Message from the Chair - Northeast Ohio Medical University

December 2010
Message from the Chair
Auld Lang Syne
As 2010 comes to a close I can’t help reflecting on the many
changes that have occurred at NEOUCOM over the past year.
Lois Nora, M.D., J.D., M.B.A., stepped down as president
and dean. Dr. Nora was a champion of primary care in her
former role and is still a champion of primary care in her
current role as faculty in the Department of Behavioral and
Community Health Sciences. I had the pleasure of attending
one of her health policy classes and was delighted by her
eloquent description of the care she witnessed provided by
a family physician.
Jay Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D., became our president in January, the first person to hold
that office solely. His vision for the school’s future is heavily invested in primary
care, which he has demonstrated on a number of occasions. He has become the
leading champion of the urban primary care track being developed at Cleveland
State University (CSU) and has challenged us to develop pipeline programs that
place students in primary care specialties in underserved urban and rural areas of our
region.
Mark Penn, M.D., M.B.A., has been appointed special advisor to the presidents of
both NEOUCOM and CSU. In that capacity he has taken the lead in developing the
relationships in Cleveland that will be necessary for the successful partnership of the
two institutions. I am currently working with Dr. Penn to develop relationships with
the community health centers in Cleveland. We anticipate that they will be a major
component of the outpatient training for students in the urban primary care track.
Jay Williamson, M.D., left NEOUCOM in October to become the medical director
of Summa Physicians, Inc. He served NEOUCOM capably in virtually every
important role, including interim dean. Dr. Williamson is still very involved with our
underserved curriculum and our new strategic plan. We hope that, in his new role, he
will be in a position to lead the development of new clinical relationships between
NEOUCOM and its teaching faculty.
Jeffrey Susman, M.D., became dean of the College of Medicine in September. The
first family physician to hold that position, Dr. Susman has lead the departments of
family medicine at the University of Nebraska and the University of Cincinnati in the
past, and has held several leadership roles with the Association of Departments of
Family Medicine (the national organization of family medicine chairs). You’ll learn
more about him next month, when he will be the subject of our Faculty Profile.
So, it was a year of great change, bringing with it great opportunity to advance the
true mission of NEOUCOM (and every medical school) – to improve the health of
the community it serves.
Anthony J. Costa, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Family Medicine
Associate Dean for Community Partnerships

Faculty Profile
Patricia L. Matto, D.O., assistant professor of family medicine at NEOUCOM, is an assistant program director, osteopathic
director of medical education, and osteopathic program director at the Aultman Family Medicine Residency in Canton. Matto
attended Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa. She moved to Massillon to complete her osteopathic internship
and completed her family medicine residency at Aultman Hospital.
Following residency, she went into private practice. In 2006, a dually-accredited (M.D./D.O.) family medicine program was
started, and she took the opportunity to become the program director of the LECOM/Aultman Osteopathic Family Medicine
Program, and completed the Fellowship in Academic Medicine (FAME) in 2008, with an interest in curriculum development.
In 2009, she became the osteopathic director of medical education.
Matto resides in Massillon, in Jackson Township, and is married to Brian Aurand, who is currently a professor at the University of Mount Union and a
doctoral student at Cleveland State University in the Global Business Program. She is a lucky woman to be the stepmother to Jessica (17) and Jake (14).
Matto also is the tired, proud mother of Sydney (3) and due to have her second child in April 2011. In her free time, she continues the piano lessons
she began in 2007. She also enjoys cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers, scrapbooking, reading novels and keeping her jealous, needy Golden Retriever,
Jasper, from ingesting any more small toys!
Faculty Development
Fellows Selected for the New Fellowship in Academic Medicine:
Teaching and Research Tracks
We are excited about launching the new, dual track Fellowship in Academic Medicine, thanks to a Grant for Physician Faculty Development in Primary
Care from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (Award no. 1 D55HP20645-01-00).
The following applicants have been accepted for the teaching and research tracks, based on grant priorities of primary care specialties and physician
faculty who teach in community health centers and federally designated health professions shortage areas. The first of 10 monthly fellowship sessions is
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, culminating with presentations of scholarly projects by the fellows, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011 at the NEOUCOM Rootstown
campus. Please join us in congratulating these fellows on their path of skill development and academic leadership.
Teaching Track
Rama Chandrashekaran, M.D. – General Pediatrics
Neighborhood Health Care, Inc. (Harrison, Ohio)
David M. Cola, D.O. – Family Medicine
Community Action Agency of Columbiana County (Lisbon, Ohio)
Rosanna Dean-Scott, M.D. – Family Medicine
Akron Community Health Center – Portage (Kent, Ohio)
Kyle A. Gustafson, Pharm.D., BCPS – Pharmacy Practice
Southwest General Hospital (Broadview Heights, Ohio)
Jessica L. Handel, D.O. – Family Medicine
St. Elizabeth Health Center (Youngstown, Ohio)
Thomas D. Macabobby, M.D. – Family Medicine
St. Elizabeth Health Center (Youngstown, Ohio)
Grenville Machado, M.D. – Family Medicine (Copley, Ohio)
James E. Phillips, M.D. – Internal Medicine (Akron, Ohio)
Rob Salyer, D.O. – General Pediatrics (PGY3)
Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron, Ohio)
Stacey R. Schneider, Pharm.D. – Pharmacy Practice
NEOUCOM
Research Track
Magdi Awad, B.S., Pharm.D. – Pharmacy Practice
NEOUCOM
Denise Bobovnyik, M.D. – Family Medicine (Canfield, Ohio)
Frederick U. Eruo, M.D., M.P.H. – Obstetrics/Gynecology
Aultman Hospital (Canton, Ohio)
Samantha Gunkelman, M.D. – General Pediatrics
Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron, Ohio)
Douglas W. Harley, D.O. – Family Medicine
Akron General Medical Center (Akron, Ohio)
Kathryn Hixon, M.D. – General Pediatrics
Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron, Ohio)
Roger Musa, M.D. – Family Medicine
Aultman Hospital (Canton, Ohio)
Andrew J. Naumoff, M.D. – Family Medicine
Dunlap Family Physicians (Orrville, Ohio)
Timothy Ulbrich, Pharm.D. – Pharmacy Practice
NEOUCOM
Kanwaljit Waraich, M.D. – General Internal Medicine
Western Reserve Care System (Youngstown, Ohio)