Virtual Team
International Virtual e-Hospital, Kosova

Rifat Latifi, President

Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, MD, PhD, Vice-President

Kripa Krishnan, Associate Manager - Operations (Volunteer)

Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Associate Manager - Administration

Michelle Ziemba, Nursing Leadership Training Coordinator

Shefqet (Chet) Shala, Associate Manager - Finance

Thomas Rodda, Foundation Financial Manager

Ismet Lecaj, Program Coordinator, Prishtina, Kosova

Janae Cooley, Program Coordinator, Tucson, AZ

Flamur Bekteshi, Web Designer and Technical Support Coordinator

Halil Mula, Public Relations

Rifat Latifi, MD, Professor of Surgery, President
Tucson, Arizona
Phone: (520)-243-9086
Email: latifi@iveh.org

Dr. Rifat Latifi is a Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Arizona, Director of Surgical Critical Care and Director of Telemedicine at the University Medical Center, Tucson Arizona. He is also the Associate Director of Arizona Telemedicine Program where he leads Telesurgery and International Affairs. He is the founder and the director of Telemedicine Program of Kosova.

Dr. Latifi is a graduate of Medical Faculty in Prishtina, Kosova. He completed an Internship in General Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio in 1994 and completed his Residency in General Surgery at Yale University 1999. From 1999 until December 2002, he was with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Surgery in Richmond, Virginia, where he served as Director of Distance Learning at Medical Informatics and Technology Applications Consortium (MITAC), a NASA commercial space center. Dr. Latifi's principal interests in telemedicine are international collaborations and the development of telemedicine and educational programs, including electronic libraries in underdeveloped countries and rural America. He is the author and/or editor of eight books and more than 100 articles, reviews, and chapters on surgical nutrition and metabolism, laparoscopic surgery, telemedicine and telesurgery. He is the editor of the book Telemedicine and Telehealth in Developing Countries: From Inception to Implementation (IOS Publishing, July of 2004). His newest book on “Principles and Practices of Telemedicine and e-Health", will be published by IOS Press in Amsterdam later this year.

Dr. Latifi has been invited as a keynote speaker and has presented at more than 100 national and international scientific meetings around the world. He has served on the Advisory Board of European Space Agency in 2004, and currently is working with the United Nations out of Space Office (UNOOSA) to help develop telemedicine in South East Asia and Asian Pacific region. His telemedicine efforts in the Balkans have been featured on National Public Radio (June 2004) and he is a frequent guest on Voice of America, showcased through Albanian television and Albanian media.   He is very active at the American Telemedicine Association and International Society for telemedicine and e-health. He is a founder of the International Virtual e-Hospital and Telemedicine Program of Kosova and the Southern Arizona Teletrauma and Telepresence at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Most recently, he led the Amazon Virtual Medical Team during the Amazon Swim Expedition to provide telemedicine support to the expedition and to introduce telemedicine in the Amazon jungles of Peru and Brazil.

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Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, MD, PhD, Vice-President
Slovenia, United States
Phone: USA: +1-865-742-3020; Slovenija: +386-41-500-000
Email: mateja@iveh.org

Dr. de Leonni Stanonik is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Resident in Neurology at George Washington University in Washington DC. Though originally from Slovenia, she completed her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology (BSc.), as well as in German and Political Science (B.A.) at the University of Tennessee. She went on to obtain her Masters degree in Cognitive Psychology and Doctoral (Ph.D.) degree in Neuroscience and Nuclear Medicine. She also completed her M.D. degree and Postdoctoral studies in Neuroradiology at the University of Tennessee.

Dr. de Leonni Stanonik continued research is focused on clinical neurology and neuroscience using functional neuroimaging methods in Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine. She investigates mechanisms for attention as well as working memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI), and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients using neuropsychological tests in addition to functional neuroimaging techniques: functional MRI, FDG-PET, and Loreta EEG. Moreover, dr. de Leonni Stanonik’s principal interests in telemedicine are international collaborations and the development of telemedicine programs, as well as developing clinical applications in neurology and psychiatry. She is currently developing a National Telemedicine for Stroke Program in her home country of Slovenia.

In the community, she has volunteered her time with the East Tennessee Alzheimer´s Association chapter and the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in her home country of Slovenia as a Lecturer for Neurodegenerative disorders and mental health where she emphasizes the importance of screening, early detection, and early treatment of memory loss in the elderly as well as the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegerative problems. She is active in the Alzheimer’s disease International performing multicultural research as well as working in overcoming the cross-cultural barriers and de-stigmatization of psychiatric illness. She is the author and/or editor of 2 books and more than 40 articles, reviews, and chapters on cognitive psychology, clinical neuroscience, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, personality traits, neuroradiology, and telemedicine in extraordinary conditions. She serves as one of the main editors of the Journal of Gerontology. Currently, she is preparing to publish her first book in telemedicine titled: “Clinical telemedicine applications in psychiatry” to be published by Oxford University Press.

In her diplomatic work, dr. de Leonni Stanonik had served as the Hon. Consul from Slovenia to the United States during the years of 2002 to 2007. She recently founded the Office of Global Health and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Health of Slovenia employing multilateral and dynamic diplomacy and international affairs development, and was appointed as the Medical and Science Attaché as the Head of this Office. She also serves as the President of the Slovene World Congress and Vice President for International and Government Affairs of the International Virtual e-Hospital.

Dr. de Leonni Stanonik continuously combines her clinical, research, and diplomatic work with raising public awareness regarding diseases, which affect the human brain and the mind.

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Kripa Krishnan, MS, Associate Manager - Operations (Volunteer)
Palo Alto, California
Phone:
Email: krishnan@iveh.org

Kripa is a Project Manager at Google in Mountain View, CA. Her background is in Information Science Systems. Prior to her work at Google, she was a lecturer at the University of Arizona, where from she also received her Master’s degree from the department of Management Information Systems. She has worked as both a software developer and project manager for various software application development projects over the last five years. Former to this, she was an advanced student of Occupational Therapy and part-time musician and actor.

Kripa has been volunteering with KFMD since last year toward the completion of the International Virtual e-Hospital in Kosova. Her responsibilities for this project include overseeing and tracking the progress of the project overall and coordinating and scheduling activities and milestones for the core team and staff in the USA. She will also be involved with the technical design, requisition of equipment and the installation of the telemedicine centers in Kosova.

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Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Associate Manager - Administration
Cincinnati, Ohio
Phone: (513)-677-8660
Email: doarn@iveh.org

Mr. Doarn is a peer-review funded researcher at the University of Cincinnati (UC). He holds a faculty appointment as a Research Associate Professor of Surgery and BME. Mr. Doarn also serves as the Administrative Director of an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Minimally Invasive Medical Technologies (MIMTeC). Prior to joining the UC faculty, Mr. Doarn served as the Executive Director and co-principal investigator for NASA's Research Partnership Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (MITAC), located at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. Throughout the 1990's, Mr. Doarn served as the Program Executive for Aerospace Medicine and Telemedicine at NASA Headquarters. He was the principle author of NASA's Integrated Strategic Plan for Telemedicine and served as the lead for NASA’s Telemedicine activities.

Mr. Doarn served on the Board of Directors for the ATA and held several key positions, including Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair of the International Special Interest Group for the ATA. Mr. Doarn serves on the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Telemedicine and e-Health. Mr. Doarn is a recognized leader in telemedicine as a scholar and teacher, having published over 65 manuscripts and 9 book chapters on telemedicine.

Mr. Doarn received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from The Ohio State University in 1980. He received a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Dayton in 1988. Additional training has included Advanced Program Management at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, VA and a NLM Medical Informatics Fellows Course at Woods Hole, MA.

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Michelle Ziemba, RN, MSN, Nursing Leadership Training Coordinator
Tucson, Arizona
Phone: (520) 694-7545
Email: mziemba@umcaz.edu

Michelle Ziemba, RN, MSN is currently the Administrative Director for the Trauma Program at University Medical Center in Tucson Arizona.  She has had this position since September of 2005.  Prior to that position she was the Trauma Program Manager at another trauma center since 1999.  She received her Masters Degree in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 1999 and is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner.

Michelle is a member of the Arizona State Trauma Advisory Board and Arizona Trauma System Quality Assurance & System Improvement Committee.  Prior to her involvement in the Arizona State Trauma System she was actively involved in the development of a trauma system for the State of Wisconsin.  She has experience in regional and state trauma system development and operations.  She is also the current State Chair for Arizona for the Society of Trauma Nurses.

Michelle has played an active role in the development and operations of the Southern Arizona Teletrauma and Telepresence (SATT) at University Medical Center, Tucson , Arizona.  Michelle is very passionate about the role telemedicine can play for patients needing “real time” sub-specialty consultation in emergency situations and how telemedicine can aid in trauma system development and education for developing countries.

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Shefqet (Chet) Shala, Associate Manger - Finance
Falls Church, Virginia
Phone:
Email: shala@iveh.org

Shefqet Shala a graduate of the University of Kosova with a major in finance. Shefqet has spent the majority of his working career in public health consultation. From December 1989 through January 2006, he worked for John Snow, Inc., a Boston based public health consulting firm. His primary function involved accounts payable/receivable and client billing for five multimillion-dollar USAID funded projects. During the 15 + years with John Snow, Inc., Shefqet had an opportunity to travel for work to Zimbabwe, Albania and Kyrgyzstan.