Meet The Team
Vasculitis Center Doctors
Philip Seo, MD, Co-DirectorDr. Philip Seo, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology. A graduate of Harvard College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, Dr. Seo completed his Internal Medicine training as a member of the Osler Medical Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Since then, he has worked at Johns Hopkins in several capacities, including as a hospitalist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and as an Assistant Chief of Service of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, before joining the Division of Rheumatology. His research interests are the assessment and treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitides, including Churg Strauss Syndrome, Wegener’s Granulomatosis, and Microscopic Polyangiitis. |
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Stuart Levine, MD, Co-DirectorDr. Stuart M. Levine joined the Rheumatology faculty in July 2003. He is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed both his Internal Medicine and Rheumatology Fellowship training at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Levine’s primary research interest is in the pathogenesis Wegener’s Granulomatosis and other systemic vasculitides. His work utilizes modern genomic, genetic, and cell biology techniques to better understand the immunologic and cellular changes that occur during the Wegener’s disease process. He is also interested in the role that disease-specific microenvironments play in the targeting and selection of autoantigens by the immune system in Wegener’s. One of the main objectives of these projects is the development of more robust and predictable biomarkers of Wegener’s disease activity and prognosis. |
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David B. Hellmann, MD, Executive DirectorDr. Hellmann is the Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Vice Dean at The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and the Aliki Perroti Professor of Medicine. A graduate of Yale University and Johns Hopkins Medical School, Dr. Hellmann received his Internal Medicine training on the Osler Service at Hopkins, and trained in Rheumatology at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been on the Johns Hopkins faculty since 1986. |
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Duvuru Geetha, MD, Assistant ProfessorDr. Geetha is an assistant professor of Medicine in the division of nephrology. A graduate of Madras Medical College,India, she completed Internal Medicine training in U.K. She did her Internal Medicine Residency at York, PA and Nephrology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.She has been on Hopkins faculty since 1998. She is a member of Royal College of Physicians (U.K.), American Society of Nephrology, International Society of Nephrology and American Society of Transplantation. |
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Research Staff |
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Lourdes Sejismundo (nee Pinachos), RN, BSNMrs. Sejismundo is a Research Program Supervisor for the Vasculitis Center. Lourdes is already known to many patients and friends of the Vasculitis Center from her role as the Patient Coordinator for the Wegener’s Granulomatosis Etanercept Trial (WGET) for the past year. In March 2003, Lourdes became the Center’s new Research Program Supervisor. Lourdes is a Registered Nurse who graduated from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Before joining the Center, she worked at the General Clinical Research Center, an NIH funded research core at Johns Hopkins Bayview. She brings to the Center great enthusiasm, a thorough organizational sense, important experience in human resource, and most importantly, a love of nursing. |
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Cynthia BetheaMs. Bethea is a Study Coordinator for The Vasculitis Center. Cynthia brings a wide range of medical management skills to her role at the Vasculitis Center from her experiences as a Medical Assistant, in private sector pediatrics and as a Certified Insurance Coder. In her new role as Study Coordinator of the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC), she will be integral to the future of research at Hopkins Vasculitis Center. |
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Delphine PaulMs. Paul is the Research Program Coordinator for the Vasculitis Center. Delphine joined the Vasculitis Center in August of 2002 bringing her seven years of Hopkins Medicine experience as Lead Lab Technician at the downtown campus. As the Principle Phlebotomist at the Vasculitis Center, Delphine organizes a group of phlebotomists and technicians who not only draw blood, but also process research specimens for the Center’s ongoing research protocols. Delphine has a calming influence on patients, putting them at ease with phlebotomy procedures, which are understandably stressful for many. We now say without reservation that we have under our roof the world’s best phlebotomist |
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CollaboratorsRheumatologists are usually the specialists who treat vasculitis patients. However, because the vasculitides may involve virtually any organ system within the body, consultation with experts from other specialties is often helpful. The Vasculitis Center includes collaborators from many medical disciplines who help provide the highest level of care for our patients. Our collaborators include:
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