Peds ortho surgeon, neurosurgery fellow; anatomist join faculty

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

Audra F. Schaefer, Ph.D.

Dr. Audra F. Schaefer, an assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences.

After receiving her B.A. in biology from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, in 2007, Schaefer earned her M.P.H. in 2009 and her Ph.D. in 2013 at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she was a visiting assistant professor from 2013-14. She then became an assistant adjunct professor at the University of California San Francisco before joining the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2015 as an assistant professor.

The author or coauthor of 10 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications, Schaefer has given a dozen invited presentations at scientific meetings nationally. An active member of several professional organizations, including the International Association of Medical Science Educators, the American Medical Women’s Association and the American Association of Anatomists, Schaefer’s research interests include metacognition and mindset in medical students; training of anatomy educators; remediation in anatomy education; and learning strategies.

Hamdi Sukkarieh, M.D.

Dr. Hamdi Sukkarieh, recently a pediatric orthopaedic surgery fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery.

After earning his Bachelor’s in biology with distinction in 2004 and his M.D. with distinction in 2008 at the American University of Beirut, Sukkarieh finished an orthopaedic surgery residency at the American University of Beirut Medical Center from 2008-14. He then went on to do further training and finished an adult spine surgery fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from 2014-15 and at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center from 2015-16, followed by pediatric orthopaedic surgery fellowships at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, from 2016-17, and at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, from 2017-18.

The author or coauthor of 11 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications, Sukkarieh is a member of AO Spine North America, AO Trauma, Alpha Omega Alpha and the Charles H. Herndon Alumni Society.

Kristin Jaclyn Weaver, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Kristin Jaclyn Weaver, recently a pediatric neurosurgery fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of neurosurgery.

After receiving her B.S. in chemistry summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama, Mobile, in 2003, Weaver earned her M.D./Ph.D. at UMMC in 2010. She then completed her neurological surgery residency from 2010-17 at the University of Florida, Gainesville; a pediatric spine fellowship at Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship from 2017-18 at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

An active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and Women in Neurosurgery, Weaver is the author or coauthor of 12 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications and 16 abstracts and presentations at scientific meetings nationally. Her research interests include pediatric spine, brain tumors and congenital abnormalities.