The medical school is pleased to welcome five new faculty members to its departments of Biomedical Sciences and Psychiatry.
Ransome Eke, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Eke earned his medical degree from the University of Benin School of Medicine in Nigeria and followed that milestone with a master's degree in Public Health from Tulane University and the completion of his family medicine residency training.
Dr. Eke obtained his PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics and environmental health from the University of Memphis School of Public Health. Most recently, he served a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University in South Carolina.
Timothy Garrow, PhD, also has joined the ranks of WMed's Department of Biomedical Sciences as a professor and director of the medical school's Molecular Foundations of Medicine and Metabolic Foundations of Medicine courses. Dr. Garrow obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Davis and earned his PhD degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Before coming to WMed, Dr. Garrow worked for 11 years as a professor of Nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additionally, he served as associate head for Undergraduate Programs for the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Dr. Garrow's research has focused on sulfur amino acid and one carbon metabolism and he has been published in numerous medical journals and received national recognition as an outstanding researcher and teacher.
In addition to his undergraduate degree and PhD, Dr. Garrow obtained master's degrees from UC-Davis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Prentiss Jones Jr., PhD, is joining Drs. Eke and Garrow in the Department of Biomedical Sciences as an associate professor and director of Clinical and Forensic Toxicology. Dr. Jones obtained his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University and earned his PhD from Western Michigan University.
Dr. Jones' career spans 35 years, the majority of which he spent working in several roles at The Medical Foundation in South Bend, Indiana. He was the foundation's director of Hospital Laboratory Operations before coming to WMed. Dr. Jones' has completed research in toxicology and biological sciences and has been published numerous times, and served as the principal investigator on several research studies.
In addition to his undergraduate degree and PhD, Dr. Jones obtained a master's degree from Purdue 
University.
Rebecca Sherwood, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Sherwood earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.
Later, she completed her psychiatry residency at MSU/KCMS, the predecessor to WMed. Dr. Sherwood, who is board certified in psychiatry, has served as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry several times previously. Most recently, she served as a psychiatrist at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services.
Elmira Yessengaliyeva, MD, also has joined the Department of Psychiatry as an assistant professor. Dr. Yessengaliyeva obtained her medical degree from Kazakh National Medical University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
After completing her psychiatry residency at WMed in 2015, Dr. Yessengaliyeva went on to a geriatric psychiatry fellowship at Stanford University. She is board certified in psychiatry.