Sumeska Thavarajah, MD

Dr. Marisa Clifton is the Director of Women’s Health at the Brady Urological Institute. She is fellowship trained. As a leader in the field of female urology, her clinical expertise includes surgical and nonsurgical treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, stress urinary incontinence, urgency urinary incontinence, urinary fistulas, genitourinary reconstruction and urethral diverticula. Dr. Clifton is also an Assistant Professor of Urology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and serves as the Director of Robotic Education. In addition, she serves as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She also serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her research interests include medical education and clinical outcomes after surgery. Dr. Clifton received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her residency in urology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She completed her fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

Alexandra Abbate, M.D., is an instructor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Her areas of clinical expertise include general obstetric and gynecologic care, and she is fluent in both English and Spanish.Dr. Abbate received her undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University, where she studied biology and Spanish. She spent the following year working as an English teaching assistant in Mexico through the Fulbright program. Dr. Abbate went on to earn her medical degree from the Creighton University School of Medicine, and completed her residency at the University of Texas at Austin, where she served as chief resident. During residency, she received several medical student teaching awards, including the Gold Humanism Honor Society Excellence in Teaching Award.Her research interests include breastfeeding disparities in the early postpartum period and health outcome disparities in underserved populations. Dr. Abbate’s special interests also include providing care to underserved patients in the community, and medical education.