Neurosurgeon, population health experts join UMMC faculty

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

Muhammad Omar Chohan, M.B.B.S.

Dr. Muhammad Omar Chohan has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of neurosurgery with secondary appointments in neurology and radiation oncology. As a board-certified neurosurgeon, he is interested in neurosurgical oncology and epilepsy surgery.

Before joining UMMC, he was an assistant professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of New Mexico.

After earning his M.B.B.S. in 2002 at Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, Chohan was an instructor in biological and biomedical sciences there before moving to New York City in 2003 to serve as a research scientist in the Neuroimmunology Lab, Department of Neurochemistry, at the New York State Institute for Basic Research. He did a surgical internship at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, from 2008-09, then had residency training in neurological surgery there from 2009-14 and was chief resident in neurosurgery from 2012-14. He completed fellowship training in neurosurgical oncology at the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York in 2015.

Chohan joined the University of New Mexico faculty in 2015 as an assistant professor of neurosurgery, director of neurosurgical oncology and coleader of the neuro-oncology multidisciplinary program. In 2019, he was also appointed surgical director of the Epilepsy Program at UNM.

An active member of the Society for Neuro-Oncology, the North American Skullbase Society and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, among other professional organizations, Chohan serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Alzheimer Disease, the Journal of Alzheimer Disease and Parkinsonism, Advances in Neuroscience and the Neuro-oncology Section of Biomed Central Neurology. He is also an ad hoc reviewer and guest editor for a number of scientific publications.

The author of 49 articles in peer-reviewed publications, three book chapters and 40 abstracts, he has given seven invited talks, eight national and local grand rounds and 13 scientific presentations. He has garnered nearly $500,000 in collaborative research support for studies involving high-speed fMRI and brain tumors.

Mauda L. Monger, Ph.D.

Dr. Mauda L. Monger, chief operating officer at My Brother’s Keeper, Inc., has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in population health sciences in the John D. Bower School of Population Health.

A native of Jackson, Monger has a Bachelor of Arts in economics/business administrations from Tougaloo College, a Master’s in public health, health policy and management, and a Doctoral Degree in higher education leadership from Jackson State University.

Monger serves as chief operating officer at My Brother's Keeper, Inc., where she works to ensure that MBK continues to be innovative with a structure that is focused on eliminating HIV and overall health disparities. She is also the founder/CEO of the SHE Project, a nonprofit mentoring organization with a mission to address gaps of knowledge, opportunity and networks for minority girls and women by offering exposure to multifaceted experiences companioned with education, physical/mental health, career, social change and community service to cultivate leadership skills.

She is the author or co-author of numerous papers and abstracts, and her research interests include HIV prevention, stigma, social determinants of health and special populations (racial, gender and sexual minorities). Her research expertise spans both public health and higher education.

Richard K. Thomas, Ph.D.

Dr. Richard K. Thomas, partner and vice president of Health and Performances Resources, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in population health sciences in the John D. Bower School of Population Health.

After receiving his B.A. in economics from Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) in 1966, Thomas earned his M.A. in sociology in 1970 and his M.A. in geography in 1975 at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis). He received his Ph.D. in medical sociology from Vanderbilt University in 1984.

While concurrently obtaining his academic credentials, Thomas served as a city planner for Gassner/Nathan/Brown achitects/planners from 1969-70; as a staff sociologist, section chief, assistant director and, ultimately, associate director of the Memphis Regional Medical Program from 1970-77; and as a research analyst, research associate and, ultimately, senior research scientist and division head at Baptist Memorial Hospital from 1982-1991. Thomas served as partner and vice president of Medical Services Research Group from 1988-05 and for Health and Performance Resources from 2005-20.

Thomas has served as a satellite campus instructor in the Master of Hospital Administration Program at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois; has been a satellite campus instructor in the Master of Health Care Administration Program at Central Michigan University; has had various teaching positions in the Department of Sociology, Political Science, Public Administration and Marketing at the University of Memphis, has served as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis; has been an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and a research associate in the Center for Population Studies at the University of Mississippi; has served as a part-time instructor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rhodes College; and has been on faculty in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital.

Thomas served on the editorial board of Health Marketing Quarterly and has been editor of Marketing Health Services and editor and publisher of the FMG (Foreign Medical Graduate) Newsletter. He has authored or coauthored more than 20 books, 15 textbook chapters or articles and about 30 professional papers, presentations and workshops. A member of the Board of Directors for the American Health Planning Association, he is an active member of the American Public Health Association and the Population Association of America, among other professional organizations.