Key People: Clinical Consultants
Issam I. Raad, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA
Dr. Issam Raad is considered the leading expert in the field of vascular catheter and healthcare related infections. Dr. Raad has made numerous outstanding clinical research contributions that have led to significant improvements in controlling life-threatening infections for patients with cancer and other serious illnesses. His research includes development of innovative antimicrobial central venous catheters and devices that have significantly reduced the risk of bloodstream infections.
Dr. Raad received his medical degree in 1982 from the American University of Beirut School of Medicine in Lebanon, where he did a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in clinical infectious diseases. He completed his specialty training at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville and then served as medical director of infection control at Shands Teaching Hospital before joining the M. D. Anderson faculty in 1989 where he chairs M. D. Anderson’s Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health.
Dr. Raad has published over 300 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 30 book chapters. He holds 15 patents and technology licenses and has several others pending. In addition he co-authored in 2001 and 2008 the Infectious Diseases Society of America and CDC guidelines on intravascular device-related infections.
Anatole Besarab, M.D.
Dr. Besarab is an internationally recognized expert in vascular access in end stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. He has published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and the Director of Clinical Research within the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University. He is a Member of the Dialysis Advisory Committee of the American Society of Nephrology and a Member of the Interventional Nephrology Advisory Group and the Chairman of the DOQI Vascular Access Committee. In addition, he is a former Member of the Technical Expert Panel for the National Quality Forum of the Center for Medicare / Medicaid Services and the Dialysis Special Access Project of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Besarab received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania where he also attended medical school, receiving his M.D. in 1969. He was trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and was a Fellow in Nephrology at Harvard medical School, Beth Israel Hospital.
Jay Wish, M.D.
Dr. Wish is a leading expert in the management of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and the treatment of anemia associated with ESRD and dialysis. He is a Professor of Medicine and the Medical Director of the Dialysis Program of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. He is a former Member of the National Quality Forum Steering Committee for End Stage Renal Disease Clinical Performance Measures of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Member of their Chronic Kidney Disease Performance Improvement Module Working Group.
Dr. Wish received his BA from Wesleyan University and his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine where he received his training in Internal Medicine and was the Chief Medical Resident at New England Medical Center Hospital. He was a clinical and research fellow in Nephrology at Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Melissa Yanover, M.D.
Dr. Yanover is the Medical Director of the FMC Park Hill Incenter Hemodialysis and Home Dialysis Service and the FMC Acute Service Center of Denver, Colorado. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Yanover is a Private Practice Physician in Nephrology and Hypertension in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Yanover received her BA (Magna cum Laude) from Arcadia University and her MD (Cum Laude) from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. She was trained in Internal Medicine at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois where she was also Chief Medical Resident. She was trained in Nephrology and Immunology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center, Denver, Colorado.
George Nassar, M.D.
Dr. George Nassar, obtained his M.D. from the American University of Beirut in 1988. He then completed his residency in Internal Medicine in 1992 and his fellowship in Nephrology in 1995 from Emory University, Atlanta, GA. He has served as Assistant Professor at Medical College of Virginia and McGuire Veterans Affairs Hospital, Richmond, VA, and Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX.
Currently he serves as Clinical Associate at Weill-Cornell University, Professor at The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, and Medical Director at Dialysis Access Management Centers, Houston, TX. Dr. Nassar’s bibliography relevant to Interventional Nephrology is quite extensive and his past itinerary of Clinical Lectures and Grand Rounds related to Dialysis Access Procedures include a worldwide list of cities and medical professional audiences.