Meet Our Faculty
Manisha Santosh Parulekar, M.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Division Chief, Geriatrics; Hackensack University Medical Center, Geriatrics
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Manisha Parulekar, division chief for geriatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center and program director for the geriatrics fellowship/New Jersey Medical school/Rutgers is board-certified in geriatrics, internal medicine and hospice and palliative care. Her goal is to help older adults age successfully with focus on longevity, maximizing independence and quality of life. She offers patient-centered, holistic, evidence-based care for all acute and chronic conditions for older adults with emphasis on screening, prevention and lifestyle changes. Her clinical interests include brain health and memory loss.
Arunima Sarkar, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center; NYU Langone Medical Center, Geriatrics
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Sarkar is board-certified in geriatrics, internal medicine and hospice and palliative care. She specializes in geriatrics and provides services and treatment for patients’ ages 65 and up. Her goal is to help older adults manage the aging process — treating acute and chronic medical conditions while helping patients maximize their independence and quality of life. Her care ranges from wellness and prevention, to consultation and ongoing primary care, to specialized hospital and hospice care. Her interests include palliative care, end of life care and symptom management.
Owen Deland, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: Rutgers NJMS (Internal Medicine); Hackensack University Medical Center (Geriatrics)
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr Deland’s areas of expertise include inpatient geriatric consultative services, management of confusion disorders and delirium, and prevention of falls. He works closely with the surgical services to provide comprehensive care for the elderly, and has a specialty clinic devoted to addressing strength, balance, and fall prevention in the setting of multiple medical conditions. As assistant program director he enjoys teaching fellows, residents, and medical students and regularly provides lectures on topics in geriatrics.
Yakov Iofel, M.D.Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: NYU Medical Center/New York Presbyterian - Weill Cornell Medical Center
Research/Clinical Interests: Inpatient Geriatrics consultation. He works with multiple subspecialty teams in hospital in preventing and managing delirium in geriatric patients. He loves teaching and providing lectures to medical students, medical residents and fellows. He is also physician advisor for the Pressure ulcer committee, he works with the wound care team.
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine
Residency/Fellowship: St. Peter’s Hospital, NJ (Internal Medicine), NYU Langone Medical Center (Geriatrics)
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Kolessa is double board-certified - in internal and geriatric medicine. He possesses expertise in addressing unique health needs of the elderly, such as chronic diseases, skin ailments, cognitive loss, adverse effects of medications, immobility and balance issues. Of a particular clinical interest, Dr. Kolessa specializes in evaluation and treatment of nutritional deficiencies that can come with “golden years” and often get overlooked. Dr. Kolessa follows his patient in an office and sub-acute rehabilitation settings and works with his patients to combat frailty and to maintain the highest quality of life.
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: Yale-New Haven Hospital (Internal Medicine, Geriatrics), Mt. Sinai Hospital (Hospice & Palliative Medicine)
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Omer has a passion for goal concordant care. In the realm of geriatrics where multiple chronic conditions dominate, this translates to mapping out older adults’ priorities which become the cornerstones of their medical care. She strives to apply this principle in her day-to-day care of patients from the primary care office, to hospital consults, to end-of-life care plans. In addition, she enjoys leading small group sessions at the medical school as part of the PPPC course.
Sakshi Jain, M.D.Staff Physician, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago (Internal Medicine); Case Western Reserve University/ University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (Geriatrics)
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Jain is a patient oriented Internal Medicine and Geriatric physician with experience providing culturally sensitive and comprehensive preventative healthcare services to older adults. She provides empathetic and holistic medical care with the goal to maximize functioning and improve quality of life in the hospital, primary care office and assisted living facility settings.
Kamal Wagle, M.D., MPH, CMD, DipABLM, AGSF.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Attending physician, Hackensack University Medical Center, Geriatrics
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Kamal Wagle is a geriatrician with board certification in family medicine, geriatrics and lifestyle medicine. His area of focus is in using evidence based practices and interventions for healthy and successful aging, particularly in improving brain health. He is also a scholar with interest in innovation and implementation science.
Preliminary Appointment, Department of Medicine, Hackensack University School of Medicine, Geriatrics
Residency/Fellowship: MedStar Health - Georgetown/Washington Hospital Center Internal Medicine Residency, NYU Langone Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
Research/Clinical Interests: Dr. Cho is interested in understanding the complexities of the U.S. healthcare system and is committed to delivering care that is sincere, effective, and efficient, while aligning with patients' goals, even in the face of limited resources. His aim is to empower patients to take ownership of their health and to actively engage them in their journey through aging.