,, has completed residency in family medicine at UCLA and has begun a fellowship in Maternal and Child Health with the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. The program is designed to address health care disparities in Los Angeles’ large population of underserved people.

Class of 2006

Before graduation in May 2006, Marcelle Heynekamp-England had this to say of her sister’s experience at the UNM SOM:
“Over the past 4 years I have watched my sister, Theresa Heynekamp-White, become a doctor. She will be graduating this May with the class of 2006. She was a single mother with limited $$ and help. Through the schools generosity of time, financial aid and everything else, she is going to realize her dream. There have been many days when she wanted to quit, but there was always someone there at the school to help her through the tough times . . . Becoming a doctor is not easy, but doing it as a single mother of two is amazing to me. So, to get to the point, I am just sending out a thank you for all that has been done for her over the last four years. She will be a great asset and a proud graduate!!!!”

House Staff

E. Michael Lewiecki, MD, is an internist in Albuquerque, and specializes in osteoporosis research and consulting. He is the president of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, and was an expert panel member at the “State of the Art in the Management of Osteoporosis” conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Lewiecki is involved in many clinical trials for the management of osteoporosis, and is organizing and publishing new standards for bone density testing. He recently lectured at an international osteoporosis meeting on low bone density in pre-menopausal women, and on non-responders to osteoporosis therapy.

In Memoriam

Marilyn Duke-Woodside, MD, class of 1978, died in her home in Prairie Village, Kansas, on March 10, 2004. She was a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bruce Shively, MD, former associate professor in UNM’s Division of Cardiology, died July 6, 2003, in a climbing accident on the North Sister mountain in Oregon. Shively, a nationally recognized expert in echocardiography, was on the faculty at the UNM School of Medicine from 1986-98. Shively was working at Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland at the time of his death.