Rheumatology is the medical practice devoted to treating painful inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, osteoporosis, as well as degenerative joint diseases, fibromyalgia, and many other disabling conditions.

John F. Assini, MD, has been in private practice concentrating on rheumatology and osteoporosis at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital since 1979. He has been chief of the hospital's Department of Rheumatology since 1987 and medical director of the bone health center at Sunnyview since its inception.

Dr. Assini earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College, where he also completed his internship and residency. He did a fellowship in rheumatolgy at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado.

A licensed physician in New York State, he holds board certification in rheumatolgy and is a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a clinical densitometrist, certified to complete bone density testing and analyses.

He is currently clinical assistant professor in medicine at Albany Medical College. Additionally, he serves as attending physician in medicine and rheumatolgy at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, hold courtesy appointments in rheumatolgy at St. Clare's and Bellevue Hospitals, both in Schenectady. Dr. Assini is medical director of the osteoporosis screening and prevention center at Bellevue Hospital in Schenectady, where he is also a consulting physician in rheumatolgy.

Dr. Assini is a member of the American College of Physicians, a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, a member of Medical Society of the State of New York, the Schenectady County Medical Society, the National Osteoporosis Society, and the International Society for Clinical Densitometry.

Dr. Assini has authored or co-authored several papers that have appeared in such journals as Current Therapy and The Journal of Rheumatology. Additionally, he has served as principal investigator on many major research projects involving extensive clinical trials and testing the effectiveness of drugs in treating osteoporosis, the impact of arthritis and anti-imflammatory drugs on stomach and digestive problems, and the effects of hormone replacement therapy on post-menopausal women.

James Strosberg, MD, FACP, has been an attending physician at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital and Ellis Hospital in Schenectady since 1976. He is also an adjunct professor in clinical medicine (rheumatology) at Albany Medical College in Albany. Since 1977, he has been a teacher of family practice through the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 1994, the residents associated with St. Clare's Family Practice Residency Program named him "teacher of the year."

After graduating with a bachelor's degree with honors from Union College in Schenectady, Dr. Strosberg earned his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed an internship at E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in Buffalo, followed by a residency in internal medicine at Springfield Hospital Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. He served as senior resident in internal medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire and the Veterans' Administration Hospital in White River Junction, Vermont. While at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, he also held the position of chief resident.

A member of the New York State Health Fraud Advisory Council, Dr. Strosberg was chief of the Rheumatology departments at Sunnyview and Ellis Hospitals from 1977 to 1987. He also served as chief of Sunnyview's medical/dental staff from 1990-93.

From 1968-70, he served two years of military duty as a senior surgeon and acting service unit director at the United States Public Health Service's Indian hospital in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

Dr. Strosberg has authored or co-authored numerous articles for journals such as Arthritis Rheumatology, The Journal of Rheumatology, and The International Journal of Pediatric Nephrology. In 1993, Dr. Strosberg's "Reflections in the Use of Unproven Arthritis Remedies" appeared in The New York State Journal of Medicine. Additionally, he has presented educational programs to many groups, including at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Strosberg is a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners, the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Rheumatology, and the American Board of Geriatrics. Additionally, he is a member of the American Rheumatism Association, the American Academy of Geriatrics, the American Medical Association, the Medical Society of the State of New York, and the Schenectady County Medical Society. Dr. Strosberg's international service includes one year as a visiting senior physician in internal medicine and arthritis at Ben Gurion University Negev, School of Medicine, in Beersheba, Israel.

He has served on the board of directors and executive committee of the Northeastern New York Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation since 1976. Additionally, Dr. Strosberg has been treasurer of the Sunnyview Hospital Foundation since the mid-1980s.

Martin S. Farber, MD, Ph.D., has been an attending rheumatologist at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital since 1984. He was also appointed an attending physician in medicine and rheumatology at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady and served as chief of the hospital's section of rheumatology in 1986. Since 1995, he has served as chief of the Rheumatology Department at St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady, where he has been an attending physician in internal medicine since 1984.

Dr. Farber is a graduate of Columbia College in New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. A clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Albany Medical College in Albany, NY, he completed his medical degree in 1979 at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, where he simultaneously earned a doctorate in cell biology. He completed internship training in medicine at Boston City Hospital from 1979-1982 and received fellowship training in rheumatology at University Hospital, also in Boston, from 1982-84.

Dr. Farber has authored or co-authored numerous articles on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and other topics for peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of Rheumatology and The Journal of Rheumatology and Virology.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and holds memberships in the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, the American College of Physicians, the Medical Society of the State of New York and the County of Schenectady.

Dr. Farber is a diplomate, with a subspecialty in rheumatology, of the American Board of Internal Medicine, as well as a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Board of Medical Examiners. He is a clinical densitometrist, certified to complete bone density testing and analyses.

From 1993-94, he chaired the Northeastern Chapter of the New York State Arthritis Foundation and continues to be involved in the organization.

Donald Wexler, MD, is an attending rheumatologist at Sunnyview Rehabilitation, Ellis and St. Clare's hospitals, all located in Schenectady, as well as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Albany Medical College.

After earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from City College of New York and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Wexler earned his medical degree from Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He completed a medical internship and medical residency at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York, followed by a two-year rheumatology fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dr. Wexler is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Rheumatology Subspecialty Board, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. Additionally, he earned a certification in bone densitometry from the International Society for Clinical Densitometry in 1998.

A Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, Dr. Wexler has served as a board member and past chairman of the medical and scientific committee of the Northeast New York Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

Dr. Wexler has been in private practice as a rheumatologist for 21 years and also served as coordinator of rheumatic care for a major health maintenance organization in the northeastern United States. He is the past president of the Schenectady County Medical Society and a past member of the CORC National Committee on Rheumatic Care. Additionally, he is a past board member of MVMA, the independent practice association (IPA) of MVP Health Plan and now serves on MVMA's Finance Committee.

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, also known as physiatrists, work to restore or maximize the functional skills, self-sufficiency and mobility of people with temporary or permanent disabilities. These may range from minor sports injuries to more complex conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, paraplegia, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord problems.

Lynne Taylor Nicolson, MD, is an attending physiatrist at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, has been serving as chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Sunnyview since 1998.

A cum laude graduate with departmental honors in chemistry of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, Dr. Nicolson received her medical degree from Albany Medical College. She completed post-graduate training at the University of Rochester School Medicine in the Department of Preventive, Family and Rehabilitative Medicine. She also had additional training at Strong Memorial Hospital/Monroe Community Hospital's Division of Rehabilitation Medicine in Rochester, NY.

A New York State-licensed physician, Dr. Nicolson holds board certification from the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is also a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and is a frequent lecturer on stroke rehabilitation and pain management.

In 1999, Dr. Nicolson spoke before the American Heart Association on "Stroke Prevention and Treatment-Rehabilitation for the Stroke Patient." She has spoken in a variety of community and professional areas including the Lupus Foundation of America on "Choices in Pain Management" and "Learning about Lupus." She presented a lecture on stroke rehabilitation at Sunnyview Hospital's annual Robert S. Hoffman, MD memorial lecture in October of 2000.

In addition to her other appointments, Dr. Nicolson holds consultation privileges in physiatry at Ellis Hospital and St. Clare's Hospital, both located in Schenectady, and the Capital Region Geriatric Center in Cohoes. Her professional affiliations include membership in the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, the American Spinal Injury Association, the Schenectady County Medical Society, the Medical Society of the State of New York, and the American Medical Association.

Dr. Nicolson has served on the physician advisory board for the Epilepsy Association. Since 1991, she has also been a survey consultant to the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a not-for-profit organization that accredits several types of specialized services, including medical rehabilitation, adult day services, assisted living, behavioral health, and employment and community living services. In that capacity, she participates in assessing the ability of rehabilitation providers to meet CARF's international standards of quality.

Kenneth L. Shapiro, MD, joined Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in 1989 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

He serves as medical director of Sunnyview's Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation and is also a consulting physiatrist at Ellis Hospital and St. Clare's Hospital, both in Schenectady, as well as with the Eddy-Cohoes Rehabilitation Center in Cohoes. He is a clinical instructor of physical medicine and rehabilitation for Albany Medical Center's residency training program.

A diplomate of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Shapiro is board-certified by the same organization. He also holds certification from the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners, and is a member of the American Medical Association and the Medical Society of the State of New York. He is active in the New York State Head Injury Association, and is a member of the National Head Injury Association and the International Head Injury Association. Additionally, he is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Shapiro earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, as well as a master's degree in exercise sciences and physical education from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He completed medical school at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and was a resident at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. He served as chief resident in the Joint Training Program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Hospital.

He completed a medicine subinternship in pediatric (adolescent) medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, as well as a research assistantship in the Joint Legislative Study on Youth Sports Programs at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Additionally, he served a teaching fellowship in the Department of Exercise Sciences and Kinesiology and a research assistantship at the Center for Fitness and Sports Research, both located at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dr. Shapiro has written or co-written numerous articles and has made numerous presentations at a variety of professional meetings and in-service sessions. The major focus of his published work has been the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and rehabilitative techniques used to treat such injuries. He has also written about coma recovery, disability and return to work for the brain-injured patient, and stroke rehabilitation.

George Thomas Shelton, MD, is attending physiatrist at Sunnyview Hospital and co-director of the Sunnyview Regional Amputee clinic. Dr. Shelton has an array of experience in occupational medicine, emergency medicine, and internal medicine. He completed his undergraduate studies, magna cum laude, at the University of California at Davis, and is a graduate of Albany Medical College. Dr. Shelton completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Albany Medical Center Hospital, where he was chief resident. He finished his residency in internal medicine at Kessler USAF Medical Center at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

A licensed physician in the states of New York, California, and Oregon, Dr. Shelton is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He directs the resident training program at Sunnyview Hospital and serves as chief of the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. He holds an assistant clinical professorship at Albany Medical College in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Additionally, Dr. Shelton serves as a consultant in physical medicine at St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady.

Dr. Shelton was an emergency medicine physician at various Capital District area hospitals including St. Peter's (Albany), St. Mary's (Troy), Samaritan (Troy), and Columbia Memorial (Hudson).

He has extensive experience in electromyography and electrodiagnosis and is a current member of the American Academy of Physcical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Congress of Rehabiltation Medicine, the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics, the American Medical Association, the Medical Society of the State of New York, where he serves as on the committee on physician health, and the Schenectady County Medical Society.

Dr. Shelton served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980 and was general medical officer at Ramstein Air Base from July of 1977 to February of 1980. Dr. Shelton was staff physician in the Ambulatory Care Service Department at the V.A. Medical Center in Albany from 1981-1985.

Dr. Shelton has published several articles, including one focusing on carpal tunnel syndrome, which appeared in Sunnyview Regional Rehabilitation Review and an article on the care of amputees published in "Your Health Today" supplement in the Albany Times Union.

Vincent M. Somaio, MD , joined the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in 2003.

A native of Rockland County, New York, Dr. Somaio earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Siena College in Loudonville, and completed his medical degree at Albany Medical College. Following graduation from medical school, he completed an internship in internal medicine at Albany Medical Center Hospital, followed by residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation, also at Albany Medical Center Hospital. He served as chief resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation during the final year of his residency.

Dr. Somaio conducts electromyegraphs and nerve conduction studies to measure nerve damage and determine problems that may lead to physical disability in patients. He is also proficient in administering peripheral nerve blocks to help patients deal with pain, as well as administering Botox injections to ease spasms and other disabling conditions responding to Botox treatment.

He is the director of Sunnyview’s Multiple Sclerosis Center, a one-stop resource for MS patients, which assesses the individual’s needs toward functional restoration for physical and occupational therapies, as well as neurological services and psychological/social work services.