Team NY Members
Medhat Allam, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Dr. Medhat Allam is a board certified general and bariatric surgeon. He is the chairman and cofounder of Operation International. He is the previous chief of surgery at Southampton hospital in New York and the director of the Hampton Center for Weight Loss Surgery. Dr. Allam has traveled to tens of countries in Africa, Asia and South and Central America and operated on hundreds of patients worldwide. He was born in Egypt where he obtained his medical degree before immigrating to the United States. Dr. Allam published extensively in the field of general and advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Ravi Kothuru, MD., FACS
Ravi Kothuru is the President and a co-founder of Operation International. He is a Fellow of American College of Surgeons and Board Certified in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery. He graduated from Guntur Medical College, Andhra Pradesh, India in 1992. He completed his General Surgery residency from Brookdale Hospital, Brooklyn, NY in 2000 and his Cardio-thoracic Surgery fellowship from SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, NY in 2002. He is currently Chief of Division of Thoracic Surgery and General Surgery Residency Program Director at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY and an attending physician in Thoracic surgery at Jamaica Hospital, Queens and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY. He specializes in Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery including Laparoscopic Foregut surgery.
Robert Mineo, CRNA, MS
Bob recieved his BS from SUNY Stonybrook and MS from NY Medical College in 1986. He is one of the founding members of ISMS. A Nurse Anesthetist at Southampton Hospital in New York for the past 15 years, he enjoys living on eastern Long Island with his wife, two teenage sons, and four labrador retrievers.
Michael Sherwood, CRNA
Born and raised on Staten Island, NY. Professional education: Fordham University, Bronx, NY – B.S. Biology; St. Vincent’s School of Nursing, Staten Island, NY – RN; New York Medical College, Metropolitan Hospital, New York, School of Nurse Anesthesia – CRNA. Michael have worked happily for nearly 30 years as a CRNA in the New York metro area and upstate New York. He currently lives in Sullivan County, NY with his wife and two children and work for Ramapo Anesthesia Associates at Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, NY. For over 10 years, long before it was formally incorporated, Michael have been a volunteer and traveled with the ISMS group.
Christopher Torres
Christopher Torres has been a Certified Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) since 2006. He received his RN at Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens in 1996. Over the next 10 years he worked in the ICU, PACU and Operating Room. In 2002 he joined ISMS and went on his first mission to Vietnam. He completed his training in 2006 as a CRNA and has worked in multiple specialties, including Cardiac, Neurosurgical, Obstetrics and Pediatric surgeries. He currently lives in Danville, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.
Vito Alamia Jr MD FACOG
Vito Alamia went on his first trip in 2003 to Brazil and has been an active member since. He did his medical training at SUNY Stonybrook as well as his Ob/Gyn residence. He is board certified in Ob/Gyn. He moved Southampton in 2000 and joined Hampton Gyn and Ob where he has practiced since. He is a founding partner and board member of Women’s Health Professional since 2005. He is currently chairman of Ob/Gyn at Southampton hospital and has an interest in high risk obstetrics, incontinence and minimally invasive surgery. He is married and has 4 great children.
Geri A. Schmitt, MD, FACOG
Board Certified in obstetrics and gynecology and currently practicing at East End Women’s Heathcare, PC in Hampton Bays, NY. She received her BS in Biology at SUNY StonyBrook in 1990, and her medical degree from SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse in 1994. Dr. Schmitt did her internship and residency training at Baystate Medical Center. Following, she served as clinical instructor for Tufts University Medical School. She relocated to back New York and currently practices gynecology at Southampton Hospital. Specializing is women’s healthcare, minimally invasive surgery, and adolescent gynecology. She lives with her husband and two great kids and has been so blessed to be part of the ISMS Team NY since 2008.
Patty Mitchell
Received her Associates Degree from Queensborough College then her BSN in 1996 from CW Post in New York. She worked in the Emergency Department for 33 years and is currently in the Operating room at Southampton Hospital. Her first mission was Nepal 2004 and has since gone to Hati, Equador and Africa.”It has been a rewarding experience and an honor working with such a skillfull team.”
Erin Grizmer
Graduated with a BSN in nursing from the University of Louisiana in 1993. She has worked the majority of her career in the intensive care unit and the post anesthesia unit at Southampton Hospital.
She accompanied I.S.M.S. to Ecuador in 2012 and found it to be one of the most unbelievable trips she had ever participated in.
“Taking care of people in need is so rewarding but, to do it with such a brilliant dynamic team – that is amazing!”
Dr. Mehul Mehta
Dr. Mehul Mehta is the president of Team MI. Dr. Mehta was raised in Kenya. He went to school in London, England, and finished his residency in General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Hand Surgery in the United States. He is currently practicing Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery in the suburbs of Detroit and is on the faculty at Wayne State University and Oakland University. He has performed 20 missions around the world with various organizations but, since 2009, has been exclusively with Operation International's New York Team. In 2013, he started a new chapter of International Operation International, the Michigan Chapter, along with his wife, Claire. He now does two missions every year with Team New York and his Michigan Team. His interests include traveling, playing squash, skiing, and flying.