The medical school has welcomed three new faculty members in its departments of Medicine and Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
Natalie Behrle, MD, MS, is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Behrle comes to WMed following three years as a fellow in Pediatric Cardiology at Ward Family Heart Center Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She has served as an administrative fellow there since 2018.
Dr. Behrle is an alumnus of Olivet College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Biology in 2007. She went on to receive a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Toledo in 2009. Dr. Behrle earned her medical degree from the University of Toledo in 2013, She completed her residency in pediatrics at University of Missouri Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia Missouri in 2016, where she served as chief resident in her final year of training.
Benjamin Avner, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine specializing in infectious diseases. Dr. Avner in an alumnus of Northwestern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2003. He went on to earn his MD and PhD from University of Illinois College of Medicine in 2012, then completed a residency in internal medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals in 2015.
Dr. Avner comes to WMed from an Infectious Diseases fellowship at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Dr. Avner holds physician licenses in Iowa and Wisconsin and is board certified in Infectious Disease through the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Mahesh Shrestha, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Shrestha comes to WMed after working for two years as a general pediatrician at Trinity Regional Medical Center’s Unitypoint Clinic. Dr. Shrestha completed a residency in Pediatrics at Kanti Children’s Hospital in Nepal from 2008 to 2011 and completed a second pediatric residency from 2014 to 2017 at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York. He also worked as a lecturer in the Department of Pediatrics at Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital from 2011 to 2014.
Dr. Shrestha is a 2005 graduate of the Universal College of Medical Sciences in Bhairahawa, Nepal. He is a 2017 fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.