{"id":2219,"date":"2011-06-06T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T18:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/about-us\/staff\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:28:09","slug":"staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/about-us\/staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty and Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical Director of UNC HHT Center<\/h2>\n
\n
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\"Raj<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dr. Raj Kasthuri<\/h3>\n

Dr. Raj Kasthuri is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology, UNC Blood Research Center Associate Director, Clinical Research, and is the Director of the UNC HHT Center of Excellence. Dr. Kasthuri earned his medical degree from the Kasturba Medical College in India. He completed his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Minnesota.\u00a0 Dr. Kasthuri’s clinical and research interests are in bleeding and clotting disorders, and HHT.<\/p>\n

View Publications<\/a><\/p>\n

View Patient Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pediatric Hematology Oncology<\/h2>\n
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\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alexandra Borst, MD<\/h3>\n

Dr Alexandra Borst is an Associate Professor in the Pediatric Division of Hematology\/Oncology. She is also the co-Director of the UNC Vascular Anomalies Program. Dr Borst recently joined UNC from the Children’s Hospital of Philidelphia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/h2>\n
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HHT Program Coordinator<\/h2>\n
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\"Karen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Karen Smith, RN<\/h3>\n

Karen Smith has been the Program Coordinator as well as the Clinical Research Coordinator for the HHT Center of Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the past 13 years. She has over 35 years of professional experience including Critical Care Supervisor, Clinical Educator, Emergency, Vascular Surgery and Wound Care Nursing, Pediatric Sedation as well as Radiology\/Interventional Nursing Clinical Educator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Katelyn Bailey-Torres, RN<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Genetic Counselor<\/h2>\n
\n
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\"Zahra<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Zahra S. Girnary, MS, CGC<\/h3>\n

CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, GENETIC COUNSELOR<\/p>\n

Zahra Girnary, MS, CGC, is a clinical assistant professor who joined our UNC HHT team in May 2020. She received her undergraduate degree in biology and psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and completed her graduate training in genetic counseling at the University of South Carolina. As a clinical genetic counselor, Zahra works with patients throughout various clinics at UNC. She sees patients for suspected hereditary cancer syndromes, adults in the general genetics clinic, as well as patients who are at-risk for or suspected to have Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT).<\/p>\n

Email Zahra<\/a>
\n(919) 966-0901<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Administrative Specialist<\/h2>\n
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\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Latanya Nettles-Smith, Administrative Specialist<\/h3>\n

With over 8 years of experience within the UNC Health Care system, I am deeply committed to delivering compassionate, patient-centered care. My professional journey has allowed me to support patients and care teams with dedication, efficiency, and a strong attention to detail.<\/p>\n

Outside of my career, I am a proud wife and mother of three adult children. I value family, faith, and service, and I bring those same principles into the work I do everyday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Otolaryngology<\/h2>\n
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\"Brian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Brian D. Thorp, MD, FACS, FARS<\/h3>\n

Associate Director, NeuroRhinology, Advanced Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery Fellowship | Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology\/Head & Neck Surgery<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Interventional Radiology<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Nima Kokabi, MD<\/h3>\n

Associate Professor of Radiology, Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Interventional Oncology Director, and Cancer Imaging Director<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medical Director of UNC HHT Center Pediatric Hematology Oncology HHT Program Coordinator Genetic Counselor Administrative Specialist Otolaryngology   Interventional Radiology Nima Kokabi, MD Associate Professor of Radiology, Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Interventional Oncology Director, and Cancer Imaging Director  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44982,"featured_media":0,"parent":2217,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2219","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44982"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2219"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2884,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2219\/revisions\/2884"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/hhtcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}