The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff:
Robert D. Annett, Ph.D.
Annett
Dr. Robert D. Annett, formerly a professor at the Children's Hospital of Colorado Neuroscience Institute and a 25-year faculty member of the University of New Mexico, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of pediatrics.
After receiving the B.S. in psychology from the University of Iowa in 1976, Annett earned his Ph.D. in counseling psychology at Loyola University of Chicago in 1985. He did a fellowship in pediatric psychology and neuropsychology at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1985-86.
After serving two years on the clinical faculty at Stanford University Medical Center, Children's Health Council, and at the Stanford University Child Psychiatry Clinic, Annett joined the University of New Mexico Health Sciences faculty in 1988 as an assistant professor of pediatrics. He became an associate professor of pediatrics in 1996, a professor of pediatrics in 2004 and a research professor of psychology in 2009 at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. He left New Mexico for Colorado in 2014.
An editorial board member of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and a journal reviewer for several other national publications, including Child Neuropsychology and the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Annett is the author or coauthor of 50 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications and 20 abstracts. A fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Annett is a member of several professional organizations, including the Children's Oncology Group and the International Neuropsychological Society. He has given more than 65 scientific presentations nationally and internationally.
Annett has been the recipient of a number of NIH grants for his work on child health outcomes. He was the principal investigator in New Mexico for the National Children's Study. His current research interests include cortisol production and neuropsychological functioning in chronic kidney disease, preterm infants' My-rhythm suppression, adolescent decision-making in clinical research and the impact of prenatal/neonatal environmental exposures within the Navajo Nation.
Joni Roberts, Dr.P.H.
Roberts
Joni Roberts, doctor of public health, has joined the faculty in the School of Health Related Professions as an assistant professor of health sciences.
Roberts received a bachelor's degree in political science from Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland, in 2005. She has a master's degree in elementary education from American University, Washington, D.C., which she obtained in 2009. She recently earned her Dr.P.H. at Loma Linda (California) University. Her dissertation focused on barriers to prenatal care among urban Malawian women.
Roberts is a certified health education specialist, with research interests in maternal and child health - well baby and woman care, adolescent health and global health issues concerning accessibility and barriers to health care. She brings a passion for community engagement, and as a result, frequently volunteers for professional organizations both locally and internationally.
While pursuing her education, Roberts has served as a healthy living coordinator, health education intern and instructor. An abstract reviewer for the American Public Health Association, Roberts has given five presentations at national meetings and co-written an article in a peer-reviewed professional publication.
She currently reviews textbooks for Jones and Bartlett Learning and is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Public Health Association and the Society for Public Health Education.
M. Wade Shrader, M.D.
Shrader
Dr. M. Wade Shrader, a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Phoenix Children's Hospital, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of othopaedic surgery.
A native of Pontotoc, Shrader received the B.S. in aerospace engineering summa cum laude from Mississippi State University in 1991. He earned the M.D. with honors at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, in 1999. He completed an orthopaedic surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from 1999-2004 and a pediatric orthopaedic surgery and scoliosis fellowship at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, from 2004-05.
Shrader served as a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and managing partner (vice-chairman) of the CORE Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, from 2005-09 before joining the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine in Phoenix faculty as a clinical associate professor. He also served as division chief and the Louis Endowed Chair of Pediatric Orthopaedics, fellowship director and director of research at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Center for Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery.
A fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery and the American Academy of Pediatrics, Shrader is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. The author or coauthor of more than 35 articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications and 15 book chapters, he has given more than 65 podium presentations internationally and has authored or coauthored more than 60 poster presentations for national meetings.
Christopher Spankovich, Au.D., Ph.D.
Spankovich
Dr. Christopher Spankovich, a research assistant professor and clinical audiologist at the University of Florida, Gainesville, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of otolaryngology.
After receiving the B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in 1999, Spankovich earned the M.P.H. at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, in 2002, the Au.D. at Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, in 2006, and the Ph.D. in hearing sciences at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2010.
He then joined the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences in the College of Public Health and Health Professionals at the University of Florida.
An editorial advisor for Audiology Today, he is the author or coauthor of 12 articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications and four book chapters and has given more than 35 presentations nationally. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Auditory Society and the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.
His research interests include epidemiological research in identifying risk factors for hearing loss and tinnitus; translational research on prevention of hearing loss and tinnitus related to noise, ototoxic drugs and aging; and clinical research in early identification of cochlear and auditory neural pathology.
Spankovich sees pediatric and adult patients with specific interest in tinnitus and decreased sound tolerance disorders.