Meet the incredible members of Hadassah’s Physicians Council.
We invite you to join us!

My name is Dr. Ofelia Averack, and I live in McAllen, Texas. I grew up in a loving, respectful, and hard-working family in Tampico, Mexico where I graduated valedictorian of my medical school. Growing up, I was always helping others in any way I could whether it was physically or sharing my knowledge and this translated in my medical career until the day that changed my personal and professional life forever. I was already happily married with 3 children, and 5 months pregnant. One of my colleagues called me on my day off and asked me to fill in for her and see her patients and I agreed. I hadn’t driven a mile, and I was rear ended by a drunk driver. I reacted out of instinct and tried to protect the baby, so I turned my body to my left side. The impact ended up shattering my right kidney, breaking many ribs, and I ultimately lost my baby 2 months later. Many months later, I was still feeling lost. I asked Hashem in tears for a sign because I needed help. That day, after going out to get the mail from my mailbox and placing the pile on the kitchen table, this one leaflet happened to fall on my lap. It read “Please join us in Hadassah for Torah Studies.” From that day on I have been very involved in Hadassah, which means the world to me. It has become my way of life. Am Israel Chai!

My name is Dr. Ofelia Averack, and I live in McAllen, Texas. I grew up in a loving, respectful, and hard-working family in Tampico, Mexico where I graduated valedictorian of my medical school. Growing up, I was always helping others in any way I could whether it was physically or sharing my knowledge and this translated in my medical career until the day that changed my personal and professional life forever. I was already happily married with 3 children, and 5 months pregnant. One of my colleagues called me on my day off and asked me to fill in for her and see her patients and I agreed. I hadn’t driven a mile, and I was rear ended by a drunk driver. I reacted out of instinct and tried to protect the baby, so I turned my body to my left side. The impact ended up shattering my right kidney, breaking many ribs, and I ultimately lost my baby 2 months later. Many months later, I was still feeling lost. I asked Hashem in tears for a sign because I needed help. That day, after going out to get the mail from my mailbox and placing the pile on the kitchen table, this one leaflet happened to fall on my lap. It read “Please join us in Hadassah for Torah Studies.” From that day on I have been very involved in Hadassah, which means the world to me. It has become my way of life. Am Israel Chai!

I am a pediatrician at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Louisville, KY. Many of my patients are refugees and immigrants and speak a multitude of languages. My party icebreaker is often, “I can say hello in 20 languages.” I attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for medical school, and also earned a Master in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health. I completed residency at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY then moved to Columbia, SC to work in a FQHC to fulfill my obligation as a National Health Corp Scholar. My husband and I moved to Louisville, KY, 17 years ago wherehe is an Emergency Medicine Physician. Our two-physician family includes two creative and independent daughters and a grumpy older rescue dog. Neither of our daughters is interested in medicine as a career after listening to our dinner conversations.

I am a five-generation Hadassah member, starting with my great-grandmother who started her Hadassah chapter in Chicago. After several years participating with Central States Region, I rechartered the Louisville Hadassah Chapter and have been President ever since. In 2010, I went on a Hadassah Young Women’s mission to Israel and continue to see those friends now in the Evolve: The Next Generation group. At region meetings, I am often the medical speaker, giving talks about HPV, vaccinations, and breastfeeding. At the recent Hadassah Convention in Jerusalem, I traveled with the Physician’s Council for a pre-tour and am inspired to continue my involvement and combine my passions for medicine and Israel.

I am a pediatrician at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Louisville, KY. Many of my patients are refugees and immigrants and speak a multitude of languages. My party icebreaker is often, “I can say hello in 20 languages.” I attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for medical school, and also earned a Master in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health. I completed residency at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY then moved to Columbia, SC to work in a FQHC to fulfill my obligation as a National Health Corp Scholar. My husband and I moved to Louisville, KY, 17 years ago wherehe is an Emergency Medicine Physician. Our two-physician family includes two creative and independent daughters and a grumpy older rescue dog. Neither of our daughters is interested in medicine as a career after listening to our dinner conversations.

I am a five-generation Hadassah member, starting with my great-grandmother who started her Hadassah chapter in Chicago. After several years participating with Central States Region, I rechartered the Louisville Hadassah Chapter and have been President ever since. In 2010, I went on a Hadassah Young Women’s mission to Israel and continue to see those friends now in the Evolve: The Next Generation group. At region meetings, I am often the medical speaker, giving talks about HPV, vaccinations, and breastfeeding. At the recent Hadassah Convention in Jerusalem, I traveled with the Physician’s Council for a pre-tour and am inspired to continue my involvement and combine my passions for medicine and Israel.

Dr. Connie Baum Newman is an endocrinologist, Adjunct Professor, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Past President of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). She has been a Hadassah Life Member since age 12.

Her late mother, a Hadassah chapter president, was passionate about Hadassah’s mission. Her father, a pediatrician, inspired her to study medicine and taught her to treat all people with respect and dignity, and to “do no harm.” His advice may explain her interest in drug safety. She pursued an academic career and is widely known for her research on hypercholesterolemia and statin safety. She is lead author of the 2021 Endocrine Society guideline on lipid management, the 2018 American Heart Association scientific statement on statin safety and co-editor of a 2022 volume of Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America, “Update in the Diagnosis and Management of Dyslipidemia”.

Dr. Newman is an appointed member of the FDA Endocrine and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee. She was honored by the American College of Physicians with a Mastership in 2021. She writes and lectures on cholesterol management, diabetes, challenges facing women doctors and physician burnout. To educate clinicians about sex and gender-based differences in disease, she designed and co-edited the medical textbook, How Sex and Gender Impact Clinical Practice: An Evidence Based Guide to Patient Care, recently published by Elsevier.

Dr. Newman, a strong advocate for women’s reproductive rights, chairs the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood, Northern, Central and Southern New Jersey. She serves on the Boards of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation and the Weill Cornell Medical College Alumni Association.

She and her husband, Jonathan Tobert, MD PhD, divide their time between Warren, NJ and Oxford, England. She has two sons, a daughter, who is a medical doctor, and one grandson.

Dr. Connie Baum Newman is an endocrinologist, Adjunct Professor, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Past President of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). She has been a Hadassah Life Member since age 12.

Her late mother, a Hadassah chapter president, was passionate about Hadassah’s mission. Her father, a pediatrician, inspired her to study medicine and taught her to treat all people with respect and dignity, and to “do no harm.” His advice may explain her interest in drug safety. She pursued an academic career and is widely known for her research on hypercholesterolemia and statin safety. She is lead author of the 2021 Endocrine Society guideline on lipid management, the 2018 American Heart Association scientific statement on statin safety and co-editor of a 2022 volume of Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America, “Update in the Diagnosis and Management of Dyslipidemia”.

Dr. Newman is an appointed member of the FDA Endocrine and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee. She was honored by the American College of Physicians with a Mastership in 2021. She writes and lectures on cholesterol management, diabetes, challenges facing women doctors and physician burnout. To educate clinicians about sex and gender-based differences in disease, she designed and co-edited the medical textbook, How Sex and Gender Impact Clinical Practice: An Evidence Based Guide to Patient Care, recently published by Elsevier.

Dr. Newman, a strong advocate for women’s reproductive rights, chairs the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood, Northern, Central and Southern New Jersey. She serves on the Boards of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation and the Weill Cornell Medical College Alumni Association.

She and her husband, Jonathan Tobert, MD PhD, divide their time between Warren, NJ and Oxford, England. She has two sons, a daughter, who is a medical doctor, and one grandson.