Infectious diseases, neuromuscular fellows, peds resident join UMMC faculty

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

Alyssa Downing Middleton, M.D.

Dr. Alyssa Downing Middleton, recently a pediatrics resident at UMMC, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pediatrics.

After receiving her B.A. in psychology cum laude and her B.A. in biology cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 2011, Middleton earned her M.S. in biology/medical sciences at Mississippi College in 2012 and her M.D. at the American University of the Caribbean, Cupecoy, St. Maarten, in 2017. She then had residency training in pediatrics at UMMC from 2017-20.

An active member of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, Middleton has given invited presentations at the UMMC Pediatric Morbidity and Mortality Conference and to the UMMC Pediatric Journal Club. She is an inductee of several honor societies, including the Alpha Omega Phi Honor and Service Society, the Beta, Beta, Beta Biological Honor Society, the Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-medical Honor Society, the Psi Chi Psychology National Honor Society and the Gamma Beta Phi Honor and Service Society.

Tiffany H. Pike-Lee, M.D.

After having completed her neuromuscular fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Dr. Tiffany H. Pike-Lee has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of neurology.

After graduating magna cum laude in neuroscience and biology from East Carolina University in North Carolina, Pike-Lee earned her Doctorate in Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine in North Carolina as a Fullerton Scholar. She completed her internal medicine internship, neurology residency training and neuromuscular fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio. She is board-certified by the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry.

She has authored numerous publications published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Pike-Lee has presented her research in poster and platform sessions in various professional organizational meetings throughout the country.

She is an active member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. She is serving on the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Registry Committee. She is an inductee into the Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society for her leadership and service.

Prakhar Vijayvargiya, M.B.B.S.

Dr. Prakhar Vijayvargiya, recently an associate chief fellow in infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of medicine.

After receiving his M.B.B.S. from Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India, in 2012, Vijayvargiya had residency training in internal medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Palm Beach, Florida, from 2013-16, and fellowship training in infectious diseases and transplant infectious diseases at Mayo Clinic Rochester from 2016-20.

A journal reviewer for Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vijayvargiya is the author or coauthor of eight articles published in peer-reviewed journals, three book chapters and 13 scientific abstracts. An active member of several professional organizations, including the Infectious Diseases Society of Medicine, the HIV Medicine Association and the International Society for Infectious Diseases, he has given 10 invited presentations throughout the U.S. and has authored five posters presented at scientific meetings nationally and in Geneva, Switzerland.

His research interests include infections in hematological malignancies and solid organ transplant recipients.