Dr. Mitra comes to us from the Stanford School of Medicine, where he is Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services at the Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics.

Dr. Mitra earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and his medical degree from Michigan State University. He completed his residency training at Harvard Medical School, and finished a one-year clinical fellowship in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital. He started his career at the Stanford School of Medicine, where he served as director of the Stanford Interventional Spine Center from 2003 through 2008; he also served as the fellowship director for Interventional Spine Fellowship. He was appointed Chief of Rehabilitation Medicine and Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services at Stanford School of Medicine in 2008.

Dr. Mitra has had a wide and varied research career. At the University of Michigan, he completed an NIH fellowship in which he conducted research analyzing the synergistic effects of environmental toxins. Additionally, he has completed a research fellowship sponsored by the American Heart Association analyzing the secondary prevention of heart disease and the utilization of statins. During his internship, Dr. Mitra served as the principal investigator of a study analyzing the effects of advanced directives on patient care at the end of life. Over the last several years, Dr. Mitra has been focused on outcomes studies in pain management.

Dr. Mitra continues to be devoted to teaching and research in graduate medical education. He is the two-time winner of the Teacher of the Year Award (elected by the residents) at Stanford School of Medicine and has helped foster numerous clinical and research careers among his trainees.

We look forward to Dr. Mitra's arrival in October, and are grateful for Dr. Varghese's long years of service to the University of Kansas Medical Center.

George Varghese, M.D.
Professor Emeritus

Residency: New York Medical College
Board Certified: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Electrodiagnostic Medicine
Clinical Interests: Musculoskeletal Medicine, EMG, Pain, Disability Ratings, non-interventional spine

Dr. Varghese is Professor Emeritus. Resident physicians and medical students consider his knowledge base in both musculoskeletal and electrodiagnostic medicine limitless. His resident and medical student education activities are so well respected that he has won all of the major educational awards in our department and in the medical school. He also won the 2004 Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has been repeatedly honored by the departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery for excellence in resident teaching. In addition, he supervises EMGs in both the Kansas City VA and KU facilities and supervises the resident on the University of Kansas Medical Center outpatient rotation.

Mary Jo Middleton, M.D.

Dr. Middleton is a clinical faculty physicians that supervises the resident physician at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. She is employed part time and also works as a private practitioner in the Kansas City area. She is interested in the general rehabilitation care of the VA population, prosthetic and orthotic prescription clinics, spasticity clinic, and diabetic PACT clinics. One of the largest outpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation clinics in the city is at the Kansas City VA Medical Center.

Monica Kurylo, PhD, ABPP
Assistant Professor

Dr. Kurylo is the staff neuropsychologist on the KUMC inpatient rehabilitation unit. Additionally, she participates in the monthly faculty-resident meetings, teaches the statistical analysis and research development educational block and is the main faculty advisor for the resident research requirement.

Ronal Novak, MD

Dr. Novak is the staff physiatrist at Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center.

John French, MD
Clinical Instructor
Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Dr. French completed a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Virginia. This program placed a strong emphasis on outpatient musculoskeletal and electrodiagnostic medicine. Following residency, Dr. French pursued further training and completed an ACGME accredited interventional pain fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia. This program is unique in that while housed within the PMR department, the majority of faculty are anesthesiologists. This combination provided excellent training from both a physiatric and anesthesiology standpoint. Since completing his fellowship, he has continued to develop his skills building an interventional pain program at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. His current practice focuses on the medical management of chronic and acute pain as well as interventional procedures including but not limited to: epidural steroid injections, SI joint injections and denervation, peripheral nerve blocks and joint injections, medial branch blocks and radiofrequency denervation, sympathetic blocks, provocation discography, biacuplasty, Dekompressor, epidural lysis of adhesions, vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty and intrathecal drug delivery system and spinal cord stimulator trials.

Saint Luke's Hospital Faculty

Kimberly Poecker, DO
Assistant Professor

Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Residency: University of Kansas School of Medicine
Board Certified: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Clinical Interests: Neurorehabilitation

Brad Steinle, M.D.

Dr. Steinle graduated from University of Kansas School of Medicine. His internship and PM&R residency was also at the University of Kansas. He is currently the medical director for Rehabilitation Services for the Saint Luke's Health System and medical director of the Rehabilitation Department at Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City. He has worked with KUMC PM&R residents since 2002 and was 2007 Teacher of the Year for the department. His primary focus is neurorehabilitation especially in stroke rehabilitation. He is on the Board of Directors for the American Stroke Foundation and Saint Luke's Neuroscience Institute. He lives in Shawnee, Kansas with his wife, Monica, and his two children, Jacob and Jenna.

Children's Mercy Hospital Faculty

Ann C. Modrcin, M.D.
Section Chief, Rehabilitation Medicine
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School Of Medicine; Clinical Instructor Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program, University of Kansas Medical Center

MD Degree: Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA, 1987
Residency: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, University of Colorado, Denver, CO
Fellowship: Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, The Children's Hospital, Denver, CO
Certification: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, 1992; Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, 2006

Specialty Interests: Amputation/prosthetics/myoelectrics, neuromuscular disease, brain injury, spinal cord injury, adaptive sports, spasticity management; integrated team management of inpatients requiring rehabilitation; involved in ongoing research primarily in muscular dystrophy

Robert Rinaldi, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Clinical Instructor Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program, University of Kansas Medical Center; Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship Program

MD Degree: University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, 1991
Residency: Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Certification: Pediatrics, 1994; Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, 1998; Pediatric Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, 2003

Specialty Interests: Neuromuscular disease, peripheral nerve disease, brachial plexus injury, surgical neuromonitoring, traumatic brain injury, medical education

Nicole McCartan, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine; Medical Director of the Adolescent and Pediatric Programs, The Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City; Clinical Instructor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program, University of Kansas Medical Center

MD Degree: University of Missouri School of Medicine,Columbia, MO, 1999
Internship: University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Residency: Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Certification: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, 2005; Pediatric Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2010

Specialty Interests: Cerebral palsy, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, and wheelchair/seating needs

Desiree Roge, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Associate Director Pediatric Rehabilitation Fellowship Program; Clinical Instructor Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program, University of Kansas Medical Center

MD Degree: Central del Caribe School of Medicine Puerto Rico, 2002
Internship: Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Residency: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 2006
Fellowship: Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, 2008
Certification: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, 2007; Pediatric Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2008
Languages: English, Spanish

Specialty Interests: Cerebral Palsy, TBI, Neuromuscular Disorders, Spasticity Management

Matthew Mayer, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Clinical Instructor Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program, University of Kansas Medical Center

MD Degree: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Cincinnati, OH 2005
Residency: Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 2010; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 2010
Certification: Pediatrics, Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation
Languages: English, Spanish

Specialty Interests: Neuromuscular disease, cerebral palsy, spasticity management, electro-diagnosis, pediatric spinal cord injury, comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation, disability in childhood

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