Physician-Parent Panel
Hank Chambers, MD
Professor of Clinical Orthopedic Surgery, University of California at San Diego. Senior Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, CA
Dr Chambers is currently the David H Sutherland Director of Cerebral Palsy Studies at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. He is director of the Adult Disability Clinic at Rady Children’s Hospital. He is also the father of a 27 year old who has total body involvement cerebral palsy. Dr Chambers is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon whose research and clinical interests include the care and treatment of all types of cerebral palsy, clinical gait analysis, and alterations of the muscle in children and adults with cerebral palsy. He is the immediate past president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and is a past Chief of Staff of Rady Children’s Hospital.
W. Carl Cooley, MD
W. Carl Cooley, MD, is a developmental pediatrician and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the Dartmouth Medical School. He is the chief medical officer of the Crotched Mountain Foundation in Greenfield, NH where he is also medical director of the Center for Medical Home Improvement. Dr. Cooley graduated from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center, and after eleven years of primary care practice in New Hampshire, completed his fellowship in developmental pediatrics at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Boston. His clinical interests include Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders, neuromotor disabilities, and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Cooley’s research interests focus on the redesign of primary care delivery systems in keeping with the medical home model and health care transition for youth and young adults with special health care needs. He is co-director of Got Transition – the National Health Care Transition Center. He is co-author of Preventive Management for Children with Genetic Conditions – Providing a Primary Care Medical Home 2nd Edition (2006). He was named NH Pediatrician of the Year in 2001 and in 2006 received the first annual Calvin J. Sia Community Pediatrics Medical Home Leadership and Advocacy award from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Director’s Award from the United States Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Dr. Cooley has three young adult children including one with special health care needs. He resides in Concord, NH.
M. Maitland DeLand, MD
Dr. DeLand is an Honors graduate from the University of Florida Medical School and completed her residency in radiation oncology at Duke University. Since 1983, she has served as President and Director of OncoLogics, Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana. She has expanded her practice to include seven centers in Louisiana and one in Mississippi. This expansion has provided radiation oncology treatment to patients close to their homes and families.
Dr. DeLand is a clinical site surveyor with the American College of Radiology, an organization to accredit radiation oncology facilities throughout the United States. This involves a site visit to the requesting facility to review patient and site records, and on site interviews with physicians and staff, to be sure that all standards (from equipment provided, physician services, documentation standards, physics guidelines, etc.) meet the highest standards within the industry in order to achieve accreditation.
Dr. DeLand has a series of children’s books, Baby Santa, Baby Santa A Worldwide Christmas Adventure and Fishing for Flowers. A new line of children’s books has been picked up by a national book distributor which will be released later this year.
Dr. DeLand currently specializes in breast cancer, breast preservation with lumpectomy radiation therapy and gynecologic cancer.
Dr. DeLand takes great pride in offering some of the most advanced cancer treatments on the Gulf Coast, by ensuring that OncoLogics provides state-of-the-art equipment. Through her partnership with recognized physicians and excellent clinical staff, her philosophy of “treating cancer personally”, has earned both her and her staff the reputation of a facility that not only offers the very best in oncology treatment, but a facility that truly cares for all those they serve.
Melinda Elliott, MD
Neonatology, Pediatrix Medical Group at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Maria de Ferris, MD, MPH, PhD
Dr. Ferris is an associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a pediatric nephrologist and epidemiologist, the director of the Pediatric Renal Replacement Therapy Programs, and the founder of the UNC Health Care Transition Program.
In addition to her work responsibilities, she manages to have a family as well! One of her 3 children is a young adult with a chronic medical condition. Her mission is to develop evidence-based health provider and patient tools to improve the outcomes of young adults with pediatric onset chronic medical conditions.
Ronald Guritzky, MD
Anesthesiology, JFK Medical Center, Florida
Clarissa Kripke, MD
Dr. Kripke is an Associate Clinical Professor, Director of the Office of Developmental Primary Care in the UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine. She is also the Chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Disability Issues and the parent of a son whose autistic mind appreciates joy and beauty that others seem to overlook.
The Office of Developmental Primary Care is dedicated to improving health outcomes for people with developmental disabilities across the lifespan with an emphasis on adolescents and adults. The program does this through partnering with community agencies, government and health plans to develop clinical service, advocacy, research and training. The vision is that all people with a developmental disability have access to health services that maximize their wellness and function. Health care for people with developmental disabilities is interdisciplinary, team-based care, with patients and caregivers at the center of the team.
Dennis Kuo, MD
Dr. Kuo is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the parent of a child with special health care needs. His research is focused on improving Medical Homes and access to quality medical care for children with disabilities and complex medical conditions. He cares for children and teaches medical students and residents at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in both the general pediatrics clinic and the Medical Home Clinic for Children with Special Needs. Dr. Kuo has worked extensively with state agencies and family groups in advocating for quality health care for all children. He is a past board member of Parents’ Place of Maryland and is a founding member of the Arkansas Family 2 Family Health Information Center.
Vandana Shashi, MD
Dr. Shashi is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics at Duke University Medical Center. Her interest is in coordinating care for children with complex medical and developmental needs and transitioning them into adulthood and independence. She has a son with a chronic medical condition.
Tamara Simon, MD, MSPH
Dr. Simon is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hospital Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital, after a previous position at the University of Utah and training at the University of Colorado. Her academic interest is in improving the quality of inpatient care provided to pediatric medical and surgical patients, in particular, the vulnerable child with complex medical conditions.
Currently, her primary research focus is on the determination of risk factors for cerebrospinal fluid shunt re-infections in children with hydrocephalus, with an ultimate goal of developing strategies to treat such infections. Her secondary research focuses include identification of children with complex medical conditions.
She has a career development award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to support her research efforts, as well as support from the National Institutes of Health via the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network, Child Health Corporation of America via the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings Network, and Seeking Techniques in Advancing Research in Shunts- kids.
She is also a co-chair of the Academic Pediatric Association Hospitalist Special Interest Group.
Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified anatomic pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of experimental and molecular pathology. Dr. Stöppler’s educational background includes a BA with highest distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in anatomic pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
Dr. Stöppler served as an assistant professor of pathology in the Georgetown University School of Medicine and has also served on the medical faculty at the University of Marburg, Germany. Her research in the area of virus-induced cancers has been funded by the National Institutes of Health as well as by private foundations. She has a broad list of medical publications, abstracts, and posters and has taught medical students and residents both in the United States and Germany. Dr. Stöppler was named a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Society in Germany and was a recipient of a Physician Scientist Award from the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
An active medical journalist and writer, Dr. Stöppler currently serves on the medical editorial board of MedicineNet.com and is the chief medical editor of eMedicineHealth.com, both WebMD Inc. companies. Her experience also includes translation and editing of medical texts in German and English. Dr. Stöppler’s special interests in medicine include family health and fitness, patient education/empowerment, and molecular diagnostic pathology.
Dr. Stöppler is currently a specialist consultant in the breast oncology research program at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and is co-editor-in-chief of Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary, Year 2008 Third Edition.
She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and their three children.