The Office of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development is pleased to continue its quarterly series to highlight new School of Medicine faculty hires. This third installment of the series includes new clinical and research faculty hired in December 2024 and January through April 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 May, June, and July; be on the lookout for the next article in Medicine in Motion this August.
Please join us in welcoming our new faculty to the School of Medicine and UVA Health!
| Photo | Name | Rank | Department | Statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Alaattin Kaya, PhD | Associate Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics | Dr. Alaattin Kaya's focus is to provide a solid scientific basis to understand the cellular and molecular processes accompanying aging and the onset of age-related diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. |
 | Tyler Weaver, PhD | Assistant Professor | Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics | Dr. Tyler Weaver's work has focused on establishing the mechanistic and structural basis of DNA damage tolerance and repair, with an emphasis on understanding how DNA repair proteins function in the context of chromatin. |
 | Andrew Markowski, MD, MPH | Associate Professor | Emergency Medicine | Dr. Andrew Markowski is a highly accomplished leader in clinical informatics and emergency medicine, bringing deep expertise in aligning clinical workflows with technology to improve patient care and clinician efficiency. |
 | Richard Andrew Taylor, MD, MHS | Professor | Emergency Medicine | Dr. Richard Taylor is an international leader in digital health and artificial intelligence, specializing in the integration of emerging technologies into clinical practice. His research spans interdisciplinary domains, addressing not only the technical aspects of AI-driven clinical decision support but also the ethical, social, and implementation challenges that shape the future of digital health. At UVA, he aims to build collaborative initiatives that bridge medicine, data science, and policy to drive responsible and impactful innovation in emergency care and beyond. |
 | Joseph Clara, MD | Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Joseph Clara is an Assistant Professor in Hematology/Oncology, specializing in Stem Cell Transplant/Cellular Therapies. |
 | Charlene Dunaway Altamirano, MD, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Medicine | Dr. Charlene Dunaway Altamirano is an Assistant Professor on the clinical investigator track in the Platts-Mills and Wilson labs in the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology with a special interest in food allergy who is currently studying food allergen sensitization patterns in Honduras children. |
 | Rebecca Deaton, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics | Dr. Rebecca Deaton's interest are in the Identification of factors that regulate atherosclerotic plaque stability. |
 | Lu Gan, PhD | Associate Professor | Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics | Dr. Lu Gan's interest are in chromosome organization, nucleosome structure, histone marks, and structural cell biology. |
 | Cesarina Thohan, MD | Assistant Professor | Neurology | Dr. Cesarina Thohan is a vascular neurologist who provides stroke care and prevention, including treating ischemic stroke and mini stroke. |
 | Maryfrances Porter, PhD | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Maryfrances Porter is a child and family clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety, neurodiversity, and ensuring community access to mental health care. She joins us as the Director of the new outpatient Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Health Clinic. |
 | Aaron Misakian, MD, MFA | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Aaron Misakian is most passionate about advancing the care of underserved and marginalized populations, particularly through research, direct clinical care, and advocacy of transgender and gender diverse youth in addition to children and adolescents with elevated BMI (“pediatric obesity”). |
 | Emily O'Gorman, PhD | Assistant Professor | Pediatrics | Dr. Emily O'Gorman's clinical interests focus broadly on assessment and treatment of youth with intellectual and developmental disorders and co-occurring anxiety-related or other psychiatric disorders, while her research revolves around understanding risk and protective factors impacting mental health difficulties in this population. |
 | Eric Bokinsky, DDS | Assistant Professor | Plastic Surgery, Maxillofacial, and Oral Health | Dr. Eric Bokinsky comes to us from VCU School of Dentistry where he was the director of an AEGD Residency. He brings with him advanced skills in prosthodontics, implantology, conscious sedation, and adult special needs care. |
 | Jiwon Lim, MD | Assistant Professor | Plastic Surgery, Maxillofacial, and Oral Health | Dr. Jiwon Lim comes to us from the National Institute of Health where she was the Chief of Dental Operations in support of research. She has a Master’s in Public Health and specialty training in Oral Medicine. |
 | Heather Platter, PhD | Assistant Professor | Public Health Sciences | Dr. Heather Platter’s research focuses on the intersection of health and risk communication, health literacy, and affective factors that promote engagement in cancer prevention behaviors. |
 | Ming Fu, MD, PhD | Research Assistant Professor | Surgery | Dr. Ming Fu's research interests are focused on the development of enteric nervous system, Hirschsprung disease, and Hirschsprung disease associated enterocolitis. |
 | Joshua Gazzetta, DO | Assistant Professor | Surgery | Dr. Joshua Gazzetta is a trauma and acute care surgeon who enjoys teaching. His research interest include improving access to safe, timely, and equitable surgical care for his community. |
Filed Under: Faculty