Shepherd Center Doctors & Medical Staff

David F. Apple, Jr., M.D., served as medical director of Shepherd Center since the hospital's inception in 1975 until 2005, and now holds the position of medical director emeritus. Read More

Nazia Bandukwala, D.O., is a consulting physician in Shepherd Center’s Urology Clinic. She is board certified in urology and received her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Read More

Angela Beninga, D.O., joined Shepherd Center in 2013. She came to Shepherd from the University of Cincinnati’s Drake Center, where she served as director of spinal cord injury medicine and as an assistant professor since 2010. Read More

ChiChi Berhane, M.D., MBA, is a plastic surgeon who joined the medical staff of Shepherd Center in August 2013. He specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. Read More

Gerald Bilsky, M.D., is a staff physiatrist for Shepherd Center's Spinal Cord Injury Program and Brain Injury Inpatient Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Bilsky graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1984. He completed his post-graduate residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Rochester in 1989. Read More

Brock Bowman, M.D., is the associate medical director of Shepherd Center and medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at Shepherd Center. Read More

Guy Buckle, M.D., MPH, joined the Andrew C. Carlos MS Institute at Shepherd Center as the director of neuroimaging research in 2014. He comes to Shepherd Center following nearly 20 years at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Read More

Luther Burse, M.D., of Consultative Gastroenterology of Atlanta is a consulting physician on the Shepherd Center medical team. He is dual-board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Read More

Wes Chay, M.D., joined Shepherd Center in 2017 and leads two interdisciplinary teams in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit. Dr. Chay came to Shepherd from MossRehab in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, where he served as the clinical director of the Inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of Physical Medicine at Rehabilitation. Read More

Anna Choo Elmers, M.D., J.D., first worked at Shepherd Center as an Emory University resident in 2006. She officially joined as a staff physiatrist in July 2009 in the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Programs. Read More

Dr. Couk joined Shepherd Center in 2016 as an infectious diseases consulting physician. Read More

Andrew Dennison, M.D., joined Shepherd Center’s medical staff in July 2011 as a staff physiatrist treating patients with brain injury and stroke. He is now the medical director of the Acquired Brain Injury Program. Read More

David DeRuyter, M.D., is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has been in private practice with Atlanta Pulmonary Associates since 1992. Read More

Dr. Dockery’s Medical Background... Read More

Dr. Payal Fadia joined Shepherd Center as a physiatrist in Shepherd’s Acquired Brain Injury and Neurospecialty units in 2008. Read More

Bryce T. Gillespie, M.D., sees patients in Shepherd Center’s Upper Extremity Clinic. He is a medical staff member of the Hand & Upper Extremity Center of Georgia, PC, in Atlanta. Read More

Russell Gore, M.D., is the medical director of vestibular neurology and joined the medical staff of Shepherd Center in December 2015. He is also the medical director of Shepherd Center's SHARE Military Initiative and the director of the Complex Concussion Clinic. Read More

Gary R. Gropper, M.D., is a consulting neurosurgeon at Shepherd Center. He earned his medical degree from The University of Tennessee and completed his neurosurgical residency at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 1985. Read More

Thomas Guffin, M.D., of Buckhead ENT is a consulting physician at Shepherd Center. Dr. Guffin attended Emory University, where he received his medical degree, and completed his internship in general surgery at same university. Read More

Kaveh Khajavi, M.D., is the medical director of neurosurgical services at Shepherd Center. He also sees patients at Georgia Spine & Neurosurgery Center, a practice he founded in 2002. Read More

Donald Peck Leslie, M.D., is the medical director emeritus of Shepherd Center and a member of the Shepherd Center Board of Directors and a Shepherd Center Foundation Trustee. He served as medical director of Shepherd Center from 2004 to 2017. Read More

James G. Liadis, M.D., joined the hospital’s medical staff on July 16, 2018. He treats patients in the Shepherd Spine and Pain Institute. Read More

John Lin, M.D., is a staff physiatrist in the Spinal Cord Injury Program at Shepherd Center and director of the SCI residency program. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, spinal cord injury medicine and internal medicine. Read More

Sherrill Loring, M.D., is a neurologist at the Andrew C. Carlos Multiple Sclerosis Institute at Shepherd Center. Read More

Gregory C. Mitchell, M.D., is a urologic surgeon who specializes in adult urology and treats patients ages eighteen and older. He is skilled in robotic treatments for prostate, bladder and kidney... Read More

Douglas Murray, M.D., is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with a specialty in shoulder and elbow reconstruction and arthroscopy, general orthopaedic surgery and fractures. Read More

Herndon Murray, M.D., is the medical director of orthopaedics at Shepherd Center and an orthopaedic consultant. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Read More

Allan Peljovich, M.D., MPH, is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with a specialty in hand and upper-extremity surgery. Read More

Nathan Pursifull, M.D., of Piedmont Physicians Group is a consulting urologist at Shepherd Center. He is board certified in urology and received his medical degree from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in 2006. Read More

Gary C. Richter, M.D., of Consultative Gastroenterology of Atlanta is a consulting physician on the Shepherd Center medical team. Read More

Matthew Sand, M.D., is a consulting urologist in Shepherd Center’s Urology Clinic. He earned his medical degree from the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine where he graduated with Honors. He completed his surgical internship and residency in urology at New York University Medical Center. Read More

Erik Shaw, D.O., is an interventional pain management specialist and medical director of the Shepherd Spine and Pain Institute. Dr. Shaw is double board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine. Read More

Rhonda Taubin, M.D., is a staff physiatrist in the Shepherd Center Outpatient Multispecialty Clinic. She is a graduate of Emory University School of Medicine and attended Sophie Newcomb of Tulane University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Read More

Ben Thrower, M.D., is the medical director of the MS Institute at Shepherd Center. He previously served as the medical director of the Holy Family Multiple Sclerosis Institute in Spokane, Wash. Read More

John Tumeh, M.D., of Foundation Psychiatry, P.C., is a consulting psychiatrist at Shepherd Center. Dr. Tumeh graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 2009 and completed a residency at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Read More

Ford Vox, M.D., is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician with additional subspecialty board certification in brain injury medicine. He joined Shepherd Center’s medical staff in 2012 as a staff physiatrist in the Brain Injury Program. Read More

Michael Yochelson, M.D., MBA, is the chief medical officer at Shepherd Center. He is a board-certified neurologist and physiatrist who has also served in an academic capacity as a professor and vice chair of clinical affairs in the department of rehabilitation medicine and professor of clinical neurology at Georgetown University. Read More