Faculty
Lioudmila Lipetskaia, MD, MSc, FACOG
About Me
Dr. Lipetskaia is an Associate Professor at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and FPMRS Fellowship Program Director. She received her medical degree in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, and graduated from her OB-GYN residency at St. Luke’s Bethlehem. She became board certified in FPMRS after she completed her fellowship at the University of Louisville. As Fellowship Director, she pays special focus on the fellow’s curriculum development and implementation.
Dr. Lipetskaia’s areas of interest in teaching include video mentoring and hands-on anatomy dissections. She is a member of the AUGS education committee. She brings a patient-centered approach to care and infuses that approach in her work leading fellows, residents, and students. She has special clinical expertise in the areas of robotic surgery and native-tissue repairs. Her research interests are in the area of near-infrared imaging in robotic surgery and big data set management.
Saifuddin T. Mama, MD, MPH, FACOG, FACS
About Me
Dr. Mama is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Division Head of both Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and Minimally Invasive Gynecology and Robotics at Cooper University Health Care. Dr. Mama also serves as the OB-GYN Director of Undergraduate Medical Education at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and is Head of the Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecology & Robotics at Cooper University Hospital. A graduate of Yale University with a Master of Public Health degree, Dr. Mama completed his medical degree at Thomas Jefferson University and his OB-GYN residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. For nine years, Dr. Mama was the Director of Adolescent Gynecology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He holds a focused practice designation certificate in pediatric and adolescent gynecology. He has been the recipient of numerous teaching and humanism awards, including the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award, 2020 Sol Sherry Award for Teaching Excellence, Gold Humanism Society Leonard Tow Humanism Award, the Diane Barton Caring Award, and induction into the AOA Honor Society. An elected member of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, Dr. Mama is active in multiple national committees at APGO, SGS, and NASPAG and continues to speak and conduct invited workshops nationally. Dr. Mama has fourteen years of experience in multiple yearly medical missions volunteering abroad in Africa and Asia as a teaching attending and surgeon focused on repair of fistula and complex gynecologic surgery
Joseph M. Montella, MD, MS, CPE
About Me
Dr. Montella is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Cooper University Health Care. He received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College then completed a residency in OB-GYN at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, and a fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of California, Irvine. He earned a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Quality and Safety from the Jefferson College of Population Health and is a Certified Physician Executive through the Certifying Commission of Medical Management. He is also a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer in patient safety. Dr. Montella is Board Certified in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and has practiced this specialty for more than 26 years. He was former Chair of the Department of OB-GYN at Jefferson Medical College, served as President of the American Urogynecologic Society, and has participated in NIH study sections and grant reviews for the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. He has presented his scientific work at TeamSTEPPS National Conferences and AUGS Annual Scientific Meetings and has published his research in the American Journal of Medical Quality, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and The Journal of Female Pelvic Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Montella is the executive physician lead on the Quality and Patient Safety Pillar for the organization and has designed a method for incentivizing physicians for meeting quality metrics. He has played an integral role in helping physician leadership craft individualized quality measures for their groups that align with organization goals in order to improve value while maximizing reimbursement and reducing cost.
Ronak Gor, DO
About Me
Dr. Gor is the Director of Genitourinary Reconstruction and Trauma in the Division of Urology at Cooper University Health Care and an Assistant Professor of Surgery. In addition to traditional reconstructive urology and prosthetics, he also has a particular focus on the medical and surgical management of advanced neurogenic bladder. He is well versed in both continent and incontinent urinary diversion, complex abdominal surgery, and treating complications after prior surgery. Dr. Gor is passionate about the emerging field of transitional urology, taking care of adolescents with congenital neurogenic bladder transitioning into adulthood.
Robert P. Siefring, MD, FACOG
About Me
Dr. Siefring is Assistant Professor of OB-GYN and Medical Director of the Center for Vulvovaginal Disease at Cooper. He is a graduate of the University of Guadalajara and completed his OB-GYN residency at Cooper. He has received multiple teaching awards and has been selected as a Top Doc in South Jersey Magazine. The fellows gain most of their experience in vulvar diseases with Dr. Siefring during his monthly vulvovaginitis clinic.
Research
Michael DiSanto, PhD
About Me
Dr. DiSanto is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Sciences and the Director of Urology Research. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from Albright College and his PhD from Drexel University in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. A prolific researcher, he has been awarded multiple federal grants. He is part of our research team and serves as the mentor to our basic science projects.
Krystal Hunter, MBA
About Me
Krystal Hunter serves as the lead statistician for the Cooper Research Institute. She received her BA in Economics from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, and her MBA from Rutgers University Graduate School of Management, New Brunswick, NJ. She is presently pursing her PhD in Business Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark, NJ. She is an integral part of the FPMRS research committee and contributes to all research projects from their inception to publication. She also actively participates in all Journal Clubs for the division. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers and instructs the fellows and faculty in statistical analysis.
External Rotations
Alana Murphy, MD
About Me
Dr. Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Urology and Female Urology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She completed her training in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at Cleveland Clinic. As the director of female urology and voiding dysfunction, she is involved in resident education, fellow training and clinical research.
Matthew J. Fagan, MD, MS
About Me
Matthew J. Fagan, MD, MS, earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Fagan attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College and completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He completed a fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center/University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.
Dr. Fagan is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and board-certified in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. He joined the Center for Urogynecology and Pelvic Surgery at Christiana in 2014.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fagan has been recognized with numerous awards for excellence in surgery, teaching and mentorship of medical students and residents. Dr. Fagan has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, and he has presented at national scientific meetings. He is a member of the American Urogynecologic Society and the International Urogynecologic Society.
Dr. Fagan enjoys working through complex cases of recurrent incontinence, prolapse and voiding dysfunction with the fellows. He performs mesh augmented and native tissue repairs for prolapse and incontinence. He enjoys teaching trainees in the office and the operating room. Dr. Fagan believes in active trainee involvement in the operating room. He is known for his surgical mentorship of the fellows. He is both an excellent vaginal and robotic surgeon.
Howard Goldstein, DO, MPH
About Me
Howard Goldstein, DO, MPH, was raised in suburban Philadelphia. He attended the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, during which time he obtained a master's degree in public health.
After completing a rotating internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Stratford, Dr. Goldstein joined Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., where he completed his OB/GYN residency in 2005. He then went on to complete his fellowship training in urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery at Cooper in June 2008.
Dr. Goldstein is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and board-certified in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Goldstein has published many articles in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored a book chapter. Dr. Goldstein joined the Center for Urogynecology and Pelvic Surgery in July 2008.
Dr. Goldstein is recognized by the fellows for providing surgical training with a balanced mix of vaginal and robotic cases. He is an excellent coach for robotic efficiency and teaching fellows how to optimize surgical flow in the operating room. Dr. Goldstein is a very approachable mentor and functions as the Christiana Care site director for our fellowship.
Emily Saks, MD, MSCE
About Me
Emily Saks, MD, MSCE, hails from Central New Jersey and attended Rutgers College and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick. In 2007 she completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where she was recognized for excellence in minimally invasive surgery by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.
Dr. Saks then joined the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a fellowship in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. During this time, she received funding from the National Institute of Health for the investigation of reproductive epidemiology, and she completed a Master of Science in clinical epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Dr. Saks has presented her original research at multiple national scientific meetings, has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored a book chapter. She is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and board-certified in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Saks joined Christiana Care and the Center for Urogynecology and Pelvic Surgery in September 2010. She is an outstanding robotic surgeon and has been recognized for her patience and clear instruction in the operating room. She emphasizes shared decision making and patient education in the office and her patients truly value the care she provides.
Along with her husband, an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Saks is raising two very busy children and one active Goldendoodle. She coaches several youth sports teams and enjoys long distance running (she has completed several marathons), and taking hikes. She loves to travel, explore new restaurants and in the colder months, go skiing with her family.
Babak Vakili, MD
About Me
Babak Vakili, MD, was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Johns Hopkins University, he attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, completed his residency at Christiana Care, and followed that up by completing a fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) at Louisiana State Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, after a stopover in Dallas. He is Board-Certified in both OB-GYN and FPMRS.
After completing fellowship training in 2004, Dr. Vakili spent three years in clinical practice at Cooper University Hospital in southern New Jersey, also serving as the director of research for the urogynecology division. He rejoined Christiana Care in 2007 to build their highly successful FPMRS division. He have been actively involved in resident education since his arrival.
Dr. Vakili specializes in the surgical treatment of pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence, focusing on minimally-invasive approaches. He has academic appointments at Drexel and Jefferson. He also serves in various administrative roles in the hospital. He is the Vice chair of Gynecologic Surgery, Associate Program Director for the Christiana OBGYN residency, Co-chair of the Christiana OR Block Committee, Co-chairs the GYN Value Improvement Team, and serves on several other department- and hospital-wide committees.
He and his wife are happy parents to two talented children, with one in high school and one in college. He spends many of his weekends traveling to the Pennsylvania mountains and relaxing at the lake or on the ski slopes in an unplugged world. He enjoys traveling, reading sci-fi/fantasy, kayaking, skiing, and playing any sport. He is also a Philadelphia sports fan and accepts the stigma that goes with that. Go Birds!