Meet Our Faculty and Fellows
Ginger Janow, M.D., M.P.H
Attending, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology
Program Director, Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Fellowship: Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Research/Clinical Interest: Graduate Medical Education, Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Certified in USSONAR musculoskeletal ultrasound, Currently co leading the CARRA medical education workgroup
Sarah Bayefsky, M.D., M.S.Ed.
Attending, Divisions of Pediatric and Adult Rheumatology
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine & Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM)
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship
Director, Patient Presentation Problem-Based Learning Curriculum (PPPC), HMSOM
Residency: Vanderbilt University Medical Center - Internal Medicine & Pediatrics (Med-Peds)
Fellowship: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania - Med-Peds Rheumatology
Research/Clinical Interest: General rheumatology, transition between pediatric and adult care, teaching, curriculum development. Currently a member of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting Planning Committee and co-leader of the CARRA Medical Education Workgroup. Received her Master's in Medical Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Yikiko Kimura, M.D.
Chief, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology
Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: Babies Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Fellowship: Babies Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Research/Clinical Interest: JIA, systemic JIA and observational registry and comparative effectiveness research
Anna Carmela Sagcal Gironella, M.D.
Attending, Pediatric Rheumatology
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: The Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center
Fellowship: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Research/Clinical Interest: Childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Very early onset of lupus and other autoimmune diseases, Pharmaceutical sciences with specialization in drug development
Sivia K. Lapidus, M.D.
Attending, Pediatric Rheumatology
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: Schneider Children's Hospital North Shore-Long Island
Fellowship: A.I. duPont Hospital for Children
Research/Clinical Interest: Periodic Fever Syndromes, Autoinflammatory syndromes, CRMO (Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis), ANCA-Associated Vasculitis, and Refractory Kawasaki Disease
Suzanne C. Li, M.D., PH.D.
Attending, Pediatric Rheumatology
Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: Babies Hospital - Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
Fellowship: Babies Hospital - Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
Research/Clinical Interest: Scleroderma, Vasculitis, Autoinflammatory Syndromes
Adam Mayer, M.D.
Attending, Divisions of Pediatric and Adult Rheumatology
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Assistant Member, Center for Discovery and Innovation
Co-director, HUMC IBD-spondyloarthritis clinic
Residency: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania - Internal Medicine & Pediatrics (Med-Peds)
Fellowship: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania - Med-Peds Rheumatology
Research/Clinical Interest: Adult and juvenile spondyloarthritis, including IBD-associated arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. Clinical epidemiology research in spondyloarthritis. Currently co-chair of the CARRA juvenile spondyloarthritis workgroup, member of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN) Research Committee, and member of the ACR/SPARTAN/SAA axial spondyloarthritis guidelines team. Site investigator for multiple national spondyloarthritis cohort studies.
Jennifer E. Weiss, M.D.
Attending, Pediatric Rheumatology
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Residency: Schneider Children’s Hospital North - Shore Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Fellowship: Schneider Children’s Hospital North - Shore Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Research/Clinical Interest: Pain syndromes in pediatrics, Quality and outcomes improvement, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Christina Gulla, D.O.
Fellow, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology Class of 2027
Residency: Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center
Research/Clinical Interest: JIA/sJIA, JDM, Kawasaki disease, ultrasound, quality improvement, medical education
Recent Graduates
Tresa Ambooken, M.D., MBA
Fellow, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology Class of 2024
Residency: Bronxcare Health System Research/Clinical
Interests: Immunology, quality improvement, and resident education