neurology

Dr. L. John Greenfield joins UConn Health as chair of Neurology Sept. 2. (Photo from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences )

Dr. L. John Greenfield, chair of the Department of Neurology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, is joining UConn Health to chair its Department of Neurology later this year.

Greenfield also will serve as the academic chair of neurology at Hartford Hospital.

A graduate of Yale University, Greenfield received his doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1988 and his medical degree at the school the following year. He finished his residency training in neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1993 and served on the faculty of its Department of Neurology. He also completed a fellowship in electroencephalography (EEG) and epilepsy during that time, and is board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology.

“I see a whole lot of possibilities at UConn,” Greenfield says. “It’s not just the brand new hospital tower and the beautiful outpatient pavilion I’m very excited about, it’s also the dynamic young faculty. There are a lot of great opportunities at UConn Health now and in the foreseeable future, and I’m glad I can be a part of it.”

His start date is Sept. 2.

Greenfield lectures nationally on the role of inhibitory neurotransmission in epilepsy and the mechanisms of antiepileptic drugs. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association, and is a councilor of the Association of University Professors of Neurology. He is also active in the American Epilepsy Society. He was a charter member of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Acute Neural Injury and Epilepsy Study Section (2009-2015), and was recently elected to the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

“Dr. Greenfield in a nationally renowned clinician and researcher, a perfect choice to chair our Department of Neurology,” says Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine. “I’m grateful to our search committee for its diligence.”

The search committee represented both UConn Health and Hartford Hospital:

David Steffens, professor and chair, UConn Health Department of Psychiatry (committee co-chair)
Harold Schwartz, psychiatrist-in-chief, Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital and regional vice president, behavioral health, Hartford Healthcare (committee co-chair)
Linda Barry, UConn Health assistant professor of surgery
Doug Fellows, professor and chair, UConn Health Diagnostic Imaging and Therapeutics
George Kuchel, director, UConn Center on Aging and Citicorp Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology, UConn Health
Ajay Kumar, assistant professor and chief, Hartford Hospital Department of Medicine
Al Lizana, UConn Health associate vice president of diversity and equity
Richard Mains, professor and chair, UConn Health Department of Neuroscience
Wendy Miller, assistant professor of medicine, assistant designated institutional official, and quality and safety education officer, UConn Health Graduate Medical Education
Erica Schuyler, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, Hartford Hospital
Anthony Vella, professor and chairman, UConn Health Department of Immunology

Meet some of the clinicians who recently joined the UConn Health faculty.

Dr. Matthew Imperioli, neurologist	Dr. Matthew Imperioli is a neurologist seeing patients in the UConn Health Outpatient Pavilion. He specializes in neuromuscular medicine and electromyography, and treats variety of neuromuscular disorders and diseases of the peripheral nervous system, including myopathy, myasthenia gravis, and autonomic disorders. Imperioli completed his neurology residency at UConn Health and a fellowship in neuromuscular medicine and electromyography at the University of Michigan Medical Center. His M.D. is from St. George’s University, Grenada.
Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues, neurologist	Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues is a neurologist with expertise in movement disorders who offers treatment including botulinum toxin (Botox) injections and deep brain stimulation. He also sees patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. Rodrigues is a graduate of the UConn School of Medicine Neurology Residence Program. Before returning to UConn Health, he completed a fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He holds both an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. He is board certified in neurology and speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Dr. Jose Montes-Rivera, neurologist	Dr. Jose Montes-Rivera is another recent addition to UConn Health’s neurology faculty and is seeing patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. He specializes in general neurology and epilepsy. Montes-Rivera completed a fellowship in neurophysiology and electroencephalogram (EEG) interpretation, as well as his neurology residency, at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He’s a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University.
Dr. Houman Rezaizadeh, gastroenterologist	Dr. Houman Rezaizadeh is a gastroenterologist seeing patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. His expertise is in Barrett’s esophagus and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Rezaizadeh is specially trained in Barrett’s ablation. He remains at UConn Health, where he completed gastroenterology fellowship following his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Rezaizadeh earned his M.D. at New Jersey Medical School. He is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in gastroenterology.
Dr. Mona Shahriari, dermatologist	Dr. Mona Shahriari is a UConn-trained dermatologist who sees patients in Farmington, at 21 South Road, and the UConn Health office in Canton, 117 Albany Turnpike. She practices general dermatology and has specialized interests in pediatric dermatology and pigmented lesions. Shahriari earned her M.D. at the UConn School of Medicine and completed a residency in dermatology at UConn Health, including as chief resident her final year. She also completed an internal medicine internship at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Shahriari is board certified in dermatology, and speaks English and Farsi. She also is associate director of clinical trials at UConn Health.
Dr. Glenn Konopaske, psychiatrist	Dr. Glenn Konopaske is a psychiatrist with expertise in a variety of psychiatric disorders, especially bipolar disorder. He sees patients in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and in the Huntington’s Disease Program, where he’s medical director. He also is medical director of UConn Health’s Partial Hospital and Intensive Outpatient Program. Konopaske graduated from the UConn School of Medicine and from the UConn Health/Institute of Living Adult Psychiatry Residency program, then completed a fellowship in translational neuroscience at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh.Konopaske rejoins UConn Health from MacLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., where, as a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty, he saw patients in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program and the Clinical Evaluation Center, and conducted NIH-funded research of the biology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He is board certified in psychiatry.

Photos by Janine Gelineau/UConn Health

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