top of page

​

Tricia Bernecker PhD, RN, is a Professor in the Division of Nursing at DeSales University. She has a background in a variety of patient care settings. Her clinical experience includes cardiac, medical/surgical intensive care, neurosurgical intensive care, and trauma. Dr. Bernecker's teaching responsibilities include Nursing of the Acutely Ill Adult, Research, and Evidenced-Based Nursing on the graduate and doctoral levels. Dr. Bernecker teaches across all programs in the division. Dr. Bernecker received her BSN from West Chester University, her MSN from DeSales University as an adult advanced practice nurse and her Ph.D. from Widener University.  

​

Brandi Boak, MPH, is the program coordinator for Bridging the Gaps at the University of Pittsburgh. Brandi earned her bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies with a certificate in nonprofit management at the University of Houston. She also coordinates evaluation research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. Prior to Bridging the Gaps, Brandi worked for a community-based organization delivering adult literacy programming and transition services.

​

Hillary R. Bogner MD MSCE, is an Associate Professor in Family Medicine and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Dr. Bogner earned her Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology with honors from the University of Chicago and received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a residency in Family Medicine at the Thomas Jefferson University where she was Chief Resident in her third year. In 2001, she earned the Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bogner investigates the integration of care for depression and medical co-morbidity in primary health care settings – a problem with high public health significance. She has chosen to focus on cardiovascular disease as a model for integration of care with depression. Her work in depression and CVD has focused on adherence to depression treatment as a serious problem limiting the public health impact of available effective treatment. In addition, she has contributed to materials directed at practicing physicians. Her work shows that early patterns of non-adherence to depression medication may be related to patient-level factors, setting the stage for targeted interventions. She has examined the role of medical co-morbidity in the recognition and treatment of depression among older adults, finding that depression is a significant contributor to mortality among persons with medical co-morbidity such as diabetes that can be mitigated with practice-based interventions. In other work, she studied how medical co-morbidity -- such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other chronic medical conditions -- modifies response to depression treatment. Based on findings from patient interviews, Dr. Bogner developed an intervention integrating depression treatment with medical treatment for cardiovascular disease and has published the results of pilot studies testing its effectiveness. The intervention was informed by the findings of the K23 Award and the RWJF Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Award. To further examine the effectiveness of integrated interventions for depression and cardiovascular disease she was awarded a Grant-in-Aid Award from the American Heart Association and a Clinical Research Award from the American Diabetes Association. She has a funded K18 (AHRQ) which is utilizing a participatory approach to inspire a new services delivery model for diabetes care. The basis of this model is to include patient’s nonbiomedical needs (financial, social, and emotional) as part of primary care treatment discussions and decisions. She is the Principal Investigator on a funded Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) project to fill gaps in the understanding of health care disparities as experienced by adults with disabilities and how differences in the quality of care received might be impacting their wellbeing. She recently completed an R21 (NIMH) to assess how different primary care practices approach implementation of the chronic care model for depression and diabetes and developed a tool kit to facilitate implementation.  She completed an R01 (NIMH) study to examine the course of depressive symptoms and medical comorbidity, studying the risk factors for the onset of major depression and suicidal ideation and an R34 (NIMH) to assess the feasibility of an intervention trial to improve adherence to depression and hypertension treatment. Her work has been recognized by the American Geriatrics Society, the American Public Health Association, and awards committees at the University of Pennsylvania.

​

Thistle Elias, DrPH, MPA, is BTG Program Director for the University of Pittsburgh. She collaborated with the program for 15 years as academic coordinator, developing the weekly didactic and reflective sessions for students. Dr. Elias received her masters in public administration in 1991 with a certificate in nonprofit management and a special interest in community-based initiatives, followed two decades later by a Doctorate of Public Health.  In between she worked for the City of Pittsburgh launching a city-wide, school based community enrichment program and later joined the University of Pittsburgh as a research analyst. Dr. Elias has led and participated in a wide range of community-based research with a priority focus of underserved populations, including with Early Head Start staff and families, low-income elderly communities to improve healthy aging, pediatric practices to prevent child neglect and abuse, and multiple local and state program evaluation research projects. Dr. Elias teaches social sciences in public health, evaluation and health equity in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2019 Dr. Elias received the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service for her years of community-engaged and –partnered work.

​

Elissa Goldberg, MSS, LSW, the Bridging the Gaps Program Director for Drexel University, is Program Director in the Office of Community Experience at Drexel University College of Medicine.  Along with her work with Bridging the Gaps, her responsibilities include co-directing the Community Health Experience courses for Drexel’s first-year medical students and facilitating student volunteer projects and fourth-year medical student rotations.  She received her Master of Social Services degree in 1995 from Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work and Social Research.  She worked as a geriatric social worker for a number of years in Portland, Ore., and in Philadelphia, Pa. 

​

Mara Gordon, MD, is an assistant professor of Family Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and director of Cooper's Narrative Medicine program. Dr. Gordon attended the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she participated in the BTG-CHIP program as an intern at a community-based HIV and Hepatitis C testing program in Southwest Philadelphia. She stayed at Penn for residency training in Family Medicine. She has a longstanding interest in journalism and writing, and she was the Health and Media Fellow at National Public Radio during the 2018-2019 year, where she wrote about a variety of health news topics and hosted the NPR podcast Life Kit. At Cooper, she directs the Narrative Medicine program in Cooper's Center for Humanism. She continues to work as an occasional Life Kit host and writes for a variety of publications about the culture of medicine, medical education, reproductive health, and health disparities.

​

Maria Hervada-Page, MSSJefferson Program Director, the Bridging the Gaps Program Director for Jefferson Medical College, is the Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine and senior social worker and community resources specialist for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Ms. Hervada-Page earned her Bachelor of Science from St. Joseph’s University and her Master of Social Sciences from Bryn Mawr College. As an Assistant Residency Director, Ms. Hervada-Page has been an integral member of the department’s residency program for over 20 years. Her behavioral science background and extensive work in the Philadelphia community has proven to be invaluable when working one-on-one with residents to strengthen their interpersonal communication and cultural competency skills with patients and peers. Throughout her career, Ms. Hervada-Page has always been passionate about passing on her knowledge and experiences to students. She takes great pride in being able to teach and mentor the next generation of social workers, who are eager to improve the lives of the patients they work with every day. She has presented at national and local conferences in the fields of behavioral health, refugee health, resident advising and mentoring, home visits, and addiction. Ms. Hervada-Page strives to improve the work-life balance of the physician, residents, nurses, and support staff that she interacts with daily. She has been instrumental in the department’s efforts to combat physician burnout. Working closely with department administrators, Ms. Hervada-Page has been able to identify concerns voiced by physicians, and has developed innovative solutions addressing those concerns. Ms. Hervada-Page was the recipient of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education, which is presented to members of the faculty who “demonstrate superior effectiveness as a teacher.” During Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research centennial celebration, Ms. Hervada-Page was recognized for her extraordinary career achievements, which “represent the positive social change and impact our students, faculty, and alumni make with individuals and within society.”

​

Angela Kim, MD, was proudly born and raised in the beautiful Garden State of New Jersey as a 1.5 generation Korean American with a younger brother and sister to keep her on her toes. She went to Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts as an English major in the Honors Program and a pre-medical concentration. She took 2 years to get her Masters in Science at the New Jersey Medical School Biomedical Sciences and realized that medicine was not just a childhood dream but a career she wanted to pursue. She moved to the great city of Philadelphia to attend medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine and hasn't left since! She completed her three years of Pediatric residency and three years of Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, and is currently an attending physician there. Her career passions are in injury prevention, gun violence prevention, medical education, and disaster medicine. 

​

Leah Labranche, PhD is the Bridging the Gaps Program Co-Director for Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM). She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy at LECOM, and teaches anatomical sciences courses to graduate and medical students. Dr. Labranche earned her Master of Science in Clinical Anatomy from Western University in London, Ontario, and her PhD in Anatomy Education at LECOM. In addition to Bridging the Gaps, her commitment to community service includes coordinating elementary and high school outreach trips to the LECOM anatomy laboratory.

​

Abby S. Letcher, MDFaculty Associate/Medical Director of Caring Place Family Healthy Program, was a lecturer for the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine, prior to moving to the Lehigh Valley area.  Dr. Letcher earned her bachelor’s degree in English and African studies from Yale University. She completed a doctorate degree in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1995. Dr. Letcher is an alumna of the Family Medicine Residency Program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. After graduating, she participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and was also a NIMH/Measey Fellow.  She is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the North American Primary Care Research Group. Her special interests include adolescent health care and healthy communities.

​

Ellen Martinak, MS, is the Associate Director for the Bridging the Gaps Program and the University of Pennsylvania Bridging the Gaps Program Director. Ms. Martinak received her Bachelor of Science in education from West Chester University and her Master of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, SMART (Statistics, Measurement, Assessment, and Research Technology) Program. Prior to her work with Bridging the Gaps, Ms. Martinak taught Middle and High School in the New Jersey public school system.

​

Bridget McCormick, MS, is the Operations Manager for Bridging the Gaps at the University of Pennsylvania. Bridget earned her bachelor's degree in business management with a minor in accounting at the University of Scranton. After graduation, she worked in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's business office for two years within the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, before assuming her role in BTG. In 2020, Bridget earned her Masters of Science in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice. 

​

Holly E. Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, is the Bridging the Gaps Program Director for Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health (Reading, PA).  In addition to a highly successful and flourishing clinical practice with All About Women, Dr. Metzgar is an assistant clinical professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine.  She serves as DUCOM’s Ob/Gyn Pathway Director for 4th year medical students pursuing careers in Ob/Gyn, and also facilitates several medical student small-groups in foundations of patient care and professionalism.  In every role, Dr. Metzgar brings remarkable patience and acceptance that allows for collaborative and supportive relationships with patients, learners and colleagues. Dr. Metzgar is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner.  She was selected to represent ACOG nationally for the prestigious Women’s Wellness through Equity and Leadership (WEL) Project, a collaborative effort among 10 leading U.S. medical associations that work to create healthier, more equitable work experiences for women physicians.  Locally, she was selected to the United Way of Berks County’s inaugural class of Leadership Berks, and serves as a cabinet member for Emerging Leaders United. She received her medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency at Reading Hospital. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Moravian College.  She is a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist.  She believes her most important and rewarding role is mother to 3 wonderful children.

​

Laura Mullin, MS, the Bridging the Gaps Program Coordinator for Drexel University, is the Educational Coordinator in the Office of Community Engagement at Drexel University College of Medicine. In this role she supports students in their various placements with local community organizations and helps develop new opportunities to offer to the students. She is also the Program Coordinator for the Medical Humanities Scholars Program where she maintains the ever-evolving courses and lectures offered and helps support students who are completing a capstone for the Medical Humanities scholars track. Laura received her Master of Science degree from Drexel University. 

​

Anthony L. Rostain, MD, MA, is Chair and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.  He is Chief of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Cooper University Healthcare where he directs the clinical, education and research activities of the Department.  He is also Medical Director of the Penn Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program.  His clinical focus is “lifespan neurodevelopmental psychiatry,” which includes caring for patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Tourette Syndrome, Learning Disabilities (verbal and nonverbal), Neurogenetic Disorders (e.g. Fragile X, Rett) and related social-emotional learning disorders.

Dr. Rostain served as Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine from 1998-2017 and was Co-Chair of the University of Pennsylvania's Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare from 2014-16.  Dr. Rostain was President of the American Professional Society for ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD) from 2011-2016 and Co-Chair of its Education Committee from 2016-2020.  He currently serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Association of America. Dr. Rostain's research interests focus on improving clinical outcomes for patients across the lifespan with neurodevelopmental disorders, and on creating effective service systems for these patients and their families. He has co-authored two books on adult ADHD (with J. Russell Ramsay, Ph.D.) entitled The Adult ADHD Tool Kit: Using CBT to Facilitate Coping Inside and Out, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult ADHD: An Integrative Psychosocial and Medical Approach (Routledge, 2015).  He is also co-author (with B. Janet Hibbs, Ph.D.) of The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years (St. Martin’s Press, 2019).

​

Noelle R. J. Thielman, PhD, is the Assistant Coordinator for the Bridging the Gaps Program for Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).  She is also an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Microbiology and teaches courses in the topics of cellular biology, biostatistics, immunology, microbiology and pharmacology to graduate and medical students at LECOM. Dr. Thielman completed her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine program in Baltimore, MD.  In addition to Bridging the Gaps, Dr. Thielman aids community involvement of medical students as the faculty advisor for LECOM’s student government association.  She also has a research lab at LECOM which focuses on better understanding of the immune microenvironment in pancreatic cancer. 

​

Lucy Wolf Tuton, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Prevention and Population Health in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Tuton’s work is in two areas focusing on building programs that support community academic partnerships and providing professional/career development for faculty and trainees. Dr. Tuton serves as Executive Director of Bridging the Gaps, a program linking the training of health professionals with the provision of health-related service for marginalized populations. A program with over 6000 alumni who have partnered with over 600 community organizations over its 33-year history, Dr. Tuton has played a role in the leadership of this program since the program’s inception. Bridging the Gaps has been established at eight academic health center/university locations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey who partner each year with community organizations serving disadvantaged populations. In addition to the Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program in all locations, the Philadelphia Bridging the Gaps Program has developed two additional program components, the Bridging the Gaps Seminar Series and the Bridging the Gaps Community Health Rotation. She is Co-Founder and Associate Director of the Penn Community Scholars Program, a training program for community organizations offering skill development in community-academic research partnerships, and of REACH (Research and Equity in Academic-Community Partnerships for Health) an initiative that fosters successful, sustainable, and equitable community academic partnerships. Dr. Tuton is also the Director of Professional Development for FOCUS on Health & Leadership for Women, a program which promotes advocacy, education and research in women’s health and the advancement of women in academic medicine. In this capacity, she has developed professional skill-building curricula as well as curricula designed to offer women (and men) faculty and trainees opportunities to identify and work towards the fulfillment of personal and professional goals. Due to her role in FOCUS, she was a co-investigator on the unique RO1-funded NIH-TAC (Transforming Academic Culture) study to examine causal factors and interventions that promote women’s careers in science and medicine. This 4-year trial, the first of its kind, implemented a 3-tiered intervention in a cluster-randomized design across an entire school of medicine, aimed at improving the academic productivity and job satisfaction of women faculty. Dr. Tuton served as an Associate Director of the Perelman School of Medicine's Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and at its conclusion became an Associate Director until 2020 for the National Clinician Scholars Program. In these roles, she co-directed a career development curriculum and provided expertise for community-focused efforts. Due to her experience in professional and career development, Dr. Tuton co-directs other related initiatives focused on faculty and trainees at the Perelman School of Medicine. Since 2013, along with a multidisciplinary team of Penn colleagues, Dr. Tuton is one of four faculty leaders for the Provost-initiated Penn Faculty Pathways Program.

​

George P. Valko, MD, is the Gustave and Valla Amsterdam Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Vice-Chair for Clinical Programs at the Department of Family and Community Medicine of Jefferson Medical College.  He is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and registered with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.  He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, as well other local and national organizations. He was a subcommittee member to the Chronic Care Commission of Governor Rendell’s Health Care Reform Commission.  Dr. Valko earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., and his Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he completed his residency training.  He has lectured extensively, both locally and nationally, about teaching and improving the clinical office environment, and he is the author of several medical journal and book articles. Dr. Valko acts as a peer reviewer for multiple medical journals and serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Medical Quality.  His devotion to patient care and love of teaching are interwoven and have earned him awards such as the Jefferson Family and Community Medicine Residency Teaching Award and the Jeff HOPE award for precepting at the Jefferson Medical College student-run homeless shelter clinics. He has also received recognition as “Top Doc” from Philadelphia Magazineand U.S. News & World Report from his peers. He finds his work at Bridging the Gaps among his most rewarding. He continues to feel “truly inspired” by the Philadelphia Consortium and the students who participate in the program.

​

Brian Work, MD, MPH, is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist, Addiction Medicine Physician and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. The majority of his career has been spent working with minority, underserved and extremely marginalized populations.  At Penn, where he was for 19 years before coming to Temple, he volunteered at and Co-directed the largest of Penn’s student run free clinics, United Community Clinic at First African Presbyterian Church in West Philadelphia.  He also taught in the Public Health Program at University of Pennsylvania and was very active in Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives. He was faculty member in Penn’s Bridging the Gaps program and now holds the same position in Temple’s Bridging the Gaps program. Brian has been working in and around the issues of addiction medicine for over 25 years in clinical care and research.  For much of that time he has worked on the street with individuals suffering from homelessness and IV opioid use disorder.  He has been at Prevention Point Philadelphia for 20 years, having volunteered at and directed their Streetside Health Clinic for most of that time.  At Prevention Point he is on the Board of Directors and previously served as their Board Chair.  He also served on the Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Philadelphia. He is currently serving on Temple's Inpatient Opioid Committee, where his main priority is to ensure that inpatient opioid withdrawal is treated aggressively to enable those with IV opioid use disorder to remain in the hospital to complete their treatments for their severe medical illnesses and thus increase their chances of surviving to recovery. 

​

Jerome Wright, MSW, LSW, is the BTG Co-Program Director for Temple University. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Jerome worked as a reintegration worker with adjudicated youth, as a special education administrator in Chester, PA, and as a campus coordinator at a nursing school in Trenton, NJ. He came to Temple 6 years ago as the Doctoring course coordinator and currently is the Senior Coordinator for the Office of Student Support at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. In his role, Jerome works to promote student wellness, support student government, and activities through events and personal counseling. Jerome is currently earning a Masters degree in Social Work (MSW) with an anticipated graduation date in May, 2024.

​

Vincent J. Zarro, MD, PhD, is associate Professor of Medicine and Nursing, emeritus and adjunct faculty in the College of Nursing and Health Professions and College of Medicine at Drexel University. Dr. Zarro is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He is a member of the American College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Rheumatology.  He has received much professional recognition over the years, including awards for teaching, the Drexel University Humanism in Medicine award, and the Rheumatologist of the Year award from the Arthritis Foundation of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Zarro received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now University of the Sciences in Philadelphia). He received his MD and PhD degrees in pharmacology and trained in internal medicine at Hahnemann University College of Medicine (now Drexel University).  For more than 10 years, Dr. Zarro has been medical director and currently volunteer medical physician at the Chinatown Clinic at Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church. The Clinic serves uninsured underserved populations, especially those in which culture and language impede access to care.

​

Thistle Elias
Elissa Goldberg
Maria Hervada-Page
Leah Labranche
Abby Letcher
Ellen Martinak
Bridget McCormick
Lucy Tuton
George Valko
Vincent Zarro
Angela Kim
Brandi Boak
Anthony Rostain
Hillary Bognar
Laura Mullin
Mara Gordon
Brin Work, MD, MPH
Holly E. Metzgar, DO
Jerome Wright
Noelle Thielman
Tricia Bernecker
bottom of page