Newsmakers for April 30
Apr. 30—Community Health & Dental Care
Two new family providers have joined Community Health & Dental Care (CHDC): Illias M. Almakaev, M.D. as a primary care provider at CHDC's North Coventry location, 351 W. Schuylkill Road; and family nurse practitioner Danielle Parks at its Barto health center location, 1315 Route 100 North.
Almakaev is an experienced primary care provider who is board certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine, earning his MD from Tashkent Medical School in Tashkent Uzbekistan and completing his internal medicine residency training at St. John's Hospital in Queens, N.Y. Almakaev is experienced in communicating with patients from different cultures, backgrounds and practiced as a primary care physician in Staten Island and Brooklyn, N.Y. for the past 30 years.
Danielle Parks, CRNP, earned her post-master's certificate family nurse practitioner from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre; her M.S. in nursing from Robert Morris University in Moon Township; and her B.S. in nursing from Kent State University in Ohio. Parks is also certified as a wound, ostomy, continence nurse, diabetes care and education specialist, and is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Penn State Berks
Dr. Jennifer Murphy, associate professor of criminal justice at Penn State Berks, was recently awarded the 2023 Ken Peak Innovations in Teaching Award, given to one faculty member nationwide by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). The award recognizes and honors criminal justice and criminology faculty members for innovative teaching methods.
Murphy is known for her approach to educating criminal justice students, particularly about drug addiction and the use of naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose. She explains that despite widespread recognition that drug addiction is a disease, there is still a great deal of social stigma toward people with substance use disorder.
After reviewing the research on stigma reduction efforts, Murphy created a training session for students in her senior seminar criminal justice course to improve addiction knowledge, reduce stigma, and increase knowledge/comfort using naloxone. She has since adapted the training session for various criminal justice courses; the training is offered both in person and virtually.
Dr. Brenda Russell, professor of psychology at Penn State Berks, assisted with the data collection and analysis for the innovative teaching session.
Murphy's research interests are in drug policy and the stigma of addiction. She is currently working on a project to educate police officers about addiction issues and treatment so that they are better prepared to implement diversion programs that link people to treatment in lieu of arrest.
Saxton & Stump
Saxton & Stump has hired two attorneys to fill roles in the Greater Philadelphia area. Terri Pawelski joins the firm as an equity shareholder and is part of investigations and criminal defense group in the Philadelphia office. She is joined by senior counsel William DeStefano in the Malvern office who is also on the investigations and criminal defense team.
Pawelski has more than 24 years of experience defending individuals and companies against criminal investigations and indictments and has been involved in the defense of more than 100 criminal investigations and 20 trials in federal and state courts. Pawelski is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law, cum laude, and her undergraduate degree from Dickinson College, magna cum laude. She was named to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list from 2014 to 2021.
DeStefano has spent his 50-year career defending corporations against federal criminal investigations and indictments and has tried more than 100 criminal and civil cases to verdict, primarily in the federal courts. He is AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list each year since 2004. DeStefano is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, earned his law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University.
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