Joseph Kovacs is an Infectious Disease provider in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Kovacs is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia, Pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, and Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis.

John Baddley is an Infectious Disease provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Baddley is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Cryptococcosis, Shingles, Sepsis, and Febrile Neutropenia.

Dr. Nate Permpalung is an Associate Professor of Medicine and serves as the Director of Mycology Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Director for Clinical Trials of Transplant Research Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In his capacity as a Transplant Infectious Disease physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he provides specialized care to immunocompromised patients, including those who have undergone solid organ transplants and those undergoing cancer treatment. His research focuses are respiratory viral infections, invasive fungal infections, fungal-viral interactions, fungal diagnostics, and human pythiosis. Nationally, Dr. Permpalung has served on the panel for the IDSA Aspergillosis Guidelines development and has held editorial positions as Associate Editor for Medical Mycology and as an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation Open. Dr. Permpalung is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Febrile Neutropenia, Parainfluenza, Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia, and COVID-19.

Ike Ekekwe, M.D., is a pulmonologist with Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Dr. Ekekwe started his professional career with the Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Division at Saint Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Following that, he worked on the Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine team at Piedmont Health Care Systems in Fayetteville, Georgia, for many years. He is excited to continue his professional career with Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Dr. Ekekwe enjoys caring for patients with pulmonary and sleep disorders, both in the clinic and at the hospital. Outside of work, he spends time with his family and enjoys watching soccer. Dr. Ekekwe is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Pneumonia, Lung Metastases, Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia, and Gastrostomy.

Dr. Galiatsatos is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung disease, tobacco cessation, and in the care of critically ill patients in the Medical ICU. He is a member of the Obstructive Lung Disease Group at Johns Hopkins, oversees the Tobacco Treatment Clinic and provides teaching to medical students and residents at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Galiatsatos is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Pneumonia.

Dr. Geetha is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A graduate of Madras Medical College, India, she completed Internal Medicine training in U.K. She did her Internal Medicine Residency at York, PA and Nephrology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She has been on Hopkins faculty since 1998. She is the Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Glomerular Disease Clinic. She is a member of Royal College of Physicians (U.K.) and Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology. She was inducted to the Miller Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence. Dr. Geetha is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are Glomerulonephritis, Microscopic Polyangiitis, Chronic Kidney Disease, Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, and Kidney Transplant.

James Ley is an Infectious Disease provider in Elkton, Maryland. Dr. Ley has been practicing medicine for over 39 years and is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Cellulitis, Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, COVID-19, and Osteomyelitis.

Dr. Werbel is a physician-scientist who provides consultative care for patients at Johns Hopkins who experience infectious disease complications before and after organ transplant, as well as in the setting of solid tumors or blood cancers. His research with the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center uses a combination of epidemiological and laboratory methods to better personalize the prevention of infectious complications among patients with complex immunodeficiencies. This includes using national cohort studies and clinical trials to optimize the use of vaccines and other prophylactic therapies for high-risk immunosuppressed populations. Dr. Werbel is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis.

Dr. Mejia is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include chronic and acute kidney disease, and kidney and pancreas transplantation. Dr. Mejia earned her M.D. from the University of the Philippines. She completed her residency at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital. She completed her General Nephrology Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia where she served as chief fellow. She then pursued a fellowship in Transplant Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins University after which she joined as faculty. Dr. Mejia is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are Chronic Kidney Disease, Low Sodium Level, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, Kidney Transplant, and Nephrectomy.

Dr. Howard Steiner is an instructor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He has been practicing pulmonary and sleep consultative medicine since 1989. In his role as a diagnostician, he guides the evaluation and management of respiratory problems including infectious, malignant, allergic, autoimmune, and sleep-related disorders. He has been part-time faculty in the Johns Hopkins Pulmonary Division since 1991, is a Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians, and mentors medical students, residents, and pulmonary fellows training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Contact for Research Inquiries 10755 Falls Road Pavilion I, Suite 200 Lutherville, MD 21093 Phone: (410) 583-7124 Selected Publications Lwebuga-Mukasa JS, Steiner H. Monoclonal antibody to rat lung Maclura Pomifera agglutinin (MPA) lectin binding glycoprotein localizes apically on rat and human type II pneumocytes and Clara cells. J Cell Biol 107:71a, 1989. Roberts PJ, McBean GJ, Steiner H, Kohler C, Schwarcz R. Lesioning Effects of Ibotenate in the immature rat brain and protection by 2-amino-7 phosphonoheptanoic acid. Soc Neurosci Abst 9:261, 1983. Steiner H, Ingbar DI. Mechanisms of lung injury and repair. In: Matthay RA, Matthay MA, Wiedemann HP eds. Annual Review of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Hanley & Belfus (Philadelphia, 1989), pp 205-223. Steiner H, Lwebuga-Mukasa JS. A549 cells display distinct functional and morphologic properties depending on their culture substratum. J Cell Biol 107:71a, 1989. Steiner H, Lwebuga-Mukasa JS. A549 cells produce a factor which is Mitogenic for human lung fibroblasts. Amer Rev Resp Dis 139:A492 1989. Steiner H, McBean GJ, Kohler C, Roberts PJ, Schwarcz R. Ibotenate Induced neuronal degeneration in immature rat brain. Brain Research 307:117-124, 1984. Dr. Steiner is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Bronchiectasis, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Lung Metastases, and Interstitial Lung Disease.

Dr. Deborah Persaud is a professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She holds joint appointments in international health and molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A clinician and researcher specializing in the study and treatment of HIV-1 infection in children, she directs the pediatric infectious diseases fellowship program at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Dr. Persaud received her B.S. in chemistry from York College in New York. A 1985 graduate of the New York University School of Medicine, she trained in pediatrics at Babies Hospital/Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, where she was chief resident. She was an infectious disease fellow, an Aaron Diamond postdoctoral research fellow and a faculty member at New York University. She joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1997, following a visiting lectureship at the Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. Her research interests include HIV/AIDS drug development and mother-to-child HIV transmission. Dr. Persaud is the scientific chair of the HIV CURE Scientific Committee of the International Maternal, Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) group. She was awarded the prestigious Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award for her HIV research and was recognized by Nature magazine in 2013 as one of “Ten People Who Mattered This Year.” She was recognized by Time magazine as among the “100 Most Influential People of 2013” for her pediatric HIV treatment research. Dr. Persaud is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are HIV/AIDS, Sepsis, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), and Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia.

Dr. Robin Avery is an infectious disease physician who joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2012, with two decades of experience in transplant infectious disease. She is a past chair of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) Infectious Disease Community of Practice, was a co-editor of the first edition of the AST ID Guidelines, and serves on a Guidelines Committee for the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) on immunizations in the immunocompromised host. She was the founding head of the Transplant Infectious Disease Section at the Cleveland Clinic and served as the founding director of the Cleveland Clinic Transplant ID Special Fellowship, authoring a curriculum that served as the basis for curricula later endorsed by the AST and IDSA. Her clinical and research interests include pre-transplant donor and recipient evaluation, and prevention and treatment of post-transplant infections, particularly transplant-associated viruses, viral load monitoring, novel therapies for CMV, hypogammaglobulinemia, immunizations, and strategies for safer living post-transplant. She has a strong interest in patient education and co-authored the script for a video designed to educate patients on decreasing post-transplant infection risks. Dr. Avery is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are Cytomegalic Inclusion Disease, Cytomegalovirus Infection, COVID-19, and Sepsis.

Dr. Jeremy A. Marcus is a nephrologist affiliated with Sibley Memorial Hospital, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington Hospital Center and George Washington University Hospital, where he serves as an assistant professor of medicine for the George Washington University School of Medicine. He practices out of Washington Nephrology Associates in Washington, D.C. Dr. Marcus earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident and clinical instructor of medicine. Dr. Marcus completed a fellowship in nephrology at Tufts-New England Medical Center. Dr. Marcus is a member of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Marcus is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), Chronic Kidney Disease, Acute Kidney Failure, and Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Dr. Catherine Simpson is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include internal medicine, pulmonary and critical care medicine, and pulmonary vascular diseases. Dr. Simpson earned her M.D. from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Johns Hopkins, where she also performed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine and earned her M.H.S. degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Simpson is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are Pulmonary Hypertension, Hypertension, Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive Disease, and Scleroderma.

Michael Vest is an Intensive Care Medicine provider in Elkton, Maryland. Dr. Vest has been practicing medicine for over 25 years and is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Pneumonia, Atypical Pneumonia, Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, Advanced Bronchoscopy, and Endoscopy.

Dr. Buescher is a pulmonary critical care physician. He has been deeply involved in clinical teaching of both medical students, interns, residents and fellows throughout his career. He is the director of the Medical/Surgical Critical Care Units at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital as well as MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital. He is president of a large community private practice pulmonary and critical group (Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates of Baltimore) He serves at Hopkins on the part-time clinical faculty. Research Summary Dr. Buescher is involved in multiple clinical research projects. Dr. Buescher is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Sarcoidosis, Neurosarcoidosis, Lung Metastases, Endoscopy, and Gastrostomy.

Jeffrey Thiboutot is a primary care provider, practicing in Pulmonary Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Thiboutot is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Lung Nodules, Pleurisy, Lymphofollicular Hyperplasia, Lung Cancer, and Endoscopy.

Dr. Lode J. Swinnen is a cancer specialist in Baltimore caring for patients with lymphoma. Dr. Swinnen received his M.B.Ch.B. degree from the University of Cape Town Medical School. He completed his residency at Presence Saint Joseph Hospital and performed a fellowship in hematology-oncology at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. Dr. Swinnen joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2002. His research interests include lymphomas and immunodeficiency-associated malignancies. Dr. Swinnen is a member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Dr. Swinnen is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), Hodgkin Lymphoma, Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL), and Bone Marrow Transplant.

Dr. Danoff is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Co-Director of the Hopkins Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic. She is a specialist in diseases causing fibrosis or scarring in the lung, particularly those associated with autoimmune diseases including myositis. Dr. Danoff is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. Her top areas of expertise are Interstitial Lung Disease, Acute Interstitial Pneumonia, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Endoscopy, and Lung Transplant.

Dr. Michael T. Melia is an Associate Professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise include general infectious diseases, HIV and Lyme disease. He serves as the Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. After receiving his medical degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Melia completed his internal medicine residency, infectious diseases fellowship, and chief medical residency at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2008. Dr. Melia's academic and research interests center around medical education and coaching in medicine. He is the current Chair of the IDSA Medical Education Community of Practice and is a past Chair of the IDSA Training Program Directors' Committee. In 2015, Dr. Melia was recognized with the Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Award from the Institute for Excellence in Education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Melia is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia. His top areas of expertise are Lyme Disease, Hepatitis C, Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis, and HIV/AIDS.