Ramona Rajapakse, MD, FRCP (UK), FACG – Program Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship
Dr. Rajapakse is a Board-Certified Gastroenterologist and founding member of Mather Gastroenterology. She graduated from the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin, Ireland with Honors and completed her medicine residency at the Leicester Royal Infirmary in Leicester, United Kingdom and Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. After being chosen to serve as Chief Resident in Medicine at Lenox Hill, she completed a Gastroenterology Fellowship at that same institution. Dr. Rajapakse moved to Long Island with her family after fellowship and joined the faculty of Stony Brook University Hospital in 2000. As an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook, she created the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) service and was appointed Director of the Stony Brook IBD Center. She developed the IBD teaching curriculum for Stony Brook’s Gastroenterology Fellowship, which was instrumental in training of the next generation of medical students, residents and Gastroenterology Fellows. As a member of the admissions committee of the Renaissance Medical School at Stony Brook University, she served the community by screening and interviewing applicants for this prestigious institution. She also served as the Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee. On a national level, Dr. Rajapakse is a member of the Public Affairs Council of the American College of Gastroenterology and travels to Washington often as a representative of the College to advocate for better patient care. Dr. Rajapakse has 20 years of experience in the management of general Gastroenterological problems and women’s GI health and is a specialist in the management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and Colitis). She is highly skilled in performing endoscopic procedures including colonoscopy, upper endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, video capsule endoscopy and chromo endoscopy. She has published many papers, book chapters, a book on Inflammatory Bowel Disease and has been invited to lecture nationally on IBD. Dr. Rajapakse is excited to bring her expertise to the Harbor View and Mather Hospital families. Her passions are to serve her community by ensuring excellence in patient care and to help train the next generation of physicians.
Eugene Licht, MD – Associate Program Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship
Dr. Licht completed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College, and internal medicine residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Licht is board certified in Gastroenterology and his practice encompasses all aspects of gastroenterology, with a particular focus on colorectal cancer screening and early detection of colon cancer and polyps. Dr. Licht’s research interests are diverse and range from the management of Clostridium difficile infections to the palliation of gastrointestinal symptoms related to cancer and its treatment.
Kristin Unterweiser, C-TAGME – Training Program Administrator, Gastroenterology & Hematology Oncology Fellowships
Mrs. Unterweiser has worked in graduate medical education for over fifteen years. Prior to joining Mather Hospital in 2016, she worked at Stony Brook Hospital as the Residency and Medical Student Coordinator for the Department of Emergency Medicine. Mrs. Unterweiser enjoys her work and proud to be part of the Graduate Medical Education team at Mather. Spending time with her husband, little girl, and family is what she cherishes most in life. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, cooking, baking, drawing, painting and crafts.
Jaspreet Singh, MBBS is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Donald and Barbara school of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Dr. Singh is currently the Chairman of Gastroenterology and Director of Endoscopy at South Shore University Center, Bay Shore, NY. He joined Northwell Physician Partners in 2017. He practices as an Advanced Endoscopist at South Shore University Hospital. He completed his medical school at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, India. After that, he completed his internal medicine residency, chief residency and then successfully completed three years of Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship at Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, New York. He subsequently completed one year of Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship at University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento. Prior to joining Northwell, he worked in WellSpan Gastroenterology, York as an Advanced Endoscopist for 3 years.
Dr. Sanjaya Satapathy is currently Professor of Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at the Hofstra University.
He is currently the Interim Division Chief of Hepatology and also serving as the Medical Director of Liver Transplantation at the Northwell Center for Liver Diseases & Transplantation at Northshore University Hospital. Dr. Satapathy’s research focuses on NAFLD, Hepatitis C, post-transplant outcomes, particularly in patients with NASH, sarcopenia, and hepatitis C. Dr. Satapathy is a skilled advanced endoscopist including EUS and ERCP. He has published more than 150 peer reviewed publications in high impact journals (h-Index 30, i10-Index 73, Citations 4671). Dr. Satapathy is board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Transplant Hepatology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has also earned a Masters in Epidemiology and Clinical Investigation from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. Dr. Satapathy has received several accolades throughout his career, numerous industries sponsored clinical research grants including grants from NIH and currently a Fellow of American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (FASGE), American College of Gastroenterology (FACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF), American Association of the Liver Diseases (FAASLD). Dr. Satapathy is currently the Editor in Chief for Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Associate Editor of Hepatitis B Annual, and is the current steering committee member as well as the Chair of the Education subcommittee for the American Association for the Study of the Liver Diseases, Clinical Practice Sig. Most recently he was a finalist for the Truly Rising Star Award sponsored by Northwell Health. He has also been recognized by the Castle Connolly Top Doctor for 2021 and 2022.
Neva Castro, MD
Dr. Castro completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University. While at Cornell, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in biology and earned the distinction to graduate with honors.
Dr. Castro received her medical degree at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. She trained as an Internal Medicine resident and served as the Chief Ambulatory Resident at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine at Jacobi Medical Center. Dr. Castro completed her gastroenterology fellowship training at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.
As a resident, Dr. Castro received the Einstein Teaching Star for her dedication in teaching medical students. During fellowship, she received several awards for her research which include the ACG Outstanding Poster Presenter Award and the Clinical Research Award at Stony Brook University. Most recently, she collaborated with her peers at Stony Brook to receive the 2022 ACG SCOPY award for patient education.
Dr. Castro strives to deliver excellent patient care and advocates for her patients. She enjoys teaching fellows, residents and medical students. Her practice encompasses all of gastroenterology with special interests in Women’s health, general gastroenterology and colon cancer screening.
Sara Cerrone, MD
Sara Cerrone MD attended medical school at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency including chief resident at Hofstra-Northwell’s programs at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical center. She went on to complete a gastroenterology fellowship where she was the chief fellow at these same institutions. During her fellowship she completed ANMS (American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society) rotation at Temple University Hospital. Currently she is Chief of Gastroenterology at Peconic Bay medical center and assistant professor of medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell. She is Northwell Health Physician Partner, member of Katz Institute of Women’s Health and one of founding physicians in Northwell’s Eastern Region Reflux and Heartburn center. She cares for patients at Peconic Bay Medical Center and performs motility testing at South Shore University Hospital.
Research Faculty
Greg Haggerty, PhD