PIHPS: The Professionals In Health Podcast Series

Dr. Scholz is a neurologist and neurogeneticist specialized in movement disorders. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. Following graduation, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health under Drs. Andrew Singleton and John Hardy. She obtained a Ph.D. in neurogenomics from the University College London, UK in 2010. She then moved to complete her neurology residency at Johns Hopkins. In 2015, Dr. Scholz received the McFarland Transition to Independence award for Neurologist-Scientists. She is an assistant clinical investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIND). Her lab focuses on identifying genetic causes of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophies, and frontotemporal dementia.

Dr. Salas attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where she received a B.S. in biology. She then went on to earn her medical degree at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston where she also completed her medical internship and Neurology residency. After her Chief Resident year, Dr. Salas completed a two-year Sleep Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 

​Dr. Rachel Salas' primary area of research interest involves exploring the underlying mechanisms of sleep and chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). More specifically, her long-term goal is to better understand changes in cortical activity associated with insomnia and RLS, in order to improve treatment for these conditions.

​In addition to her clinical research, Dr. Salas is involved in medical student, resident, and fellow education and currently serves as the Co-Director of the Neurology Core Clerkship for Medical Students and is the Co-Director for the Neurology Resident and Neurophysiology Fellow JHH Sleep Rotation. She is particularly interested in enhancing sleep education at all levels.

Dr. Roy Strowd is a board-certified neurologist, specialty trained neuro-oncologist, clinician educator, and translational researcher. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Internal Medicine (Section on Hematology and Oncology) at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a clinician-scientist with a background in neuroscience, neurology, and neuro-oncology, he is interested in exploring the unique aspects of the nervous system’s structure and function to optimally improve outcomes for patients with nervous system neoplasms and/or nervous system complications of systemic cancer therapy. As a medical educator, his interests are in career and pipeline development in the training of healthcare professionals. He is co-Director of the Wake Forest (WF) Summer Immersion Medicine Institute for high school students, serves as faculty advisor of the WF medical student Navigating Medical School and JH undergraduate Pre-Doc programs. He also Directs the WF Health Professions Education Institute for career development of clinician educator and is passionate about developing the next generation of triple threat clinicians.

Dr. Zachary Berger is an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Dr. Berger also serves joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Berger's clinical, educational, and research work focuses on the intersection of shared decision making, evidence-based medicine, and patient-center care. Dr. Begers works to understand the patient-physician relationship through the lenses of social and political inequities of our health system. Dr. Berger is Core Faculty in the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Evidence-Based Practice Center, and the Center for Health Services and Outcomes research. We are excited to feature his perspective on career paths in medicine and bioethics! 

Roger D. Peng is a Professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where his research focuses on the development of statistical methods for addressing environmental health problems. He is also a co-founder of the Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization, the Simply Statistics blog where he writes about statistics for the general public, the Not So Standard Deviations podcast with Hilary Parker, and The Effort Report podcast with Elizabeth Matsui. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and is the recipient of the 2016 Mortimer Spiegelman Award from the American Public Health Association, which honors a statistician who has made outstanding contributions to public health. Roger can be found on Twitter and GitHub at @rdpeng.

Emily Kluck is a surgical physician assistant (PA-C) who completed a Master of Science in physician assistant studies at King’s College and then graduated from the Postgraduate Surgical Residency for Physician Assistants at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2007. Since then, she has worked in the Division of Thoracic Surgery and the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, where she currently aids in patient care. Check out her perspective on the physician assistant career path!

Dr. Carolyn B Sufrin is an obstetrician/gynecologist who focuses on family planning and general obstetrics and gynecologic care. After receiving her medical degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, she completed her residency at the Magee-Women's Hospital of University of Pittsburg Medical Center, followed with a fellowship in family planning at University of California, San Francisco. She obtained a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, San Francisco. In 2017 Dr. Sufrin published Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars. She is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As well as being a board member of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, she is a fellow on the American on the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and of the Society of Family Planning. 

Dr. Adam Kaplin is a neuropsychiatrist and serves as the principle psychiatric consultant to the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myelitis Centers at Johns Hopkins. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees after completing the Medical Scientist Training Program at Hopkins, where he subsequently completed a residency in psychiatry. Dr. Kaplin's research focuses on the biological basis of affective disorders in autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system, such as depression as a symptom of multiple sclerosis. We are very excited to feature his perspectives on career paths in medicine and the mind-brain sciences! 

Vivian Nguyen is finishing up her third year at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and plans on applying for residency in Ob/Gyn. She graduated from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University as a first-generation student, with degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology. Vivian has served as a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow with the Mayo Clinic researching the role of interleukin-9 in a tumor setting. Outside of the lab, she made a commitment to action with the Clinton Global Initiative with her non-profit organization, The Honorable Force, to provide customized mentorship and career development for individuals with disabilities. At Johns Hopkins, Vivian was President of Medical Students for Choice and The Women’s Health Interest Group, where she developed an inaugural Shadowing Program to help provide a relaxed environment where students could explore the breadth and depth of Ob/Gyn. Lastly she enjoys volunteering in the Baltimore community through her work as Clinical Director of the Charm City Care Connection and Leader of the Community Care Initiative.

Jeremy Applebaum is a third-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with undergraduate degrees in chemistry and biomedical engineering. Though applying for residency in obstetrics and gynecology, his research thus far has focused on communication disorders of older adults and how the aging ear and larynx contribute to quality-of-life handicap. He is also interested in medical education and participates in the Medical Student Senate and various peer advising organizations.