Faculty

Dr. Schuller is chair of the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain. He obtained his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and went on to complete an internal medicine residency at Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Schuller subsequently served on the faculty of Washington University for 14 years, where he held roles as director of the pulmonary consult service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and director of the pulmonary and critical care fellowship program. He was also the chief of the pulmonary and critical care division and medical director of the intensive care unit at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska from 2002 until 2012, where he developed a multidisciplinary academic intensivist program with the highest standards for clinical care, medical education and research. Before joining TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Schuller served as chief of medical critical care and director of a newly developed pulmonary critical care fellowship program at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.

Zeeshan Afzal, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Afzal was born and raised in Pakistan. His decision to become a physician was mainly driven by an innate sense of compassion and need for health care providers in underserved communities.

Dr. Afzal graduated from King Edward Medical University, Lahore, one of the best medical schools in Pakistan, after securing a scholarship to study in that medical school. He served as an internist in a rural area of Pakistan for a few years.

He moved to the United States in pursuit of graduate medical education. He completed his internal medicine residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at the Permian Basin and a rheumatology fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Dr. Afzal is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology. He has more than seven years of clinical experience working as a consultant rheumatologist in the state of Washington.

Dr. Afzal has now decided to change his career path toward academics, where he can share his clinical knowledge with medical students and residents while continuing to serve the community in a clinical setting. His clinical interests include diagnosis and management of rheumatic disorders and ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal procedures. His hobbies include traveling, running and exploring new places.

Dr. Azucena Del Real  is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Dr. Del Real was born and raised in Mexico. Her inspiration to become a physician was instilled by her father. She envisioned her life and career emulating her father's  approach -good diagnosis and referral, multicultural sensitivity, and relationships with patients that establish trust. 

Dr. Del Real graduated from Centro de Estudios Universitarios Xochicalco, school of Medicine in Tijuana Mexico. After graduating she became involved in diabetes clinical research. Later, she did  high-risk and inpatient case management assisting underrepresented people.

To understand further her role in public health she pursued a Master of advanced studies degree majoring clinical research, with the University of California San Diego. Her thesis was directed to investigate the ongoing barriers to care in the Era of Direct-Acting Antivirals for patients with hepatitis C & HIV. 

Dr. Del Real completed her Internal Medicine training with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley-DHR. During this time she continued involved in health care disparities research, in addition to being part of several medical student and resident teaching activities. 

Her interest encompass preventive care, research, teaching and hospital medicine.

Dr. Del Real believes that everyone, both lucky and unlucky, deserves a chance at a healthy life and if she can help people achieve that, then she will live a life of value and meaning

Paul Estrada, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Gastroenterology – Transmountain.

Dr. Estrada was born and grew up in San Antonio, TX. He attended undergraduate at Duke University and went on to complete medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. He then completed residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, WI, and completed a year of advanced endoscopy training in ERCP and EUS at the same institution.

He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of West Alabama and attended Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, earning his medical degree.  He then completed an Internal Medicine residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  Before joining TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Kicker served in the U.S. Army as a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine staff physician at William Beaumont Army Medical Center.  His clinical interest and expertise includes thoracic malignances and advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy services including endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer.

Dr. Maanit Kohli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Dr. Maanit Kohli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Kohli's prior faculty appointments include Attending Physician at Drexel University Medical College in Philadelphia and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Kohli completed his medical school from SSR medical College in 2011. He then completed his Internal Medicine residency at Saint Peter's University Hospital in 2018. Notably, in 2018, Dr. Kohli was named Chief Resident during his final year of residency. After that, Dr. Kohli completed the prestigious Geriatric Medicine fellowship with the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY.

Dr. Kohli takes a keen interest in Medical Education, actively participating in multiple didactic and clinical teaching activities. In addition, he is a recipient of various accolades for his efforts to promote bedside medicine and his volunteer work.

Dr. Kohli is an Associate Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a member of the American Geriatrics Society, American College of Physicians, and the Society of Bedside Medicine.

Maria Theresa De Gracia Opina, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Maria Theresa De Gracia Opina completed residency training in Internal Medicine prior to attending Wake Forest School of Medicine where she completed fellowship in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine followed by additional advanced research training through a National Institutes of Health T32-supported post-doctoral research fellowship in Gerontological and Geriatric Research. Her research interests include understanding pulmonary physiology, disease, and the aging lung with a focus in the older adult population. She enjoys teaching. She is also passionate about educating patients and their families and believes that all patients should be a part of the decision-making process in the management of their complex pulmonary disease.

Roberto Prieto, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Prieto earned his medical degree at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed his residency at Keesler AFB Medical Center and a fellowship at Wilford Hall Medicl Center.

Dr. Prieto is board certified in internal medicine, oncology and hematology.

His clinical expertise includes:

• Lung and head/neck cancer
• Myeloproliferative neoplasia/disorders and lymphoma
• Colon cancer and caners of the upper digestive tract (esophagus, stomach, biliary tree and pancreas)
• Breast cancer, kidney cancer, melanoma
• Thrombophilia (hypercoagulable conditions) and thrombosis of malignancy
• Anemia and disorders of WBCs; thrombocytopenia (DIC, TTP, ITP)

Program Director, Transitional Year

Gowri Renganathan, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of General Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Renganathan received her medical degree from Stanley Medical College,practice primary care for a few years and went on to pursue Internal Medicine residency training at University of California Los Angeles - Kern Medical. The residency program acknowledged her exemplary service of her patients and honored her with the prestigious "Robert S. Mosser award" for excellence in Internal Medicine. She is passionate about practicing preventive medicine and providing high quality primary care. She enjoys cooking and going on long road trips with family.

Lela Ruck, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of General Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Ruck was born and raised in El Paso. I went to medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX. I then pursued internal medicine residency at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and subsequently stayed on as faculty in the division of Hospital Medicine where I was a clinical hospitalist for two years before changing tracts to become an academic hospitalist. As an academic hospitalist, I found a passion for teaching residents and medical students. I'm now excited to return home to care for my community. My interests are in caring for the hospitalized patient and helping patients transition from inpatient to outpatient care. I also look forward to continuing to teach new generations of doctors.

Barney Soskin, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain.

I attended medical school at Boston University School of Medicine and subsequently completed my internal medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. Following this, I stayed at Cedars Sinai for three years as a clinical hospitalist, where I developed a passion for hospital medicine, and guiding patients through an otherwise complex medical system with shared medical decsion making, education about their illnesses and treatent plans, and the transition home. I also cultivated interests in palliative and goal-concordant care. Aligned with these interests, I helped structure a collaboration between our internal medicine practice, palliative care department, and the various oncology services to establish a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer patients when admitted to the hospital. When not in the hospital, I enjoy cooking, learning whatever I can about coffee, playing the piano, and of course, spending time with family.

Sudhagar Thangarasu, M.D., FACP, is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine – Transmountain.

Dr. Thangarasu obtained his medical degree from Stanley Medical College at the Tamilnadu Dr.M.G.R Medical University in Chennai, India and went on to get internal medicine residency training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania.

Crafting an academic career track toward becoming a leading teacher in medicine, Dr. Thangarasu served as an academic hospitalist at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he took a leadership role as medical director of the comprehensive care unit. When he moved to Bakersfield, California, he spearheaded the ambulatory medicine clinics at Kern Medical toward several accomplishments. He then started the new academic hospitalist division and served as division chief, expanding the services. He was a core faculty and associate program director for the internal medicine residency program affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Dr. Thangarasu joined TTUHSC El Paso in 2019 as the founding program director of the internal medicine residency at the Transmountain campus of The Hospitals of Providence. He is passionate about delivering high quality care in hospital medicine and designing an innovative residency training curriculum to train the internists of the future. He loves kayaking, hiking and going on long road trips with his family.

Dr. Thangarasu is board certified in internal medicine.

Itzel Rivera earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in nursing from the University of Texas at El Paso.

She is a board-certified Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. She is  fluent in Spanish.