Anesthesiologists, psychiatrist among new UMMC faculty

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

Juan Antonio Medaura, M.D.

Medaura

Dr. Juan Antonio Medaura, recently a nephrology fellow at the Harlem Hospital Center/Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of medicine.

After receiving his medical degree from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina, in 2008, Medaura seved as a health promoter, educator and outreach worker for the San Juan Basin Department of Health, Denver, Colorado, while taking outpatient rotations for Hudson River HealthCare, Inc. in Peekskill, New York, and Rose Medical Center, Denver. He had an internship and residency training in the Internal Medicine Department at St. Barnabas Hospital, Bronx, New York, from 2011-14. He then began his nephrology fellowship at Harlem Hospital Center.

The author or coauthor of four posters presented at scientific meetings, Medaura's research interest includes the treatment of acute kidney injury, renal replacement therapies, nephrolithiasis and electrolyte disorders.
 

Philip T. Merideth, M.D., J.D.

Merideth

Dr. Philip T. Merideth, a former clinical associate professor in the UMMC Department of Psychiatry and recently a physician advisor for Beacon Health Options of Boston, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of psychiatry.

After receiving his BA in English cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 1982, Merideth earned his M.D. in 1987 at UMMC, where he then undertook two years of a pathology residency. Merideth earned his J.D. cum laude at the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1991, then returned to UMMC for a psychiatry residency. He became chief resident in the Yale University Department of Psychiatry, Yale-New Haven Partial Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1994 and was a child/adolescent psychiatry fellow at the Yale Child Study Center from 1995-97. He then had a forensic psychiatry fellowship at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

In private practice as a forensic psychiatrist in Jackson since 1998, Merideth has served Mississippi State Hospital as a staff psychiatrist, a child/adolescent psychiatry consultant and a quality assurance coordinator. He also has provided psychiatric services as a consultant at the Region 8 Mental Health Center and as chief medical officer at Brentwood Behavioral Healthcare of Mississippi. He has had teaching experience at Memphis State University, the University of Mississippi School of Law and the Mississippi College School of Law. Merideth was a visiting professor at the Francisco Marroquin University Schools of Law and Psychology in Guatemala in 2004 and 2006.

Merideth has served as a flight surgeon in the Mississippi Army National Guard and has had leadership positions in several professional organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and the Mississippi State Medical Association. Merideth also has served terms as the chairman of the board of directors of Information and Quality Healthcare, president of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure, president of the Central Medical Society of Mississippi, and physician member of the Mississippi Board of Nursing.

The author or coauthor of 35 articles in professional publications, he has been the associate editor of the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association and has given 62 invited presentations and 31 peer-reviewed, national or international presentations.

Merideth is board-certified in adult, child/adolescent and forensic psychiatry. In his work at UMMC, Merideth is the director of the Division of Child Psychiatry and co-director of the new Student Counseling and Wellness Center.

Hess McClellan Robertson, M.D.

H. Robertson

Dr. Hess McClellan Robertson, a recent anesthesiology critical care medicine fellow at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of anesthesiology.

After receiving his BS in biological engineering summa cum laude from Mississippi State University in 2006, Robertson earned his M.D. at UMMC in 2010. He completed an anesthesiology internship and residency at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences from 2010-14. He was a staff physician at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences for a year before beginning his anesthesiology critical care medicine fellowship in 2015.

An active member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Society for Education in Anesthesia, Robertson has authored or coauthored four poster presentations. He is interested in process and quality improvement in the operating room and ICU environments.

Sara Ball Robertson, M.D.

S. Robertson

Dr. Sara B. Robertson, a recent clinical instructor in the Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Case Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pediatric anesthesiology.

She received her BS in biology summa cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 2006 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and recipient of the Taylor Medal in Biology. Robertson earned her M.D. at UMMC in 2010. She did her anesthesiology internship from 2010-11 and anesthesiology residency from 2011-14 at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences, and a pediatric anesthesiology fellowship from 2014-15 at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

An active member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia, Robertson has given numerous presentations and case reports at national scientific meetings. Her research interests include anesthetic management of laparoscopic pyloromyotomy in infants as well as regional anesthesia in children.

Niraj James Shah, M.D.

Shah

Dr. Niraj James Shah, a recent transplant hepatology fellow at Carolina Healthcare System (Carolinas Medical Center), University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Charlotte, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of medicine.

After receiving his M.B.B.S. from St. John's Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi University, Bangalore, India, in 2004, Shah served as a medical officer and clinical observer at several medical institutions internationally. He had an internal medicine residency from 2012-15 at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, before starting his transplant hepatology fellowship in 2015.

Shah is the author or coauthor of three book chapters, 10 original research articles, one review article and 28 abstracts.