The Office of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development is pleased to continue its quarterly series to highlight new School of Medicine faculty hires. This fifth article in the series welcomes new clinical and research faculty hired in August, September, and October of 2025.
To promote collaboration and connectivity among our new faculty and within the UVA Health community, we’ve included a description of each new faculty member’s clinical and/or research interests. The included table is searchable by name, department, or other key words.
The next article in the series will feature the newly hired faculty arriving in November, December, and January; be on the lookout for the next article in Medicine in Motion this February.
Please join us in welcoming our new faculty to the School of Medicine and UVA Health!
| PHOTO | NAME | RANK | DEPARTMENT | STATEMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Joyce Redinger, MD | Assistant Professor | Anesthesiology | Dr. Redinger's clinical interests are pediatric transplant anesthesia, pediatric acute pain management, and medical education and wellness. |
 | Kathleen Valenzuela, MD | Assistant Professor | Anesthesiology | Dr. Valenzuela has a clinical interest in perioperative medicine and critical care. |
 | Todd Stevens, MD | Assistant Professor | Anesthesiology | Dr. Stevens is interested in increasing utilization of regional anesthesia, resident and fellow education, point of care ultrasound, and medical simulation. |
 | Ziyad Knio, MD | Assistant Professor | Anesthesiology | Dr. Knio's clinical interests include anesthesiology, surgical/cardiothoracic intensive care, and the application of point-of-care ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in both practice settings. |
 | Carolyn Lee, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Dermatology | Dr. Lee is a dermatologist and epithelial biologist who specializes in providing dermatologic care to individuals at high risk of developing skin cancer. The goal of her research program is to identify previously unrecognized contributions of genes and signaling pathways in skin disorders to develop new therapeutic concepts that will ultimately improve current treatment paradigms. |
 | Christian Carr, MD, MPH | Assistant Professor | Dermatology | Dr. Carr is a dermatologist with special interest in care for patients with skin toxicities to cancer therapies as well as blistering skin conditions. |
 | Adam Hudepohl, PhD | Associate Professor | Family Medicine | Dr. Adam Hudepohl’s clinical interests focus on family medicine, with special focuses on mental health, preventive care, geriatrics, adolescent and young adult medicine, nutrition, cardiovascular risk reduction, and overall wellness. |
 | Latrina Lemon, MD | Associate Professor | Family Medicine | Dr. Latrina Lemon's clinical and research interests focus on community-based healthcare initiatives and improving access to quality care for all populations. Dr. Lemon is the physician lead for the Employee Primary Care Center. |
 | Robert Nolte, DO | Assistant Professor | Family Medicine | Dr. Robert Nolte, is a family medicine physician whose clinical interests include comprehensive primary care across the lifespan, preventive medicine, and managing chronic diseases; he has over three decades of experience caring for patients across the lifespan. |
 | Sandy Robertson, MD | Assistant Professor | Family Medicine | Dr. Sandy Robertson’s clinical interests include obesity medicine and geriatrics, joining UVA after directing a Program of All‑Inclusive Care for the Elderly in Lynchburg, Virginia. |
 | Jeanne Mitchell, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Jeanne Mitchell is particularly interested in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus and the role of the microbiome in autoimmune disease. |
 | Arfa Amjad, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Arfa Amjad has two areas of focus and expertise, Internal Medicine and Nephrology. |
 | Scott Smith, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Medicine | Dr. Scott Smith's current work, which spans across numerous scientific and clinical-care areas, centers on studies of naturally occurring human monoclonal antibodies created from peripheral blood B cells using a highly efficient method of generating human hybridomas. |
 | Nicolas Ashur, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Nicklas Ashur's interest are focused on advanced heart failure. |
 | Dominik Beer, DO | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Dominik Beer is an Electrophysiologist focused on heart arrhythmias, requiring implanted devices. |
 | Francesco Moroni, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Francesco Moroni has done extensive training in cardiovascular critical care with research interests in inflammation, interleukin-1, cardio-immunology, ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, COVID-19, and outcome research in interventional cardiology. |
 | Inga Melvinsdottir, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Inga Melvinsdottir is focused on Structural Echocardiograph imaging. |
 | LeAnn Denlinger, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. LeAnn Denlinger is focused on General Cardiology. |
 | Mirnela Byku, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Medicine | Dr. Mirnela Byku is the new Heart Failure Director with strong interest in growing the LVAD program. |
 | Sumeet Khetarpal, MD, PhD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Sumeet Khetarpal is a strong research focused Cardiologist with interest in Lipid Genetics and Coronary Disease. |
 | Kenneth DeVault, MD | Professor | Medicine | Dr. Kenneth DeVault is a Professor of Medicine coming from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, where he has practiced since 1995. During his tenure at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. DeVault served as Chair of the Department of Medicine for ten years and the Chair of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology for six years. Dr. DeVault is an expert in esophageal diseases and upper GI tract motility, and he served as President of the American College of Gastroenterology from 2015-2016. |
 | John Moriarty, MD | Professor | Medicine | Dr. John Moriarty has clinical interests in primary care and general internal medicine, and research interests in medical education, faculty development, and program evaluation. |
 | Joon Hwang, DPM | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Joon Hwang's goal is to educate the patient on proper diabetic foot care and prevent complications, including amputation. |
 | Margo Tanner, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Margo Tanners's career interests include medical education, specifically with the goal to bring core Palliative Care topics to learners earlier in their medical education. |
 | Jack Masur, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Jack Masur's clinical focus is head and neck cancers as well as the full spectrum of GU malignancies, including prostate, kidney, bladder, testicular, and penile cancers. During fellowship, he engaged in clinical and translational research, including dedicated time in a basic science lab, and ultimately developed a longitudinal research platform that aimed to characterize the clinical and genomic features of androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) and investigate mechanisms of resistance in that space. As a faculty member, he looks forward to building on that foundation and exploring other translational research opportunities in the H&N and GU space. |
 | Marcus Ellison, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Marcus Ellison's career interests are primarily in UME & GME education/curriculum development, healthy equity & care for underserved populations, mentorship/workforce development, and health systems improvement. |
 | Rebecca Ye, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Rebecca Ye is especially interested in improving physician-patient communication through resident training and coordinating culturally competent collaborations between primary care, social work, and specialist teams. |
 | William Knight, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. William Knight is interested in care of the underserved (he’s board chair of the Charlottesville Free Clinic), meditation/mindfulness to promote mental health among healthcare staff, and medical education. |
 | Isaura Rigo, DO | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Isaura Rigo’s clinical interests are in infectious diseases in the immunocompromised host, with a special interest in diagnostics and treatment of fungal infections. |
 | Neena Thomas-Gosain, MD | Associate Professor | Medicine | Dr. Thomas-Gosain’s clinical and research interests center on antimicrobial stewardship and quality improvement related to the same. |
 | A. Cole Burks, MD | Associate Professor | Medicine | Dr. Burks diagnoses and treats early- and late-stage thoracic malignancies using minimally invasive procedures. His research interests include novel intraprocedural imaging and ablative modalities. |
 | Nelson Mandrell, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Nelson Mandrell has clinical and research interests in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), mechanical ventilation and critical care echocardiography and simulation training. |
 | Liangguang Lin, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics | Dr. Liangguang Lin's research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms and physiological functions of the SEL1L-HRD1 ER-associated degradation. |
 | Elizabeth Harrison, MD | Assistant Professor | Neurology | Dr. Elizabeth Harrison's interests include reproductive health in epilepsy, as well as data science and machine learning applications to epilepsy research. |
 | Francesco Michelassi, MD, PhD | Assistant Professor | Neurology | Dr. Francesco Michelassi, is a neurologist who specializes in treating a wide range of neuromuscular disorders, including peripheral neuropathy, muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and inclusion body myositis. |
 | Helen Dainton-Howard, MD | Assistant Professor | Neurology | Dr. Helen Dainton-Howard, is a neurologist and psychiatrist who treats Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and movement disorders. Her research interests include psychosis, depression, and apathy in people with advanced Parkinson’s. |
 | Jasmin Jo, MD | Associate Professor | Neurology | Dr. Jasmin Jo is an associate professor at the UVA Department of neurology and a neuro-oncologist who treats a range of central and peripheral nervous system tumors, including gliomas, brain metastases, meningioma, lymphoma, spinal cord tumors, and complications from cancer and cancer treatments. |
 | Margaret Hudepohl, PhD | Associate Professor | Neurology | Dr. Margaret Hudepoh interest include program development and developmental screening in pediatric neuropsychology. |
 | Daniel Pellicer, MD | Assistant Professor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Dr. Pellicer is engaged in obstetric safety and systems improvement, resident education, and patient-centered OB/GYN care, creating opportunities to partner with perinatal quality initiatives, simulation programs, and GME colleagues. |
 | Matthew Wagar, MD | Assistant Professor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Dr. Matthew Wagar focuses on minimally invasive gynecologic oncology and outcomes research and welcomes collaboration with perioperative quality, anesthesia, biostatistics, and Cancer Center teams. |
 | Samantha Batman, MD, MPH | Assistant Professor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Dr. Samatha Batman focuses on cervical-cancer prevention in underserved communities with emphasis on self-collected HPV testing and equity-oriented implementation research, and welcomes collaboration with population health, epidemiology, and global health teams. |
 | Lindsey Vignali, MD | Assistant Professor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Dr. Lindsey Vignali concentrates on midlife women’s health, menopause care, and sexual medicine with advanced training in individualized hormone therapy, and seeks collaboration with cardiology, endocrinology, bone health, and primary-care partners. |
 | Nicole Fowler, MD | Associate Professor | Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery | Dr. Nicole Fowler, is a head and neck surgeon who specializes in treating head and neck cancers, HPV, thyroid cancer, and salivary gland masses. She is the Division Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery. |
 | Vusala Snyder, MD | Assistant Professor | Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery | Dr. Vusala Snyder is a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon. Her practice includes a wide range of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, from addressing the aging face and facial paralysis to facial trauma, rhinoplasty, hair restoration, and other reconstructive surgeries. |
 | Felicia Allard, MD | Associate Professor | Pathology | Dr. Felicia Allard is a gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary and cyto-pathologist and her interests are in liver transplant and translational research. |
 | Kimberly Burgos Villar, PhD, DABCC | Assistant Professor | Pathology | Dr. Kimberly Burgos Villar interests focus on clinical immunology and cancer biomarkers with a specific interest in monoclonal gammopathies. |
 | Tappy Gish, MD | Assistant Professor | Pathology | Dr. Tappy Gish is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Anatomic Pathology. Her interests include general surgical pathology and Dermatopathology, with a focus on leveraging digital pathology to improve access to diagnostic expertise in rural and resource-limited settings. |
 | Julia Johnson, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Julia Johnson's interests are in neonatal infections, with a focus on healthcare-associated infections and infection prevention and control strategies that can reduce their risk in the US and internationally. |
 | Katie Lohr, PhD | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Katie Lohr's clinical and research interests revolve around psychological diagnosis and behavioral treatments for children with developmental differences including Autism, Down Syndrome, and ADHD. |
 | Kimberly Driscoll, PhD | Research Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Kimberly Driscoll's research expertise is in the biological/psychological and social sequelae associated with type 1 diabetes through the implementation of patient-oriented, multi-site, randomized controlled clinical trials; ecological momentary assessment of T1D self-management behaviors; and interventions to improve self-management behaviors and glycemia. |
 | Katie Baldwin, DO | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics, | Dr. Katie Baldwin is a pediatric pulmonologist. She cares for patients with a wide variety of pediatric lung disorders and breathing related issues from other medical conditions. She has a special interest in severe asthma and complex care including patients with technology dependence, prematurity, and aerodigestive disorders. |
 | Xuexin Zhang, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Pharmacology | Dr. Xuexin Zhang's research focuses on the physiological roles of Orai1 and Orai3 proteins in SOCE and the effector functions of B lymphocytes. |
 | Christopher Chrzan, MD | Assistant Professor | Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | Dr. Christopher Chrzan specializes in interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine, providing treatment for musculoskeletal and spine pathology in a clinical setting. Procedures include epidural steroid injections (cervical, thoracic, lumbar), medial branch blocks, and radiofrequency ablations. |
 | Celia Foster, MD | Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Celia Foster's clinical interests include Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, personality disorders, and psychotherapy, particularly psychodynamic psychotherapy. |
 | Daisy Thompson-Lake, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Daisy Thompson-Lake is a neuroscientist studying the effects of neuromodulation on substance use and other psychiatric disorders. |
 | Elisabeth Dietrich, MD | Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Elisabeth Dietrich's interests include critical care psychiatry, transplant psychiatry, as well as developing and evaluating proactive models of psychiatric consultation. |
 | James J. Mahoney III, PhD | Associate Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. James Mahoney is a clinical neuropsychologist with primary research interests which includes investigating various forms of neuromodulation for addiction and other behavioral/psychiatric disorders. |
| Natalie Wilner, MD | Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Natalie Wilner's clinical areas of interest include anxiety disorders, OCD, early psychosis, and mood disorders; she also has interest in psychodynamic theory and topics in medical humanities including film and psychoanalytic theory. |
 | Philip Polychroniou, MD | Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Philip Polychroniou completed his psychiatry residency training at New York University School of Medicine in 2023. His clinical interests include the management of acute psychiatric illnesses in an inpatient setting and medical education. |
 | Samantha Simpson, PhD | Assistant Professor | Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences | Dr. Samatha Simpson's clinical and research interests focus on the assessment and treatment of mental health symptoms in transplant and oncology populations. |
 | Anthony Crimaldi, MD | Associate Professor | Radiation Oncology | Dr. Crimaldi's research interestsare is in radiation oncology with a focus on optimizing treatment efficacy and minimizing toxicity through advanced imaging techniques, personalized radiotherapy planning techniques, and integration of AI-driven decision support systems that improve radiation planning efficiencies. |
 | Heath Davis, PhD | Assistant Professor | Radiation Oncology | Dr. Thomas Davis is working to develop more accessible and effective radiation therapy tools, especially for clinics with standard equipment, to help personalize cancer treatment and improve patient outcomes. |
 | Ashley Yeager, MD, PhD | Assistant Professor | Radiology and Medical Imaging | Dr. Ashley Yeager's long-term research goal is to advance AI adoption in radiology and improve patient care through the development of marketable software using computational tools in conjunction with machine learning; my current project focuses on novel algorithms that allow advanced prostate sub-tissue segmentation from MRI images in pursuit of automated cancer detection and surveillance. |
 | Walker Julliard, MD | Associate Professor | Surgery | Dr. Walker Julliard is a thoracic surgeon with expertise in lung transplantation, robotic thoracic surgery, and complex airway surgery. |
 | Max Meneveau, MD | Assistant Professor | Surgery | Dr. Max Meneveau's interests are in the surgical treatment of breast cancer, including lumpectomy and oncoplastic breast procedures, mastectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and axillary lymph node dissection. |
 | Danielle Ladie, MD, MPH | Associate Professor | Surgery | Dr. Danielle Ladie is a transplant surgeon specializing in adult and pediatric transplantation, living donation, and robotic surgery. She is committed to advancing surgical education and expanding opportunities for women in surgery, while developing programs that combine cutting-edge innovation with compassionate and equitable care. |
 | Evan DeCan, MD | Assistant Professor | Surgery | Dr. Evan DeCan is a trauma and acute care surgeon with fellowship training in surgical critical care. His research emphasizes resuscitation science and vascular trauma outcomes, while his clinical practice focuses on integrating minimally invasive approaches into acute care surgery. He is committed to surgical education and expanding access to high-quality care for underserved populations. |
 | Yuchen Chen, MD, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Surgery | Dr. Yuchen Chen investigates how stress response pathways and regulatory mechanisms shape cellular behavior, aiming to translate molecular insights into therapeutic innovations that benefit patients. Building on her training in cancer research and cell biology, she is working in Dr. Jianjie Ma's research group to explore immune-modulating therapies for aging-related diseases. |
 | Kimberly Maciolek, MD | Assistant Professor | Urology | Dr. Kimberly Maciolek is a urologist who specializes in treating conditions affecting the urinary tract, including kidney stones and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). Procedures she specializes in include robotic surgery, percutaneous renal access with ultrasound, and fluoroscopic- and endoscopic-guided techniques. |
 | Vijaya Vemulakonda, MD, JD | Full Professor with Tenure | Urology | Dr. Vijaya Vemulakonda is the Chief of Pediatric Urology and Vice Chair of Research and Faculty Development for the Department of Urology. She is a graduate of the George Washington University, Harvard Law School, and the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Her clinical interests include the management of antenatally detected congenital urologic anomalies, including UPJ obstruction, vesicoureteral reflux, posterior urethral valves, and cloacal and bladder exstrophy variants. Her research focuses on the development of evidence-based guidelines to optimize surgical outcomes in children with congenital urologic anomalies and the use of the electronic health record to facilitate prospective multi-center collaborative surgical research. |
Filed Under: Faculty