By the time Peter Prieto, MD ’06, completes his surgical oncology fellowship at the prestigious University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in 2017, he will have spent more than 15 years in training between medical school, residency, and fellowships at the National Cancer Institute, and MD Anderson. However, cancer is that complex, that prevalent, and for a man who has lost his father to the disease, that important to him.

While most of his fellow SGU alumni finished their postgraduate training long ago, Dr. Prieto will have navigated “arguably the most difficult route in surgery.” With the skills and knowledge he has gained, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The path is difficult and it’s long,” Dr. Prieto said. “I think the fact that you still enjoy something despite it being so difficult is proof that it’s something that you really love. To this day, the best treatment for curing cancer, down to every last cancer cell, is surgery, and there is no better feeling than removing a tumor from a patient’s body and rendering them cancer-free.”

Dr. Prieto’s interest in surgical oncology stems from his father’s battle with sarcoma in 1999, his senior year as an anthropology major at Stony Brook University in New York. It wasn’t long before his father passed. “That motivated me to go to med school,” Dr. Prieto said.

He learned of St. George’s University from a family friend who had graduated from SGU. Although he hadn’t been outside the country for more than 10 days, Dr. Prieto seized the opportunity to start his medical education. “SGU gave me a shot,” he said. “At that point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a surgeon; I just knew I wanted to treat cancer.”

Dr. Prieto is now in the second year of a three-year complex general surgical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson, a 654-bed facility that US News & World Report ranked as the number one adult cancer treatment center in the country in 2015, the 12th time in the last 14 years it has earned that distinction. His route there included two years in a general surgery residency program at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, and three more years completing immunotherapy and surgical oncology fellowships at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, where he served as associate investigator for several of the surgery branch’s research endeavors under the mentorship of Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg.

At each stop, Dr. Prieto is reminded of the importance of his work. With one particular patient at NCI, melanoma had metastasized to his spine and liver. However, he and his team were able to procure tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from a hepatic lesion, grow them in-vitro, and prepare them for re-infusion by way of adoptive cell therapy.

“The patient’s TIL grew like wildfire, yet before we could even give them back to the patient, his tumors miraculously began to melt away,” Dr. Prieto said. “That showed me the power of the immune system, a spontaneous regression, which got me interested in immunotherapy of solid organ malignancies in particular.”

After his NCI fellowships, Dr. Prieto went on to Yale-New Haven Hospital to complete his residency, serving as chief resident in his final year. Upon completing his training at MD Anderson, Dr. Prieto hopes to obtain a position at an academic medical center, treating mainly melanoma, endocrine, and breast cancer. Whether it’s near home in the northeast or elsewhere, practicing at “the best academic center I can” is his top priority.

His journey in medicine began at SGU, and he encourages others to use the same opportunity as a launching pad to their own careers.

“If you’re going abroad for your medical education, SGU without question has the best reputation. It’s the only place you want to go,” Dr. Prieto said.  “The people I met on campus and in class are still some of my best friends. The classes were challenging, but we were prepared to do well on the boards, and during clinicals I felt on par with students from US schools.”

Published November 2015

For nearly 25 years, Paul Vallone, MD ’81, owned and operated a cosmetic surgery practice that had three locations throughout the State of New Jersey. He retired in 2009 but has immersed himself in a new career—mayor of the Borough of Far Hills in New Jersey—that has him utilizing the same skills he learned as a medical student and professional.

“When you go to medical school, you’re taught to be thorough, to analyze, interpret a problem, gather facts, and then make a decision,” Mayor Vallone said. “You act in the best interest of the patient. The qualities you acquire in medical school and through your residency work hand in hand with politics. You’re really doing a diagnosis of a problem affecting a community, and as a politician, it’s incumbent upon you to gather the facts, weigh the pros and cons, and decide on what is the best option.”

“It’s also very clear to me that medicine is not an island unto itself,” he added. “It is affected by the politics around us greatly.

Mayor Vallone enrolled at St. George’s University School of Medicine as part of its charter class. He completed his general practice residency at Brooklyn Hospital before accepting a two-year plastic surgery fellowship at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ.

“The St. George’s experience was one of the greatest in my life; I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Mayor Vallone said. “The four years at St. George’s certainly helped me grow as a person because it teaches you to be collaborative and it gives you a bigger, broader picture of what the world is.”

In 1986, he opened his own practice, Paul J. Vallone, MD, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, where he performed cosmetic and reconstructive surgery for 23 years. During that time he also served as chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville, NJ, and chief of surgery at Newton Hospital in Newton, NJ.

Mayor Vallone’s first foray into politics came when he was elected to the Far Hills (NJ) Borough Council in 2010. Later that year, he ran for mayor of Far Hills, a community of 919 residents according to the 2010 United States Census, and received 94 percent of the vote.

“I’m proud that people voted for me and believe I’m the best person for the job,” said Mayor Vallone, who also serves on the Legislative Committee for the State of New Jersey. “It’s a job that brings many new and different challenges, and as a result of that, it makes you grow as a person. As you go through life, from one career to another, the ultimate thing is to continue to grow as a person, to continue to interact with the people in the community, and to do something for the benefit of the community.

He also said that should an opportunity to run for a higher office, whether for New Jersey General Assembly or the State Senate, arise in the future, he would entertain it.

“There are a lot of moving parts with that kind of decision and a lot of additional commitments, but if the opportunity presents itself to move to the next level, I would consider it without question,” Mayor Vallone said.

He will always take with him the international education and experience he received at St. George’s University.

“St. George’s enhanced my ability to see the bigger picture, to listen to people better and to process different points of view,” Mayor Vallone said. “In medicine, that is invaluable because it gets you to think outside the box. There are the common diagnoses, but maybe you have to think in a different way for a particular patient. The same can be said about situations you’ll face in politics. The experience at St. George’s is a tremendous growth opportunity in which students receive an excellent medical education that enhances your personal view of the world.”

In 2002, Parin Makadia, MD ’07, had lived at home all his life—through his upbringing in India and then during his undergraduate and graduate years in New Jersey. Thus, when it came time to pack up and move to Grenada for his first term at St. George’s University School of Medicine, he was apprehensive about what lay ahead.

Now a nephrologist with Dallas Renal Group (DRG) in Texas, Dr. Makadia is thankful for the education he received, the people he met, and the new culture he experienced during his time on the Spice Isle.

“When you get to Grenada, right from the get-go you meet people and a very strong bond is formed,” he said. “It becomes a very solid support structure and comes to a point where you don’t even feel like you’re away from home. It’s one of the reasons I am in the position I am in today. The strong friendship that my friends and I created on the island is invaluable.”

He is part of a practice that 10 years ago was comprised of just two physicians but has grown into a 19-physician group. Together they treat a wide range of renal disorders, from kidney disease and kidney stones to hypertension and electrolyte disturbances.

DRG is looking to expand even more in the coming years. Dr. Makadia hopes to draw from both his areas of expertise—medicine and business—to help the practice accomplish that goal. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Seton Hall University in 2002. Dr. Makadia encourages current and future physicians to bolster their business backgrounds for that reason.

“It’s important for doctors to understand the language of business, and to know ways to market and network and make things more efficient,” Dr. Makadia said. “The processes that I learned in business school have definitely helped me position myself within my group itself. I feel more comfortable making certain business decisions that are key to our success.”

He credits St. George’s University for his own development as a doctor. His impression of the University was only confirmed by the many of his Seton Hall colleagues, who had enrolled at SGU while he attended business school.

“The reason I chose St. George’s University and why it was my first choice is the solid track record of producing successful physicians, students’ success in the USMLE, and favorable residency and fellowship results,” Dr. Makadia said.

After his two basic science years in Grenada, he completed his clinical rotations at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in New Jersey before his residency and nephrology and hypertension fellowship at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).  The collective experience set him up to join Dallas Renal Group in August 2012.

With a growing number of renal disease cases nationwide, particularly those related to hypertension, Dr. Makadia looks forward to addressing those issues in a clinical setting. He also tackles medicine over the airwaves, joining another SGU grad, Samir Nangia, MD ’06, in hosting a weekly radio show titled “Doc Talk Live” on an area radio station and DocTalkLive.com. The SGU duo welcomes area specialists to talk about a variety of pertinent medical topics while also taking listeners’ phone calls.

Even if medicine wasn’t the original plan, Dr. Makadia says that there’s nothing he would rather be doing than helping those in his community. He’s proud to say that his career took flight at St. George’s University, his home away from home.

“My experience at SGU was nothing but positive.”

Published March 2015

Dr. Michel P. Nawfal is a prescribing clinical psychologist in Lebanon, treating patients that suffer from psychiatric and psychological disorders and providing a much-needed service in a country that has endured 30 years of war and political unrest. He has extensive research and teaching experience. He currently lectures at Notre Dame University and the Lebanese American University, and is also a guest lecturer at the American University of Beirut.

Dr. Nawfal has lived, and continues to live, a very worldly life. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, but spent much of his time in Paris, France and New York, United States. Studying at a school such as St. George’s University, with its international focus, was a wonderful opportunity for someone who wished both to study medicine and to travel. He believes that SGU provided him with a strong foundation in medicine, friendships with people from all over the world, and a confidence that stemmed from experiencing life abroad.

“Given the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t do it any other way,” he said.

Prior to beginning his medical studies at St. George’s University, Michel earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at American University of Beirut, and he received a master’s degree in clinical psychology from that same University upon completion of his Doctor of Medicine. In 2006, he received the Sheikh Fawzi Azar Award for a paper about whether or not the MMPI-2, the most widely used personality test in the world, could be used effectively in the Middle East. Since 2005, Michel has been a member of the American Psychological Association and the Lebanese Psychological Association, and is also registered with the Lebanese Order of Physicians.

Michel makes volunteer work a staple of his medical career. He received the UFE medal in 2007 from the Union of the French outside France for his help in evacuating European citizens who were living in Lebanon during the time of the Lebanon-Israel War of 2006. He provided evacuees with medical treatment and psychological support. From 2008 to 2010, Michel was recruited by Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and has been appointed as a regional medical advisor for Neuroscience and Psychiatry covering the Middle East and North Africa (15 countries).

Part of his research interest was brain activity. He previously worked on a brain study measuring activity patterns in running individuals using PET scanning, a study that was published for the American University of Beirut at a proceeding in Singapore in 2007, titled “The Importance of Bio-Imaging Brain Activity During Exercise.” Dr. Nawfal is a known public figure in the field of mental health as he is very frequently on Lebanese and international television shows, including as a psychological consultant for both NBC’s Middle Eastern version of The Biggest Loser as well as Abu Dhabi TV’s famous show Ton of Cash.

Published September 2013

Her husband, her mom, her friends, her attendings, her nursing staff—Leanne Baumgartner, MD SGU ’15, contacted just about everyone she knew. Upon learning she had matched in family medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, she had to call to tell—and thank—all those who were part of her journey back home.

“The email came at noon, and I just burst into tears. I just stared at the screen in awe,” Dr. Baumgartner said of matching with her top-choice program. “I was so ecstatic. It was an incredible feeling.”

Her intern year at Saskatchewan will have a unique twist to it. She and her husband will welcome their first child this summer, and the program will allow her to take six months of maternity leave, pushing her start date to January 1. Dr. Baumgartner is excited to launch her career in Canada, not far from where she grew up. Even better, she will practice family medicine, for which she has always had an affinity.

“I wanted to go into a field that included all topics in medicine and allows you to sit down with patients to talk about their life, their health, and their plans,” Dr. Baumgartner said. “Family medicine is by far the best place to do that.”

Dr. Baumgartner graduated from the University of Alberta in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in molecular genetics. During that time, she worked as a unit clerk at Alberta Health Services, which is where an attending whose son attended St. George’s University encouraged her to apply. Dr. Baumgartner visited with University representatives at an information session in Edmonton and, with strong marks and extensive work experience to her credit, she was offered an International Peace Scholarship.

Enrolling in January 2011, she immediately enjoyed her new surroundings, joining a highly diverse and highly driven class of medical students.

“All the students are taking the same type of journey and we all wanted to help each other out,” she said. “I met the smartest people I’ll ever meet in Grenada, and I believe that the experience with them and on the island taught me more than I ever would have learned in Alberta.”

Dr. Baumgartner was elected president of the Canadian Students Association, one of more than 50 student organizations on campus. CanSA hosted regular events involving SGU’s Canadian alumni as well as decision makers in Canada, including Sandra Banner, chief executive officer of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) who now serves as director of admissions for Canada at SGU. In addition, Dr. Baumgartner helped make her fellow Canadians feel right at home, brewing Tim Hortons coffee at CanSA events, organizing hockey tournaments, and coordinating Terry Fox Runs.

For her clinical rotations, Dr. Baumgartner spent her third year between two institutions in Newark, New Jersey, and her fourth between Newark, Chicago, Vancouver, and Edmonton. She appreciates the foundation that her basic science and clinical experience at SGU has given her as she starts a new chapter in her medical career.

“Being an SGU student, you learn a lot about medicine but also a lot about life,” she said. “You learn about more than just the basic sciences. It’s a life-altering experience.”

Published May 2015