Faculty

Midnela Acevedo, MD, Pediatrician, Co-Principal Investigator Pediatric Research Protocols San Juan City Hospital, San Juan PR.

Wanda Acosta Rivera, RN, Special Projects Coordinator for the Ryan White III Program, Migrant Health Center, Western Region, Inc. Coordinator for Air Bridge Network, Project Director for the CDC HIV Prevention Program, Puerto Rico.

Orlando Alonso, MD, Medical Director, El Nuevo Puerto Rico CoNCRA. Emergency Physician. Study and Work Program, Latin American Center of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Member of the International Association of Physicians on AIDS Care.

Sally F. Alrabaa, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Ana Alvarez, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and Director of Fellowship Program, University of Florida, College of Medicine, Jacksonville, Florida.

Efraín Arroyo Pena, MD, Director, Centro de Salud Migrantes, Mayagüez, PR. Miembro de la Asociación Americana de Medicina-VIH y de la Sociedad Internacional de SIDA.

Jeffrey Beal, MD, AAHIVS, Clinical Director, Florida/Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center; Medical Director, Bureau of HIV/AIDS of the Florida Department of Health; Associate Professor, University of South Florida; and Medical Director, Ryan White Part C, Hendry/Glades County Health Departments, LaBelle, FL.

Belinda Beauchamp, MD, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan. Co-investigator of Women-Infant Transmission Study, Natural History Study of Women with HIV Infection and their Offspring, and Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Unit (PACTU).

Roberto Calderón, MD, Internal Medicine specialist at Community Network in Clinical Research on AIDS San Juan PR.

Gloria B. Callwood, PhD, RN, Professor of Nursing, Division of Nursing at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas campus. She is a clinical specialist in psychiatric/mental health nursing and a Florida/Caribbean AETC Coordinator.

Vicky Campbell, ARNP-C, MSN, Coordinator of Clinical Programs, Pediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville. She has 28 years of experience in the pediatric arena with 10 years as an ARNP. She has also worked for more than seven years as a Pediatric Infectious Disease ARNP with the UF Pediatric HIV team. She participates in the CMS Pediatric HIV programs as well as the Pediatric Perinatal HIV Prevention project. She is also a faculty member of the Florida/Caribbean AETC and is an active participant in chart reviews throughout the region.

Beata Casanas, DO, Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. She is currently the Executive Medical Director of the Hillsborough County Health Department and responsible for developing clinical protocols, policies, and procedures, and supervision of the tuberculosis, HIV and STD clinics.

Debbie Cestaro-Seifer, MS, RN, LMT, Visiting Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of the Virgin Islands.

Aida Chaparro, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Chaparro is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics and specializes in pediatric HIV.

Amanda Cotter, MD, MRCOG, MRCPI, MSPH, Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) in the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Florida. Dr. Cotter also serves as Director of the Perinatal HIV Service within the OB/GYN Division of Research and Special Projects.

Nelly Diaz-Mendez, RN, MPH, CNM, Certified nurse mid-wife with a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of OB/GYN, Division of Research and Special Projects. Several years in HIV experience and in women’s health.

Faith W. Doyle, MSN, ARNP, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of OB/GYN, Division of Research and Special Projects. She has more than 20 years of HIV experience in women's health.

Patricia J. Emmanuel, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and head of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa. She is the Medical Director for the University of South Florida HIV Program for children and adolescents.

Luis A. Espinoza, MD, AAHIVS, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the HIV/AIDS House Physician Program at the University of Miami School of Medicine; Director of Inpatient Adult HIV Services in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami.

Francisco Fernandez, MD, Chairperson and Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine; University of South Florida; College of Medicine; Tampa, FL. Member, Commission on AIDS; American Psychiatric Association; and Steering Committee; AIDS Education Project, Center for Mental Health Services and American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C.

Lawrence B. Friedman, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the HIV/AIDS House Physician Program; Director of Inpatient Adult HIV Services in the Department of Medicine; Director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine, and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine.

Carol Fulton, MSN, ARNP, CPNP, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the University of Florida, Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Center, Jacksonville, Florida.

Daisy H. Gely, MPHE, Professor of Health Education at the University of Puerto Rico, and is the Puerto Rico Director.

Sandra Gonzales Gompf, MD, FACP, Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine, and Section Chief, James A. Haley VA Hospital, Tampa, Florida.

Daniel Haight, MD, Director of the Polk County Health Department and an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida. He is Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Lois Hall, ARNP, MSN, Florida/Caribbean AETC Coordinator, Clinical Consultant, Trainer and Nurse Practitioner at St. Joseph's Hospital Tampa Care Clinic.

Jennifer Janelle, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Janelle is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and has been providing HIV care for more than 10 years. She provides direct patient care for HIV-infected patients in Columbia, Sumter and Putnam counties. Dr. Janelle is a faculty member of the Florida/Caribbean AETC and has given lectures on the clinical management of HIV in adults and participates in medical chart reviews throughout the region.

Dushyantha Jayaweera, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami.

Michael A. Kolber, MD, PhD, Associate Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami School of Medicine. He is Director, AIDS Disease Management Initiative, JMH Health System. He is Director, Infectious Disease Clinical Research Unit. Director, Adult HIV Services, Department of Medicine, University of Miami. He is also Professor of Medicine, University of Miami School of Medicine

Donald E. Kurtyka, ARNP, PhD, Director, HIV Services, Tampa General Hospital; Clinical Assistant Professor, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine; and Nurse Practitioner, Specialty Care Center, Hillsborough County Health Department, Tampa.

Ernesto J. Lamadrid, MD, AAHIVS, Director of HIV/AIDS Services, Alachua County Health Department. Dr. Lamadrid is an HIV specialist certified by the American Academy of HIV Medicine since 2000. He has 15 years of experience managing HIV infected adults. He worked for twelve years on the Florida Department of Corrections and is currently the coordinator and lead physician of the DOC/DOH Pilot project, providing STD and HIV specialty care to inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections. He has spoken in local and national conferences.

Robert M. Lawrence, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Pediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville. Dr. Lawrence is a specialist with 20 years of experience in Pediatric HIV, including participation with the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group. He provides direct clinical HIV care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults in Gainesville and the surrounding counties as well as at satellite clinics in Tallahassee, Panama City and Pensacola. He participates in editing the Pediatric Antiretroviral Pocket Card, HIV clinical program evaluations and educational programs concerning primarily, pediatric HIV medical care, adolescent HIV medical care and preventing HIV perinatal transmission.

Hilda Leon, BS, RNC, Prevention Program Coordinator for the USF Center for HIV Education and Research and the Florida/Caribbean AETC.

Jorge Lujan-Zilbermann, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of South Florida College of Medicine. He is a co-principal investigator for the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Adolescent Trials Network site at USF's Pediatric HIV program.

Saniyyah Mahmoudi, MSN, ARNP, Practitioner and Director of Education, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Florida, Jacksonville and Florida/Caribbean AETC Coordinator/Trainer.

Iván Meléndez-Rivera, MD, FAAFP, AAHIVS, Assistant Professor, Family Practice Department, Ponce School of Medicine; Family Practice Residency, Dr. Pila Hospital and Saint Luke's Hospital Internal Medicine Residence Program; Principal Investigator and Medical Director of Centro ARARAT, a non-profit multidisciplinary HIV organization in Ponce, Puerto Rico; Clinical Consultant of the Ryan White Planning Council; ADAP Advisory Board, Puerto Rico Juvenile Institutions and Resistance Testing Consultation Florida/Caribbean AETC; Vice President, Puerto Rico HV Treaters Association.

Ayesha Mirza, MD, Medical Director of the University of Florida Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education, and Service (UF CARES) Rainbow Center; responsible for CQI oversight; Physician of Pediatric Infectious Diseases; Team Leader for HIV/AIDS Chart Reviews; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at University of Florida College of Medicine.

Jose Montero, MD, FACP, Associate Professor in Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He treats HIV patients at Tampa General Hospital and the Hillsborough County Health Department.

Eknath Naik, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, USF College of Public Health and in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, USF College of Medicine. He is the director of Centers for Health, HIV/AIDS Research and Training in India (CHART-India).

Hillary Nelson, RN, BSN, Clinical educator for the Routine HIV Testing Project with the Florida/Caribbean AETC’s HIV Prevention Program.

Joanne J. Orrick, PharmD, AAHIVE, Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville. Dr. Orrick has more than 10 years of clinical experience in HIV and Infectious Diseases pharmacotherapy. She is the Training Coordinator for the Florida/Caribbean AETC subsite at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She is an active participant in medical chart reviews around the region and she also conducts chart reviews specifically evaluating antiretroviral therapy and drug-drug interactions. She is co-editor of the HIV CareLink newsletter and several pocketcards (ARV Therapy in Adults & Adolescents, Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, Opportunistic Infections, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in HIV) published by the Florida/Caribbean AETC.

JoNell Efantis Potter, PhD, RN, ARNP, Division Director for Research and Special Projects, Assistant Professor in Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Miami School of Medicine, and licensed as an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.

Mobeen Rathore, MD, CPE, FACPE, FIDSA, FAAP, Professor and Assistant Chair, Department of Pediatrics, and Chief of Infectious Disease and Immunology, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville.

Ruth E. Rios-Motta, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Public Health. Her academic training is in Health Services Research and Program Evaluation from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health (Ph.D., 1996). Her expertise includes among others health program evaluation, research methods, survey research mental health services research, and gerontology. During her professional development she had being in charge of conducting and designing evaluation plans, field work methods and quality control procedures for island-wide surveys. She has been the Evaluation consultant for the Puerto Rico site of the Florida and Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center for nine years. She is also the Research Coordinator of the Puerto Rico Health Services Research Institute, and Evaluator Coordinator for the Post-Doctoral Master Program on Clinical Research at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, and the Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan, among others.

Delia M. Rivera-Hernández, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Rivera-Hernandez is board certified in Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Yvette A. Rivero, MPH, Southeast Coordinator for the Florida/Caribbean AETC and Associate Director of Clinical Research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of OB/GYN Division of Research and Special Projects. She has more than 22 years of experience working in HIV with women and children, as well as a Master’s in Public Health with extensive knowledge in epidemiology.

Carina A. Rodriguez, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida. Author of over 20 scientific publications and book chapters, her research interests include pediatric HIV, infections in patients with primary immunodeficiency and post-transplantation, pneumococcal pathogenesis, and viral and bacterial interactions. She participates in NIH and industry-sponsored HIV clinical trials including the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group and an NIH/NIAID RO1 study entitled, Impact of HIV-1 Genotype on Therapy Response in Children. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Disease.

Jorge Santana, MD, Principal Investigator/Program Director, AIDS Clinical Trial Unit and Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan.

Lissette Santiago, MD, Doctorado en Medicina de Familia. Desde el 1994 labora en la Clínica de Seguimiento del Programa SIDA de San Juan como co-investigadora de la Clínica de investigaciones Clínicas del programa SIDA de San Juan.

Gwendolyn Scott, MD, Director and Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.

John T. Sinnott, MD, FACP, Cullison Professor of Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Mental Health. He is Director of the Division of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine, and Chief of Infectious Diseases, Tampa General Healthcare, Tampa, Florida.

Charurut Somboonwit, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine. She is also Communicable Disease Director and Clinical Research Director at the Hillsborough County Health Department.

Carol M. Stewart, MS, DDS, MS, Professor, Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, University of Florida, College of Dentistry, Gainesville. She is currently board-certified in both Oral Medicine and Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and maintains an oral medicine private practice at the College of Dentistry. Dr. Stewart's work in the area of management of HIV-infected individuals has been ongoing since 1984, and she has worked with Florida/Caribbean AETC since 1993 to provide education and training to improve care for HIV-infected individuals. Currently, she is the Dental Director for the Florida/Caribbean AETC and primary author of the dental poster. She provides on-site training and dental chart reviews throughout the region to enhance awareness of the importance of oral health care in the overall management of medically complex patients.

Diane Straub, MD, MPH, Director, Adolescent Medicine and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of South Florida Department of Pediatrics, Tampa.

Michael Thompson, PharmD, BCNSP, Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs and Professor of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee.

John F. Toney, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, USF College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida. He is the Medical Director of the Florida STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, one of the CDC National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers.

David Waldron, BSN, RN, AETC Consultant Trainer.

Todd S. Wills, MD, Associate Professor, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine Tampa. He is also Assistant Director, Florida STD/HIV Prevention Training Center: CDC National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Centers.

Carmen D. Zorrilla, MD, Professor, School of Medicine, OB-Gyn Department, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan. Principal Investigator, Center for Maternal-Infant Studies and Woman-Infant HIV Transmission Studies; NIH Office of AIDS Research Prevention Science Working Group Member; US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Office on Women's Health Research Work Group Member; Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal-Editorial Board Member; and ACTG OB, Subcommittee Member.