News & Stories

As the countdown to the Cooper Red Hot Gala continues, the Foundation is pleased to report that physicians and staff from all corners are pledging their financial support to the annual fundraising effort. Among them are:

Dr. Edward Deal is not only Vice Chief of the Anesthesiology Department at Cooper. He also serves as Director of Performance Improvement for the department, instructs as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UMDNJ in Camden, and has administrative responsibilities for the Residency Program at Cooper. He chairs the Education and Curriculum Committees for the Residency Program and is a member of the Clinical Competency and Resident Selection Committees.

Dr. Deal earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, with a minor in Mathematics, from LaSalle University and went on to UMDNJ’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, New Jersey. He completed his internship and residency at UMDNJ-SOM, serving as Chief Resident his 3rd year, and did fellowships at Cooper and at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Stratford.

He has had numerous articles and abstracts published in journals such as Anesthesiology, Anesthesia—Analgesic, and Clinical Anesthesiology. His special areas of interest include Trauma and Thoracic Anesthesia and Mathematical Modeling.

Dr. Deal’s professional memberships include the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Osteopathic College of Anesthesiology, American Osteopathic Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Anesthesia Research Society, Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the International Trauma Anesthesia and Critical Care Society.

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Dr. Richard Domsky serves as Co-Director, Division of Pain Management in the Department of Anesthesiology at Cooper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he attended medical school at the University of Dominica/Ross University, Portsmouth in the West Indies. He returned to the United States and completed his internship and residency at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Dr. Richard Domsky worked in private practice for 10 years at Elkins Park Anesthesia Associates and joined Cooper’s Anesthesiology Department in 1995. He is board certified in Anesthesia and Pain Management, and belongs to several professional societies including the International Anesthesia Research Society, the New Jersey Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the International Spine Injection Society. He has been voted a “Top Doc” every year since 2003.

He combines his passion for helping others with his love of the open road. In September 2010, Dr. Domsky collected donations from department colleagues and rode his motorcycle in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Philadelphia’s Ride for Kids, which supports research to find the cause of and cures for childhood brain tumors.

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A graduate of Kakatiya Medical College in her native India, Dr. Bharati Gourkanti completed her internship at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, also in India, and her residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. She worked at Interfaith Medical Center as an attending anesthesiologist before coming to Cooper in November 1997.

Dr. Gourkanti is board certified in anesthesiology and has been director of Cooper Pediatric Anesthesia since 2002. She has served as Clinical Competency Chair of the Residency Program since 2003. She also serves as a member of the Resident Selection Committee, as a member of the Resident Curriculum Committee, and as director of the Clinical Competency Committee at Cooper. Dr. Gourkanti volunteers her time and services to charity organizations “Operation Smile” and “International Healthcare Volunteers,” and has worked in Ghana, India and Peru every year since 2002.

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Dr. Muhammad Muntazar has earned accolades for many years. Since coming to Cooper in summer of 2006, he has been named a “Top Doc” every year. Prior to that, as Director of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, he received the Betram Sears Award for seven consecutive years. He has also been recognized several other times throughout his career.

After receiving his medical degree from Sindh Medical College in Pakistan, Dr. Muntazar served as Medical Officer at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and, later, IZA Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed residencies at Carney Hospital-Boston University in Boston, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, and the State University of New York at Syracuse. He also completed a fellowship in cardiac anesthesiology at Syracuse.

Dr. Muntazar now serves as Division Head for Cardiothoracic Anesthesia at Cooper and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at UMDNJ-Camden.

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Dr. Erin White Pukenas graduated from medical school at West Virginia University, completed a residency at Cooper and a fellowship at CHOP, and returned to Cooper as a Pediatric Anesthesiologist in August 2007.

Through her involvement in the Society of Pediatric Anesthesiology, she is working on several national initiatives to improve communication across disciplines in various settings, including pediatric emergency of code situations. Dr. Pukenas also is a simulation facilitator, who works closely with students and residents in the Sim Lab to train before taking on difficult cases in the OR, and also has advanced training in the instruction of other simulation facilitators. In addition, she teaches basic and advanced airway skills to EMS and flight crews in the simulation lab.

Dr. Pukenas has special interests in simulation education, the difficult pediatric airway, neonatal emergencies, and healthcare team dynamics.

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He was born and raised in Philadelphia, but Dr. Robert Romisher’s career started in the southernmost part of the country. Dr. Romisher graduated from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in south Florida and completed an internship at Humana Hospital, also in Florida. He then returned to Philadelphia to finish his residency at Hahnemann University Hospital.

Dr. Romisher joined Cooper’s Department of Anesthesiology in June 2002 as a staff anesthesiologist. He directs ambulatory anesthesia services for Cooper and also works in the main operating room. In addition, he serves as an instructor in anesthesiology at UMDNJ. Dr. Romisher is board certified in anesthesiology. He is a member of the American Osteopathic Association and The American Society of Anesthesiologists.

His special interest is ambulatory anesthesia, which is typically performed on a same-day or outpatient basis.

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Learn more by visiting the Red Hot Gala web page at cooperhealth.org/redhot!