Meet the Director and Team

Meet the Director and Team - Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Welcome from the Program Director

Our fellowship program is built on a core philosophy: excellent medicine requires both scientific discipline and a deep respect for human dignity. We are dedicated to training physicians who deliver safe, high-quality, and compassionate care across the full spectrum of pulmonary and critical illness.

Grounded in the rigorous standards of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), our program goes beyond clinical protocols to emphasize careful, empathetic bedside medicine and genuine service to our community. Through thoughtful supervision and progressive responsibility, we cultivate our fellows' technical skills, intellectual curiosity, and disciplined clinical judgment.

Our ultimate goal is to foster a lifelong commitment to learning, teaching, and reflective practice. We prepare our graduates to confidently manage complex illnesses with ethical clarity and humility, empowering them to lead as exceptional clinicians and educators in any academic or community setting.

Timothy J. Barreiro, DO, MPH, FCCP, MACOI, FACP | Program Director

Timothy J. Barreiro, DO, MPH, FCCP, MACOI, FACP, has built a career that sits at the intersection of medicine, equity, and public life. A professor of internal medicine, he has devoted his professional energy to caring for underserved communities and to the slow, patient work of teaching. Over the years, he has mentored hundreds of residents, many of whom have gone on to fellowships and leadership roles, carrying forward the values of rigor and service he insists upon.

Dr. Barreiro earned his medical degree from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in Athens, Ohio. He completed fellowship training in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Early in his career, he was named a Health Disparities Scholar by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, recognition for his scholarly work on cultural complexity in health care delivery.

His research and clinical efforts focus on preventable lung disease and health disparities, areas where science and social responsibility collide. He has authored and co-authored more than eighty peer reviewed publications. Beyond the academy, he has served for over a decade as a Health Commissioner for the Ohio Office of Minority Health, appointed by the Governor. He currently serves as a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services appointee to the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee. He is a current associate editor of the journal Academic Medicine.

Dr. Barreiro is a founding member of the American Osteopathic Association task force on equity and advancement with the American College of Osteopathic Interns. His multidisciplinary clinic remains the only pulmonary practice in Youngstown, Ohio, that serves uninsured patients, a fact he treats less as a distinction than as an obligation. He holds leadership and advisory roles across multiple professional societies and has earned the designation of Master Fellow of the College of Osteopathic Interns.

Outside the clinic and classroom, Dr. Barreiro reads widely in literature and the humanities and writes regularly for DO Magazine. He is also a husband, father, and grandfather of two, roles he regards as his most humbling credential.
 

Ashlee N. Russo, MD | Associate Program Director

Born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, Dr. Ashlee Russo is a dedicated physician deeply committed to caring for her hometown community. Beyond providing expert care at Pulmonary Rehabilitation Associates in Boardman, she is the Co-Founder and President of Vail's Voice Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance, care packages, and holiday meals to the families of pediatric patients suffering from prolonged illnesses.

Dr. Russo is triple board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care by the American Board of Internal Medicine. A prominent clinical leader, she serves as the Chief of Pulmonary & Critical Care at Mercy Health Boardman, the Medical Director for Select Specialty Hospital, and the Chair of the Quality and Patient Safety Committee for the Mercy Health Boardman and Youngstown markets. Furthermore, she serves as the Associate Program Director for the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) Fellowship.

Dr. Russo earned her medical degree from the Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) after completing her Bachelor of Science at Youngstown State University. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the Ohio State University Medical Center, followed by a rigorous Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where her excellence earned her the position of Chief Interstitial Lung Disease Fellow.

Passionate about training the next generation of physicians, Dr. Russo serves as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at NEOMED and an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is an active member of the American College of Chest Physicians and frequently presents her clinical research at national medical conferences.

Contact Us

Franny Korby| Academic Program Coordinator

Core Faculty

• Kowriah N. Amirthalingam, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAASM
• Manuel Bautista, M.D., FCCP
• Ghazaleh (Hazel) Bigdeli, MD, FCCP
• Anthony Michael Boulos, MD
• Patrick Louis Brine, MD, FACP
• Jonathan Burgei, DO
• David J. Gemmel, PhD
• Michael Graham, MD
• Ayesha Khalid Hasan, MD
• Molly Howsare, DO
• Ritha Kartan, MD, FCCP
• Denis R. Lunne, M.D., MACP
• Niraj Niraula, MBBS, MD, FCCP, MHA
• Gregory M. Polcha, Jr., DO, FACP
• Bronwyn Small, MD
• Ryan Toolson, DO
• Harrison Wood, DO