New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Published on Monday, November 6, 2023

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

Dr. Faisal A. Bukeirat

Dr. Faisal A. Bukeirat, recently an associate professor of medicine-gastroenterology at the University of Missouri in Columbia, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of surgery and medicine in the School of Medicine and as director of the Division of Digestive Diseases.  

Bukeirat, who earned his medical degree at the Jordan University School of Medicine in Amman, Jordan, completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency in New York and then a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Albany Medical College. 

He has also served on the faculty of the University of Florida, UF Health, in Jacksonville, and the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, where he was the associate program director of the GI Fellowship Program. At the University of Missouri, he earned Human of the Year and Faculty of the Year honors.  

A fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, he served as ACG Governor in West Virginia for 16 years, as well as a member of a number of national ACG committees. 

Bukeirat practices interventional advanced endoscopy. His clinical practice focuses on hepatobiliary disorders and GI oncology. He has several scientific publications to his credit, including a recently published review article about the unique clinical condition, groove pancreatitis. 

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Dr. Peter W. Mittwede

Dr. Peter W. Mittwede, recently an orthopaedic trauma fellow at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery in the School of Medicine. 

Mittwede earned his MD/PhD at the UMMC in 2016. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he was administrative chief resident 

For several years, he was a freelance editor/research consultant reviewing and editing orthopaedic research manuscripts from foreign authors for publication. He was also a member of the Publications Committee for the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and a member of the Research Committee, Resident Assembly, for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.  

He also served in leadership roles for a variety of other professional organizations, including the American Physician Scientists Association, American Physiological Society and American Medical Association-Medical Student Section. 

Mittwede is the coauthor of three dozen published peer-reviewed research/review articles and editorials. He served as principal investigator for several grant-funded research projects and has made a number of oral presentations at local, regional and national conferences and meetings.  

Among his many academic and research honors are AOA Emerging Leader from the American Orthopaedic Association, Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award from the American Medical Association, and Young Investigator Award from the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.  

He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Trauma Association, and Orthopaedic Research Society. 

Dr. Martha C. Thomas

Dr. Martha C. Thomas, recently a Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellow at the Eastern Virginia Medical School Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine. 

Thomas, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy from UMMC, received her medical degree in 2016 at the UMMC School of Medicine. She worked for around 10 years as an occupational therapist in Mississippi at Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville. 

The recipient of a number of academic honors and scholarships, she has held a number of leadership positions throughout her career and her record of volunteer and community service is extensive.  

Thomas, who has participated in a variety of research projects and scientific presentations, is a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, American Medical Association and Pacific Coast Reproductive Society.