Dentistry, medicine, pharmacy schools add faculty

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

Kristen J. Alston, Ph.D.

Alston

Dr. Kristen J. Alston, a recent postdoctoral fellow in clinical health psychology in the Department of Family Medicine, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of family medicine.

After receiving her BS in psychology summa cum laude from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 2009, and her MA in clinical psychology with a specialization in health psychology from East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, in 2011, Alston had a clinical psychology internship at the Henry Ford Health Sciences Center, Detroit, Michigan, from 2014-15. She then earned her Ph.D. with specialization in health psychology at East Carolina University in 2015 and began her postdoctoral fellowship at UMMC that year.

The coauthor of an article in the Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, “Experiences of Pediatric Patients with Sickle Cell Disease in Rural Emergency Departments,” Alston has given two invited talks and authored or coauthored 11 scientific presentations at professional meetings. Her clinical interests include working collaboratively with residents, physicians and other health-care providers as a part of an integrated care team delivering direct consultative services and providing behavioral health clinical services to patients with comorbid behavioral concerns and acute/chronic health conditions, while her research interests include treatment adherence among pediatric sickle cell disease patients and chronic disease management in underserved patient populations.

Amanda C. Capino, Pharm.D.

Capino

Dr. Amanda Caroline Capino, a recent pediatric pharmacy resident at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, Oklahoma City, has joined the School of Pharmacy faculty as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

After earning her Pharm.D. at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina Campus, in 2014, Capino completed pharmacy residency training from 2014-15 at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy before beginning her pediatric pharmacy residency there in 2015.

The coauthor of three articles in peer-reviewed professional publications and six poster presentations, Capino has given eight platform presentations. An active member of the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group, Capino's research interests include sedation/analgesia, drug withdrawal, health literacy and medication adherence.

Jose A. Lucar, M.D.

Lucar

Dr. Jose Lucar, a recent infectious diseases fellow at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of medicine.

After receiving his medical degree in 2007 from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru, Lucar worked in the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute and had advanced training in infectious and tropical diseases control in a program sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This was followed by pre-residency house staff work at the British American Hospital in Peru. Lucar did his internal medicine residency from 2011-14 at the Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center Program, Washington, D.C., before beginning his infectious diseases fellowship in 2014.

Board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Lucar has given several invited lectures and has coauthored numerous scientific research presentations at professional meetings internationally. He is the lead investigator of an NIH-funded project describing sexually transmitted infections among a large cohort of HIV-infected individuals receiving care in the District of Columbia, a manuscript which will be submitted in the fall. Lucar will be developing the bone and joint infectious disease service at UMMC.

Susana Maria Salazar Marocho, Ph.D.

Salazar Marocho

Dr. Susana Maria Salazar Marocho, a recent postdoctoral research fellow at UMMC, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in biomedical materials science in the School of Dentistry.

After receiving her bachelor's in dentistry from the Universidad de San Martin de Porres, USMP, Perú, in 2004, Salazar Marocho served as an instructor in fixed prosthodontics there from 2004-05 and as an instructor in complete denture prosthodontics, dental materials, implant dentistry and fixed prosthodontics from 2005-08 at the Sao Paulo State University “Julio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP-School of Dentistry), where she earned her master's in restorative dentistry in 2008 and her Ph.D. in restorative dentistry in 2012. She was a postdoctoral research fellow from 2013-14 at the University of Sao Paulo, USP, Brazil, before beginning her postdoctoral research fellowship here.

The author or coauthor of 28 referees articles in professional publications, Salazar Marocho has given invited lectures and serves as a reviewer for several scientific journals.