New faculty join UMMC academic ranks
Published on Monday, April 7, 2025
Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.
Dr. Azniv Azar
Dr. Azniv Azar, recently a pathologist with Mississippi Pathology Associates at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pathology in the School of Medicine.
Azar received her Doctor of Medicine in 2011 from the University of Aleppo School of Medicine in Aleppo, Syria. At UMMC, she completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology before completing a Women’s Health (Breast and Gynecology) Surgical Pathology fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center.
Azar has a variety of scientific publications and presentations to her credit. She has taught numerous courses in pathology at UMMC and UMass Memorial Medical Center.
She is a member of the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology.
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Dr. John F. Hiehle Jr.
Dr. John F. Hiehle Jr., recently a clinical associate professor in the Department of Radiology, Drexel School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of radiology in the School of Medicine.
A board-certified radiologist, Hiehle, a 1987 graduate of Harvard Medical School, completed his radiology residency, followed by a neuroradiology fellowship, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
He has served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, University of Washington, Temple University School of Medicine and the Drexel School of Medicine.
He has held hospital appointments at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington; the University of Washington Medical Center; the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle; Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania; Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania; Riddle Memorial Hospital in Media, Pennsylvania; and Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
A fellow of the American College of Radiology, Hiehle has earned a number of academic and professional honors. He is the co-author of a variety of research publications, a book chapter and numerous abstracts. He has been an invited lecturer at several national and regional scientific conferences.
He is a member of the Radiology Society of North America, American Roentgen Ray Society, American Society of Neuroradiology (senior member), American College of Radiology and many other professional organizations.
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Dr. Sara D. Porter
Dr. Sara D. Porter, recently a child and adolescent psychiatrist for the Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of psychiatry-research in the School of Medicine.
Porter, who earned a Master of Teaching Arts at Mississippi College in 2010, received her MS in biomedical sciences from UMMC in 2013 and graduated from the UMMC School of Medicine in 2018. She was a categorical pediatrics resident at Florida Hospital for Children for one year before completing a residency in adult psychiatry at UMMC in 2021. The following two years, she completed a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UMMC.
Porter, who has earned a number of academic and research honors, has made a variety of scientific presentations at local, statewide and national conferences and meetings, and is the coauthor of research publications. Her leadership and service record is extensive. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology-Psychiatry.