Dr. Al-Ani received his medical degree from University of Baghdad College of Medicine, Baghdad, Iraq. After medical school, Dr. Al-Ani completed his residency in Internal Medicine at The Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Following his residency, Dr. Al-Ani completed his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Al-Ani joined UTMB in July 2024 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Strahil Atanasov is a board certified Sleep Medicine physician and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, & Sleep Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). He completed his Neurology residency at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas and his Sleep Medicine fellowship at the University of Texas, Houston. Dr. Atanasov first joined UTMB in 1996 and has 18 years of experience as a Sleep Medicine physician.

Dr. Atanasov is well published and has written several articles on Sleep Medicine. His interests include sleep disorders in adults and children. Dr. Atanasov is a long standing member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as well as the Southern Sleep Society.

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Dr. Calhoun studies mechanisms of asthma, with a special emphasis on steroid resistance and severe asthma. A focus of his research is dysfunction of the glucocorticoid receptor [GR] in asthma, from both pre- and post-translational mechanisms. In addition, he has interest in cytokine networking, and the regulation of inflammation and its consequences by anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10. Using a murine model, Dr's Calhoun and Ameredes have demonstrated important interactions among inflammation, cytokine regulation, and gaseous signaling molecules. In addition, Dr Calhoun heads the UTMB site for the NIH-funded Asthma Clinical Research Network, a collaborative network of 8 funded centers nationwide that focuses on the key questions of asthma management.

Ruth Candy D Jetty, APRN, FNP-C earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Santo Tomas at Manila, Philippines. She completed her master’s from Houston Baptist University in Family Practice Medicine.

Dr. Duarte completed his medical school training at the University of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. After medical school, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, and Edward Hines, Jr., VA Hospital, Hines, Illinois.

Dr. Duarte joined UTMB in 1995 as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care. Dr. Duarte has held many titles at UTMB Galveston including Medical Director for Lung Transplantation, Director of the Fellowship Training Program for the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. He is currently a tenured Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, & Sleep Medicine, the Director of Pulmonary Function Laboratory and Vice Chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Internal Medicine.

He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards; nominated as an Osler Scholar in 2007 and John P McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award in 2010. He has published over 45 peer-reviewed articles, 55 abstracts at national and international meetings, 6 book chapters and provided inputs on multiple media outlets releases for pulmonary conditions.

Erin Gurski, APRN, FNP-C is a graduate of University of Texas Medical Branch. She has advanced training and is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Her clinical interests include Pulmonary medicine.

She and her husband and daughter live in Galveston Texas.

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Dr. Jokhio received his MBBS degree from Dow Medical College, University of Karachi in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his Internship in Internal Medicine and General Surgery, was a Resident Medical Officer, and a Medical Extern in Emergency Medicine in Karachi, Pakistan prior to arriving in the United States in 1999.

Once in the States, Dr. Jokhio completed a Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York. Dr. Jokhio is board certified in Sleep Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Jokhio has helped build an excellent sleep medicine program at UTMB. The sleep medicine program is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine at two locations.

Ms. Lindsay joined the Department of Family Medicine in 2019.

Ms. Lindsay earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, as well as a Master of Science in Nursing, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

She is certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and is licensed by the Texas Board of Nursing.

Dr. Nagan received his medical degree from Touro University California. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco in 2014 and also served as chief resident the following year. He completed his Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2018 and was hired as an assistant professor at UNLV after fellowship. He worked at UNLV as part of the pulmonary and critical care faculty through 2021. He joined UTMB in September 2021 as an assistant professor in the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Nishi obtained her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Chemistry at Coe College and received her medical degree, residency and fellowship training at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. Subsequently, she joined as faculty and currently serves as an Associate Professor and Fellowship Training Program Director in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine. She has been a clinician involved in the care of patients with benign and malignant lung and pleural disease and COPD. She has been selected by Texas Monthly as a “Top Doctor” for the past 5 years.

Dr. Nishi has conducted clinical research and published regarding lung cancer screening, shared decision making and outcomes related to COPD and lung cancer. She has been involved in improvements in the health care delivery for COPD patients and serves as a leadership role in UTMB's designation as a Joint Commission certified COPD Center of Excellence. This recognition was obtained in 2014 as the first center in Texas to achieve this disease specific certification. She also is Board Certified in Interventional Pulmonology and serves as Director of Bronchoscopy & Advanced Pulmonary Procedures at UTMB. She is responsible for establishing interventional pulmonary procedures at UTMB since 2011 and continues to expand these services to offer innovative, minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment modalities for benign and malignant thoracic disease.

Dr. Nishi has completed a Clinical Safety and Effectiveness training at The University of Texas Medical Branch and oversees and develops quality improvement projects that align with institutional priorities throughout the Department of Medicine and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Many of the projects presented have received recognition and awards. Dr. Nishi is also recognized as a University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor and has developed the first formal, comprehensive simulation course for ultrasound guided procedures for house staff which has received teaching and educational awards locally and regionally.

Professor
Program Director, PCCM Fellowship Program
Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine