UNMC - Key Persons


Ajay Murokonda

Job Titles:
  • Master 's Graduate Student

Alan Erickson

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean of Student Affairs

Alberto Marcelin

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean for Admissions / Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine

Alex Shull

Job Titles:
  • Educational Program Coordinator - Skills Activities ( POCUS, Intersession Days, Acute Care Block )

Alison Bobal

Job Titles:
  • Collection Development
  • Head, Collection Development and Metadata

Amir Farhangpour

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean
  • Executive
Dr. Farhangpour plays a vital role in achieving and maintaining the college's mission, vision and accreditation. He is instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of the college, fostering innovation, advancing our mission to provide outstanding education, research and patient care, and overseeing all facets of the College of Dentistry. Before joining UNMC in 2019, Dr. Farhangpour served as an associate professor and co-director of the pre-doctoral clinic at Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Amy Dodson

Job Titles:
  • Administrator II

Anne Anderson Berry

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor, Department of Pediatrics

April Busch

Job Titles:
  • Grants Finance Coordinator

Arianne Marcoux

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Medical Education Coordinator

Beau Konigsberg

Job Titles:
  • Orthopaedic Surgery, 2026

Belinda Boelter

Job Titles:
  • Publications and Research Interests

Ben Simon

Job Titles:
  • Accounting / Office Associate
  • Publications and Research Interests

Bradley Britigan - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
Bradley Britigan, MD, dean of the College of Medicine serves as chair of the faculty council.

Brian Lowes

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Brian Maass

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Digital Technologies Librarian / Expertise: Emerging Technology in Libraries, Technical Project Management

Carol Remmer Angle

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, UNMC College of Medicine
  • Presidential Chair of Pediatrics

Carrie Meyer

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Head, Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections & Archives
  • History

Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold

Job Titles:
  • Chancellor
Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, is a nationally recognized leader and tireless advocate for transforming higher education, academic medicine and health care delivery. Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, leads the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which was founded in 1869, chartered as the Omaha Medical College in 1881, and became affiliated with the University of Nebraska in 1902. Welcome to UNMC, where learner-centered education and cutting-edge research lead to transformed lives and communities. We value the diverse perspectives you bring to our campus that will help spur new ideas, creativity and innovative solutions for the future. You are entering an invigorating academic health science center that values you as an individual but also promotes teamwork and interprofessional education and care. Here you will have the opportunity to benefit from the strong connections we have to our communities and to global partners and make new life-long connections and friends. You will study in state-of-the-art facilities that include augmented and virtual reality, holographic theaters and simulated hospitals and work with researchers and health care professionals known around the world as experts in their fields. You will not only learn from among the best in your own field but get to engage and work with excellent peers and teachers from other professions. You will be supported in getting the skills you need for lifelong learning to ensure your future success because we want you to always be on the cutting edge and be among the leaders in your chosen discipline. The possibilities for your personal growth and learning are limited only by your own diligence, industry and imagination.

Chandra Are

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Designated Institutional Official

Chandrakanth Are

Job Titles:
  • JL & CJ Varner Professor of Surgical Oncology & Global Health / Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education / Vice Chair of Education, Department of Surgery

Chittibabu (Babu) Guda

Job Titles:
  • Ex Officio
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Chris Kabourek - President

Job Titles:
  • President

Cody Phillips

Job Titles:
  • Student Affairs Coordinator

Coleen Rivera

Job Titles:
  • Office Associate II

Craig Walker

Job Titles:
  • Radiology, 2024

Crystal Bearfield

Job Titles:
  • Admissions / Recruitment Associate

Cynthia (Cindy) M. Schmidt

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor / Education and Research Services Librarian
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases

Danielle Westmark

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Education and Research
  • Clinical Perfusion Education
  • Core Facilities
  • Publications and Research Interests

Daphne Ly

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Darby Kurtz

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Archivist and Public Historian
Expertise: Special collections and archives, public history, museology, collections management, and curatorial affairs

Debra Romberger

Job Titles:
  • Internal Medicine

Devin Frisbee

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Lab

DiAnna Hemsath

Job Titles:
  • Archivist
  • Assistant Professor
  • Publications and Research Interests

Durrett Winter

Job Titles:
  • Library Technician III
  • Publications and Research Interests

Emily Glenn

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student Association
  • Publications and Research Interests
  • Research Administration
  • Student Senate

Erin J. Torell

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

Erin Snow

Job Titles:
  • Director

Geoffrey A. Talmon

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for the Office of Medical Education / Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Gerry Kugel

Job Titles:
  • Dean
  • Reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine
Among his professional activities, Dr. Kugel serves as a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Dental Materials, the Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry and the Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry. He also is a fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry and the Academy of Dental Materials. Dr. Kugel received his doctorate of dental medicine from Tufts University in 1985 and his PhD in dental materials in 2004 from the University of Siena, Italy. He also has a master's degree in anatomy and cellular biology from Tufts, and an executive certificate in management andlLeadership from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Dr. Kugel has published more than 200 articles and more than 300 abstracts in the field of restorative materials and techniques. He also has given more than 400 lectures both nationally and internationally.

Grace Spaulding

Job Titles:
  • Student Worker

Gunjan Misri

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Lab

Heather L. Brown

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Postdoctoral Education
  • Scholarly Communications

Howard Fox

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences / Senior Associate Dean of Research and Development, UNMC College of Medicine / Director, Center for Integrative and Translational Neuroscience
  • Senior Associate Dean of Research & Development / Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences

James K. Wahl, III

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Associate Dean for Research
Dr. Wahl was appointed the interim associate dean for research and chair of the department of oral biology in 2020. Under Dr. Wahl's leadership, the college achieved a 28 percent increase in grants and contracts during the 2021-2022 fiscal year and a near doubling in NIH research funding since 2019. Additionally, the research program has expanded through the recruitment of additional faculty involved in research. Dr. Wahl joined the College of Dentistry in 2001 as a research assistant professor in the department of oral biology and was named a UNMC Distinguished Scientist in 2019.

Jason MacTaggart

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Jeanette Gardner

Job Titles:
  • Accountant I

Jen Brady

Job Titles:
  • Administrative Support / Education Programs Coordinator, MD - PhD Scholars Program
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Jennifer Adams

Job Titles:
  • Dermatology, 2026

Jess King

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Education and Research Services Librarian
  • Publications and Research Interests

Jesse L. Cox

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

John Dickinson

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine Division
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Kaleb Michaud

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor, Division of Rheumatology / Director, Rheumatology Fellowship Research Program

Kara Shellman-Kuhns

Job Titles:
  • Assistant

Karen Hankins

Job Titles:
  • Educational Program Associate

Kari A. Simonsen

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, UNMC College of Medicine
  • Presidential Chair of Pediatrics

Kari Anzalone-Stavneak

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Educational Support, Assessment, and Accreditation & Compliance

Kate Hyde

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor / Biochemistry Graduate Committee Chairperson

Kathryn Dybdall

Job Titles:
  • Director for the Office of Medical Education

Katie Schultis

Job Titles:
  • Student Senate President 2023 - 2024 / UNMC Student Regent

Keely Buesing

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Kelly Caverzagie

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Educational Strategy and Learning Environment

Kelly Gonzalez

Job Titles:
  • Publications and Research Interests

Kenneth W. Bayles

Job Titles:
  • Ex Officio
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
Sadykov, M. and Bayles, K.W. 2012. The control of death and lysis in staphylococcal biofilms: a coordination of physiological signals. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 5:211-5. PMCID: PMC3320683 Bayles, K.W. The biological role of cell death and lysis in biofilm development. 2007. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 5:721-726. PMID: 17694072

Kiara Comfort

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
  • Radiology

Kim Harp

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Education and Research Services Librarian

Kimberly Jarzynka

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean for Admissions / Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine

Kirstie Bash

Job Titles:
  • Director of Student Assessment

Kody Moffatt

Job Titles:
  • Pediatrics, 2026

Larissa Krayer

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
  • Publications and Research Interests

Laura Bashus

Job Titles:
  • Business Operations Administrator

Leah Cook

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Lindsay Meyer

Job Titles:
  • Admissions & Student Affairs Director

Lindsey Rae Holmes

Job Titles:
  • Accreditation Projects Associate

Lisa Allen

Job Titles:
  • Assistant

Lisa Chinn

Job Titles:
  • Publications and Research Interests

Liz VanRoekel

Job Titles:
  • Assistant

Lynn Mack

Job Titles:
  • Internal Medicine

Merlyn Vogt

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Admissions and External Relations
Dr. Vogt joined the college in 1996 as a part-time clinical instructor and became an assistant dean in 2005. During his time as assistant dean, Dr. Vogt has advanced the college's admissions, student affairs, alumni relations and government relations. Under his leadership, each year the college continues to recruit the most outstanding dental students. Additionally, Dr. Vogt plays a key role in student affairs initiatives and serves as a government relations representative for UNMC.

Michele R. Aizenberg

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor of Neurosurgery
  • Professor, Department of Neurosurgery
  • Professor, UNMC Department of Neurosurgery / Director, Brain and Spine Cancer Center
Dr. Aizenberg is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Aizenberg has completed fellowship training in neurosurgical oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center specializes in primary and metastatic tumors of the brain. Dr. Aizenberg has a special interest in brain function, connectivity, eloquence, and reorganization and how it is impacted by oncologic disease and its treatments. Her research focuses on utilizing advanced imaging and analysis techniques, including deep learning, for surgical planning and clinical assessment of brain tumor patients. Her goal is to pioneer methods of identifying individualized care that maximizes outcomes. Additionally, her translational and clinical research efforts seek to understand the link between tumor behavior, brain function, and outcomes. Utilizing special imaging and surgical techniques, Dr. Aizenberg is able to resect tumors in eloquent areas of the brain in ways to help prevent neurologic deficits. By individualized care, the best approach is determined for each patient so that they have the best possible results. She works closely with radiation oncologists, neuro-oncologists, oncologists, neuroradiologists, neuropathologists, and neuropsychologists to provide the most comprehensive care for neuro-oncology patients. With this multi-disciplinary approach, comprehensive Neuro-Oncology care can be provided for patients with central nervous system tumors. With this in mind, Dr. Aizenberg was instrumental in establishing the Brain and Spine Cancer Center at the Nebraska Medical Center and in 2009, and was named the Brain and Spine Cancer Center Director. She is part of the senior leadership for Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and is faculty for the Center for Intelligent Healthcare at UNMC. Education Internship: Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Residency: George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Fellowship: Surgical Neurology Branch, NINDS, NIH Fellowship: The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Mike McGlade

Job Titles:
  • Senior Associate Dean for Administration and Director of Finance

Milo Nordman

Job Titles:
  • Publications and Research Interests
  • Student Worker

Myrna Newland

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology
  • Endowed Professor of Anesthesiology

Naava Naslavsky

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Lab
  • Co - Investigator

Nick McCormick

Job Titles:
  • Educational Program / Assessment Coordinator

Nidhish Tiwari

Job Titles:
  • Internal Medicine

Olabisi Sheppard

Job Titles:
  • General Surgery, 2026

Premila Leiphrakpam

Job Titles:
  • GME Research & Education Program Manager

Rachel Samson

Job Titles:
  • Student Affairs Office Associate

Rebecca Oberley-Deegan

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Student Advocate

Renee Alley

Job Titles:
  • Accreditation and Curriculum Coordinator

Ron Bechdolt

Job Titles:
  • Education Program Coordinator ( Phase 1 )

Roslyn B. Mannon

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Vice Chair of Research, Department of Internal Medicine / Professor, Division of Nephrology

Russell McCulloh

Job Titles:
  • Ex Officio
  • Member of Research and Development Committee

Sarah G. Lowman

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean for Admissions
Since joining the college in 2020, Dr. Lowman has played a key role in recruitment initiatives, including working with the Summer Health Professions Education Program to help students who are underrepresented in the health professions prepare to apply to dental school. She leads the admissions process, develops strategic recruitment initiatives, and provides academic and career guidance to prospective students.

Sheila Ellis

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chair, Anesthesiology, 2026

Shirley F. Delair

Job Titles:
  • Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases / Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, College of Medicine / Director, Pediatric Residency Global Health Track

Shuwei Xie

Job Titles:
  • Instructor
  • Member of the Lab

Sonia Ditter

Job Titles:
  • Educational Program Coordinator ( Phase 1 )

Steve Caplan

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chair for Administration
Dr. Caplan is a recipient of the 2008 UNMC Distinguished/New Investigator Award and a 2010 recipient of the UNMC Distinguished Investigator Award. He also received UNMC's Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students Award in 2011, and the Thomas Maciag Award in 2012, a national award for combined research excellence and mentorship. He serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Biological Chemistry and PLoS One, was a regular member of the NIH Nuclear Cytoplasmic Structure function Dynamics (NCSD) study-section (2014-2018), and previously chaired a review committee at the American Heart Association. He also serves as a member of the Public Affairs Advisory Committee (PAAC) for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and as a Science Policy Committee (SPC) member of the Federation of American Societies for experimental Biology (FASEB).

Steven J. Lisco

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology
  • Endowed Professor of Anesthesiology

Stuart K. Dayton

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
  • Graphic Designer

Surinder K. Batra

Job Titles:
  • Administration / Staff

Susan Bless

Job Titles:
  • Education Coordinator Assistant ( All Phases )

Susan Smith

Job Titles:
  • House Officer Assistance Program Manager

Tamra Nielson

Job Titles:
  • Assessment Coordinator ( Exams, Quizzes, Grades )

Teresa (Teri) Hartman

Job Titles:
  • Physician Assistant
  • Internal Medicine
  • Master of Health Professions Teaching and Technology
  • Publications and Research Interests

Terry Qualls

Job Titles:
  • Education / Office Associate

Trek Langenhan

Job Titles:
  • Internal Medicine

Vanessa Larson

Job Titles:
  • Educational Program Coordinator ( Phase 3 )

Wendy J. Grant

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs / Professor, Department of Surgery

William D. Angle

Job Titles:
  • Member of Research and Development Committee
  • Professor of Cardiology / Section Chief of Heart Failure, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Yun Saksena

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Saksena works to help each student fulfill their potential and help the college community become better teachers and learners. She also leads the college's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Before joining UNMC in 2018, Dr. Saksena served as an associate professor and director of pre-doctoral clinical education at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston. Her research interests include student learning, teaching, classroom and clinic dynamics, student life and admissions.

Zahid Iqbal

Job Titles:
  • Anesthesiology, 2026