Meet the Medical Staff

Dr. Leonard Berkowitz, MD leads the medical team at the PATH Center. He graduated from medical school in 1977 from SUNY Downstate and has been Board Certified in Internal Medicine since 1980. He has been caring for HIV-positive patients since 1982 and for each of the past 11 years has been named one of the “Best Doctors in New York City” by New York Magazine.

Dr. Anjali Bakshi, MD attended medical school at the Government Medical College GAMMU in India and completed her residency at Long Island College Hospital in 2005. She completed a fellowship at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn and has been with The Brooklyn Hospital Center as an Infectious Disease physician since 2007. Dr. Bakshi finds a great deal of hope when it comes to the treatment of HIV and AIDS and loves the progress the treatment has made over the past 20 years.

Roselyne Chery, MD attended medical school in Puebla Pue. Mexico at Universidad Autonoma De Puebla and held a medical externship with Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. She took part in the Family Practice Residency Program with Catholic Medical Center in Jamaica, New York in addition to the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at Christiana Care Health Systems in Wilmington Delaware. Dr. Chery has been working with HIV/AIDS patients since joining The PATH Center in 2001. She speaks Creole, English, French, and Spanish.

Yvonne Kingon CPNP is the pediatric nurse practitioner with the PATH Center. She received both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to working at PATH, Yvonne held a research position with the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and has been working in the field of HIV care for the past eight years. She been with the PATH Center, providing care to pediatric HIV-positive patients, since 2003.

Akos Kovacs, MD, attended medical school in Budapest Hungary at Semmelweis Medical School. He was a medical resident at New York Downtown Hospital and a senior resident at St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey. Additionally he was an Infectious Disease Fellow at NYU Medical Center and has been with The Brooklyn Hospital Center since 1996.

Lillian Venezia, ANP completed her bachelor of science in Nursing from Long Island University in 1981 and her Masters of Arts in Nursing from New York University in 1981 She has been licensed and certified as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner for the past 10 years. Lillian has been working with PATH since 2001 and has been working with HIV-positive patients since the epidemic began in 1981. In addition to her work at PATH, Lillian is the Director of the HIV program at Metropolitan Jewish Home Care.

Angela Campbell, RN, is the nurse clinician with the PATH Center. She graduated from Long Island University and has worked as a nurse for the past 18 years. Prior to working at PATH, Angela ran the inpatient department for HIV patients at Caledonian Hospital and has been the nurse clinician since 1998 at the PATH Center.

Gregory Celestin, PA, graduated from the Catholic Medical Center Physician Program. He has been working at the PATH Center since his completion of the Nicholas A. Rango HIV Clinical Scholars Program in 2001. His interests include HIV/AIDS as well as medicine in developing nations. Additionally, Greg is fluent in Creole.

Lisa Russak, NP, is the PATH Center's director of clinical services. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she worked in the garment industry for 15 years before becoming a nurse practitioner. She graduated from Columbia University with her masters in Nursing in 2000 and specializes in HIV care with a focus on addictive behaviors. Prior to joining the PATH Center in late 2008, Lisa had cared for HIV/AIDS patients at St. Vincent’s Midtown Hospital and at Lenox Hill Hospital.

PSYCHOSOCIAL STAFF

Karen Thompson, LCSW, Director, PATH Family Program

Carolyn Farhie, LCSW, Social Work Manager

Ralph Mernit, LCSW, Substance Use Counselor

Lauren Sachs, LMSW, Family Mental Health Coordinator