PERSONNEL PROFILE
The center has multidisciplinary team to provide excellence in comprehensive services through clinical evaluations, education, and research. We have experts in various disciplines to cover different areas of services.
Blatt, Melissa, Registered Nurse
Chandler, Helena, Psychologist
Ciccone, Don, Research Psychologist
Cruz, Andrea, Postdoctoral Fellow
D'Andrea, Elizabeth, Postdoctoral Fellow
Findley, Patricia, Social Worker
Heffernan, Marybeth, Nurse Practitioner
Helmer, Drew, Consulting Physician - Internal Medicine
Jewell, Deborah, Program Specialist
Lange, Gudrun, Director, Neuropsychologist
Lomax, James, Physician - Family Practice
Meduru, Pramod, Physician - Internal Medicine
Monaghan, Richard, Administrative Officer
Quigley, Karen, Associate Director-Research, Research Physiologist
Rodrigues, Isabella, Postdoctoral Fellow
Rossignol, Marycarol, Postdoctoral Fellow
Rumage, Christina, Education Specialist
Santos, Susan, Risk Communication Expert
Weaver, Shelley, Research Physiologist
Blatt, Melissa, Nurse
Melissa Blatt, BSN, RN is a staff nurse at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center. Ms. Blatt assists in the assessment of veteran cases upon referral to the center's clinical program. Ms. Blatt is actively involved in educational efforts at the WRIISC which includes educating veterans about deployment health, as well as the revision and maintenance of the center's website. Ms. Blatt is currently involved in five WRIISC research protocols.
Ms. Blatt received her bachelors of science in nursing from Georgetown University in 2001. She worked on a cardiac unit at Georgetown Medical Center before joining the WRIISC in 2003. She is currently pursuing her Masters in nursing with a focus in clinical research at the University of Medicine & Dentistry New Jersey.
Chandler, Helena, Psychologist
Helena K. Chandler, Ph.D. completed her degree in Clinical Psychology at Virginia Tech and joined the WRIISC in 2002 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Chandler gained specialized training that emphasizes the interaction between emotional states and physical health. Dr. Chandler applies these behavioral medicine principals during clinical evaluations in which she assesses veterans' psychological stress, health concerns, and coping strategies. Dr. Chandler also provides veterans with a screen for possible problems with cognition or thinking. The results of this neuropsychological screen contribute to our assessment of how each veteran is able to function in his or her world. The clinical team then collaborates to develop an understanding of each veteran's presenting problems that incorporates both the physical and psychological aspects of illness. Dr. Chandler has a particular interest in health problems that occur after combat and other highly stressful events. She is also concerned with teaching veterans strategies to improve daily functioning despite the presence of physical symptoms such as pain or fatigue. Dr. Chandler has been awarded a federally-funded research project that evaluates the stress-health relationship and attempts to reduce the frequency with which participants need to visit their doctors.
Cruz, Andrea, Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrea C. Cruz, Psy.D. is a Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow at the War Related Illness and Injury Center (WRIISC). She did her internship (Psychology) at the East Orange Veterans Hospital where her training focused on substance abuse treatment and post-traumatic stress. She completed her degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Hartford Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology in 2005. Her dissertation was focused on psychological variables correlated with medically unexplained symptoms in both veterans and non-veterans. Dr. Cruz has worked on several projects while at the WRIISC including qualitative studies on perception of deployment related risks and stress, and risk assessment of vaccines used to combat bioterroism agents. In addition, her quantitative research experience has included collecting pilot data for a prospective study of functional status in veterans at risk for unexplained illness. Currently, she is working on a telemedicine study using a cognitive restructuring treatment to help veterans cope with health related stress.
Ciccone, Donald, Research Psychologist
Donald S. Ciccone is a research psychologist at the WRIISC with a primary interest in medically unexplained symptoms, chronic pain, and the effects of traumatic stress on health and illness. Dr. Ciccone is also a member of the Psychiatry Department at New Jersey Medical School where he teaches cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral medicine. His current funded research is aimed at testing the efficacy of a telemedicine treatment for veterans with symptom-based illness. Dr. Ciccone’s most recent published work examines the association between psychosocial trauma and chronic widespread pain in women.
D'Andrea, Elizabeth, Postdoctoral Fellow
Elizabeth A. D'Andrea, Ph.D. joined the WRIISC in January, 2005 after receiving her doctorate from Drexel University. Her graduate research examined relationships between genetic (inherited) factors, hormones, cognitive performance, and problem-solving strategies. Dr. D'Andrea's clinical training included an internship in psychology at the East Orange VA focused on neuropsychological assessment, behavioral medicine, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. She also completed two years of pre-doctoral training at the Philadelphia VA and a year-long externship at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital in Malvern, PA. She is currently project coordinator for a research study looking at protective and risk factors for unexplained physical symptoms after service in a war zone. Dr. D'Andrea's other research interests include using physiological and neuropsychological performance markers to facilitate early diagnosis of PTSD and mild traumatic head injury.
Findley, Patricia, Social Worker
Dr. Patricia A. Findley is an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Social Work and a fellow in the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University and a Research Scholar in the Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System. Prior to this appointment, she was Clinical Research Scientist/Research Assistant Professor at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago of Northwestern University's School of Medicine. She holds a Doctorate of Public Health and a Master's Degree in Social Work. Her clinical and administrative work focused on physical disabilities and her research has continued to refine that focus and expand to include chronic illness, women's health issues, and cancer survivorship. Dr. Findley has been published in several prestigious peer-reviewed journals, and has recently co-authored a book entitled The Cancer Survivor Handbook: The Essential Guide to Cancer Survivorship (In Press, Avalon Publishing, Spring 2006).
Her current research involves the issues related to healthcare utilization and access for individuals with disabilities living in community-based settings, the examination of barriers related to vocational re-entry by individuals with disability both prior to and after receipt of Social Security benefits, and policy implications of the health and continued care of individuals with chronic illnesses and disabilities. She also serves as a JCAHO/CARF (rehabilitation) surveyor, and provides clinical social work services to veterans evaluated in the East Orange VA's War Related Illness and Injury Center.
Heffernan, Marybeth, Nurse Practitioner
Marybeth Heffernan, RN, MSN, APN, C worked as a nurse for several years before returning to school at Boston University for her Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Nursing (MSN). Following this, she was the Rehabilitation Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Rehabilitation Institute at Morristown Memorial, working with patients and families who were dealing with strokes, orthopedic injuries, and other life changing problems. She also was a clinical instructor for nursing students at Seton Hall University. In 2003 she earned a second MSN at Seton Hall University, becoming a Nurse Practitioner.
At the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, she sees veterans for extensive history and physical exams, and works with the WRIISC team to address veterans' health concerns following return from war. In addition, she works with the exercise physiologist in making fitness assessments. She has taken a particular interest in helping veterans with musculoskeletal problems to return to a high level of fitness. She is also currently co-authoring an article about common health concerns of veterans seen at the WRIISC.
Helmer, Drew, Physician - Internal Medicine
Drew A. Helmer, MD, MS, completed a 5 year dual-degree program at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Public Health in New York in 1997. Dr. Helmer moved to Houston, Texas for his internal medicine residency and primary care research fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and joined the War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center at VA-New Jersey Health Care System in 2001.
Dr. Helmer has been a member of the clinical team at the WRIISC since its beginning. He served as clinical director from 2002-2004. He currently puts his internal medicine skills to work by evaluating veterans with deployment-related health and exposure concerns. Dr. Helmer enjoys the problem solving required in this role, as he tries to understand the veteran's symptoms better to detect any possible underlying problems with the way the body is functioning. Based on this assessment, Dr. Helmer leads the team in developing an evidence-based plan for additional diagnostic tests and procedures and possible treatments. Dr. Helmer also sees patients in a general medicine clinic at the East Orange VA Medical Center.
Dr. Helmer is very interested in improving the quality of health care, especially in VA primary care. He is working on several projects to learn how to improve quality of care, including one that looks at how VA primary care providers think about and treat patients with medically unexplained chronic pain and fatigue. He has a career development award from VA Health Services Research and Development to conduct this work. Dr. Helmer's research interests complement his clinical duties, making him a better health care provider for his patients.
Jewell, Deborah, Program Specialist
Deborah Jewell, BA, Program Specialist at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC). Ms. Jewell earned her degree at New York University; majoring in organization communications. She has many years of experience in client services and risk management. Prior to coming to the WRIISC, Ms. Jewell worked for a mental illness organization for five years; assisting psychologists with daily administrative issues relating to patients. Currently, Ms. Jewell supervises all aspects of recruitment of Clinical and Research patients. Since joining the WRIISC in August 2004, the number of veterans evaluated at the WRIISC has increased substantially. Ms. Jewell has been recognized for providing veterans with the care, treatment and excellent service that they deserve. She spends an extensive amount of time with the veterans on the phone and in person before and during the visit. Veterans who have come to the center from all over the country have commented that the thought and preparation Ms. Jewell puts into making their visits possible is most helpful to them. She looks forward to continue providing veterans with a pleasant atmosphere during their visit at the WRIISC.
Lange, Gudrun, Director-WRIISC, Neuropsychologist
Gudrun Lange, PhD, is the Director of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC). Prior to being selected in April 2005 to serve as the Center's Director, she was the WRIISC's Associate Director for Education and Risk Communication. Dr. Lange is a licensed Clinical Neuropsychologist and an Associate Professor in the departments of Radiology and Psychiatry at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. Her main interests over the past 10 years include the assessment and study of the cognitive and behavioral aspects of chronic pain and persistent fatigue.
Dr. Lange brings to the WRIISC both her clinical as well as research knowledge to help veterans understand their deployment related health concerns. She has received extensive federal funding for her work, published many papers on the subject and has given many presentations to professional as well as public groups. Dr. Lange is committed to use her administrative, clinical, and research skills to provide veterans with the service they need and deserve.
Lomax, James, Physician - Family Practice
James D. Lomax, MD is a board certified family physician who has spent the last 30 years practicing in the area of family and occupational medicine. He is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his Family Practice residency in Indiana. He has served in many capacities in academic and clinical settings in the New York-New Jersey area. He has served as the chair of the Department of Family Practice at the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn and clinical associate professor at State University of New York, Brooklyn Campus. He has been medical director for several occupational health services in New Jersey. Additional clinical experience includes his role of medical director for a tri-state workers compensation insurance company. He is published in the areas of geriatric and occupational medicine. More recently he serves as a consultant to WRIISC and a New Jersey-based workers compensation managed care organization, in addition to being a medical writer for a Florida marketing company in the area of occupational medicine.
Meduru, Pramod, Physician - Internal Medicine
Pramod Meduru, M.D., M.P.H. joined the WRIISC in 2006 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. As part of the clinical team, he evaluates veterans with deployment related health concerns and exposure concerns. His research interests include analyzing national databases for trends and factors associated with health care utilization in patients with chronic conditions. He received his M.D. from UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and completed residencies in Internal Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and Preventive Medicine/Public Health at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. In addition, he received a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University in New York.
Monaghan, Richard, Administrative Officer
Richard Monaghan, BS, is the Administrative Officer for the WRIISC. Mr. Monaghan earned his degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in economics & finance. He has been with the Department of Veterans Affairs for more than 14 years. Seven years were spent in the hospital’s Fiscal Service, and 3 years as a budget analyst for the Research Service before coming to the WRIISC shortly after its inception. Mr. Monaghan is in charge of all administrative functions for the WRIISC and its affiliated research, including all accounting, budgeting, purchasing, contracting, and personnel actions.
Quigley, Karen, Associate Director-Research, Research Physiologist
Karen S. Quigley, Ph.D. is a research physiologist at the WRIISC with her primary interests in how emotions and stress affect a person's cardiovascular function, symptoms, and balance function, and also how individual differences (like a person's physiological reactions to stress or personality factors) can affect the relationships between emotions, physiology and symptoms. Dr. Quigley received her Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and completed her post-doctoral training at Columbia University. After being on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University, she joined the WRIISC in 2001. Dr. Quigley is a faculty affiliate with the New Jersey Medical School- UMDNJ and Rutgers-Newark. In March of 2005, she assumed her current role as Associate Director for Research for the WRIISC. Dr. Quigley's work is funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs. One research project looks at how both physiological and psychosocial factors before war predict who will be resilient to or at risk for unexplained physical symptoms after war. A second project examines the effect of negative emotions and age on how people perceive the risks and benefits of vaccination, immune responses to vaccination, and the report of vaccine-related and non-vaccine-related symptoms.
Rodrigues, Isabella, Postdoctoral Fellow
Isabella Rodrigues, Ph.D. joined the WRIISC in 2005 as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Rodrigues received undergraduate degrees in biology and psychology and earned her doctoral degree from the Pennsylvania State University. Before joining the WRIISC, Dr. Rodrigues’ focused her research in understanding the effects of psychoactive substances (like caffeine) on blood markers of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Rodrigues is currently working on a study designed to understand the effects of age and negative emotion on people’s perceptions of vaccinations, particularly those used to protect against potential bioterror agents. This study also examines factors that affect how people develop immunity to a vaccine, as well as people’s reports of vaccine and non-vaccine related symptoms. The results of this study will help us better understand psychological and biological factors associated with receiving vaccines, which may help veterans and non-veterans in the future.
Rossignol, Marycarol, Postdoctoral Fellow
Marycarol Rossignol DNSc., RN, joined the WRIISC in 2005 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She is also an Assistant Professor in Nursing at Seton Hall University. Dr. Rossignol has over 25 years of clinical and teaching experience. As part of the WRIISC clinical team, she meets with the veterans to review and clarify findings and recommendations, assist with teaching and answer any questions that may arise. She has a research interest in the health concerns of veterans deployed to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, she is interested in pain research using psychophysical methods. She is conducting a pilot study that explores the link between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain. She will examine if PTSD affects the nervous system by causing it to transmit pain impulses more easily.
Rumage, Christina, Education Specialist
Ms. Christina Rumage is an Education Specialist at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) in New Jersey. She is responsible for providing veterans who visit the center with up to date information about their health and health concerns. She assists in the development of educational materials for veterans and veteran providers. In addition, she arranges and coordinates all educational activities for the center (including workshops, seminars, conferences, and staff in-services).
Ms. Rumage joined the NJ WRIISC in November 2001 and was employed as a Patient Services Assistant for approximately three years. Her main job responsibilities in this role were to coordinate and provide logistic support for the intake, screening, scheduling, and patient care for each veteran referred to the WRIISC. Her experience in this position provided her with a strong foundation in understanding veterans’ healthcare and educational needs and helped prepare her for her current position at the WRIISC.
Ms. Rumage received her BA in Psychology from Rutgers University in 2001. She is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science Degree in Public Health (MSPH) with a focus in community health at Walden University.
Santos, Susan, Risk Communication Expert
Susan L. Santos, Ph.D. serves as the Risk Communication Specialist for the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in East Orange, New Jersey and is also an Assistant Professor in the Health Education and Behavioral Sciences Division of the UMDNJ-School of Public Health.
Dr. Santos conducts research on the communication of deployment related risks and unexplained illness in veterans to clinicians, veterans and their families, and communications related to chemical and bio-terrorism. Dr. Santos develops materials for healthcare providers and veterans designed to transmit knowledge about medically unexplained illnesses in general and the role of stress in their genesis. She also develops materials on the risks from deployment related exposures of concern. Dr. Santos develops and facilitates risk communication training for providers that focus on developing physician-patient communications appropriate for treating patients with medically unexplained symptoms.
With over 24 years of risk and health communications experience, Dr. Santos focuses on the application of public health science, communication theory, social marketing and social science principals to conduct research and provide education on communicating complex health, safety and environmental risk information as well as risk communication of deployment related risks and the evaluation of risk communication and stakeholder involvement programs.
Dr. Santos received her Ph.D. in Northeastern University's interdisciplinary Law, Policy and Society program, where she concentrated in Risk Communication. She received her MS degree in Civil Engineering and Public Health from Tufts University and a BS degree in Chemistry from Boston College.
Dr. Santos has given hundreds of seminars and speeches on the topic of risk communication and has published in the areas of risk communication. Dr. Santos has served as a National Academy of Sciences Committee member and has been an invited author and presenter for several prestigious organizations.
Teichman, Ron, Associate Director-Clinical, Education and Risk Communication Services, Physician
Ron Teichman, MD, MPH, is the Associate Director for Clinical, Education and Risk Communications Services. He is now in his third year at the WRIISC. Dr. Teichman is an internist and an occupational and environmental medicine physician, and is board certified in both fields. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Teichman has spent almost 20 years involved in all aspects of occupational and environmental medicine. He has been a Plant, Divisional and Regional Medical Director for General Motors Corporation and the Medical Director of a network of occupational health clinics in Baltimore. He served as the Medical Director and Administrator of a network of dedicated occupational and environmental health clinics in Charleston, South Carolina, which he helped create.
Dr. Teichman brings to the WRIISC a depth of knowledge regarding occupational exposures and how to assess those exposures. He has given dozens of talks to professional, student and public audiences on a wide range of related topics and is able to translate scientific findings into language that is easily understandable. He also has substantial administrative and business experience allowing for the operation of two comprehensive veteran evaluation programs and the WRIISC’s new Exposure Assessment Clinic. Dr. Teichman is thrilled to be able to use his skill set to assist veterans.
Weaver, Shelley, Research Physiologist
Shelley Weaver is a Research Physiologist at War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, of the New Jersey Health Care System, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosciences at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Her research interests involve how early life adversity can lead to vulnerabilities to environmental challenges later in life.
Dr. Weaver obtained her PhD in Animal Physiology in 1998 from the University of Alberta, and began her career by studying how the environment of baby pigs influenced their stress responses later in life. She then worked with Dr. Michael Meaney, at McGill University, studying how the brain is changed by early life adversity and how these changes are maintained over a lifetime. Dr. Weaver then accepted a position as a Research Associate at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. There Dr. Weaver studied how different environments can help minimize the toxic effects of lead in an animal model of childhood lead exposure.
Dr. Weaver is currently the recipient of both a Merit Review Entry Program grant and a Gulf War Research grant. This funding supports her investigations into how early life adversity can cause vulnerabilities to long-term effects of pyridostigmine bromide in adults, and how stress at the time of pyridostigmine bromide exposure can further increase this vulnerability.