Faculty and Staff
J. Alexander Palesty, MD, FACS
Director, Program in Surgery
Dr. Palesty joined the Saint Mary's Health System in 2005, adding his expertise in robotic surgery, minimally invasive surgery and surgical oncology. After receiving his medical degree from Saint George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, Dr. Palesty went on to complete his residency in General Surgery at Saint Mary’s Hospital and subsequently a research fellowship in plastic surgery at Yale University. Thereafter, he spent two years at the prestigious Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, as a fellow in surgical oncology.
He currently serves as the Director of the Residency Training Program in Surgery and is the Director of Surgical Oncology at the Stanley J. Dudrick Department of Surgery at Saint Mary’s Hospital.
Dr. Palesty is the Surgical Director of Clinical Cancer Research at Saint Mary’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He established and serves as director of the Saint Mary’s Surgical Simulation Laboratory, and is the author of over 30 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, and remains involved in the research arena. He also acts as the Surgeon to the Waterbury Police force as well as one of the Surgeons for the Connecticut State Police.
Carina Biggs, MD
Associate Director, Program in Surgery and Director of Trauma
Carina Biggs, M.D., board certified in General Surgery and Trauma/ Surgical Critical Care, serves as the Trauma Medical Director for the Department of Surgery. In this role Dr. Biggs ensures the trauma program meets all regulatory requirements, she oversees Quality and Process Improvement for trauma care. In addition, Dr. Biggs serves as a liaison with local EMS, fire and police departments and will focus on educating the public about safety initiatives.
Dr. Biggs earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Fordham University and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Biggs completed her residency in General Surgery at Saint Mary’s Hospital. Dr. Biggs furthered her medical training as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Gastrointestinal Surgery Research Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine and a Breast Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She also completed a Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Prior to joining Trinity Health Of New England Medical Group as Trauma Medical Director for the Department of Surgery at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Dr. Biggs spent five years at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and ten years as an attending Trauma Surgeon and Surgical Intensivist at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. In addition, she was the Chief of Trauma Surgery and SICU, Trauma Medical Director at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Chief of Trauma and SICU at Wickoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.
As a graduate of this program, Dr. Biggs has a clinical interest in residency medical school education. She is honored to be back at Saint Mary’s in order to continue the work of the Trauma program and to grow the program further through new technologies, increased volume and outreach to the community. She also plans to develop Surgical Critical Care.
M Attebery, DO
Dr. Attebery joins Saint Mary's Hospital Breast Surgical Oncology program. She is a Fellowship Trained Breast Surgical Oncologist, Board Certified General Surgery and Oncoplastic breast surgeon. Her general surgery residency was completed at NYU Langone/Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Fellowship at Bryn Mawr in Philadelphia and Oncoplastics at The Ohio State University. Dr. Attebery was one of the first surgeons to perform Nipple-Sparing Mastectomies on the East Coast when she practiced in Philadelphia. Dr. Attebery was in private practice along the Mainline of Philadelphia with a multi-specialty group of 25 surgeons. While in private practice, she advanced the Breast Program at Paoli Hospital. In 2017 she opened her own private practice in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where she partnered with Bayhealth in Sussex County to start their breast program. While in Delaware, Dr. Attebery became the 3rd surgeon in the country to use the sentimag, magseed and magtracer which obviated needle localization and radionucleotide used in breast surgery. Dr. Attebery is strongly committed to her patients and their care. A vast majority have followed to Connecticut from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, Kentucky, New York in addition to Japan and the Dominican Republic.
Shohan Shetty, MD
Shohan Shetty, M.D. is a board certified surgeon specializing in advanced laparoscopy and other minimally invasive surgical techniques, including all forms of general and weight-loss/bariatric surgery.
Dr. Shetty attended medical school in India and, after earning his medical degree, trained in the United Kingdom prior to starting residency in general surgery at Saint Mary’s Hospital. During his residency, Dr. Shetty completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale School of Medicine in surgical education and simulation training.
After completing his residency, Dr. Shetty went on pursue a fellowship in Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and has successfully obtained the ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) certification of training. He serves as an active member of ACS (American College of Surgeons), ASMBS and the APDS (Association of Program Directors in Surgery). Dr. Shetty has authored numerous peer reviewed journal articles, award winning presentations at national meetings.
Dr. Shetty is committed to researching the root causes of obesity and bringing awareness to the short and long-term benefits of weight loss surgery that can impact health in particular and quality of life in general.
Dr. Shady Macaron
Dr. Shady Macaron is a board-certified general surgeon specializing in bariatric and robotic-assisted surgical procedures. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and medical degree from the American University of Beirut. Dr. Macaron completed his residency in general surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, Waterbury Hospital Health System and Saint Mary’s Hospital, and also completed a fellowship in laparo-endoscopic surgery at Danbury Hospital.
Stefan S. Kachala, MD, FACS
Dr. Kachala joined the medical staff at Saint Mary’s Hospital in May 2022. He obtained his medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University. His clinical training began as a resident in general surgery at New York Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Medical Center. He completed his training in Cardiothoracic Surgery as a fellow of The Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, OH. To develop his research interests he spent 2 years at the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute in the Clinical Research Training Program. In addition, he completed a Thoracic Surgery Research Fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is an expert in the application of robotics for Lung, Esophageal, airway and mediastinal Surgery. He also employs Robotic Bronchoscopy for the early detection of lung cancer.
Grace Lee, MD
Dr. Lee is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and fellowship-trained in comprehensive endocrine surgery. Dr. Lee obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She then completed a residency in general surgery and a research fellowship in surgical oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, followed by a comprehensive endocrine surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Prior to joining Trinity Health Of New England Medical Group, Department of Surgery, Dr. Lee was an endocrine surgeon and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine. She was also an endocrine surgery fellowship director and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Tulane University School of Medicine. She is excited to bring her expertise in minimally invasive surgery and new treatment techniques such as radiofrequency ablation to the training program.
Beth A. Sieling, MD, FACS
Dr. Sieling is a board-certified general surgeon who earned her medical degree from East Carolina University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in general surgery at Abington Memorial Hospital in suburban Philadelphia, as well as a Breast Surgery Fellowship under the tutelage of nationally-renowned experts at The Comprehensive Breast Center in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Dr. Sieling is skilled in the most advanced technologies available for the diagnosis and treatment of breast disease, including minimally invasive stereotactic and ultrasound-guided core breast biopsies. She also performs skin- and nipple-sparing mastectomy, placement of accelerated partial breast irradiation catheters, and genetic counseling and testing for patients at risk for BRCA gene mutations.
Nicole Sookhan, MD, FRCS, FACS
Nicole Sookhan, MD, FRCS, FACS, is a board-certified general surgeon specializing in all aspects of women’s breast health. Dr. Sookhan received her medical degree from the University of the West Indies. She completed her surgical training in the United Kingdom and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. She completed a research fellowship at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Mansel, an internationally known expert in breast surgery. Dr. Sookhan also completed a residency program in general surgery at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York and a Multidisciplinary Breast Surgery Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.
A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Dr. Sookhan is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and the American Society of Breast Disease. Her areas of expertise include nipple sparing and skin sparing mastectomies and oncoplastic techniques in breast surgery. Dr. Sookhan practice, The Breast & Oncology Center of Prospect, is an affiliate of Saint Mary’s Hospital. She is the Wellness Director for Saint Mary’s Surgical Residency Training Program and serves as the Cancer Liaison Physician for the Saint Mary’s Hospital Cancer Committee.
Abdulmasih Zarif, MD, FACS
Dr. Abdulmasih Zarif is the Section Chief for General Surgery. Dr. Zarif received his medical degree from Damascus University School of Medicine. He completed a surgical internship at Saint Francis Hospital and the University of Connecticut. Dr. Zarif completed his general surgery residency training at the University of Connecticut, Saint Mary’s Hospital and Yale University with a fellowship in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Board certified in general surgery, he has been a member of the Saint Mary’s Hospital medical staff since 1997. Dr. Zarif’s areas of clinical interest include minimally invasive, robotic and emergency surgery. He was honored with teaching awards for his work with the surgical residency program in 1996 and 2012. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Staff Bios
Gary Hodge
Gary Hodge is the Program Coordinator for the Surgical Residency Program at Saint Mary’s Hospital and the Administrator of the Department of Surgery. He brings years of experience of professionalism, integrity, and innovation to this leadership role from a broad swathe of work experience, most notably the military and manufacturing fields, even prior to working at the hospital. He joined us in Graduate Medical Education, in particular the training of surgical residents in late June of 2022. Although new to GME and the Surgical Residency Program, Gary has been part of the institution for almost two decades. He has been engaged in patient care areas in several position, to include Phlebotomy, Lead Clerical Coordinator, EPIC go-live support specialist (traveling) for TogetherCare, and Extended Care Facility Transfer Coordinator (Case Management). The largest chunk of time being spent as the Lead Clerical Coordinator (15 years) on the inpatient surgical unit, and spending much of that time working with and guiding the surgical residents in the clinical setting. Gary has always brought his positive energy and enthusiasm to interacting and coaching the Surgical Residents, which has always given him a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Gary is now challenging himself to guide those same surgical residents in the academic setting with the same energy and enthusiasm.
Kathie Matthews
Kathie Matthews is the Assistant Program Coordinator for the Surgical Residency Program and the Medical Student Clerkship Coordinator. A valuable resource for resident physicians, medical students, and other hospital personnel, she is the surgery liaison with the medical schools from which we accept students. Kathie always goes “above and beyond the call of duty” and played an integral part in the establishment and maintenance of the state-of-the-art Department’s Surgical Simulation Laboratory.
Roxanne Tapley
Roxanne Tapley is the Trauma Program Manager in the Department of Surgery for our American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) Level II Center. Roxanne is a talented nurse and administrator who is highly proficient in organizing and promoting physician and departmental relations. Prior to our recruitment of Roxanne to the Department of Surgery, she was initially a staff nurse in the Emergency Department, then patient flow manager and subsequently the house shift supervisor. Roxanne is a certified Course Director for Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC) which is recognized both nationally and internationally, and remains heavily involved with continuing education for not only staff physicians, but residents, nurses and medical students. She received her Nursing Degree from Quinnipiac University, and her BSN from Western Connecticut State University, graduating Magna Cum Laude.
