Alan R. Pollack, MD, FACCP
Ira Berger, MD, FACP, FACCP
Patricia D. Kellogg, MD, FACP
William H. Silverman, MD
Kelly Joyce Cowen, MD
Le Le Luu, MD
Shishir Khetan, MD
Veronica DiFresco, MD
William Steinberg, MD
S. Grace Woo, MD

A native of Baltimore, Dr. Pollack earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Maryland, where he was a member of AOA, the medical school honor society. He then completed an internship and a residency in Internal Medicine and a two-year Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. He joined RIMG in 1986 and has been its President since 2002. Board certified in Internal and Pulmonary Medicine, and a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, Dr. Pollack specializes in Pulmonary Disease. He has served as Medical Director of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program as well as the Pulmonary Function Lab at Suburban Hospital. Since 1994, an area of special interest is his role as a Principal Investigator for Clinical Research Trials at RIMG. Dr. Pollack has been featured in the Washingtonian List of Top Doctors. In his spare time, Dr. Pollack enjoys reading, traveling, and avoiding household chores.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Berger grew up in New Jersey. He attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and graduated from SUNY Health Science Center back in Brooklyn in 1987. He completed a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, then a three-year Fellowship in Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at Georgetown University. Dr. Berger is board certified in Internal, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. With RIMG since 1993, Dr. Berger served as a member of the Suburban Hospital Medical Executive Committee from 2001-2003. Since 1994, he has been a Principal Investigator for Clinical Trials for RIMG and has been featured in the Washington List of Top Doctors. After hours, Dr. Berger enjoys participating in sports, playing with his three children, romping with his two Boston Terriers and collecting old baseball and football cards.

Dr. Kellogg was born in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in Venezuela. She received her BA from Wellesley College in Boston, then graduated with honors from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1976. Dr. Kellogg completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. Board certified in Internal Medicine, she joined RIMG in 1979. Dr. Kellogg served on the Board of Trustees at Suburban Hospital from 1987-1996 and was the Chairman of the Department of Medicine from 1995-1997. In 1998 she was elected a fellow in the American College of Physicians and has been featured in the Washingtonian List of Top Doctors. Her many contributions to RIMG include the vast art collection exhibited in the halls and exam rooms. In her spare time she enjoys traveling around the world, scuba diving, and reading fiction.

Born and raised in Washington, DC, Dr. Silverman received his BA degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1977. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, and then served two years in the National Health Service Corps at Mercy Family Health Center in Detroit, Michigan. Before joining RIMG in 1995, he was a staff physician with Group Health Association in Rockville. Board certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Silverman has been featured in the Washingtonian List of Top Doctors, is a Principal Investigator for Clinical Research Trials at RIMG and has been a pioneer in the development of electronic prescriptions. In his spare time Dr. Silverman enjoys photography and reading.

Dr. Cowen was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in the Arlington, Virginia area. She attended the University of Virginia as an undergraduate. Dr. Cowen earned her medical degree from Pennsylvania State University in Hershey and completed her residency in Rochester, New York. Her training and board certification is in Family Medicine, with special interests in primary care and preventative medicine. She joined RIMG in 2002 and has been featured in Consumer Checkbook Top Rated Primary Care Physicians.

Dr. Luu grew up in Northern Virginia. She majored in Chemistry and graduated Magnum Cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Boston University. She went on to pursue her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She finished her Internal Medicine residence at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in 2002. Dr. Luu is board certified in Internal Medicine, and she has served as Treasurer for the Chinese American Medical Society. Dr. Luu was a staff physician with Kaiser Permanente prior to joining RIMG in 2003. She holds a membership with the American College of Physicians. In addition to speaking English she is fluent in Cantonese.

Dr. Khetan emigrated from his native India to the United States when he was five years old and grew up in Maryland. He received his BS from the University of Maryland and graduated from the University of West Indies Medical School. His residency training, which included a year as Chief Resident, was in Primary Care / Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine at Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York. Board certified in Internal Medicine. Dr. Khetan joined RIMG in 2004 and in addition to his Internal Medicine practice he participates as a Principal Investigator for Clinical Research Trials.

Dr. Veronica Di Fresco was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated magna cum laude from SUNY at Stony Brook, and thereafter attended Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Tufts University New England Medical Center in Boston. Dr. DiFresco served as an attending in Boston, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut where she enjoyed teaching students from Yale University and Tufts medical schools. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and joined RIMG in 2004. In her spare time, Dr. Di Fresco enjoys spending quality time with her son and daughter.

Born in Queens, NY, Dr. Steinberg graduated from Columbia College and then NYU Medical School. He completed residencies in Internal Medicine at Kings County / Downstate, Boston University and University of Connecticut and a Gastroenterology Fellowship at the University of Florida. Dr. Steinberg served two years in the US Air Force as a general medical officer in Okinawa, Japan and Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was on the full time faculty at George Washington University in the Division of Gastroenterology for 20 years, retiring in 1999 as Professor of Medicine to enter private practice at Washington Gastroenterology. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. With RIMG since March 2005, Dr. Steinberg is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology and was President of the American Pancreatic Association. In his spare time he enjoys traveling with his family and playing tennis.

Dr. S. Grace Woo received her BA at The Johns Hopkins University and MD at the University of Maryland. She did her internship at SUNY-Long Island and finished internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview medical center. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at the George Washington Hospital where she also received her MPH.

She is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Woo has been featured in Washingtonian List of Top Doctors. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, playing tennis and spending time with her two children.

Dr. Mekonnen is a native of Ethiopia where he attended Addis Ababa University. In 1995 he moved to the United Stated where he completed his internship and residency training at the University of Illinois College of Medicine as well as a Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. He then pursued post-doctoral studies in clinical and Behavioral Sleep Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is board certified in Internal, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine and board eligible in Sleep Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and recipient of the young investigators award for outstanding research. Dr. Mekonnen joined RIMG in 2003 where he is Director of the Sleep Center. Currently he is serving as chief of the Pulmonary Department at Suburban Hospital.

Dr. Schainker was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his BA from Washington University and his medical degree from St. Louis University of Medicine. Dr. Schainker completed his residency at the Boston VA Hospital and Rheumatology Fellowship at the Peter Bent and Robert Brigham Hospitals, also in Boston. He fulfilled a two-year military commitment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. where he was Chief of the Department of Rheumatology. Dr. Schainker joined RIMG in 2003 following a 30-year rheumatology practice with the Washington Clinic Medical Center. He is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. Dr.Schainker was featured in Washingtonian Top Doctors for 2005. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and especially his grandchild.

Dr. Esterowitz grew up in Springfield, VA. She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Biology. She received her medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School. While there she was elected to AOA, the medical school honor society. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at University of Maryland and then became an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School from 2000-2006. While on faculty there she enjoyed teaching and training medical students and residents in addition to seeing patients in the school's Internal Medicine private practice. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and joined RIMG in November 2006. After hours she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children and playing tennis.

Ms. Hansen graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Nursing. She then earned a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland. Her experience includes emergency nursing at Suburban and Shady Grove Adventist Hospitals. She joined RIMG in 2002 as a board certified Adult Nurse Practitioner. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Ms. Pappas obtained a BSN from Wayne State University; MSN from The Catholic University and a post-graduate Certification as a Nurse Practitioner Family Nurse from The University of Alabama. Her career has included critical care, management, teaching, home infusion therapy and legislative affairs. Prior to joining RIMG in 2008, she served as Director of Legislative Affairs for a national health care company focusing on Medicare D legislation. Susan focuses on sleep medicine and preventative care at RIMG. She is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice and volunteers with Mobile Medical. She enjoys running, tennis, cooking and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Ms. Levin grew up in Buffalo, New York. She attended the University of Vermont as an undergraduate, receiving her degree in Nursing and her license as a Registered Nurse. Her post-graduate studies at Georgetown University were in the specialty areas of neurology and cardiology. Ms. Levin joined RIMG in 1997 as a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner. In her spare time she enjoys participating in sports and spending quality time with her son.

Ms. Miller is RIMG's on-site nutritionist. Born in Los Angeles, she grew up in Washington, DC. Following her undergraduate education at Brandeis University, she moved to New York University where she received her MS in Food and Nutrition. Ms. Miller spent the beginning of her nutrition career honing her clinical skills in a hospital setting at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. In 2003 she joined Midtown Nutrition Care, a Manhattan-based private nutrition practice as a personal nutrition counselor. Ms. Miller relocated to the DC area in early 2005 and subsequently joined RIMG. She specializes in all areas of nutrition counseling, including weight loss, cardiovascular nutrition, diabetes, eating disorders and gastrointestinal issues. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband and son and taking walks with her Maltese puppy, Lucy.

Ms. Norton grew up in southeastern Virginia. She received her B.S. in Health Sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2002. In 2006, she graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA with a M.S. in Physician Assistant Health Practices. Ms. Norton is a nationally board certified Physician Assistant and holds medical licenses in MD, VA and DC. She currently resides in the District of Columbia. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, scuba diving, painting and spending time with her family.

Ms. Burmeister was born and raised in the DC area. She received her BS in Physics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2000. In 2008, she graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with an MS in Physician Assistant Studies and joined RIMG as a board certified Physician Assistant in 2009. Ms. Burmeister also teaches aerobics classes on the side. In her free time she enjoys music and spending time with her friends and family.