Internal Medicine Residency Faculty

Antoinette Spevetz, MD, FCCM, FACP, is a graduate of Hahnemann University Medical School. She trained as an intern and resident at Abington Memorial Hospital, where she was selected to be a Chief Resident. She then completed a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine followed by a fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine, both at Cooper University Hospital. After her fellowships, Dr. Spevetz became an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida at Jacksonville, where she was Director of the Intermediate Care Unit and became actively involved in residency education. After four years in Florida, Dr.Spevetz took a position as Director of Critical Care for Upper Chesapeake Health System in Maryland, where she also served as Chief of Pulmonary Medicine. Dr. Spevetz is very involved in national critical care organizations, including the Society of Critical Care Medicine, where she is the past Chancellor of the Board of Regents. She is also active in graduate and continuing medical education, serving as a member of the Liaison Committee to the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as several guideline committees. Dr. Spevetz was the 2007 recipient of the Critical Care Teaching Award. Dr. Spevetz was also a former President of the Internal Medicine Section of the SCCM and prior Chair of the ABIM Critical Care Medicine review courses. Dr. Spevetz is Director of the Intermediate Care Unit as well as Director of Operations for the Intensive Care Unit at Cooper. In 2009, Dr. Spevetz was appointed Senior Medical Director of Education within the Office of Academic and Medical Affairs and Designated Institutional Official for all Cooper Residency & Fellowship Programs for our ACGME Accreditation.

Rachel Nash, MD, CMQ is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) and Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency.

Dr. Nash earned her B.S. with honors at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and M.D. at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. Rachel Nash graduated from GW SMHS with distinction in Health Policy and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society. During her medical school career, Dr Nash created and started an interclerkship day devoted to patient safety and the prevention of medical error.

Dr. Nash completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia PA. Dr. Nash focused on medical education and graduated from the Medical Education Track program. She obtained Post-Doctural Training in Addiction Medicine under a A scholarship program funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dr Nash completed Chief Residency at TJUH, and during that time served as Chair of the Education Subcommittee of Jefferson’s Opioid Task Force.

In her current role, Dr. Nash serves as an academic Hospitalist at Cooper University Hospital and at Inspira Healthcare of Vineland, NJ. As Assistant program director, she oversees resident quality improvement and patient safety projects and education. She is a certified trainer in High Reliability Organizations (HRO) and is currently working on training all residents in basic safety behaviors.

Interests and projects include improving the safety of transferred patients, reducing hospital readmissions, and educating medical students and residents on patient safety and quality improvement.​

Jenny Melli, MD, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). She graduated from Villanova University and went on to receive her MD from UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson, Camden. She completed medical internship and residency in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Brown University, where she developed a special interest in women’s health, providing primary care services for women in the state prison.

Dr. Melli is involved in clinical teaching on the medical student and residency level. She is the Program Director for the Primary Care Track and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, and directs the outpatient continuity care experience for the residency program. She precepts trainees in their outpatient clinic and maintains her own practice at that site. Dr. Melli also serves as the Deputy Clerkship Director for the Adult Primary Care clerkship at CMSRU. She has special interests in trainee health, mental health in primary care, and care of the underserved.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Cerceo is an associate professor of medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and a teaching fellow of their Academy of Master Educators. She completed her medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School where she was AOA and then completed her residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a board-certified general internist in the Department of Hospital Medicine and is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine where she is on the national Education Committee and leads an online faculty development resource, Clinical Quick Talks.

Dr. Cerceo is the co-chair for Physician Engagement and serves as an associate program director for the internal medicine residency where she develops novel curricula including a comprehensive research curriculum. She spearheads Wellness initiatives for Graduate Medical Education and runs the Art of Medicine series for the internal medicine residents as well as Medicine Grand Rounds, Wellness in Medicine, and started Hospitalist Grand Rounds. She is the course director for the Selectives in the Medical Humanities at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. She co-chairs Cooper’s Green Team and is the chair of Wellness and of Health and Public Policy for ACPNJ, in which role she has been advocating for sustainability efforts for health care systems.

As a clinical hospitalist, she is involved with education from the medical student level to faculty development. Her research interests focus on medical education, medical humanities, and the effects of gun violence and climate change. Dr. Cerceo is an editor for Cooper Rowan Medical Journal and is a reviewer for several journals, including Critical Care Medicine and the Journal of Hospital Medicine where she has been named a top reviewer. She also is a reviewer for MKSAP, SHM question banks, and for various annual meetings.

Solomon Dawson, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University as well as an assistant program director for the internal medicine residency. After completing medical school at the University of Virginia, he moved to the Philadelphia area and has completed his internal medicine resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, and then his fellowship at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a Chief fellow and also completed a fellowship in medical education. 

He has joined the Cooper University Hospital staff as a board certified nephrologist and also has positions on the Informatics Committee, Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee, and Medical School Admission Committee. He has been very active teaching at all levels at Cooper University hospital from medical students to residents and fellows. His interests within nephrology include onconephrology, acute kidney injury, kidney biopsies,​ as well as medical education in general. 

Outside of medicine he enjoys exploring the Italian Market and cooking (and eating). While he no longer can be part of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Student Orchestra, he is always finding new people to play music with, having himself played guitar and violin for many years. 

Kevin D'Mello, MD, FACP, FHM, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) and is an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. He earned his medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey -- New Jersey Medical School and completed his residency at Drexel University College of Medicine/Hahnemann University Hospital. He is a board-certified Internal Medicine physician in the Division of Hospital Medicine and is a fellow in both the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine. He is also a member of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Dr. D'Mello, as the Associate Director of Quality Improvement for the Division of Hospital Medicine, advises residents on QI projects and works to improve clinical performance and quality metrics within the Division of Hospital Medicine. He helped to develop a Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum for residents and he moderates a monthly RCA-based Systems Morbidity & Mortality Conference for the Department of Medicine. Dr. D'Mello has received multiple patient care and teaching awards and has been inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Most importantly, he deeply believes in the humanistic mission of medicine and believes it can be preserved through bottom-up culture change in health care.​

Kyle Gleaves, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University at Rowan University (CMSRU) and Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency. He received his medical doctorate from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, PA. and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical School in Hershey, PA.

Dr. Gleaves currently serves as Attending Physician at Cooper University Hospital in Internal Medicine and Primary Care. He is involved in the core faculty of Cooper Internal Medicine Residency Program and the Medical Student Career Coach for CMSRU appointments.

Katie Haroldson, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) and Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency.​ She graduated from Boston College and went on to receive her MD and MPH from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA, and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. During her training, she developed a special interest in bedside rounding and teaching; she received the ACGME Back to Bedside Grant during its inaugural year.

Dr. Haroldson currently serves as an academic Hospitalist at Cooper University Hospital and at Inspira Vineland Hospital. She is involved in both resident and medical student education. She is the Course Director for the Physical Diagnosis Course for second year medical students at CMSRU and the director of the Hospitalist Track for Internal Medicine residents. 

Alexandra Lane, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). She graduated from Trinity College and then took a circuitous route to medicine via the publishing world, working for a few years for Penguin Books before attending Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia for her MD. She trained at Temple University Hospital for both her internship and residency and then stayed for an extra year as the Primary Care Chief Resident. Dr. Lane now serves as the Primary Care Assistant Program Director and Director of Resident Clinic. She precepts trainees in their outpatient clinic and maintains her own practice as well. She runs the didactic outpatient experience for the residents and has special interest in complex care management, urban health, and evidence-based medicine. 

Daniel Olea- Mendoza, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cooper University School of Medicine at Rowan University (CMSRU) and Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency. He received his medical doctorate from Drexel University College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine from CMSRU.

Dr. Olea-Mendoza currently serves as Attending Physician at Cooper University Hospital in Internal Medicine and Primary Care. He was awarded the 2022-2023 Vijay Rajput, MD Excellence in Teaching Award. He is involved in the core faculty of Cooper Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Ritesh Patel, MD, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.  Dr. Patel graduated from Gujarat University, India and completed his internal medicine residency training at Cooper University Hospital. He is a board-certified general internist within the Division of Hospital Medicine and a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American College of Physicians. Dr. Patel is involved in medical education at both the student and resident level and has special interest in preventive medicine, medical education, clinical skills and clinical research. He has been involved in multiple quality improvement and education committees.

Dr. Patel serves as co-director of the Foundation of Medical Practice curriculum at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He also currently serves as a member of American Board of Internal Medicine test writing committee. Dr Patel has won multiple teaching excellence awards in his young career. As an Assistant Program Director at Cooper, Dr. Patel oversees resident simulation laboratory exercises, evidence-based physical diagnosis and weekly updates on high-yield articles from journals.

Nicholas Young, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Dr. Young graduated from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, where he was inducted into the CMSRU Chiron Honor Society, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and received the William Osler Award for Excellence in Internal Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He subsequently completed the Floating Doctors Global Health Fellowship after resident training as well as earning a Certificate for Point of Care Ultrasonography through Society of Hospital Medicine and CHEST. 

Dr. Young teaches courses at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and Cooper University Hospital Internal Medicine Residency. For the residents, he leads the Panama based Global health elective and is involved in the Internal Medicine Board Review, Ultrasound Curriculum, Noon Conference Jeopardy and Resident Reports. His interests include medical education, clinical reasoning, and global health.