University of Virginia Health System

Mahabuba Akter

Hometown:  Pabna, Bangladesh
Profession:  Phlebotomist in US and physician in Bangladesh
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
Reasons for enrolling in the MS-HES program?  My point of attraction was the part-time study option which is perfectly suitable with my full-time job and I am also very interested in equipping myself to contribute more in the health care field.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I find myself most interested in cooking Indian food and sharing it with friends. Other hobbies include listening to music, traveling, and gardening.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life."  - Unknown

Scott Altschuler

Hometown:  Lighthouse Point, Florida
Profession:   Gastroenterology Fellow 
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
Reasons for enrolling in the MS-HES program?  
Personal interests and hobbies: 
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:   

 Kevin Barrett

Hometown:  Jacksonville, FL
Profession:  Neurologist
Intended MS-HES track:  CIinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
Reasons for enrolling in the MS-HES program?
Personal interests and hobbies:  NFL and college footbal, working out, and golf.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:

Hometown:  Lynchburg, VA  
Intended Profession:  Physician
Intended MS-HES track:  CIinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
Reasons for enrolling in the MS-HES program? I love working with people and am excited about a proram that focuses on patient oriented research.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I love being outdoors & enjoying nature - hiking, kayaking, and camping! Dance is one of my passions. I enjoy spending my free time reading, running, and spending time with friends and family.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:

Kevin Cross

Hometown:  Rural Retreat, VA  
Profession:  Athletic trainer and a physical therapist
Intended MS-HES track:  CIinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
Reasons for enrolling in the MS-HES program? Appreciation for the need to justify evaluation methods, and treatment and rehabilitation practices.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I have two boys, ages 4 and 2, who are very time consuming and helping to broaden my interests daily. I enjoy all sports, but especially following baseball, specifically the St. Louis Cardinals.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:

Ruo Jia

Hometown:  Charlottesville, VA
Intended Profession:   Physician (of some sort)
Intended MS-HES track :  CIinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?    Brevity
Personal interests and hobbies:  Amateur film, history, armchair philosophy, intellectual history, undergraduate mathematical competition problems, and pro-wrestling.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:

Andreas Kramer

Hometown:  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Profession:  Physician, Internist, Intensivist, Fellow- Neurocitical Care
Intended MS-HES track:  CIinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research
What attracted you to the MS-HES program? I would like to work as a clinician-scientist.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I am married, have a wonderful 3-year-old son, with whom I love to spend time (although it is exhausting!). My wife and I are expecting #2 in a few weeks. I love to ski, hike, and play golf. Unfortunately, I currently have almost no time for any of these!

Biff Landeck

Hometown:  Overland Park KS
Profession:  Pediatric Cardiology
Intended MS-HES track :  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES Program?  The chance to learn about the proper techniques for doing and analyzing research related to patient care for my career. 
Personal interests and hobbies:  I enjoy the outdoors (skiing, hiking, camping) and sports (football, baseball, golf), and enjoy spending time with my wife, two young children, and dog. I also enjoy computers and reading for pleasure. 
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "Most look up and admire the stars, A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one."  - Unknown
 

Pamela Mason

Hometown: Lima, Ohio  
Profession:  Cardiology Fellow
Intended MS-HES track :  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES Program?  I am currently a cardiology fellow hera at the University of Virginia. I am interested in a career in academic medicine, and I hope that the MS program will provide me with the necessary skills to perform clinical investigations. 
Personal interests and hobbies:  I have a 1-year-old son who is a delight and keeps me very busy. When I have time, I also enjoy playing the piano, sailing, and traveling.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "You can muffle the drum, and you can loosed the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing?" - Khalil Gibran, "The Prophet"
 

Catherine Morrissette

Hometown:  Richmond, VA
Profession:  Clinical Research Coordinator, Sub Investigator
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?   The specificity of the program fits right into what I want to accomplish professionally.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I love people and enjoy being in their company! I started out being interested in the MSN program but discovered quickly that bones and cartilage were not my thing. I enjoy knitting when I can and you can always catch me singing in the car.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  " You cannot love life until you live the life you love" - My fortune cookie from lunch

Lucy Mungle

Hometown:  Richmond, VA
Profession:  Medical Practice Management
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?  I've always had an interest in Clinical Research and my experience over the years has deepened my interest in medical data/research/economics. The UVA program seemed to combine all these interests nicely into one program.
Personal interests and hobbies:  Gardening, parenting (2 children take up a lot of my time!), reading, enjoying time with my friends, football (watching), exploring and doing new things.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains." - Anne Frank.

Linda Sherman

Hometown:  Nelson County, Virginia
Profession:  Medical writer/editor
Intended MS-HES track: Informatics in Medicine   
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?  The study of Clinical Investigation & Patient Oriented Research will greatly enhance my expertise at editing articles that are reports of clinical research plus it will enable me to assist in an ongoing research study that is very interesting to me.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I am a cartoonist with a cartoon that appears regularly in a local paper (I won't say any more!). I very much enjoy horror literature and horror movies.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "It's in the trees, it's coming..." - Unknown.

 Angela Taylor

Hometown:  New York 
Profession:  Intervential Cardiology
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?  Training for doing future NIH based clinical research.
Personal interests and hobbies:  Running, painting, fasion, interior
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "It's in the trees, it's coming..." - Unknown

Heather West

Hometown:  Denver, CO
Profession:  Academic Oncology, likely specializing in breast cancer, with research focus in physcian-patient communication and quality of life.
Intended MS-HES track:  Clinical Investigation & Patient-oriented Research 
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?  The opportunity to concurrently finish my fellowship and improve my research skills to improve my candidacy for grant dollars in Academic Oncology.
Personal interests and hobbies:  I love to play soccer and hang out with my dog. My husband is an avid fly fisherman, so I occasionally get roped into doing that too. I love good food and wine.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "I love that passage in Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" where he talks about going to the woods because he wants to live deeply and purely, and to "suck the marrow out of life..." The idea of staying focused on what is real and important (and often most simple) in life is the gist.

Ning Zhang

Hometown:  Beijing, China
Profession:  Pharmacist (Chinese Medicine)
Intended MS-HES track:  Informatics in Medicine 
What attracted you to the MS-HES program?  Courses are wellarranged and can be finished in one year. This interdisciplinary program provides a broad range of training opportunities
Personal interests and hobbies:  I like photography, cooking, and travelling.
A quotation that is inspirational or that expresses your personality:  "Follow the local custom when you go to a foreign place."  - An old Chinese proverb.