Philip C. Johnson, M.D.

PROFESSOR & DIVISION DIRECTOR

Dr. Johnson completed his medical school and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in 1979, and a Fellowship in Infectious Disease at the University of Texas-Houston  Medical School in 1982.  He was appointed Division Director in 1989 and is actively involved in clinical patient care, teaching, and research.  Dr. Johnson served as the Associate Program Director of the University Clinical Research Center at Memorial Hermann Hospital for 15 years, with interest in the research areas of gastrointestinal and fungal infections, and HIV/AIDS.  His research awards include, but are not limited to, grants from NASA  and leading pharmaceutical companies.  Dr. Johnson was listed in Texas Super Doctors and the Best Doctors in America a total of four times and was voted as one of Houston’s Top Doctors in 2002.   Dr. Johnson is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as a Fellow in the American College of Physicians.

 

Gabriel M Aisenberg, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Locations: LBJ Hospital

 

 

Ashish Asawa, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Asawa is a practicing physician at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital here in Houston.  He graduated from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 2007, and completed his Internal Medicine residency at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 2010.

 

 

Elmer V. Bernstam, M.D.

PROFESSOR

Dr. Bernstam completed medical school at The University of Michigan Medical School and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1995-1998. In addition to his MD,

Dr. Bernstam holds Masters' degrees in computer engineering and biomedical informatics. He completed a National Library of Medicine post-doctoral fellowship in informatics at Stanford Medical Informatics.

He joined our Division in 2002 and currently holds a joint appointment at the School of Health Information Sciences (SHIS) and Department of Internal Medicine (Medical School). Dr. Bernstam heads the clinical informatics focus at the SHIS and the biomedical informatics component of the UT-Houston CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award). His research focuses on translational biomedical informatics, consumer informatics and information retrieval. Dr. Bernstam received research awards from the Gulf Coast Consortium for Computational and Structural Biology, the Medical Letter, NASA, the NIH and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Bernstam is board-certified in internal medicine and maintains an active clinical practice as a hospitalist. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
7000 Fannin, UCT 600
Houston, TX 77225
Telephone: 713-500-3927
Fax: 713-500-3907

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine

 

Modushudan Bhattacharjee, M.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Bhattacharjee joined our Division in 2002 as an Assistant Professor, actively supervising and teaching residents in the 4C clinic at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

 

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-566-5569
Fax: 713-566-6150

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine; Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: LBJ Clinic, 713-566-4499

 

Eugene Boisaubin, M.D.

PROFESSOR

Dr. Boisaubin joined our Division in 2001 as a Professor of Medicine with tenure. Dr. Boisaubin is active on the medical staff at Memorial Hermann Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, and is also affiliated with the University Clinical Research Center (UTMSH) as an Ethicist for Clinical Research and as a Faculty Associate in the Program on Humanities and Technology in Health Care. Dr. Boisaubin also serves as the Associate Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.150
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6528
Fax: 713-500-5803

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine; Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100 

 

Evelyn C. Chan, M.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Evelyn Chan, MD, MS joined the Division in 1996 after completing internship and residency at Brown University and Georgetown University and a fellowship in primary care research at Georgetown University’s Center for Clinical Bioethics and Health Policy Institute. She is a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She teaches and practices medicine and conducts health services research in the areas of physician-patient communication and decision making, particularly for unproven screening tests. She has been the recipient of several career development awards from the National Institutes of Health, Dept of Defense and Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and has received additional funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has published and presented nationally and internationally, serves as a regular NIH study section reviewer and serves on Data Safety and Monitoring Boards at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone:    713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Student Research Opportunities: Present clinical cases in internal medicine and medical ethics at medical conferences and to write about them for publication.

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine; Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100

 

Mark A. Farnie, M.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Farnie is the Program Director of the Internal Medicine Pediatric Residency.  He was one of the first Medicine/Pediatrics resident graduates of our program.  He has been honored by being selected as Hooder for the graduating class and Coater for the second year class.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6528
Fax: 713-500-6530

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine and Pediatrics; Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Locations: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100; UT Pediatric Clinic, 832-325-7111

 

Fabrizia Faustinella, M.D., Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Faustinella holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine.  She has done research in human genetics and gene therapy at the University of Milano, Italy and at Baylor College of Medicine. She has published numerous articles in the field of research as well as several book chapters.  More recently, she has been heavily involved in medical education and in the development of effective teaching strategies for medical students and residents. Dr. Faustinella has also continued to provide continuity of care to a large patient base while working and training our future doctors.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722 

Patient Care Specialties:  General Internal Medicine; Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100

 

Rukma R. Govindu, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Locations: LBJ Hospital

 

Robin Hardwicke, Ph.D., AACRN, FNP

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Dr. Hardwicke joined our Division in 2004. She has been practicing as a family nurse practitioner since 1999 specializing in emergency medicine and HIV/AIDS. In 2005 she received the Joanne Ruiz Achievement Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice, on the national level, for the treatment of individuals infected with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Hardwicke provides care and management of therapy to individuals infected with HIV/AIDS. She also instructs and supervises nurse practitioner students, medical students, residents, and fellows in this care.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: HIV patient care and research

Clinical Practice Location:

• UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100
• UT West Loop Clinic 713-572-8122
  

Kevin O. Hwang, M.D., M.P.H.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Hwang joined our division in 2005 as a Primary Care Fellow and became Assistant Professor in 2007. His main research interest is obesity, with projects funded by the UT-Houston Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences and the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine. He is Director of the UT Weight Management Clinic and also sees patients in the general medicine clinic and inpatient wards.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties:General Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100

 

Gus W. Krucke, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Krucke completed his medical education at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas in 1991. He was appointed Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine in 2002. Dr. Krucke is an HIV care specialist. He is on active staff at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, and Thomas Street Clinic. He is the 2010 recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. In addition, he received the GIMSPP Decade of Service award in 2010.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-873-4080
Fax:  713-873-4095

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine, HIV/AIDS, Critical Care Medicine; Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: Thomas Street Clinic, 713-873-4080

 

Jacqueline P. Chen Meeks, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Meeks joined the Division of General Medicine as an Assistant Professor, September 2009. She was a Chief Resident in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UT Medical School, and received her postgraduate training from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Brody School of Medicine/Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, NC. Dr. Meeks is Board Certified for the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. She received her medical degree from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 2005. Dr. Meeks has hospital appointments at Memorial Hermann Hospital and LBJ General Hospital in Houston.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine
Clinical Practice Location: Good Neighbor Clinic, 713-529-3597

 

Hina T. Pandya, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Pandya has been in practice since 1995 in Houston, TX, Thailand, and Shanghai, China.  She graduated from Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1992.  She completed her internship in Categorical Internal Medicine at UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA in 1993, and her residency in Categorical Internal Medicine, at The University of Texas Medical School in 1995.  She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.  Dr. Pandya speaks several languages, including English, Gujarati, Basic Mandarin, and Basic Thai.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Pelini, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Susan Pelini joined UT Houston Medical School in September 2009, where she is an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Medicine. She received her medical degree from Boston University, and her postgraduate training was at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. She has hospital appointments at Memorial Hermann Hospital and LBJ General Hospital here in Houston. Dr. Pelini is certified Diplomate, of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. She is a member of the American College of Physicians.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine
Clinical Practice Locations: General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100 and

UT Physicians Health Center, 713-572-8122

 

 

 

Mandy Phung, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Phung joined the Division of General Medicine as an Assistant Professor, November 2011. She received her medical degree from Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio in 2007. She did her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UT Medical School in Houston, Texas.  Dr. Phung is Board Certified in the American Board of Internal Medicine and is Board Eligible for the  American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Phung has hospital appointments at Memorial Hermann Hospital and LBJ General Hospital in Houston.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722
Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine
Clinical Practice Location: General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100 and
       Good Neighbor Clinic, 713-529-3597

Cheves M. Smythe, M.D.

DEAN EMERITUS

Dr. Smythe was educated at Yale, and graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1947. He was trained in internal medicine at the Boston City Hospital in Boston and Bellevue and Presbyterian Hospitals in New York. Research fellowships in the study of hepatic and renal physiology followed.

He is certified in both Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. In addition to his interest in medical school organization and management, he has been recognized as a devoted and appreciated teacher of clinical medicine. His current efforts are to participate in and strengthen the medical teaching at Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital as well as to assist in the development of a program in geriatric medicine.

 

Jennifer Swails, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Swails joined the division in 2012 as an Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine residency program.  She graduated from Cornell University Medical School and completed residency training in Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.  She is board certified in Internal Medicine.

 

 

Aparna Tamirisa, M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Tamirisa has been a practicing physician in the Sugar Land/Houston area since 2009.  She graduated from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/Chicago Medical School in 2005, and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX in 2008.  She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.

 

 

Sebastian T. Tosto, Jr., M.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Dr. Tosto joined the Division of General Medicine in April, 2009 as an Assistant Professor. He served in the military, and has Military Rank IRR, Lt. Colonel. He was a Brigade Surgeon in the 505 PIR 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Tosto graduated from Rutgers Medical School and received his postgraduate training at Penn State University in Hershey, PA. He is certified with the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Tosto has hospital appointments at Memorial Hermann Hospital and LBJ General Hospital in Houston.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722

Patient Care Specialties: General Internal Medicine

Eric J. Thomas, M.D.

PROFESSOR

Eric Thomas is Director of the UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety. Since 1992 he has conducted research on patient safety and his work was heavily cited in the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report on medical error. Dr. Thomas’ current research focuses on diagnostic errors, measuring safety culture, measuring and improving teamwork, and the use of health information technology to improve quality and safety. In 2007 he received the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Research from the national Quality Forum and Joint Commission.

Academic Office:
UT-Houston Medical School
Division of General Medicine
6431 Fannin, MSB 1.122
Houston, TX 77030-1503
Telephone: 713-500-6700
Fax: 713-500-6722
Email: Eric.Thomas@uth.tmc.edu

Research: UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety

Patient Care Specialties:  General Internal Medicine; Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Clinical Practice Location: UT General Medicine Clinic, 832-325-7100