New Members
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new members to the Ohio Chapter of UMANA (2021-2023). These are:
- Christina Dubchuk, MD
- Natalya Dubchuk, MD
- Walter Dubchuk, MD
- Adriana Farian, DMD
- Viktoria Farian, DO – 2025
- Tatyana Gabyak, PA-C
- Myroslav Gerasymchuk, MD
- Iryna Kalinina, MD
- Nazar Kalivoshko, MD
- Pavlo Kasiyan, DDS
- Maria Kravchenko, MD
- Yuliya Lozynska, DO-2026
- Taras Mahlay, MD
- Alexandra Popadiuk, RN
- Michael Skelly, DPT
- Kseniya Solovyova, DO – 2026
- Lyudmyla Tsikholska, FNP – 2027
- Adrianna Uhlar, MD
- Daryna Zaitseva, DDS – 2027
- Nicholas Zura, MD – 2025
Congratulations to All!
This page is dedicated to our members, their talents, their accomplishments, joys and frustrations.
Please let us know…
If you have special information to share about yourself or others in our Ohio Ukrainian healthcare community, please provide us information by going to “Contact Us”. Thank you!
Adriana Farian, DMD
Dr. Farian, graduated from Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine in 2023 and completed her residency at Summa Health Center in 2024. She is currently practicing with her father, Dr. Zenon Farian, at the Farian Dental Care in Broadview Heights.
Congratulations Adriana!
Michael Samotowka, MD
Dr. Samotowka, who is former chief of trauma at the Cleveland Clinic, has been traveling to Ukraine with the international nonprofit humanitarian organization MedGlobal since the Russian war in Ukraine tragically expanded in 2022. He has made approximately 10 trips to various sites on or near the front in Ukraine to teach fellow surgeons, treat the wounded and deliver necessary supplies to areas of critical need. Because of the sensitivity of this matter, exact locations cannot be disclosed. Michael, or Mychajlo, regularly relays back information to our Medical Supply for Ukraine committee which works on sourcing supplies utilizing donated funds..
Dr. Samotowka continues to practice trauma surgery and critical care medicine in between his trips at the Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, the Cleveland VA Hospital and most recently he has been credited with leading Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte North Carolina to become a new Level II trauma center. This involves a rigorous process mandated by the American College of Surgeons and the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services.
Dr. Samotowka completed medical school in 1990 at the State University at Buffalo, residency at Erie County Medical Center in 1993, Drexel University School of Medicine in 1995 and fellowship in surgical critical care at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1997.
Michajlo’s work has been invaluable to injured Ukrainians, and to our Medical Supplies for Ukraine committee which is trying to deliver to them.
An applause goes to Dr. Samotowka!
Tatyana Gabyak, PA-C
with Laura Bukovina, MD and Andrew Drozd, MD
Tetyana Gabyak has been a PA-C for 18 years in the Department of Surgery at Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Tanya traveled to Ukraine on a surgical mission trip organized by UMANA member Dr. Laura Bukovina, a urologist from University Hospitals of Cleveland, to perform urological reconstructive surgeries on patients in a hospital in Ukraine in October 2023. Other team members included, besides Tanya and Dr. Laura Bukovina, UMANA member resident Dr. Andrew Drozd, and others. Tanya recalled, “it was very difficult to see wounded soldiers and their struggles to adjust and accept to maybe permanent disabilities. They are very young, 18 and older. Half of the surgeries we did need staging, so we are planning to come back and finish what we have started.”
Andrew Drozd, MD,
with Laura Bukovina, MD and Tatyana Gabyak, PA-C
Dr. Drozd, a Urologic Surgery Resident at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, traveled to Ukraine in October 2023, on a medical mission trip organized by UMANA member Dr. Laura Bukavina. In this trip, these physicians along with their Ukrainian colleagues, performed surgical reconstruction and restoration of functions of the genitourinary system. Dr. Drozd was clearly impressed by the needs of the Ukrainian wounded and was very grateful to have this tremendous opportunity.
In Loving Memory
DR. Alexander Jakubowycz
Dr. Alexander Jakubowycz of Richfield, Ohio, passed away at the age of 87 on Saturday, March 16, 2024, leaving behind his beloved wife Daria, children Mark, Roman, and Alex and their families. He was a loving cousin, uncle and friend to many.
Dr. Alexander was born in Lutsk in Ukraine in 1936. Right after High School he started an 8-year combined program of premedicine and medical school in Madrid, Spain. After graduating from the Madrid Medical School, he completed his internship in Delaware and started radiology residency at Metropolitan General Hospital in Cleveland. His residency was interrupted by military service for 2 yrs in the U.S. Army including one year in Viet Nam. When he returned to Cleveland, he changed his specialty to radiation oncology. Shortly after finishing residency, he began practicing radiation oncology in Schenectady, N.Y. After many years of a successful and fulfilling practice, Dr. Jakubowycz retired in 1995 and returned to Cleveland.
Dr. Alexander was a physician, who deeply cared for his patients. He was a member of UMANA and strong supporter of UMANA Ohio and its activities.
Dr. Jakubowycz was a man of many interests, hobbies, and talents. He collected art, hunted, and enjoyed an extensive wine cellar. He was a lifelong member of Plast, where he volunteered as the camp physician for many years. But most of all, he had a deep love of his heritage and found every opportunity to support Ukraine and Ukrainians while avoiding recognition and often doing so anonymously.
Yuri Hreschyshyn
Yuri Hreschyshyn passed away on April 8, 2024 after a long battle with cancer was a key partner in UMANA Ohio’s packing events of medical supplies. Yuri was born in Buffalo, NY on July 27, 1959, the eldest among five children of Ukrainian immigrants Lidia Hreshchyshyn (Warecha) and professor of medicine Dr. Myroslaw Hreshchyshyn. He was an active initiator of many civic organizations and community-oriented initiatives both in the United States and Ukraine.
Medical supplies packing events have been held at MedWish International since 2014 when the war in Ukraine started. Medical supplies were packed in Cleveland, Ohio and on multiple events were then transported by Yuri’s team from Buffalo back to Buffalo for shipment to Ukraine. Yuri and his team not only drove to Cleveland from Buffalo on the days of the packing events, packed his large commercial van with the supplies after they were packed, transported it back to Buffalo but was crucial in fundraisiing to cover costs of the transport and shipments. Without our “firends from Buffalo”, our packing events would have been completely different. This partnership was an example of how crucial teamwork becomes in any project.
HONORABLE POSITIONS
Maria Griffiths, MD
Dr. Maria Griffiths, anesthesiologist and pain specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, was one of 11 selected out of 98 applicants in 2021 for the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee in the Township of Hinckley in Ohio. She graduated from the Northeast Ohio Medical University in 1990, completed internship in internal medicine at the Canton Medical Education Foundation in 1991, and anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic in 1994.
Bohdan Pichurko, MD
Dr. Pichurko, who has dedicated his life work to pulmonary and critical care medicine, retired from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation on June 30, 2021, from the Respiratory Institute after practicing there from 2010-2021. Dr. Pichurko completed his residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1984. Upon his retirement, the RI CPET Lab, an exercise physiology test lab, was dedicated to him and is the first facility dedication at the CCF unrelated to a memorial or financial endowment. Dr. Pichurko also directed the Pulmonary Laboratories at the Respiratory Institute of CCF and in 2013 and 2021, he received Faculty of the Year, Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine.
Orest Stecyk, MD
Dr. Stecyk who specializes in family medicine was named Division Chief of Family Practice at the Parma Medical Center of University Hospitals. He has over 41 years of experience in family medicine. He graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1980 and has practiced with University Hospitals, the Summa Health System and others. He also received University Hospitals of Cleveland Highest Honors for Patient Experience in 2021.
Adrian Zachary, DO
Dr. Adrian Zachary, who specializes in spine and pain medicine, received the Bruce Hubbard Steward Award as “Physician of the Year” Professional Staff Winner at the Cleveland Clinic in 2020. Dr. Zachary, who practices in Strongsville, Ohio, graduated from the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic in 1998 and completed his residency at the Ohio State University. Dr. Zachary continues to practice at the Cleveland Clinic.
Ihor Zachary, MD
Dr. Ihor Zachary, who has devoted his professional life to ophthalmology, retired in June, 2021 after many years of practice. He graduated from the Yale University School of Medicine in 1967, completed internship at Buffalo General Hospital in 1968, residency at the University Hospitals of Cleveland in 1973 and fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital in 1974. He has practiced in Northeast Ohio and was most recently affiliated with University Hospitals Parma Medical Center.
Andrew Zura, MD
Dr. Andrew Zura, who specializes in anesthesiology, was elected secretary/treasurer of the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists in 2019. He finished Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1992 and completed residency in anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic in 1996. He is currently practicing anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic.