Combined Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Residency Training Program

Christopher L. Sweeney, M.D.

Program Director, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Training Program
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine

Dr. Chris Sweeney attended Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, graduating in 1995.  He remained at Southern Illinois University and Affiliated Hospitals completing a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency in 1999.  Following his residency training, Dr. Sweeney served as chief resident in the Department of Internal Medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.  He has held faculty positions at Michigan State University-Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies and Creighton University.  At Creighton University he was the associate program director for the combined Internal Medicine-Pediatric residency program.  In 2008, he joined U of L as the Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency program director.

Dr. Sweeney’s clinical and research interests include resident education, international health, musculoskeletal and sports medicine, preventative medicine and alternative healthcare.   He is married to Dr. Brooke Sweeney, a Med/Peds physician.  They have two daughters, Avelin and Mollie.  Dr. Sweeney’s recreational interests include fishing, gardening, and eating Brooke’s cooking.  He is also a novice snow skier.  

Brooke Sweeney, M.D.  

Assistant Clinical Professor for Medicine and Pediatrics

Dr. Brooke Sweeney accompanied her husband, Dr. Chris Sweeney, to University of Louisville. Together they provide a powerful aspect of teamwork to the department.  She is the Ambulatory Clinic Curriculum Coordinator for the program.  She is the Director of Healthy for Life!, a multidisciplinary resource for overweight children.  She is also  a member of the Obesity Consultant Group to the Obesity Leadership Workgroup of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

 She received a Bachelors of Science Degree from Creighton University, completed medical school at Michigan State University, and completed residency at Michigan State University. Her areas of interest are Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, treatment of pediatric obesity, adolescent medicine, healthy lifestyles and preventative medicine, diabetes, women's health, and Integrative Medicine. 

Amy Holthouser, M.D.  

Associate Medicine Clerkship Director  

Dr. Holthouser is a native of Louisville who completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, 1991-1995. She attended the University of Louisville for her Postgraduate Training, 1995-1997. Dr. Holthouser graduated from The University of Louisville School of Medicine in 2002, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the same institution in 2006. She subsequently joined faculty at U of L in 2006. Her academic responsibilities include directing the Interdisciplinary Clinical Cases course for first and second year medical students and assisting with the Internal Medicine Clerkship for third and fourth year students, as well as clinical patient care and bedside teaching for residents and students at Kosair Children's Hospital and the University Hospital on the U of L Health Science campus. Educational honors include: The Excellence in Clinical Education Award as a resident in 2003 and 2004, election to AOA as one of three residents out of a campus of 600 candidates by the medical school class of 2005, The Internal Medicine Program Professionalism Award given by consensus of her fellow residents in 2006, and winning the Gender Equity Award from the American Medical Student Association in 2007.

Dr. Holthouser's area of primary interest is student education, with a special interest in forging links between basic science knowledge and the clinical care of patients. She is married to Tom Pierce, a freelance writer. She has a stepson Ian  and two daughters, Cady and Evie. Areas of interest outside of the medical field include cooking, gardening, home improvement, real estate, and fiction reading.

Charlene K. Mitchell, M.D., M.S.P.H.  

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics

Dr. Mitchell graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, completing her Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatric Residency there in 1988. She earned her MSPH in Decision Science at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences in May 2004. She joined the faculty at UofL in 1989 and currently holds the academic title of Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Dr. Mitchell has held several administrative teaching positions and also served as the Program Director for the UofL Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatric Residency Program from 1989 to 2003. Her clinical teaching responsibilities include precepting medical students, pediatric and medicine/pediatric residents in the Children & Youth Pediatric and Ambulatory Internal Medicine clinics. Dr. Mitchell is also Normal Newborn attending at the University of Louisville Hospital. She is actively involved in research and recently served as co-investigator for a three-year (completed in April 2007) study on the Louisville Integrated Primary Care Training Program for the Department of Health and Human Services Administration’s Graduate Psychology Education Program.

University of Louisville Medicine/Pediatrics Trained Subspecialists

Keith Cross, M.D.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine  

Dr. Keith Cross attended Stanford University where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian, and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He then worked as a project manager at a large consulting company. After taking night classes to become an EMT, he found he liked medicine, quit his consulting job, and entered medical school at the University of California in San Diego. He graduated in 2003, and completed a combined Internal Medicine & Pediatrics residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2007 and a fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Kosair Children’s Hospital in 2010. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville Medical School. His research interests include ED process and quality improvement, application of new technologies (particularly ultrasound), asthma care, pain management, and disaster management.

Gerald Lee, M.D.

Allergy/Immunology

Dr. Gerald Lee graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and then completed his combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at Saint Vincent's Hospital Manhattan in 2007. He stayed one more year to complete a chief residency in Pediatrics before starting a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Lee joined the faculty at the University of Louisville in 2011 in the Department of Pediatrics as the first full time allergist for the university. Dr. Lee's clinical responsibilities include managing the University Allergy clinic as well as staffing the Immunodeficiency clinic along with the Infectious Disease section. His primary academic interest is medical education: he is currently enrolled at the University of Louisville in a Masters of Education in Community Health and is a member of the continuing medical education committee for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Outside of work, Dr. Lee enjoys fiddling with gadgets and computers as well as running marathons with his wife, Jennifer.

Adrian O’Hagan, M.D.

Pediatric Pulmonology

Dr. O'Hagan graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. After his Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatric Residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, he completed a Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship at Washington University in 2000. He joined the University of Louisville in 2010. Although he spends the majority of his time working in pediatrics, he is also active in the adult Cystic Fibrosis clinic. His main interests include all aspects of adult and pediatric cystic fibrosis, including newborn screening and transition of these patients to adulthood.

Michael Ruppe, M.D.

Pediatric Critical Care

Dr. Michael Ruppe graduated from the University of Toledo College of Medicine and then completed his combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at the University Hospitals of Cleveland/Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in 2006. He went on to complete a Pediatric Critical Care Medicine fellowship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. With a focus in pediatric Cardiothoracic Critical Care, Dr. Ruppe came to U of L in 2009 and assumed a leadership role as the Medical Director of Cardiac Critical Care Services within the division of Pediatric Critical Care at Kosair Children's Hospital. Dr. Ruppe's clinical interests include cardiac intensive care and transplantation medicine. He enjoys teaching a variety of students, residents, and fellows and his current research is focused on the evolving uses for bedside ultrasound in critical care. He is married to Vanessa Ruppe who is a nurse practitioner and epilepsy surgery specialist in the division of pediatric neurology. They have two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. Dr. Ruppe is an aspiring marathon runner and enjoys landscaping and playing with his kids and goldendoodle named Lollipop.

Thomas Stephen, M.D.

Pediatric Gastroenterology

Dr. Thomas Stephen graduated from Medical College, Kottayam (University of Kerala), India. After his Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatric Residency at the Henry Ford Hospital, MI, he completed a Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship at University of Louisville School of Medicine. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Pediatric Gastroenterology. Dr. Stephen works within the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology serving infants and children of Kentucky and southern Indiana with gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, pancreatic disorders and nutritional problems.

Jessica Stumbo, M.D.

Sports Medicine  

I was born and raised in Hindman, a small town in Eastern Kentucky. From there, I moved to Danville, Kentucky where I got my B.S. in Biology from Centre College. After college, I attended the University of Kentucky College of Medicine where I was nominated to the Alpha Omega Honor Society. I remained at UK and completed an Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency. After residency, I traded the big blue for red & came to Louisville to complete a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship. I fell in love with the city, as well as my husband, and decided to stay and join Dr. Becker as a sports medicine faculty member. Some of my medical interests include the female athlete triad, concussions, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, sports nutrition and joint injections. My interests outside of medicine include shopping and photography.