Program Leadership

As one of the largest residencies in the country, we have a large team of dedicated faculty educators. The core Program Leadership is listed below. In addition, we receive immeasurable support and active participation from faculty, residents and educational support staff.

Program Directors and Leadership

Jerry Rushton, MD Jerry Rushton M.D., M.P.H. is the Pediatric Program Director. Jerry returned as Program Director at Indiana University 5 years ago.  He was previously a pediatrics resident and Chief as IU. Following his medical training in Indianapolis, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow at the University of North Carolina and completed a Master of Public Heath (MPH) degree at UNC in 1999. Dr. Rushton was on faculty at the University of Michigan in General Pediatrics and Health Services Research. He has published several articles on child and adolescent ADHD, depression, and mental health disorders in primary care; received grants from Blue Cross, Pfizer, NIMH. Dr. Rushton's clinical practice is at Riley Hospital in the outpatient General Pediatrics clinic. His wife is a pharmacist at Riley, and his children Will, Grace and Sam keep him grounded in real-world pediatrics.   Richard L. Schreiner, MD Richard L. Schreiner, M.D. has served as the Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and as Physician-in-Chief for Riley Hospital since l987. Dr. Schreiner was named Medical Director of Children's Services for Clarian Health, Inc. in 1997. He received his Bachelor's Degree from St. Louis University and his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis where he also completed his pediatric residency. He received his neonatology training at Indiana University and the University of Colorado. He returned to I.U. as faculty in 1975, serving in departmental roles including head of the section of neonatology and chief of pediatrics at Wishard Hospital, prior to becoming the chair.

Presently Dr. Schreiner devotes a significant percent of his efforts to the development of better health care delivery systems for children in Indiana and the development of better pediatric educational programs for medical students, residents and practitioners.
Mary Ciccarelli, MD Mary Ciccarelli, M.D. is currently the Associate Chair for Education of the Department of Pediatrics.   Dr. Ciccarelli was the first graduate of the IUSM Medicine-Pediatrics residency program in 1986.  She joined the faculty in 1991 and became the first combined Medicine-Pediatrics program director in 1993 until assuming the role of Associate Chair in 2006.  The Indiana University Medicine-Pediatric residency program has grown into one of the largest and best of its kind in the country.  She is past president of the Medicine-Pediatrics Program Directors’ Association and a participant in the American Board of Pediatrics Residency Review and Redesign Project Committee.  She is a primary care Medicine-Pediatric physician, having worked initially in private practice and for the last sixteen years in the county community health center network.  She is the medical director of the Center for Youth and Adults with Conditions of Childhood which promotes the transition of youth with special health care needs into successful adulthood.   

Alex Djuricich, MD Alex Djuricich, M.D. is the Program Director for Medicine-Pediatrics and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Pediatrics. Growing up in Chicago and attending Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, he subsequently received his Med-Peds residency training here at Indiana University. He has worked as a Med-Peds physician in a primary care group practice in Michigan. After completing a primary care faculty development fellowship program at Michigan State University, he returned to Indiana University in 2001. His clinical practice includes both adults and children. He has a special interest in adolescent medicine.  Dr. Djuricich is the proud father of two children, Audrey and Monica.  He has a cat, Bianca and dog, Festus.  His wife, Nikki, an emergency medicine physician, who also works on campus, reside on the southside of Indianapolis in Greenwood, Indiana.

Abigail Klemsz, MD, PhD, FAAP Abigail Klemsz, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Pediatric Program Director. Abby received her Ph.D. from Indiana University School of Medicine in the department of Microbiology and Immunology. She also received her MD from IU and stayed at IU for her pediatric residency. She spent 5 years in private practice and a clinic practice before returning to Riley in 2002 to join the section of Developmental Pediatrics as an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics. She is the state medical director for Reach Out and Read, an early literacy program. Her clinical interests include developmental disabilities, failure to thrive, palliative care and children with complex care needs. She and her husband Michael have six children who keep them extremely busy.   Edward Liechty, MD Edward Liechty , M.D. is an Associate Pediatric Program Director. He is a graduate of Goshen College in northern Indiana and of the Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed a Pediatrics residency and Fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Indiana University/Riley Children’s Hospital. He then was a member if the Faculty at West Virginia University from 1983 – 1987, returning to Riley in 1987. He is presently Professor of Pediatrics. He has spent much of his career conducting basic research in fetal metabolic physiology. He is also interested in International Pediatrics, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Moi University in Kenya for the 2003-2004 academic year. He is married to Mary, a Health Educator, and has three adult children, but no grandchildren yet.
John Kunzer, M.D. is an Associate Program Director.  He completed his residency and Chief year at IU in 2005.  He has been involved in education as co-director of the medical student clerkship, and is interested in the promotion of wellness, self-reflection, and understanding personality types in medical education.  He recently completed the Michigan State educator program.  John's clinical work is in community pediatrics at a local health center, Blackburn and Wishard.  He is married to a Riley nurse, Amanda.  

Emily Walvoord , M.D. is an Associate Program Director.  She was a resident and Chief resident at Northwestern.  She completed her fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at IU and has been on faculty for the past 6 years. Her main research interest is in growth disorders and she recently published a textbook about precocious puberty.  She is married to an Emergency Medicine physician and the mother of Philip and Olivia.  She recently joined our leadership team and is involved in residency council, conference planning, and medical decision-making.

Back to the top