Our Doctors
Our mission is to provide, safe, affordable
and convenient pediatric anesthesia care to children in the dental office.
Please see below for a listing of our pediatric anesthesiologists.
Dr. George Alvarez, MD
Dr. Alvarez received his medical degree from the University Of South Florida College Of Medicine and completed residencies in Pediatric Medicine and Anesthesiology at Naval Regional Medical Center in Virginia and Pediatric Anesthesiology at the Children‘s Hospital National Medical Center in Washington DC. Dr. Alvarez served as Chief of Anesthesiology and Clinical Practice Director at All Children’s Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine facility in Saint Petersburg before joining Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates.
Dr. Kathryn Hunt Bietenholz, MD
Dr. Kathryn Bietenholz received her medical degree from the University in 2006 and completed a one year surgical internship at the Mayo Clinic in 2007. She completed a 3-year residency in Anesthesia at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville in 2010 with extra training in Pediatric Anesthesia at The Nemours Children’s Clinic.
Dr. Jennifer Clarke, MD
Born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, Dr. Clarke received her medical doctor degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2012. Internship and residency in anesthesiology were completed at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque in 2016. Dr. Clarke then had the privilege of pursuing her fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. She was awarded board certification in the specialty of anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 2017 and subsequently awarded subspecialty board certification in pediatric anesthesiology in 2018. Since completing medical training, Dr. Clarke has been caring for children in the Presbyterian Healthcare system throughout the Albuquerque metro area. She is very excited to be joining the physician of Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates in ensuring that safe, efficient, high-quality sedation services are available to children in need of dental procedures.
Dr. Wendy Daley-Myers, MD
Dr. Wendy Daley-Myers is a graduate of New York University where she received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Master in Public Health. She earned her Medical Degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine Yeshiva University in 2007. Dr. Daley-Myers brings over 10 years of anesthesia experience to PDAA. She completed her anesthesia residency at UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2011. Her desire to work with children lead her to complete her fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center and The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2012. Dr. Daley-Myers is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Pediatric Anesthesiology. She served as Faculty in the Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center where she developed an interdisciplinary perioperative CPAP protocol. She moved to private practice providing outpatient anesthesia services in ambulatory surgery centers in New Jersey before joining PDAA.
Dr. Michael Garcia, MD
Dr. Garcia’s medical degree was completed at the University of Rochester, in New York. Anesthesia training was completed over three years at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and included advanced pediatric training at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. He has spent over twenty years providing sedation and anesthesia for infants and children, including serving as Chief, Division of Anesthesia at All Children’s Hospital, a branch of Johns Hopkins Medicine. His goal: treat everyone’s child the way he would want his children treated.
Dr. Luke Janik, MD
Dr. Janik is a proud alumnus of the University of Michigan, where he received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry. He then earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his anesthesia residency at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital. He further specialized in pediatric anesthesiology by completing a fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Janik is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Pediatric Anesthesiology. He is the author of numerous articles in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter and has written several book chapters in anesthesiology texts. In addition, Dr. Janik has extensive experience teaching crisis management in medical simulation and has been recognized with multiple teaching awards during his career.
Dr. Georgina Kesterson
Dr. Kesterson received her medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia in 1986. She completed her Anesthesiology residency at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals in 1990 where she received advanced training in Pediatric Anesthesiology. She was Board Certified in Anesthesiology in 1991 and has spent over 25 years providing anesthesia in both the hospital and outpatient settings. Her practice has included working at Children’s Hospital of San Diego and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Dr. Kimberly Kimmel
Dr.Kimmel received her medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, FL in 2007. She then went on to complete a one year surgical internship at the University of California San Francisco, East Bay in Oakland, CA in 2008. She completed her anesthesiology residency at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital in 2011. Dr.Kimmel was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 2012 and subsequently completed a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital and Miami Children’s Hospital in Miami, FL in 2012. Prior to joining PDAA, Dr.Kimmel worked as an Attending Pediatric Anesthesiologist at Miami Children’s Hospital from 2012 until 2017.
Dr. Emily Knipper
Dr. Emily Knipper was raised in the Pacific Northwest. She is the youngest of 5 children. She went to Medical School at Wake Forest School of Medicine, in North Carolina, and then completed a residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Virginia and a fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesia at Seattle Children‘s Hospital in Seattle, WA. She has worked in both private practice and academic settings. Most recently, she has worked as an Attending Physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She has been first author on several papers, participated in funded research, and participated actively in resident and fellow education. She has been active in projects to prevent opioid diversion and misuse, serving on the Medication Diversion Prevention Committee at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and leading academic projects examining disposal practices of unused opioid medications. She has also led the creation and dissemination of information pertaining to the best care of internationally adopted children.
She is passionate about providing excellent patient care to children and parents, and seeks to bring a smile and calming presence to stressful situations.
Outside of her work, Dr. Knipper and her husband have 3 children, and enjoy running and spending time with each other.
Dr. Apryl Martin, MD
Dr. Martin earned her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and went on to receive her medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. in 2011. She returned to Illinois to complete her internship and anesthesiology residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago where she served as chief resident and received numerous research and recognition awards. Dr. Martin was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 2016 and went on to complete her pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI in 2017, and received her pediatric anesthesiology subspecialty board certification in the same year. She loves working with children and their families and she is excited to be joining the physicians of Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates in ensuring that high-quality, safe and efficient sedation services are available to local children in need of dental procedures.
Dr. Brooke Maryak, MD
Dr. Maryak received her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, GA in 2009. She completed her internship and residency in Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL in 2013 where she served as chief resident. Dr. Maryak was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 2014 and completed her Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL in 2015. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and 2 beautiful daughters.
Dr. Luis Mendoza
Dr. Luis Mendoza received his medical degree from Universidad del Valle, Colombia in 1995, completed his Anesthesiology Residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami in 2003, and then a Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC in 2004. Since then he has been a Pediatric Anesthesia attending and professor at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.
Dr. Mendoza is passionate about providing safe and comfortable anesthetics for children and their families. He is excited as he joins PDAA and looks forward to providing safe and effective anesthesia services to our pediatric dental patients and their families.
Dr. Andrew Pate, MD
Dr. Pate received his medical degree from the University Of South Carolina School Of Medicine in 1986. After completing an internship at Johns Hopkins (in Baltimore) he completed an Anesthesiology Residency at George Washington University, including Pediatric Anesthesia training at the National Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC. He then completed his postgraduate training in Obstetrical Anesthesia at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington D.C. He is board certified in Anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology and he is a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Dr. Deborah Plagenhoef, MD
Dr. Plagenhoef received her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center At Houston School of Medicine in 1989. She completed her residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1993 with advanced training in pediatric anesthesiology at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.She became Board Certified in Anesthesiology in 1994 and subspecialty Board Certified in Pediatric Anesthesiology in 2013. She has taken care of thousands of children in private practice for over 25 years. Dr. Plagenhoef is passionate about patient safety and has been heavily involved in this area at the state and national levels. She recently completed her term in 2017 as President of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists during which she advocated strongly for the safety of pediatric patents receiving dental procedures. She is pleased to be joining the physicians of Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates who share this passion.
Dr. Jeff Plagenhoef, MD
Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dr. Plagenhoef graduated with high honors from Michigan State University. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Georgia in 1987, and completed his anesthesiology residency, focusing on cardiac anesthesia, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) including being selected Chief Resident 1990-91. His residency pediatric training was at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama.
Jeff has served as Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, Dothan, AL, Baylor Scott & White (BSW) Hillcrest Medical Center, Waco Texas and BSW Medical Center, Sunnyvale, Texas. His multiple local and health-system-wide leadership positions have included chairing and serving on patient safety and quality improvement committees for surgery, anesthesia, and trauma care.
Dr. Plagenhoef has held numerous leadership positions at the local, state and national levels. During his Alabama years of practice, among many positions, he served as President of the Alabama Society of Anesthesiologists (2001-03). Dr. Plagenhoef was a catalyst in forming and helped to lead the state’s committee that created guidelines and regulations to improve the quality and safety of office-based surgery and anesthesia. He has been a Life Counsellor in the House of Delegates of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama since 2012.
At the national leadership level, Dr. Plagenhoef served in numerous leadership positions within the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) including the honor of appointment as the inaugural chairman of the board of directors of the Anesthesia Quality Institute. He served on ASA’s Administrative Council and Executive Committees from 2012-2018, including serving as 1st Vice President, President Elect, President and Immediate Past President from 2014-2018. One of many patient safety initiatives he was passionate about and contributed to leading during his national leadership was that of improving dental office anesthesia safety for children.
After serving at the highest levels of leadership within the medial specialty of anesthesiology, Dr. Plagenhoef has transitioned to and is excited about focusing his experience, passion and expertise on caring for children in need of dental care in pediatric dentists’ offices as a member of Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates.
Dr. Jason Pollack, MD
Dr. Jason Pollack grew up in New York, in the suburbs of Manhattan. He went on to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in biology, where he focused on plant genetic engineering. He earned his medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2012 with honors in bioethics and professionalism. He then went on to complete his residency in anesthesiology at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. After his residency, he moved to Nashville to complete his fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital where he remained on faculty. Dr. Pollack is board certified in both adult and pediatric anesthesiology and has a special interest in anesthesia for complex pediatric neurosurgical and spine procedures. His volunteer work is centered on high-quality care of children in both Guatemala and Kijabe, Kenya.
Dr. Pollack is passionate about providing safe and comfortable anesthetics for children and their families. On his days off he enjoys the lake with his family. He is excited as he joins PDAA and looks forward to providing safe and effective anesthesia services to our pediatric dental patients and their families.
Dr. Linda Jo Rice, MD
Dr. Linda Jo Rice received her primary Board Certification in Anesthesiology in 1980 and most recently earned the newly created Board Certification in Pediatric Anesthesiology in 2014. She received her medical degree from the University of Kentucky and completed her anesthesiology residency at Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Virginia and her Pediatric Anesthesia fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center. She has been a professor at three universities, and is an internationally recognized lecturer in pediatric anesthesia. Dr. Rice has been voted one of the Best Doctors in America every year since 1993, when she was first nominated. She recently completed 25 years as an examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. Prior to joining Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates, Dr. Rice practiced pediatric anesthesiology at All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida for 20 years.
Dr. Ann Ruscher, MD
Dr. Ruscher earned her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and went on to receive her medical degree at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She completed a general surgery internship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, followed by anesthesiology residency at UW-Madison. She completed her pediatric fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1998 and received her pediatric anesthesiology subspecialty board certification in 2014 when it became available. She enjoys working with children and their families and she is excited to be joining the physicians of Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates. She is looking forward to providing children with a safe and comfortable dental experience.
Dr. John Sisney
Dr. John Sisney is a true Louisianian who was born and raised in the New Orleans area. He attended the best undergraduate school in the SEC, LSU (Geaux tigers), before leaving the US to complete his medical degree across the world in Australia at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. After his adventures abroad, he returned closer to home and completed his Anesthesiology residency at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Most recently, he finished a pediatric fellowship at Nationwide Children’s in Columbus, OH. Dr. Sisney had his first exposure to outpatient pediatric dentistry while moonlighting independently in local dental offices during that time. Now after spending many of his recent years away from his hometown, John is excited to finally be moving back to Louisiana with both his fiancé and golden retriever, Sir Jasper. He enjoys traveling, playing golf, and fishing in his free time. John is looking forward to starting an exciting career and business with PDAA during the weekdays and being able to watch his sports teams (Saints and LSU) at home on the weekends!
Dr. Karen Slack
Dr. Karen Slack is a graduate of Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, where she received her Medical Degree in 1984. Her internship was with the Pediatric Department at Michael Reese Hospital, her Anesthesia Residency at Cook County Hospital, and her Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship at Children‘s Memorial Hospital, all in Chicago.
Dr. Slack brings 30 years of anesthesia experience to PDAA. Upon completion of her fellowship in 1990, she joined the USF Anesthesia Department at Tampa General Hospital as a Pediatric Anesthesiologist and an associate professor. Since 1993, Dr. Slack has been working as a Pediatric Anesthesiologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.
Dr. Slack enjoys her huge Colombian family, extensive and eclectic friendships, photography with over 300,000 photos on her server, travel, boating, and continuous life-long learning.
Dr. Brad Stone, MD
Dr. Stone received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1979 and his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio (University of Toledo) in 1982. He completed his residency in anesthesia at the University of Florida in 1985, where he received advanced training in pediatric anesthesia. He was initially certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1987 and has twice recertified. He was certified in pediatric anesthesiology in 2015.
Dr. Stone has been a long time ambulatory surgery center director (16 years) with extensive experience in the care of children. Dr. Stone has been involved in dental office anesthesia since 2003. In addition, he was the director of anesthesia education for the MAHEC dental general practice residency.
Dr. Stone has published several articles on techniques and safety in anesthesia. He has also published a book chapter on intravenous access.
Prior to joining PDAA Dr. Stone practiced in Asheville, NC for over 25 years.
Dr. Dennis Stone, MD
Dr. Dennis Stone was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1980 and earned his recertification in 1993. He received his medical degree from the University in 1976 and completed a 3-year residency in Anesthesiology at The University of Florida. He served a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a pediatric cardiovascular anesthesiology fellowship at the University of Alabama.
Dr. Stone has practiced pediatric anesthesiology for over 21 years at The Wolfson Children’s Hospital where he served as Director of the Pediatric Anesthesia Department, Director of Outpatient Surgical Services, Director of Pain Management Services and was a founding member of the Division of Anesthesiology of The Nemours Children’s Clinic.
Since 1998 he has provided I.V. sedation care for children in pediatric dental offices in the NE Florida and SE Georgia areas.
Dr. Stone co-founded Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates (PDAA) with Dr. Vila in 2008.
Dr. Marika Stone
Dr. Stone did 4 years of research after finishing her undergraduate degree in 1990 from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She received her medical degree in 1998 from the University of Minnesota. She did her residency at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) and finished her residency in anesthesiology in 2002, and then stayed on for her pediatric anesthesiology fellowship. Assisting other pediatric surgeons or proceduralists to give children a better quality of life was the reason she chose to specialize in pediatric anesthesia.
After spending 4 years on faculty at the University of Rochester, Dr. Stone decided to focus only on pediatric anesthesia. She moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and joined the faculty at the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center which is affiliated with the University of Nebraska. She became the director of the acute pain service and also obtained her pediatric board certification while there. Since 2016, she has been working as a traveling anesthesiologist in order to do a mixture of pediatric and adult anesthesia and she decided to join Pediatric Dental Anesthesia Associates because of the desire to be working in the pediatric community again. She is really looking forward to providing children and their parents with a safe, comfortable, and convenient dental experience. Dr. Stone loves the outdoors including cold weather and is an avid skier. She also loves biking, hiking, gardening, and cooking. She has 2 adult children and her husband is a chemistry professor.
Dr. Hector Vila Jr., MD
Dr. Hector Vila received his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1989 and completed a 3-year residency in Anesthesia at the University of South Florida, where he received 12 months of advanced training in Pediatric Anesthesia. At graduation he was the recipient of the Dripps Award for outstanding resident. He was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1994.
Dr. Hector Vila is nationally renowned for his work to improve the quality of care in ambulatory and office based anesthesia. He served as chair of the South Carolina Medical Association Taskforce for Office Surgery Guidelines. He was lead author of the study, “A Comparative Outcomes Analysis of Procedures Performed in Physician Offices and Ambulatory Surgery Centers”. Abstracts of this study received international awards and attracted national media attention. He was quoted in US News and World Report, CNN, Good Morning America, and numerous other media. He is considered an expert in the area of patient safety. Dr. Vila has been voted to the Best Doctors in America list every year since 2005.
Dr. Robert Watson, MD
Dr. Robert Watson received his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. After completion of an internship at Carraway Methodist Medical Center, Dr. Watson completed his anesthesiology residency training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his pediatric anesthesiology training at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama. Upon completion of his training, Dr. Watson returned to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, to provide anesthesia care at the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital as well as at USA Health University Hospital. He received board certification in the specialty of Anesthesiology in 2007 and achieved board certification in the subspecialty of Pediatric Anesthesiology when certification first became available in 2013. After over twelve years of providing inpatient and outpatient anesthesia care at the University of South Alabama, Dr. Watson has now focused his practice on the care of children undergoing office-based dental procedures. Dr. Watson is committed to providing high-quality, safe sedation services to children in need of dental treatment in the offices of pediatric dentists.
Dr. Timothy Watson, MD
Dr. Watson received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1980. He completed his residency in Anesthesia at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, CA and a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at UC Irvine, CA. Dr. Watson was an Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at UC Irvine from 1992-1995 and the Vice-Chair of Anesthesia and Associate Professor of Anesthesia at the University of Missouri from 1995-2006. Dr. Watson has been in private practice in Columbia, TN since 2006.
Dr. Watson is board certified in Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine and earned recertification in Anesthesia in 2009. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Medical Specialties.