2024-2025 Dean's Teaching Fellows

Annabel S. Fu, MD

George L. Engel Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2023 - 2025

Project:Teaching Medical Students to Identify Biopsychosocial Factors Using Case Formulations in Basic Sciences Curriculum

Dr. Fu graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, with a Bachelor of Science. She received her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, and completed her residency training in general psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Fu's focus includes working with those who struggle with severe and persistent mental illness and addiction. She is currently the Medical Director of Adult Ambulatory Service.

Donna Guardino, PhD

John Romano Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2024 – 2026

Project: Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Deaf Communities: Development and Evaluation of Deaf-ACCESS Training

Donna L. Guardino, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She received her PhD degree in 2018 from Gallaudet University and completed her pre-doctoral internship under Deaf Wellness Center at University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Guardino is currently conducting individual and group psychotherapy primarily for adults at Deaf Wellness Center.

Dr. Guardino’s research interests are: 1) on Certified Deaf Interpreters’ experiences working with language deprivation Deaf individuals in medical settings, and 2) Deaf population health and language deprivation.

Lisa Lincoln, MD

Lowell A. Glasgow Dean's Teaching Fellow, 2024 - 2026

Project: Improving Wellness Through Curricular Innovation: Incorporation of Mindfulness Teaching and Cognitive Strategies for Stress Reducation into the Emergency Medicine Residency Simulation Curriculum

Dr. Lincoln was born and raised in Rochester, NY. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Dr. Lincoln then attended medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and graduated with honors in 2009. She proceeded to complete her Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Rochester, and she served as the Chief Resident in 2012.
Certified Specialties – Emergency Medicine
Faculty Appointments – Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine .

Karlo Lizarraga Mendoza, MD, MS

Andrew W. Mellon Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2023 -2025

Project: Integrating Social Care: Learning within the Neurology Peru-Rochester Exchange Program

Dr. Lizarraga is a board-certified neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist with expertise in movement disorders, motor physiology and neuromodulation. Dr. Lizarraga is associate professor of the departments of neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery and center for health + technology at our institution. He is also invited professor of the department of neurosciences at the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin in Arequipa, Peru.

Dr. Lizarraga is chief of our division of movement disorders, director (founder) of the motor physiology and neuromodulation program and director (founder) of the Neurology Peru-Rochester exchange program (NeuroPro). His career goals are to optimize the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders with the use of neurophysiological techniques, and to develop sustainable international collaborations that promote global equity in neurological education, research and care.

Patricia Luck, MBChB, MPhil, MSc

Marshall Lichtman Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2024-2026

Project: The Photo/ Tiny Story: A Health Humanities Tool For Developing Critical Reflection Skills in Undergraduate Medical Education

Assistant Professor Health Humanities & Bioethics, and Program Director of the MS in Medical Humanities and the Health Humanities faculty lead for Undergraduate Medical Education in the Department of Health Humanities & Bioethics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Dr. Luck, born in Germany, graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School in 1989, spent her residency years in Sydney, Australia, returning to South Africa to work in family medicine in 1993. She received an MPhil in Palliative Medicine from the University of Cape Town in 2006 while Medical Director of Wits Hospice. Dr. Luck subsequently was Pediatric Palliative Care team leader for Big Shoes Foundation, serving in three teaching hospitals in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2015 she completed her MSc in Medical Humanities at King’s College in London, UK before moving to Rochester, NY in 2018 where she joined the faculty in her current position.

Sarah E. A. McConnell, PhD

Gilbert B. Forbes Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2023 - 2025

Project: Study Strategies, Time Management, Anxiety Mitigation, and Teamwork (STAT) Skills

EDUCATION: BA Neuroscience, magna cum laude, 2007, Oberlin College
BMus Organ Performance, 2007, Oberlin Conservatory
MS Neurobiology and Anatomy, 2010, University of Rochester
PhD Neurobiology and Anatomy, 2013, University of Rochester
MS Health Professions Education, 2022, Warner School of Education


CURRENT TEACHING: Functional Neuroanatomy, for undergraduate students
Neuroscience of Neuroprosthetics, for undergraduate and graduate students
Human Structure and Function, for medical students
Mind, Brain, and Behavior, for medical students
Human Brain Anatomy, for graduate students

Erica Miller, MD

Jules Cohen Dean’s Teaching Fellow, 2023 - 2025

Project: Equity in Action: Scaling a Health Equity and Quality Improvement Curriculum for Department of Medicine Fellowship Trainees

Dr. Miller specializes in clinical cardiology, caring for adult patients in the Highland Cardiology office at Red Creek as well as in the hospital at Highland and Strong Memorial Hospitals. She is trained in echocardiography, including stress testing and transesophageal echocardiography, as well as nuclear cardiology. She has a special interest in hypertension, and is a member of the University of Rochester's American Heart Association Hypertension Center of Excellence. She grew up in Ithaca, NY and has enjoyed living in Rochester with her family since 2011.

Dr. Miller earned her medical degree with distinction from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, NY and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics with distinction in research at the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. She also completed Cardiovascular Disease fellowship training at the University of Rochester and served as Chief Fellow. She is board certified in Cardiovascular Disease, Internal Medicine, Echocardiography, and Pediatrics. She is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. She is the Associate Program Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, and has been a member of the University of Rochester faculty since 2018.

Isaac Schmale, MD

George W. Corner Dean's Teaching Fellow, 2024 - 2026

Project: Novel use of 3D Surgical Pre-planning and Augmented Reality with Motion Analysis to Improve Resident Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Education

Dr. Isaac Schmale earned his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, CA. He completed his residency in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Schmale continued his education and completed a fellowship in Advanced Rhinology, Neurorhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery at the Texas Sinus Institute in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Area of focus include:

• Medical and surgical treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis
• Revision sinus surgery
• In-Office treatment for nasal breathing and sinus conditions
• Nasal polyps
• Endoscopic sinus surgery
• Endoscopic skull base surgery
• Endoscopic pituitary surgery
• Treatment of Benign and malignant nasal tumors
• Treatment of Skull-base tumors
• Deviated nasal septum
• Cerebrospinal fluid leak repair
• Anosmia (smell loss)
• Endoscopic lacrimal surgery
• Endoscopic orbital surgery
• Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD)

Past and Current Deans Teaching Fellows