GET TO KNOW US!
Dr. Gnanagurudasan Prakasam or Dr “P”
Dr Gnanagurudasan Prakasam and his wife who is a
pediatrician in Roseville, CA Dr. Eswari Prakasam
In his own words,
"It is a privilege for me to take care of the children who come to see us
in our center. Every child who comes to our center should be by choice and not
because there is no other choice!"
Gnanagurudasan Prakasam MD MRCP MHA, or Dr.
"P" is the founder and
President of our center. He is board certified in Pediatrics from India, United
Kingdom and the US and also board certified in American Board Certified
Pediatric Endocrinology. In addition he has a Masters in Health Administration
from University of Southern California. Dr. Prakasam has distinguished medical
education from all over the world. Along with practicing medicine, he is very
involved in research in finding a cure for diabetes, type 2 diabetes in
children, diabetes technologies and also in growth related hormones. Most
recently, his interest is HAPPINESS and disease management
He has been invited to speak all over the world. He is also
the Director of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Children's Center
at Sutter Medical Center, Past President of Northern California Chapter of
American Diabetes Association and a current board member of American Diabetes
Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He was also a past board member of American
Heart Association.
He has been actively involved in many social projects
locally, regionally and globally. His areas of interest involves happiness and
disease management telemedicine, e-health, global health care delivery,
pediatric diabetes, growth disorders, growth hormone deficiency, puberty,
hormonal imbalances especially related to adrenal gland and pituitary gland,
thyroid disease and mineral disorders.
He has been an invited speaker both nationally and
internationally with active participation in cutting edge research in
endocrinology and diabetes He also runs one of the biggest physician run
support groups for diabetes and has a passion in enabling children and families
to connect and be a part of this family to help each other.
Self-Financial Disclosure*: Dr. Prakasam is a paid
consultant/advisor/speaker/researcher to multiple national and international
pharmaceutical and device manufacturing companies.
*Dr Prakasam is a legally paid consultant, speaker and
researcher for many for profit companies in the field of endocrinology and
diabetes Dr.Prakasam continues to have the same relationship with many of the
companies for several years. Many of the drugs and devices that my patients are
prescribed are made by those companies. However, Dr. Prakasam always believes
in providing the best professional advice and care for his patients and the
business relationship does not influence his prescribing decisions. Dr.
Prakasam believes in patient’s choices, formulary choices and cost for the
payors and the patients when making medical decisions or suggestions. Many of
the medicines and devices used in endocrinology do not have generic
alternatives. If you ever have any questions on Dr. Prakasam's business
interests, do not hesitate to ask him as he feels it is a privilege families
give him to take care of their loved ones. Since he has a vast international
and national experience along with his medical degrees from three continents
and a Masters in Health Administration, it is natural that he is a sort-after
consultant and speaker in the field of medicine. However, he has practiced
medicine in the most ethical and honest way for over three decades just as his
father advised him when he entered medical school in 1981.
Dr. Ulhas Nadgir MD
Dr.Ulhas Nadgir is a board certified Pediatric
Endocrinologist with over 2 decades of experience.
In his own words' it
is a pleasure and a privilege to partner with the families and take care of the
children who come to see us'
Having finished his medical training in Karnataka, India in
1988, he trained in Bangalore Medical College, earning his board certification
in Pediatrics from India.
He relocated to the USA in the early 1990 and earned his
American Board Certification in Pediatrics from New York. Subsequently he
trained under Professor. Margaret H. MacGillivray, one of the most
distinguished endocrinologists in world at University of Buffalo, NY from 1995
to 1998. He joined Dr. Prakasam in Sacramento in 2004 after becoming board
certified in Pediatric Endocrinology and is
part of the team which built one of the biggest Pediatric Endocrine and
Diabetes Services in the country.
Dr. Nadgir’s has immense experience in pediatric diabetes,
childhood obesity, pubertal disorders, growth disorders, thyroid diseases and
rare adrenal conditions. He along with Dr. Prakasam has been involved in
multiple nationwide research projects including the prestigious TRIALNET.
Dr. Nadgir’s other interest include public policy in
diabetes, photography and the outdoors.
His academic interests include use of new technologies in
diabetes and current management of childhood growth disorders. He continues to
teach residents and medical students about caring for children with endocrine
disorders and current trends in pediatric endocrinology.
Dr.Nadgir stays active by walking or biking . His other passion
is traveling with his camera in the hope of getting that 'once in a lifetime'
photograph!
Dr.
Niyati Skaria
Dr.
Skaria is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology. She joined the practice in 2014.
Dr.
Skaria received her medical degree from St. George’s University in Grenada,
West Indies. She completed her pediatric residency at NYU Winthrop Hospital in
Long Island, NY. She continued her
training in Long Island to complete a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at the
State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Dr.
Skaria was raised in New Jersey and New York but moved to the west coast with her
husband to be close to family and help children with diabetes and other
endocrine conditions in the Sacramento Valley.
Dr.
Skaria has research experience in diabetes care and has presented at several
national conferences including the Endocrine Society and Pediatric Academic
Society. She is a member of several
professional organizations including the Pediatric Endocrine Society, Endocrine
Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In
addition to providing the best possible comprehensive clinical care for
diabetes, her academic interests are also in treating disorders of puberty,
growth, thyroid, and adrenal problems.
In her spare time, she enjoys biking and the
theater. She loves traveling with her
family, and her goal is to visit a different country every year!
Celina Trujillo CPNP
Celina Trujillo is a certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
with extensive experience in diabetes and working with adolescents. She joined our team in 2016 after finishing
her Master’s degree in Nursing at UCSF.
During her nurse practitioner training Celina was a UCSF Madison Clinic
Peggy Huang Diabetes Nurse Fellow. She
was also a Leadership and Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) trainee through
the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at UCSF.
Celina is very involved with Diabetes Youth and Families
(DYF) as a camp nurse. She particularly
enjoys working Diabetes Teen Camp in Sequoia National Park every summer,
assisting teens with Type 1 diabetes management during trekking and backpacking
trips in the backcountry. She has also
assisted in the development of Diabetes Spanish Camp through DYF for
Spanish-speaking families. Prior to
joining our practice, Celina worked as a school nurse in San Francisco caring
for elementary school children with diabetes.
She has also volunteered as a nurse doing diabetes education at St.
Anthony’s Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco.
Before becoming a nurse Celina obtained her Master’s in
Public Health at UC Berkeley and worked in children’s environmental health
research. For 8 years she worked on a
national research project investigating risk factors for metabolic syndrome and
the effects of endocrine disruptors and other chemicals on children’s
health. She presented study findings at
the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. EPA, CDC, and other organizations.
Celina is particularly interested in the transition of
pediatric care to adult care for teens and young adult with diabetes. She is committed to providing high-quality
and culturally appropriate care.
Celina grew up in El Salvador and Guatemala before moving to
the San Francisco Bay Area as a teenager.
She is fluent in Spanish and loves working with teens.
Two of Celina’s biggest passions are the outdoors and
dogs. She enjoys hiking, biking,
camping, and any excuse to go into the wilderness. Celina hopes to get a new furry four-legged
companion in the near future to take along on her outdoor adventures. She also loves baseball and looks forward to
becoming a Sacramento River Cats fan.
Sarah Woods RN MSN CPNP
Sarah Woods is a
pediatric nurse practitioner who graduated from UCSF in 2018. She has had type
1 diabetes since 1995 and was seen as a patient at Dr. Prakasam's clinic from
diagnosis. Since that time it has been her dream to provide compassionate care
to children and families managing this relentless disease, she is thrilled to
be providing that care at CEDE.
Before nursing
school Sarah was involved in research at UCSF studying the effects of a
behavioral intervention on depression and diabetes distress in teenagers with
type 1. She led groups teaching teens stress management techniques and using
cognitive behavioral therapy to reframe negative thought patterns. The
connection between mental and physical health is a passion of hers and she
believes addressing the psychosocial aspects of diabetes is just as important
as addressing the blood sugar data.
She discovered
the magic of Bearskin Meadows diabetes camp as an adult and has been excited to
be a nurse there for the past few years. Teen camp is her favorite and she
loves backpacking with teens, even with the 12am and 2am blood sugar checks.
In her spare time
she loves working out, whether running, spinning, yoga or weight lifting and is
on a forever quest to not get low during workouts. She also loves to bake and
can carb count most baked goods on sight. Now that she's back in the Sacramento
area she loves spending more time with her nieces and nephews and re-exploring
the area with her husband.
Olga Yefremenkova RN FNP
I come from a military background of having served for ten
years in the U.S. Army, after which I became a Family Nurse Practitioner, who
specialized in pediatric endocrinology. My journey to becoming a nurse
practitioner started when my daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes. My
daughter started receiving services at the Center of Excellence for Diabetes
and Endocrinology, and I was grateful for the sta(f’s support, care, and
expertise. I wanted to be able to help children just like my child and joined
the team. I am thankful for the opportunity to now be part of the CEDE family
AND OUR ENTIRE CEDE FAMILY
"We as a team strive to give you the best of experiences when you come to see our doctors. If you have any problems do not hesitate to contact me. Together we will work to make your visits to our office a pleasant experience for ALL of us"
Mila Melnik - Administrative and Clinical Lead
Diana - New Patients and Referral Coordinator ext.2754
Tyler - Receptionist ext.2765
Ketzalli- Receptionist ext.2764
Inna L- Medical Assistant ext. 2763
Ricardo -
Medical Assistant ext.2753
Darian - Medical Assistant ext. 2752
Inna M - Authorization Coordinator ext. 2762
Ivette - Patient
Care Coordinator ext. 2768
Tiana- Patient
Care Coordinator ext. 2766
Cesar - Billing Clerk ext. 2755
Natalie -
Research Coordinator
Lilia - Research Assistant
Lilia - Research Assistant
