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Plastic surgery research associate, ob-gyn join UMMC faculty

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Abelardo Medina, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Abelardo Medina, a clinical and research associate in the Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, at the University of Alberta Hospital, Canada, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of surgery.

After earning his M.D. at the University of Concepcion, Chile, in 1988, Medina had a general surgery residency at the University of Chile from 1988-91 and plastic surgery training from 1991-99. He served in the Plastic Surgery and Burn Unit at Hospital del Trabajador, Chile, from 1992-2002 before moving to Canada. He had a clinical and research fellowship in plastic surgery and wound healing at the University of Alberta from 2003-05, received his Ph.D. in experimental medicine from the University of British Columbia in 2009, and had a clinical fellowship in plastic surgery and burns at the University of Alberta from 2010-13.

An active member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Surgeons, the Wound Healing Society, the American Burn Association and the International Society for Burn Injuries, Medina is the author or coauthor of 32 articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and four book chapters. He has given 14 research presentations internationally and produced 28 scientific posters and presentations. His research interests include management of burn patients, reconstructive surgery in trauma and microsurgery, among other topics.

Michelle Taheri, M.D.

Dr. Michelle Taheri, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

After receiving her B.A. in international studies and Spanish cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 2004, Taheri earned her M.D. at UMMC in 2011. She then completed an ob-gyn residency at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Baton Rouge, from 2011-15, and was chief resident from 2014-15. She had practiced at Merit Health Madison since 2015.

A fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taheri’s research interests include postpartum depression.