Lee Hlad, DPM : The Apprentice

Lee grew up in upstate NY in a community were cows outnumbered people 4:1. He completed his undergrad degree at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh NY, and received his podiatry degree from New York College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his residency at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Lee is now 8 months into a limb lengthening and reconstruction fellowship with Dr. Herzenberg at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. He has been married to his beautiful wife Danielle (also a podiatrist) for 6 years and for now, they have a little puggle, Gertrude. Lee has never embarked on a mission trip, but hopes to make this the first of many. He is looking forward to building lasting relationships with those who volunteer and the patients encountered. 

Our Gal Gina Muscara

"I am a staff certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Prior to attending graduate school, I worked as an intensive care nurse in Arlington, Virginia. I am the oldest of three siblings and grew up in suburban Philadelphia, where I return frequently to visit my family.

I am extremely excited (and a bit nervous!) to be joining Team Sinai for the Haiti trip. This will be my first time in Haiti,  and my first mission experience. I hope to incorporate regular volunteer work into my career as a CRNA. In my free time, I enjoy reading, running and traveling."

Thomas Fernandez to the Rescue!

Thomas is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine. He comes from Auckland, NZ and journeyed across to San Francisco for an overseas experience. He loves the cosmopolitan and multi-cultural aspect of the city, not to mention the effect this has on it’s food!

His work consists of a broad spectrum of adult anesthesia and he completed fellowships in Vascular and Liver Transplant Anesthesia. Thomas feels privileged to be able to become part of the Operation Rainbow family and expand his horizons. He decided to take up the mission to Haiti when he learnt it may not proceed due to being short one attending Anesthesiologist.

Tom says, "I have no doubt the mission will be challenging, but in the words of Dr. Herzenberg, I believe I am likely to gain far more than anything I can give. I particularly look forward to getting to know and work closely with members of our team and helping the people of Haiti. I am sure Haiti will leave many memories etched on our minds and hearts forever."

Our very own Robert Capa, Kris Connor

Kris Connor is a DC and New York based award winning photojournalist. His style has been described as “Controlled Chaos” by The New York Times photographer Stephen Crowley. He has worked for such clients as The Daily Newspaper, Getty Images, Save the Children Foundation, Humane Society of the United States, FilmDistrict, Cirque du Soleil, Grammy Association, Omega watches, The Danish Government, CNN, National Geographic Channel, Fox Network, Raytheon, and Warner Brothers. He attended the 64th Missouri Photo Workshop in the fall of 2012 in Troy, Missouri. 

He is currently working on two long term projects, one titled "Polirazzi," that looks at the role celebrities play in today's politics and the other is "My Father...My Hero." In a time that America's focus is placed on the young disabled combat veterans coming out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the disabled veterans of generations past are being forgotten about. Through documenting the everyday struggles that are placed on his father and family, Kris hopes to bring attention to these forgotten warriors.

He uses 360◦ stills as a new form of visual storytelling putting the viewer in the scene to give them the feeling that they are there, whether it is at the State of the Union or in the middle of a flooded Bangkok.

He is a past patient of Dr. John Herzenberg, having four limb lengthening operations done in his teen years.

The Amazing Tina Jorgensen

"I was born in the hospital where I currently work, Providence Hood River Memorial. I have been a RN for 12 years and have worked in the PACU for 9 of those years. I started my medical career as an EMT in 1992 and worked my way through medical assistant, CNA, LPN and then RN. I have done traveling nursing for ER and ICU in rural hospitals throughout Oregon during nursing shortages. 

I have an incredible husband, John, and family that I am very close with. We have a blended family. Our children are 27, 24, 16 and 14. We live on a cattle ranch, Black Angus, located in a small town with a population of about 600 people. We cook on a wood cook stove, which we also use for heat. We have power, phone and occasional Internet, however for about one month out of the year we live without these amenities. Most people think we are crazy, but we love it.

I am involved in our Church with Women and Children's Ministry and my husband and I are in charge of the Out Reach Activities. My hobbies include gardening, canning, camping, and spending time with my family. My husband would say travel as I went to Mexico three times last year and volunteered working with Women and Children in San Miguel De Allende.

I am excited and yet a little nervous about our up coming trip."

Brad Cohn, Renaissance Man

MediBabble

Brad Cohn is a Chief Resident in the Department of Anesthesia at UC San Francisco. He’s one of UCSFs Global Health Scholars and joined the Operation Rainbow Team in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in the winter of 2012. Brad loves any opportunity to work on expeditions abroad, but his interest in global health really began as a project to improve healthcare access for non-English speaking patients in the United States. He, and a dedicated team, designed MediBabble, a free healthcare interpretation app, first released as MediBabble Haiti (in February 2010), which is now in use by over 40,000 providers in 8 languages around the world. That said, Brad’s skillset includes neither translation nor software engineering, but he’s pretty good at carrying the Operation Rainbow duffel bags wherever his team goes.

Kim Hammond, Heart of Gold

Kim with a little boy she sponsors in Leogone

This is Kim’s seventh mission trip to Haiti. She has volunteered with several NGOs in the past few years since the earthquake. Kim has also helped build a school in Quito Ecuador, set up mini medical clinics in Zimbabwe, and worked with the Red Cross during hurricane Sandy.

A nurse practitioner for over 12 years, she mostly works with cardiac transplant and primary care. Kim now does home visits to the underserved population in NYC. She lives in Queens, NY and has a daughter who is a sophomore at the University of Delaware.

Kim says, “I am looking forward to working with the team and hoping to help the children of Port au Prince.”

Our Fellow Ahmed Bazzi

"I am the current Pediatric Orthopaedic fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital training under the guidance of the wonderful Dr. Paul Sponseller.  I was raised in the suburbs of Detroit as the youngest of a family of 5 siblings.  I received my Bachelor's in Biology and French at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, my medical degree from Michigan State University, and completed my residency training at Botsford Hospital, Farmington Hills, MI. 

In my free time, I enjoy photography, the arts, and frequent travels to the Midwest to visit my loving family and fiancee, who's equally excited for me to be taking part of such an amazing endeavor.  My last mission trip was in 2008 to Guatemala, and I can vividly remember the gratifying experience of outreach and assistance.  I anticipate Haiti will carry stories to be told for ages, and build enthusiasm for further medical missions to come."