Faculty grow in four disciplines: anesthesiology, microbiology, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff:

John T. Bates, PhD

Dr. John T. Bates, a research assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in microbiology and Immunology.

A native of Natchez, Bates received his BS in biochemistry from Mississippi State University in 1998 and his PhD in microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005. He then completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 2005-10, and the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, from 2010-14.

He joined the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014.

A member of the American Association of Immunologists, the American Society for Microbiology and the International Society for Vaccines, Bates is the author or coauthor of 13 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications and five poster presentations. His research interests include vaccine development and studying the immune response to adjuvants, an important component of many vaccines.

Dessislava Iliev, MD

Iliev

Dr. Dessislava Iliev, a recent pediatric cardiac anesthesia fellow at Boston Children's Hospital, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of anesthesiology.

After receiving her MD from the Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1996, Iliev had an internship in medicine from 1998-99 at Montefiore North Medical Center, Bronx, New York; a residency in anesthesiology from 1999-2002 at SUNY at Stony Brook; a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology from 2002-03 at Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; and a fellowship in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology from 2014-15 at Boston Children's Hospital.

Iliev joined the Hackensack (New Jersey) University Medical Center faculty in 2004 as a clinical assistant in anesthesiology before joining a private practice group the following year at Bergen Regional Medical Center, Paramus, N.J. She also practiced at Passaic Beth Israel Regional Medical Center in 2005 before joining Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, Valhalla, New York, where she served as an assistant professor in pediatric anesthesiology from 2005-10. She then served as an anesthesiologist at Phelps Memorial Hospital Medical Center, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., from 2011-13, then began her own company, Ilievs Anesthesia, in New York City.

An active member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia and the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society, Iliev anesthesiology interests include pediatric cardiac anesthesiology, neonatal anesthesiology and regional anesthesiology.

She has had board certification in anesthesiology since 2006 and in pediatric anesthesiology since 2013.

Lori K. Reed, MD

Dr. Lori K. Reed, an orthopaedic surgeon at Summit Orthopedics, Woodbury, Minnesota, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery.

After receiving the BA in chemistry and biology summa cum laude from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1995, Reed earned her MD at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, in 1999. She had an orthopaedic surgery residency from 1999-2004 at the University of Nebraska/Creighton University, Omaha, and a foot and ankle/lower extremity trauma fellowship from 2004-05 at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute, Tampa.

Reed joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor of orthopaedic surgery in 2013. She joined Summit Orthopedics in 2015.

An active member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, among others, Reed is the author or coauthor of four articles in peer-reviewed professional publications. She also has given 34 scientific presentations nationally and internationally.

Her research interests include ankle fracture stability and postoperative complications of definitive open surgery after external fixator application.

Mary Gunn Spragins, AuD

Spragins

Dr. Mary Gunn Spragins, an audiologist at Northwest Mississippi Otolaryngology in Southaven, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of otolaryngology and communicative sciences in the Division of Audiology.

After receiving her BA in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Mississippi in 2008, Spragins earned her AuD at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, in 2013. She has had three years of practicum experience at various health-care institutions in Arkansas and Tennessee, including Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, Paragould; LeBonhuer Children's Hospital, Memphis; and Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis. She completed her fourth-year AuD externship at Eastern Oklahoma Ear, Nose, and Throat in Tulsa. After completion of her fourth year, she joined Shea Ear Clinic, Memphis, where she worked for two years.

She is board certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and is licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health. She is an active member of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and the Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA).