The Center for Global Health, a New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) interdisciplinary center of excellence established in 2007, is a collaboration between NYIT’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and School of Health Professions.

Our Staff

Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., M.A.T., FACOFP

Vice President for Health Sciences and Medical Affairs 
New York Institute of Technology

Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. has served as vice president for health sciences and medical affairs at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) since February 2001. While serving in this role, Dr. Ross-Lee was dean of the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences (2001-2002) and dean of the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (2002-2006). As vice president, she is responsible for all health and medical-related programs at NYIT including the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership, the Center for Global Health, and the Center for Culture and Humanism.  Prior to her current position, she served as the dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (1993-2001) and the associate dean for Health Policy and Chairperson of the Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University (1983-1993).

Dr. Ross-Lee is the first African-American female to serve as dean of a United States medical school and the first osteopathic physician to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship program. She has extensive background in health policy issues, and serves as an advisor on primary care, medical and health professional education, minority health, women’s health, and rural health care issues on the federal and state levels.

Currently, Dr. Ross-Lee serves as a member of the board of directors for the federally chartered National Fund for Medical Education; the advisory committee to the National Council on Minority Health Disparities; the board of trustees of the Nassau County (N.Y.) Health Care Corporation; the advisory board for Medical Education Futures Studies; and the National Council on Physician and Nurse Supply. She is the past president of the board of directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers and the past chair of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Board of Governors. She served as chair of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Council on Pre-doctoral Education, which was responsible for osteopathic college accreditation, and as member of the AOA Bureau of Professional Education, which was responsible for the accreditation of osteopathic graduate medical education (GME) and continuing medical education (CME). Dr. Ross-Lee is the past chair of the AOA’s Minority Health Initiative and past member of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health and the NIH Advisory Committee on Rural Health.

She has published numerous scholarly articles, received seven honorary degrees and many awards and recognitions including the landmark National Institutes of Health (NIH) exhibition “Changing the Face of Medicine.”

Edward A. Gotfried, D.O., FACOS

Associate Professor of Surgery
Director of Administration, Planning, and Project Development of the Center for Global Health

Edward A. Gotfried joined the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005 to help develop the problem-based learning curriculum, which was a great success at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where Dr. Gotfried was a major developer and contributing faculty member, as well as department chair of specialty medicine.

Dr. Gotfried received his D.O. degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1963.  He completed his surgical residency training at Tri-County Hospital, Springfield, Penn., where he became department chair and chief of staff. He has held faculty positions at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the College of Osteopathic Medicine of California, and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. He is certified in laser and endoscopic surgery and has training in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine.

Actively engaged in educating medical students in study abroad programs, Dr. Gotfried developed the Visiting Scholars Program at NYCOM, inviting international experts to engage in developing research that NYCOM faculty can continue. Dr. Gotfried is also engaged in creating affiliations all over the world where NYIT and College of Osteopathic Medicine students can be involved in clerkships, service, and faculty and student exchanges.

Michael David Passafaro, D.O., DTM&H, FACOEP

Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Assistant Director Education & Assessment

Dr. Passafaro joined the faculty at the College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011.  He received a B.S. in electrical engineering at Rutgers University and earned his D.O. from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2003.  He completed his emergency medicine residency at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, NY in 2007.  During his residency, Dr. Passafaro received the Joseph Spevack Memorial Resident Award for compassion.  He is board-certified in emergency medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).  He has also participated in the clinical pathological case competition at the 2009 ACOEP scientific assembly.  Dr. Passafaro received his diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in March of 2011 and is a diplomat of the Royal College of Physicians.  Dr. Passafaro has over 15 years of volunteer EMS experience in the state of New Jersey and also serves on the advisory board for the Bergen County EMS training center.

Dr. Passafaro has lectured to paramedics both in the US and in Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.  He has provided medical aid in Lao PDR, Ghana, and El Salvador.  He received the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) award for his work in Haiti immediately following the earthquake.  For his work as a course facilitator and clinical field instructor for students and residents in the Global Health Certificate program, he was a 2012 recipient of the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine Standard of Excellence Award.

Dr. Passafaro is currently working on several research projects.  He is analyzing electrocardiograms in chronic Chagas’ disease in El Salvador.  He is also working on children’s nutritional status and malaria education in rural areas of Ghana.

Zehra Ahmed, PA-C, MBBS

Assistant Professor, New York Institute of Technology
Assistant Director Cultural Competency/Community Education; Site Coordinator El Salvador

Dr. Zehra Ahmed joined NYIT's faculty in 2007 in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. She teaches a wide variety of classes to the Physician Assistant students, and contributes to many service oriented activities at the School of Health Professions. She also continues her clinical work in a local community emergency department.

Dr. Ahmed brings 19 years of experience in medical practice, her diverse ethnic background, and experiences of living and working in South and East Asia to teaching the cultural competency component in the Certificate of Global Health.

She volunteers for the Nassau County Medical Reserve Corp. and Millennium Sistahs Inc., a not-for-profit organization that provides health care screening and education in New York and Caribbean communities. She has had clinical experience in Trinidad, as well as Colombo, Sri Lanka.
 

Deborah Anne Lardner, D.O., DTM&H

Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine
Associate Director Certificate Program; Site Coordinator Ghana

Dr. Lardner joined the faculty at the College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2009. She received her D.O. from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000, and completed a dual residency in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, NY.  In 2008, Dr. Lardner earned her Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. She is a recipient of the Joseph Spevack Memorial Resident Award for compassion, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine Standard of Excellence Award and the Greater New York Hospital Association award for service in Haiti.

She has extensive experience in urban emergency medicine and resident teaching, but has also worked in isolated resource poor communities, including:  northern India, Ghana, El Salvador, Belize, Lao P.D.R., and Native American reservations in New Mexico.   She is a clinical field instructor for the Global Health Certificate program in Ghana and El Salvador and actively participates in their field missions. Her present research includes malaria education outreach and nutritional status of children in rural communities of Ghana as well as cardiac manifestations in Chagas’ disease in El Salvador. Dr. Lardner lectures frequently to residents and students about international travel medicine and global health, as well as acting as a facilitator for the Global Health Certificate course offered at NYIT.

Bhuma Krishnamachari has a Masters in Genetics, a Masters in Genetic Counseling, and a PhD in Epidemiology.  She is interested in global health epidemiology, with a focus on HIV infection.  In the past, she volunteered with a Pediatric AIDS foundation in Chicago. She recently co-authored abstracts and poster presentations on the HIV knowledge among Dental Hygienists.  She traveled with the center for Global health to work with an HIV clinic in Belize, and is currently working with the other members of the Center for Global Health on developing research aimed at assessing HIV knowledge and health practices in Caribbean immigrants.