Part-time Faculty

  • Neil J. Gonter, MD FACR

    • Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine

    Dr. Gonter is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He is active on the voluntary teaching staff teaching medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows and attends clinics and inpatient consultations at Columbia Presbyterian's main campus.

    He sees patients in his office in Teaneck, N.J. www.njarthritis.com

    He has been voted by his peers to NJ Top Doctors many times as well as the prestigious Castle Connolly Top Doctors.

    Dr. Gonter is board certified in rheumatology and has served as a primary investigator in numerous clinical research studies in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, SLE, and osteoporosis for academic institutions as well as pharmaceutical companies. He has written a blog on osteoporosis for a few years and has been interviewed for many media outlets including CBS in NY, U.S. News and World reports and News 12 NJ, among others.

    Areas of Interest

    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Gout
    • PMR
    • Lupus
    • Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal pain
    • Vasculitis
    • Osteoporosis
    • Musculoskeletal ultrasound

    Education

    • BA: Brooklyn College, magna cum laude, New York, NY, 1994
    • MD: SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse School of Medicine, Syracuse, NY, 1998
    • Internship & Residency: University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-Newark, Newark, NJ, 2001
    • Fellowship: SUNY Downstate-Brooklyn, New York, NY, 2003
  • Alexandru Kimel, MD

    • Instructor in Clinical Medicine

    Dr. Kimel has been actively practicing medicine since 2003. He was awarded his Doctorate in Medicine from The University of The State of New York after completion of his schooling at New York Medical College.  He completed his internship and residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine at Jersey City Medical Center in Internal Medicine. He also served as chief medical resident at the same institution where he worked under Dr. Robert G. Lahita, a world renowned Lupus and Autoimmune Disease expert and author.  He completed a rigorous fellowship at Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in Rheumatology and Connective tissue diseases. He is an active member of the American College of Physicians (ACP), American Medical Association (AMA), and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

    Dr. Kimel continues to be active in the American College of Rheumatology at the Fellows Mentoring session and in various committees with assisting in the fellows transitioning into private practice. He has published several papers regarding rheumatological diagnosis and care.  His primary interests are the inflammatory myopathies, rheumatoid arthritis, Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, vasculitis and gout.

    He presently teaches medical students at New York Medical College and is an Instructor of Medicine at Columbia College of physician and Surgeons and an Assistant Attending at New York Presbyterian Hospital and works directly with the rheumatology fellows. He has been awarded various teaching and accomplishment awards from his past and present institutions and has been awarded Top Physician for the past several years.

    His private office in in Teaneck, New Jersey and has admitting privileges at Hackensack University Medical Center and Holy Name Medical Center.

    Dr. Kimel was born and raised in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish and Romanian.

    Education

    • MD: New York Medical College
    • Residency: (Internal Medicine) Mount Sinai School of Medicine - Jersey City
    • Chief Resident: (Internal Medicine) Mount Sinai School of Medicine - Jersey City
    • Fellowship: (Rheumatology) Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine - UMDNJ
  • Dimitrios Pappas, MD

    • Adjunct Assistant Professor in Medicine

    Clinical Interests

    Dr. Pappas evaluates adult patients with inflammatory arthritis. He has an expertise in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concurrent interstitial lung disease or cardiac involvement. He is using musculoskeletal ultrasound technology for diagnostic and interventional purposes in patient care and research.

    Research Interest

    Dr. Pappas received the MARRC Senior Fellowship award for his laboratory based research which was focused on the role of the enzyme PAD4 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. His clinical - translational research is investigating the specifics of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Pappas is also involved in registry based research and in comparative effectiveness studies for therapeutic agents used in rheumatoid arthritis.

    Education

    • Rheumatology: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    • Masters in Public Health: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 
    • Internal Medicine: Albany Medical College – Union University 
    • MD: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

    Societies

    • American College of Rheumatology (ACR)
    • American College of Physicians (ACP)
    • Arthritis Foundation
  • Milovan T. Rakic, MD

    • Special Lecturer

    Areas of Interest

    Dr. Rakic has serviced on the faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Department of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation since 1963. He was also senior attending in Medicine and Chief of Rheumatology at Sister of Charity Medical Center, Staten Island, NY. He was also a consultant in Rehabilitation at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, NY. His research has focused on Epidemiology and Genetics of Hyperuricemia and Gout. He was the first generation of French Diplomated Rheumatologists at Paris University in 1959. He was the physician for the Yugoslav National Soccer Team in 1956.

    Education

    • BS: First Real Gymnasium, Nis Yugoslavia, 1947
    • MD: University of Belgrade, 1954
    • Internship: University Hospital Belgrade Yugoslavia and Jewish Hospital and Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Residency: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    • Fellowship: University Hospital Ann Arbor, MI /Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons at Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY /Lariboisiere and Cochin Paris , France

    Special Honors

    • Assistant ETranger De La Faculte de Medicine, Paris, France
    • Maitre es Science (Hon) University of Paris France
    • Honorary member of the French Society of Rheumatology
  • Amanda M. Sammut, MD

    • Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine

    Areas of Interest

    Dr. Sammut completed her fellowship training in Rheumatology at Columbia University Medical Center. After her fellowship, Dr. Sammut started two general rheumatology clinics and an inpatient consultation service at Harlem Hospital Center (HHC), and is now the Chief of Rheumatology at HHC. She provides clinical education and training for 3rd and 4th year medical students, internal medicine residents, and other healthcare providers. Dr. Sammut is interested in systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, healthcare disparities in the minority community, and in advancing the field of rheumatology.

    Education

    • Fellowship: (Rheumatology) at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
    • Residency: (Internal Medicine) at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY M.D. from Stony Brook University Medical School, Stony Brook, NY
    • BS: (Summa Cum Laude) in Biochemistry and Minor in Dance from Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

    Certifications

    • Board Certified in Internal Medicine 
    • Board Certified in Rheumatology
  • Charles Steinman, MD

    • Assistant Clinical Professor

    Areas of Interest

    Dr. Steinman has served on the faculties of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and SUNY Stony Brook and directed the Division of Rheumatology at SUNY Downstate. His research has focused on better understanding the causes of rheumatic disease, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Among his interests have been the development of molecular methods for detecting and identifying previously unrecognized bacterial infection and understanding the significance of extracellular DNA in the human circulation and its relevance to apoptosis in rheumatic disease.

    Education

    • AB: Princeton University (highest honors)
    • MD: College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
    • Internship: Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
    • Residency: Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
    • Fellow (Biochemistry): National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
    • Fellow (Rheumatology): Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY