OFALD Spotlight Archives
Donald L. Norris II, MD, FACEP
Clinical Associate Professor
Division Chief of Education
Department of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine Residency, East Carolina University (’03)
MD, Marshall University (’00)
BA, West Virginia University
Dr. Norris joined the faculty at ECU in July 2022. Dr. Norris is passionate about medical student and residency education. He currently serves on the Brody School of Medicine Admissions Committee and is actively involved in teaching both students and residents both in the emergency department and in the simulation center. In his new role as Division Chief of Education, he oversees the educational mission in the Department of Emergency Medicine. In this role he will continue to develop the EM clerkship and residency programs as well as help mentor faculty within the department.
Academic areas of interest include decision making in emergency medicine with a specific focus on cognitive errors in thinking, direct observation in the clinical setting and virtual reality simulations.
Julianna Roupas
M3, Brody School of Medicine
BA, Appalachian State University
Individually Designed Degree: Studies in Integrative Health Sciences
Julianna is a third year medical student at the Brody School of Medicine. She is interested in pursuing surgery and has a passion for community service. This past year, she served as a Schweitzer Fellow through the NC Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, where she helped create the Food is Medicine initiative. Through her project, she conducted cooking classes at the Pitt County Council On Aging along-side her Fellowship partner using low-cost food items provided by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The goal of the project is to reduce food insecurity in older adults living in Pitt County. As an undergraduate student at Appalachian State University, Julianna also spent time combating food insecurity and homelessness as the health intern at the Hospitality House, a regional nonprofit homeless services agency in rural North Carolina. A fun fact about Julianna is that she originally went to Appalachian State as a pitcher for the Softball Team, but after getting injured, she found that tutoring students was a great way to explore teamwork outside of athletics. This past year, she served as a small-group tutor for Anatomy, and she is part of the SCRUBS (Student Collaborative Resources for Understanding and Brody Success) organization to continue teaching and working with other medical students. She is also the Vice President of the Executive Medical Student Council and the Treasurer for the Class of 2025.
Julianna’s favorite activities are walking/hiking, skiing, and discovering new coffee shops and restaurants with friends. Her favorite coffee drink is a dirty chai tea latte, which she learned how to make working as a barista during college.
David Erdmann
Technology Support Analyst, ITCS DTSW
AAS, A+, Network+
Dave joined ECU in June 2013 after finishing his degree at Pitt Community College. Staff Sergeant Erdmann served in the Marine Corps for 15 years. He returned to work in the civilian world serving as Operations Manager for a national brick company for 10 years. Going back to college at age 50 was no easy feat, but Dave finished with Honors and was awarded the Academic Excellence Award and the Edward Warren Scholarship for his academic achievements.
Dave is extremely driven to provide excellent customer service care to the employees of the Health Science Campus. His attention to detail does not go unnoticed. While at ECU, he has been a part of many projects and roll outs of computers and peripherals within DTSW. He does not hesitate to help anyone and will go above and beyond if needed.
David is married to Mary, who retired from Vidant in 2016 and 2022. Originally from Wisconsin, Dave is a lifelong Packer fan and has attended many games at Lambeau Field. He enjoys watching sports, the beach, and has a passion for showing his classic muscle car.
Riley Bessetti
PhD Candidate, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
BS, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 2020
Concentrations in Molecular Biology and Chemistry
Riley Bessetti is a third-year PhD Candidate in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in Dr. Karen Litwa’s Lab. The Litwa Lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation in brain development and how alterations contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism.
Riley’s research investigates how environmental contaminants affect early synapse development and contribute to neurodevelopmental abnormalities and whether our bodies’ own antioxidant pathways can be leveraged for neuroprotection against their effects. To study this, she uses a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hIPSC) 3D organoid model of fetal brain development, also referred to as mini-brains. The Litwa Lab currently has funding from the NCSU Center for Human Health and the Environment as well as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health for her project. Riley hopes to publish her first paper from this project this summer.
Outside of the lab, Riley enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, friends, and her two dogs Bella and Sadie. She also enjoys cooking and baking and has recently begun sourdough bread making with a starter her father says is nearly 15 years old. So far, her favorite thing to make with her sourdough starter has been vanilla overnight pancakes.
David A. Tulis, Ph.D., F.A.H.A.
Associate Professor, Department of Integrated Physiology and Metabolism
B.S., Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S., Toxicology and Genetics, North Carolina State University
Ph.D., Cardiovascular Sciences, Easter Virginia Medical School & Old Dominion University
Post-doctoral Fellowships: Hematology and Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine; Biomedical Engineering, Rice University
F.A.H.A.: Fellow of the American Heart Association
Dr. Tulis’ research focuses on cellular, genetic, and molecular elements that serve as foundations for cardiac and vascular diseases with the hopes of identifying new targets for therapeutic intervention. Over his career, Dr. Tulis’ research has been widely supported and well received in the scientific community – as Principal Investigator, he has been awarded $4 million in grant funding to support his research efforts. Complementing his research interests, Dr. Tulis is widely engaged in teaching and mentoring high school, undergraduate, graduate, and medical students and basic science and clinical fellows. Dr. Tulis is happily married to Sylvia and is the proud father of four beautiful and amazing children.
Ryan Dickerson
M2, Brody School of Medicine
BS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2021
Biology with a minor in Chemistry
Ryan Dickerson is a M2 Brody Scholar in the 2025 class at BSOM. Ryan has worked hard to elevate his peers through the creation of supplemental educational resources in the form of practice questions, recorded lectures, and mock practical exams. As a scholar in the Medical Education and Teaching Distinction Track, Ryan has recently founded a student-led organization called Student Collaborative Resources for Understanding and Brody Success (SCRUBS), in the hopes of building on the collaborative community of medical education to assist future cohorts in their journey through the didactic years.
As an M1 student, Ryan became a Peer Assisted Learning Session (PALS) facilitator for the Gross Anatomy course and now serves as a tutor for both Gross Anatomy and Medical Neuroscience for current M1 students. He had the opportunity to develop his teaching style while operating as a TA for the DPT and CRNA Gross Anatomy summer course in addition to working with the Brody Rise program to deliver interactive instruction to high school students interested in the medical field this past summer. Ryan is also an active member of the Health Science Leadership Council, Surgical Interest Group, and serves in a leadership role for the Emergency Medicine Interest Group.
In his free time, Ryan enjoys hiking, athletics, board games, and axe throwing.
Melissa Eakes
Director, BSOM Business and Administrative Affairs
BS, East Carolina University, 2008
Melissa Eakes joined the Brody School of Medicine in the Dean’s Office in 2018, after serving ten years on east campus. Now, with a recent promotion to the Director of Business and Administrative Affairs here at BSOM, Melissa strives to work on operational fundamentals and efficiencies. One of her additional duties is space management, a key part of which is to serve as an integral function of the planning of the new medical education building, set to open fall of 2027. She is currently earning her MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Business Development from University of North Carolina – Wilmington.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, experimenting with new recipes, and traveling. Fun note – Melissa is known for her homemade sweet potato country ham biscuits.
Manthi Dissanayake
M2, Brody School of Medicine
BA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2019
Global Studies- Global Health Concentration
Minor in Neuroscience
Manthi Dissanayake is an M2 student at the BSOM. She is a strong advocate for mentorship, guiding underrepresented undergraduate pre-med students on their journey to medical school as a Brody Ambassador. Manthi is also passionate about combating food insecurity in her community—a cause she has been active in since high school.As an NC Albert Schweitzer Fellow, Manthi developed and implemented a nutrition and cooking class series at the Pitt County Council on Aging; the classes address food insecurity amongst the older adult population in eastern NC by teaching participants how to cook nutritious, low-cost recipes and providing them with bags of food weekly.
Manthi is the co-founder of the “Food Is Medicine” club at BSOM and is working with her fellowship partner to increase nutrition education and service opportunities for Brody students.
In addition, Manthi is a champion for women’s health and advocates for the improvement of current practices through clinical research. Manthi started her role as an NTV FPMRS Research Intern at NYU Langone Health this summer and continues her work under the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin Brucker and Dr. Shavy Nagpal. She has collaborated on projects ranging from investigating non-hormonal solutions for treating GSM symptoms to leading the creation of a UTI management study. She also serves as Brody’s Obstetrics & Gynecology Interest Group President.
In her spare time, Manthi enjoys exploring the outdoors, testing new recipes, reading, singing, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Rachel Roper, PhD
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Adjunct Professor, Biology
Adjunct Professor, School of Dental Medicine
BS, Texas A&M University
MS, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
PhD, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
Dr. Roper is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at East Carolina University (ECU) in the Brody School of Medicine. She received her B.S. from Texas A & M University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
She was a recipient of the M.A. Hare Research Excellence Award at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and during her post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health Lab of Viral Disease, she was awarded the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence.
Dr. Roper has studied poxvirus virulence genes, genomics, and vaccines, including oncolytic viruses, and her publications have been cited over 7,000 times. She has been funded by NIH, the NSF, and Foundations.
Dr. Roper is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, and Co-Chair of the Global Virus Network Monkeypox Task Force. She serves on the American Society for Microbiology Inclusive Diversity with Equity, Access, and Accountability (IDEAA) Committee of the Board and is an ECU Woman of Distinction. She has served on numerous national and international grant panels and editorial boards.
Mohammed Dorgham
PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
Mohammed Dorgham is a PhD Candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Dr. Kyle Mansfield’s Lab. The Mansfield Lab focuses on Post Transcriptional Regulation and more specifically the modification known as M6A (N⁶-Methyladenosine).
Mohammed’s research concentrate on M6A’s role in the progression of Breast Cancer via the protein Methyltransferase 3 (METTL3). He has determined that depending on the stage of the Breast cancer, removing METTL3 and therefore removing M6A can have very different effects on the phenotype of the cancer.
The Mansfield Lab was awarded a grant from the American Cancer Society for his project. He hopes to alleviate the controversy in the field in regard to M6A being shown to both suppress and promote different cancers.
When Mohammed is not in the lab, he volunteers with local youth groups at the Mosque in Greenville, North Carolina. He also is a tutor in Chemistry and Biochemistry both locally and nationally that includes in person as well as remote tutoring. He has been tutoring for several years and has a passion for teaching especially students that are underprivileged and disadvantaged.In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, his family, and his friends. He likes to travel, play/watch sports as well as go camping. He has visited over 15 different countries and 25 different states and hopes to visit even more in the future.