Team Bios


David Bar-Or, Director

Dr. Bar-Or has over thirty-five years experience in biochemical and molecular biology research, is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and was a distinguished physician for twenty three years, including five years as Director of Emergency Medicine at a nationally accredited Level I trauma center. He is presently Director of Trauma Research for 6 Level I trauma Centers: Swedish Medical Center, St. Anthony Hospital, Medical City Plano, Research Medical Center-Kansas City, Wesley Medial Center, and Penrose Hospital. Dr. Bar-Or received his M.D. from Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Denver Health Medical Center and was the first to complete a fellowship in Emergency Medicine research at Denver Health Medical Center, a program recognized nationally as a leader in emergency medicine. Dr. Bar-Or has received numerous awards for outstanding clinical and scientific research, including the Gustav Levi Award from the Hadassah/Mount Sinai Hospital, the Kornfield Award for an outstanding MD Thesis, the Outstanding Resident Research Award from the Denver General Hospital, and the Outstanding Clinician Award for the Denver General Medical Emergency Resident Program. David is also the founder, director and Chief Scientific Officer of Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. David has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles and holds hundreds of issued patents.



TRAUMA MEDICAL DIRECTORS


Kacie Banton, Swedish Medical Center

Kaysie Banton, MD MHA has practiced at three different Level 1 trauma centers and as the Trauma Medical Director at a Level 2 center. She also helped to create a mature Trauma System for the Fairview Medical System overseeing the operations of 7 different Trauma Centers across Minnesota. She is currently the Trauma Medical Director of Swedish Medical Center. She has interests in Trauma Systems, Collaborative care, quality improvement and health care administration in addition to her clinical work.

Robert Madayag, St Anthony Hospital

 Dr. Madayag is the Trauma Services and Perioperative Medical Director and Surgical Residency assistant director at St. Anthony Hospital.  Dr. Madayag graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1994, completed General Surgery Residency at the University of Maryland Medical System in 2000 and his Fellowship in Trauma/ Surgical Critical Care in 2001. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, member of the Eastern Association for Surgery of Trauma, member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, American College of Surgeons-Colorado Chapter, Colorado Medical Society, and Clear Creek Medical Society.

Allen Tanner, Penrose Hospital


Dr. Tanner graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. Dr. Tanner received his medical degree from Saint Louis University Medical School and completed his general surgery internship and residency at the University of Texas in Houston. He completed a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. Dr. Tanner is double board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He enjoys time with his family, camping, hiking and mountain biking.

Matthew Carrick, Medical City Plano


Matt Carrick MD FACS is the Trauma Medical Director at Medical City of Plano. He is also the CMO, & Senior Vice President of Envision Surgical Services, and an Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at University of North Texas Health Science Center-Medical City Ft. Worth General Surgery Residency. He is a dedicated family man and lives in Southlake Texas with his wife Kelli, and their four children.

Mark Lieser, Research Medical Center

 Mark Lieser, MD, FACS is the Trauma Medical Director at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine. He has served as TMD at Level 2 and Level 3 trauma centers in Texas prior to assuming his current position in KC. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves and served with the 228th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. He is married with six children and two grandchildren.

David Acuna, Wesley Medical Center

David Acuna, DO, FACOS is a general/trauma surgeon with over 20 years with clinical experience in general surgery including: thoracic, endocrine, pediatric, obstetrical-gynecological, and trauma. Dr. Acuna has practiced as a trauma surgeon and critical care intensivist since 2004 and has served as Medical Director of Adult Trauma Services since 2015 at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas.



EPIDEMIOLOGISTS


Alessandro Orlando, VP of clinical research, clinical Epidemiologist

AlexAlex has been a Clinical Epidemiologist since 2010, and designs, analyzes, writes and publishes the results of numerous clinical studies at 5 trauma centers and a stroke center. In addition to working on studies, he also creates our department’s newsletter, Trauma Research, which highlights our current projects as well as other noteworthy research from around our planet. Alex received his Bachelor of Biology and Master of Public Health degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia. When he’s not swiftly coding like a character out of the Matrix, he enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, or unapologetically playing Xbox.

Kristin Salottolo, Clinical Epidemiologist

Kristin_Salottolo Kristin has been with Trauma Research since 2007. Her responsibilities include trial design, statistical analysis, and manuscript preparation for stroke and trauma research studies across several trauma centers and a comprehensive stroke center. She has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific publications. Kristin received a Bachelor of Science in biology from the College of Charleston, was a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, then earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology from the University of Colorado. She currently resides in Charleston, SC. Her hobbies include traveling, road biking, and hanging out with her family on the water.

Constance McGraw, Clinical Epidemiologist

Constance McGrawConstance has been with Trauma Research since 2016 and recently completed her Master of Public Health with Claremont Graduate University. During her MPH program, she worked as a data analyst on an HIV risk study to create surveys to evaluate short and long-term health behavior studies. Before graduate school, Constance worked with VCU Medical College, where she performed experiments for Parkinson’s disease research. Her responsibilities at Trauma Research include analyzing data and providing future direction for three different centers. Outside of work, she enjoys snowboarding, hiking and playing with her Siberian husky.

Stephanie Jarvis, Clinical Epidemiologist

Stephanie JarvisStephanie is a new clinical epidemiologist for Trauma Research. She received a Master of Public Health degree focusing in epidemiology with the Colorado School of Public Health in 2015. Since graduating she has been working at Denver Health Medical Center in the surgery and trauma research department as a study coordinator. With Trauma Research LLC, she will be designing clinical studies, executing statistical methodology for data analysis, as well as drafting scientific abstracts and manuscripts. She has a specific interest in traumatic spinal cord injuries. Outside of work Stephanie enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, traveling, and biking.

Erica Sercy, Clinical Epidemiologist

Erica is a new addition to the clinical epidemiology team at Trauma Research. She previously spent three years at the University of South Carolina’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program focusing on lung cancer research and racial and socioeconomic disparities in cancer outcomes and access to care. She received her Master of Science in Public Health degree in epidemiology from Emory University in 2009 and has since also worked as an editor at the journal Nature. In addition to her abiding passion for SAS, Erica enjoys books, coffee, and hiking with her new daughter.

Aaron Chestnut, clinical epidemiologist

After graduating with a Master of Public Health degree focusing in epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health in 2016, Aaron has wanted to use his research and analytical skills to help improve the health and lives of people. At Trauma Research LLC, Aaron partners with hospitals to design clinical studies, analyze data and report findings, with the ultimate goal of publishing manuscripts. Aaron was previously dedicated to supporting ongoing research regarding homelessness, infectious diseases and substance use/abuse, as well as coordinating several endocrinology and immunology clinical trials at the University Of South Carolina School Of Medicine. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking, skiing, spending time with friends and learning about esoteric topics.



BASIC SCIENCE


Leonard Rael, Toxicologist and Biochemist

Leonard-RaelLeonard has been with Trauma Research LLC since 1999. With over 20 years of experience in scientific research with an emphasis in biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology, he has published over 35 scientific manuscripts including 5 first author publications on oxidative stress in the critically ill and stored blood using oxidation reduction potential (ORP) technology, which he co-invented. Leonard also assisted in the research and development of other medical diagnostics including the albumin cobalt binding assay for the diagnosis of myocardial ischemia, oxidative stress markers in the blood plasma of trauma patients, and the rapid identification of bacterial pathogens in ventilator associated pneumonia patients by PCR.

Raphael Bar-Or, Computational Biologist

Raphael Bar-Or is an accomplished scientist having studied applied mathematics and computational biology at the University of Colorado at Denver. Raphael has functional expertise in computational biology, applied mathematics, medical device development, hardware and software integration, classifier algorithm design, absorption/transmission spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, chromatography, expert systems, and programming. He holds multiple US and worldwide patents and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications. Raphael received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.

Melissa Hausburg, Molecular Biologist

IMG_1981 copy-1Melissa is a Molecular Biologist with Trauma Research since 2015. She received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from The University of Colorado, Boulder in 2010. Her thesis work elucidated a post-transcriptional mechanism that suppresses muscle stem cell activation until injury signals rapidly switch quiescent muscle stem cells to proliferating myoblasts. After completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship studying RNA-binding proteins in North Carolina at the National Institutes of Health, she returned to Colorado to pursue a career in the Biotech Industry. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and son in the mountains and is an avid gardener.

Gregory Thomas, Molecular Biologist

Greg_ThomasGregory is a molecular biologist at Ampio Pharmaceuticals and has been contracting with Trauma Research since 2001. He has over 19 years experience in scientific research with an emphasis in cytology after studying biology and microbiology at Colorado State University. Gregory’s areas of expertise include microscopy, qPCR, cell culture, and cloning. Prior to working with Ampio Pharmacueticals, he worked with the clinical immunology department at the University of Colorado’s Health Sciences Center working on macrophage cell signaling pathways. Outside of work, Gregory enjoys fly fishing, routing for his alma mater Colorado State’s football team, running, and spending time with his family.

Liz Gersch, Molecular
Biologist

lizLiz is a Molecular Biologist at Ampio Pharmaceuticals and has been collaborating with Trauma Research since 2014. She received Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Biology at Colby College and a Doctorate in Biochemistry at Duke University. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship the University of Colorado in Boulder and worked as a Senior Editor for American Journal Experts. In graduate school, Liz studied RNA-binding tandem zinc finger proteins that play a role in RNA turnover, and during her post-doc, she produced human papillomavirus proteins to be used in second-generation vaccines. In her free time, Liz enjoys reading, running, hiking, and playing with her dog, Buddy.



STUDY COORDINATORS


Tina Thompson, IRB coordinator

Tina brings a wealth of IRB experience and clinical research. Among other things, Tina is in charge of all of the active IRB submissions and continuing reviews across all study sites, making sure all they IRB compliant and audit-ready, continuously keeping ACS review information updated for all of our sites, and helping connect each of our hospitals to national clinical studies. Outside of work she enjoys hiking, camping, gardening, and traveling.

Diane Redmond, Study Coordinator

Diane Redmond is a Study Coordinator based at Penrose Hospital, in Colorado Springs. Diane has over 30 years of nursing experience, including 12 years as Trauma/Surgical ICU nurse at Level I/II trauma centers. She has also served in teaching, quality, IRB and leadership roles. She received her Bachelors and Masters of Science in Nursing degrees from The Catholic University of America. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, reading and photography.

Kathy Rodkey, Study Coordinator

Kathy Rodkey is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Medical City Plano in Texas. Kathy has a background in Cardiology and over 12 years of experience in Cardiovascular Research. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University f North Texas, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Invasive Cardiology from Dallas County Community College and Certification in Clinical Research from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. In her free time, Kathy enjoys spending time with her boyfriend and 2 children at the lake, boating, fishing and spending time with friends and family.

Jennifer Pekarek, Study Coordinator

Jennifer Pekarek is a Study Coordinator based at St. Anthony Hospital. She screens and consents patients, manages IRB submissions, and coordinates project logistics between hospital departments and staff. Jennifer was a Trauma & ICU nurse for 7 years before moving to High Risk Labor & Delivery. She has been in the research field since 2014. Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys trail running, yoga, kick-boxing, and stays busy with her three children and her farmer/rancher husband.

Jamie Shaddix, Study coordinator

Jamie is the trauma research nurse coordinator for Wesley Medical Center, a level I trauma center in Wichita, KS. Jamie is a critical care nurse with project management and research experience in clinical trials. Jamie is studying for her nurse practitioner license.

Carolyn Blue, Study Coordinator

CBCarolyn is a Study Coordinator based at Swedish Medical Center. She has 20 years of nursing experience; with 12 years serving the critical care population and two tours serving Médecins Sans Frontières. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Kent State University, Masters of Science as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Cardiothoracic Trauma from Johns Hopkins and Masters of Public Health-certificate from the University of Colorado. In her free time she enjoys riding her horse, biking, running, skiing, hiking, climbing and spending time with her daughter.

Brenda Kuiphoff, Study Coordinator

Brenda is a part-time study coordinator based at St. Anthony’s Hospital. Brenda has been a nurse for over 25 years and she has approximately 10 years of acute care experience. She also has 14 plus years of experience in research and clinical trials and her roles have included Research Nurse, Regulatory Coordinator and Project Manager. Brenda also works as a mobile research nurse providing services to subjects in Colorado participating in various clinical trials. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, hiking, skiing and spending time with her husband and daughters.

Kimberly Aumann, Study Coordinator

Kimberly is a study coordinator for Swedish Medical Center. She maintains patient information and obtains, deidentifies, records and freezes specimens for future use.



OTHER TEAM MEMBERS


Pamela Bourg, PhD, RN

Pamela W. Bourg, PhD, RN, TCRN, FAEN is the Director of the Trauma Program for the Mountains North Denver Operating Group for Centura Health. Dr. Bourg earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Louisiana State University, a Master’s Degree in Nursing from Boston University, and in 2016 she received her PhD in nursing. She is a certified TNCC, ENPC, BLS, PALS, ATLS and RTTDC instructor. She has been an active member of Copper Mountain Ski Patrol for over 20 years.

Gina M. Berg, PhD, MBA

Dr. Berg is a human factors psychologist that serves as Director of Trauma Research and Wesley Leadership Institute at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS. Dr. Berg is also a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita.

Jan Leonard, MSPH

Jan  currently serves as a consultant with the ION group, and was previously employed from 2014-2017. She is employed at the University of Colorado in the pediatrics department. In her free time she enjoys outdoor activities in the Colorado mountains and spending time with her husband and son Mason.