Learn a little about Internal Medicine’s newest faculty members.
Christopher Balwanz, MD
Christopher Balwanz, MD, assistant professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, completed his medical degree at UNMC. He completed an internal medicine residency at the University of California – Davis, then completed a general cardiovascular diseases fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Balwanz will see general cardiovascular patients. He also has research interests in peripheral vascular disease imaging, cardio-oncology, and health information systems.
Justin Birge, MD
Justin Birge, MD, assistant professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, completed his medical degree at Creighton University. He also completed an internal medicine residency and was the chief resident at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Dr. Birge is a hospitalist with professional interests including utilization of electronic workflows and data analytics to improve patient care, provider efficiency, interdisciplinary communication and impact on medical education. His research interests include assessments of electronic workflows and impact of clinically-oriented enhancements on efficiency, compliance, illness severity and inter-user reliability. Ultimately, he seeks to improve the user experience while accurately informing discrete data for individual/system analytics by harmonizing bedside electronic data review, documentation, order entry and charge capture.
Adam Burdorf, DO, MS
Adam Burdorf, DO, MS, assistant professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, completed his medical degree and a masters of anatomy degree at Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Burdorf completed his internal medicine residency, a cardiology fellowship and an advanced heart failure fellowship at UNMC. Dr. Burdorf has skills in and/or research interests in right heart catheterization, left heart catheterization, endomyocardial biopsy, echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, direct current cardioversion, temporary pacemaker insertion, intraaortic balloon pump, mechanical circulatory support (LVAD, ECMO, Total Artificial Heart), CardioMEMS, and cardiac transplantation.
Vinicius Ernani, MD
Vinicius Ernani, MD, assistant professor, Division of Oncology and Hematology, completed his medical degree at Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Dr. Ernani completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine/ Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. He also completed a clinical fellowship in hematology and oncology at Winship Cancer Institute/ Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. His clinical interests are in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), head and neck cancers, and his research interests are in targeted therapy for lung cancer and genomic alterations in small cell lung cancer.
Marwa Hegagi, MBBCh
Marwa Hegagi, MBBCh , assistant professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, completed her medical degree at Tripoli University Medical Center where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She completed an internal medicine residency at Medstar Harbor Hospital Baltimore. Dr. Hegagi comes to UNMC and Nebraska Medicine from a previous position as assistant professor of medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Hegagi key professional interests are in medical student education, clinical decision making and patient physician relationships.
Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD
Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD, associate professor, Division of Oncology and Hematology completed her MD/PhD degree, as well as an internal medicine residency and fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Iowa. Dr. Holstein specialize in the treatment of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell dyscrasias. Her clinical, translational and basic science research efforts are focused on multiple myeloma. In particular, her laboratory is focused on the development of novel agents for myeloma. From a clinical research perspective, Dr. Holstein is interested in the incorporation of novel agents into the post-transplant maintenance setting, as well as in the newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory settings.
Jairam Krishnamurthy, MBBS
Jairam Krishnamurthy, MBBS, assistant professor, Division of Oncology and Hematology completed his medical degree at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship – Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant at Northwestern University in Chicago, an Internal Medicine Internship at the University of Illinois, an Internal Medicine Residency at Creighton University and a Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship at UNMC. Dr. Krishnamurthy comes to UNMC after his previous position at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as assistant professor. Dr. Krishnamurthy has research interests in hormone receptor positive breast cancer.
Eric Langewisch, MD
Eric Langewisch, MD, assistant professor, Division of Nephrology, received his medical degree from the University of Iowa. He completed his internal medicine residency at UT Southwestern and completed a nephrology and transplant nephrology fellowship at the University of Michigan. Dr. Langewisch was previously an assistant professor of medicine in nephrology at the Oregon Health and Science University. His research interests are in histocompatibility and immunogenetics.
Tara Nordgren, PhD
Tara Nordgren, PhD, instructor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy. Tara’s legal last name is Gries, but she uses her maiden name, Nordgren, professionally. Most people know her by Tara Nordgren. She has been at UNMC since joining as a graduate student, where she obtained her doctoral degree and completed post-doctoral training in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy. She conducts basic and translational research, with research interests in the mechanisms regulating inflammation resolution and repair in the lungs.
Andrew Rorie, MD
Andrew Rorie, MD, assistant professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, received his medical degree and completed an internal medicine residency at UNMC. He completed an allergy/immunology fellowship at the University of Kansas. Dr. Rorie sees pediatric and adult patients with allergic rhinoconjuctivitis, asthma, immunodeficiency, urticaria, angioedema, drug allergy, venom hypersensitivity, allergic contact dermatitis, eczema and food allergies. He sees patients in Durham Outpatient Clinic on Mondays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to noon, and at Bellevue Medical Center on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Paul Thomes, PhD
Paul Thomes, PhD, assistant professor, Division of Gastroneterology and Hepatology, received his doctoral degree from the University of Madras, India. He completed post-doctoral training at UNMC in the Division of Gastroneterology and Hepatology. His research is to understand the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms behind alcohol-induced organ dysfunction and loss of homeostasis, and the significance of autophagy in the pathophysiology of liver diseases. Dr. Thomes comes back to UNMC after having a position as Research Scientist in the Department of Internal Medicine at Carolinas HealthCare System.