Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery Faculty & Staff
Clinical Faculty
Professor
Bud Johnson Clinical Distinguished Chair
Section Chief, Thoracic Molecular Oncology
Director, W.M. Keck Center for Innovative Cancer Therapies
Assistant Professor
Professor
Executive Director of Surgical Facilities
Expansion, MD Anderson Cancer Network
Research Faculty
Associate Professor
Yonathan Lissanu Deribe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Clinical Staff
Outpatient
Laura Pachella, RN, MSN, AGPCNP-BC
Supervisor, Adv Pract Provider
Supports Jack Roth, M.D.
Zohra Ali, MSN, RN, FNP-C
Advanced Practice Nurse
Supports Reza Mehran, M.D.
Amber Akhtar, MPAS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Supports David Rice, M.D.
Vikki DeVito, BA, CER, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Supports Wayne Hofstetter, M.D.
Kim Kish, MSN, RN, ANP-C
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Boris Sepesi, M.D.
Susan Knippel, MS, RN, FNP-C
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Stephen Swisher, M.D.
Lihua Lai, MS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Supports George Pisimisis, M.D.
Jacqueline Lewis, MSN, RN, FNP-C
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Tam Thi Huynh, M.D.
Veronica Mendez-Wood, RN, MSN, FNP-C
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Ara Vaporciyan, M.D.
Sharon Myers, BS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Supports Garrett Walsh, M.D.
Courtney Robb, MSN, RN, CRNFA, FNP-C
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Mara Antonoff, M.D.
Inpatient
Carla Baker, MS, RN, ACNP-BC
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Stephen Swisher, M.D., Ara Vaporciyan, M.D. and Mara Antonoff, M.D.
Cheryl Fraser, MS, RN, ACNP-BC
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Jack Roth, M.D., Reza Mehran, M.D. and Boris Sepesi, M.D.
Hue Cao, BS, MS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Supports Wayne Hofstetter, M.D., Tam Thi Huynh, M.D. and George Pisimisis, M.D.
TaCharra Woodard, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Supports Garrett Walsh, M.D. and David Rice, M.D.
Clinical Research Staff
Dina H. Ray, MSN, RN, CCRP
Research Nurse Manager
May Celestino
Sr. Clinical Studies Coordinator
Sr. Research Nurse
Opal Jobson-Cudjoe, MSN, RN
Research Nurse
Craig E. DeGraaf, BSN, RN
Sr. Research Nurse
Opal Jobson-Cudjoe, MSN, RN
Research Nurse
Lab Research Staff
Dr. Jack Roth's lab group
Mourad Majidi, Ph.D.
Assoc Dir, Research Planning & Development
Lihui Gao, DVM, MS
Research Lab Coordinator
Feng Meng, Ph.D.
Research Invstigator
Ismail Meraz, Ph.D.
Sr. Research Scieintist
RuPing Shao, M.D.
Research Investigator
Dr. Wayne Hofstetter's lab group
Alexei Goltsov, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Dr. Bingliang Fang's lab group
Chenghui Ren, MS
Sr. Research Asst.
Li Wang
Research Investigator
Shuhong Wu
Research Investigator
Yi Xu, Ph.D.
Research Investigator
Ran Zhang
Research Investigator
Xiaoshan Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Dr. Stephen Swisher's lab group
Apar Pataer, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
RuPing Shao, M.D.
Research Investigator
Administrative Staff
Linda Pritchard
Surgery Dept. Administrator
Mary Lou Frazier
Operations Manager
Dorie Gray
Office Manager
Dina H. Ray, MSN, RN, CCRP
Research Nurse Manager
Research Nurse Manager
Laura Pachella, RN, MSN, AGPCNP-BC
Supervisor, Adv Practice Provider
Wanda Reese
Administrative Manager
Supports Dr. Stephen Swisher
Support Staff
Laura Barrera
Program Coordinator
Supports Drs. Tam Thi Huynh and George Pisimisis
Julie Calacat
Sr. Administrative Assistant
Supports Dr. David Rice
Judy Corke
Program Coordinator, Education
Marian DeMarco
Clinical Billing Specialist
Lucy Gignac
Program Coordinator
Supports Dr. Garrett Walsh
Donna Head
Program Coordinator
Supports Drs. Wayne Hofstetter and Boris Sepesi
Alma Hurd
Grant Program Coordinator
Web Editor
Dara Keener
Program Coordinator
Supports Drs. Jack Roth and Reza Mehran
Amber Lethridge
Accountant II
Myrna Mata
Program Coordinator, Provider Relations
Supports Drs. Ara Vaporciyan and Mara Antonoff
Emmanuel Obasi, BS, MBA, MS
Financial Management Analyst
Huawei Tang
Data Analyst