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SUNY Upstate Medical University announces appointments

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Ten individuals, whose expertise range from child health, to the study of cardiovascular development and disease, to curator of historical collections have joined SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Richard Sills, M.D., has been named professor and director of Pediatrics Hematology and Oncology and director of the Center for Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders. Formerly, a professor at Albany Medical College, Richard Sills has served as a principal investigator for several funded studies is an expert on sickle cell disease and disorders of the spleen. He earned a medical degree from New York University in 1973 and completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology from SUNY Upstate in 1978. He is a resident of Syracuse.

Irene Sills, M.D., has been named a professor of pediatrics. Sills specializes in pediatric endocrinology and will treat children, adolescents and young adults at the Joslin Diabetes Center. Her clinical interests include short stature/growth failure, Turner syndrome, pediatric gynecology, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and transsexual adolescents and children. She earned a medical degree from New York University in 1976 and completed an internship and residency at SUNY Upstate in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Irene Sills lives in Syracuse.

Lucian C. Dinu, M.D., has been named assistant professor of anesthesiology. Dinu specializes in thoracic anesthesia with a focus on airway management. Dinu received his medical degree from Carol Davila Medical School in Bucharest, Romania, in 1978. He completed a residency in internal medicine at St. Vincent's Medical Center on Staten Island, N.Y., in 1991 and an anesthesiology residency at SUNY Upstate in 1994. Dinu lives in Liverpool.

Fenghua Li, M.D., has been named a clinical instructor in anesthesiology. Li is currently studying the protective effect of hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of traumatic brain injury. He received his medical degree in 1990 from Hunan Medical University, Changsha, Hunan, China, and completed his anesthesiology residency at SUNY Upstate in 2007. Li resides in Syracuse.

Jeffrey D. Amack, Ph.D., has been named assistant professor of cell and developmental biology. Amack comes to SUNY Upstate from the Hunstman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah where he was an NIH post-doctoral fellow. His laboratory focuses on how organs, in particular the heart, take shape during embryonic development. Amack received his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002. Amack resides in Manlius.

Mira Krendel, Ph.D., has been named assistant professor of cell and developmental biology. Krendel formerly served as associate research scientist at Yale University. Krendel's research focuses on the physiological functions of myosin motors (a family of proteins involved in cell motility) and their roles in diabetic kidney disease and cancer. Krendel received her master's and doctoral degrees in cell biology from Rutgers University. Krendel lives in Manlius.

Vladimir Sirotkin, Ph.D., has been named assistant professor of cell and developmental biology. Sirotkin previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. His research focuses on the assembly of the actin cytoskeleton that is fundamentally important in normal development and disease. Sirotkin lives in Manlius.

Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, M.D., has been named as assistant professor of pathology. Mukhopadhyay earned his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India, in 1994 and completed an internship in internal medicine at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, Englewood, N.J. Most recently Dr. Mukhopadhyay trained as a pulmonary pathology fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Ronald William Pies, M.D., has been named as professor of psychiatry and lecturer in bioethics and medical humanities. Pies is one of the leading authorities in clinical psychopharmacology. He received his medical degree from SUNY Upstate in 1978 and completed a residency in psychiatry from SUNY Upstate in 1982. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Psychiatric Times. He will retain a faculty appointment at Tufts University. Pies resides in Boston.

Elise Thall Calvi has been named curator of historical collections at SUNY Upstate's Health Sciences Library. She is responsible for preserving and expanding access to the rare books, journals, documents, photographs, and medical instruments documenting the history of SUNY Upstate, its predecessor schools, and the history of the medicine in Central New York. Calvi has more than 20 years experience as a library professional. Calvi received a master's degree in library science from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. Calvi lives in Syracuse.

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