Program Leadership

Mirela Feurdean MD, MACP

Dr. Feurdean earned her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Gr. T. Popa,” Iasi, Romania, in 1995. She completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the same institution before moving to the US in 2000 where she furthered her education with residency in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Feurdean is a seasoned clinician educator and primary care physician. Her work over the past two decades has spanned community outreach and patient care delivery for the underserved, graduate medical education in both inpatient and outpatient areas, clinical research and medical education. She served as program director for the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Internal Medicine residency program for many years and is the co-founder of the combined Internal Medicine-Preventive Medicine residency. Her work has received federal grant support and was featured at national meetings and in specialty journals. In 2022, she received the Department of Medicine Award for Innovations in Medical Education. In 2024, she was awarded Mastership of the American College of Physicians.

Pauline Thomas, MD

Polly Thomas is an enthusiastic supporter of training physicians to apply epidemiologic and public health principles and findings to policy development and program evaluation. A graduate from Yale Medical School, she is currently Professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), Department of Medicine and also Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology of the Rutgers School of Public Health. She has been with the NJMS Residency in public Health and Preventive Medicine (PH/GPM) since it was formed in 2010 and has been Program Director since 2014. In 2021 she partnered with Dr. Mirela Feurdean to create a 4-year training program combining Internal Medicine and PH/GPM (IM/PM), and now serves as Associate Program Director for IM/PM. Previously she spent 23 years at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene where she participated in defining surveillance criteria for pediatric HIV and in monitoring the favorable downward trends in this condition following the introduction after 1994 of effective prophylactic intervention. As Assistant Commissioner of Surveillance she oversaw the development of the World Trade Center Health Registry, to study the health effects of over 70,000 persons including 3,200 children exposed to the WTC disaster of 9/11. She is active with environmental health issues with the New Jersey Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2011 and 2013 she was a member of two Institute of Medicine committees: Adverse Effects of Vaccines (2009-2011) and Assessment of Studies of Health Outcomes Related to the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule (2012-2013). Dr Thomas trained in epidemiology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention EIS Program.