OUR DOCTORS
Karen Berris, M.D.
Dr. Berris received her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her Doctor of Medicine degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.
She completed her residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and her fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Wayne State University.
Karen K. Berris, M.D. was dual certified as a Diplomate of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in 2007and as a Diplomate of Internal Medicine after earning her Board Certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2005.
Dr. Berris specializes in management of thyroid, pituitary, bone and adrenal disorders, along with diabetes. She has been published on the topics of osteoporosis and parathyroid disease.
Dr. Berris is fluent in Spanish.
Dr. Berris is currently affiliated with the following hospital:
• William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
She sees patients on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Howard S. Blank, M.D. received his Bachelor of Science with Honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and he received his Doctor of Medicine from the Finch University of Health Sciences / The Chicago Medical School. Dr. Blank completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Wayne State University, where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed his fellowship in Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Dr. Blank is dual certified as a Diplomate of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and as a Diplomate of Internal Medicine after earning his Board Certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Blank practices general endocrinology with a special interest in thyroid disease. He has completed training in thyroid ultrasonography and ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy and has attained the Endocrine Certification in Neck Ultrasound.
Dr. Blank is currently affiliated with the following hospitals:
- William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
- St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital
He sees patients in the Farmington Hills office most days of the month. He sees patients in the Clarkston office on select Thursdays.
Dr. Gary Edelson completed his undergraduate training at Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts and medical school and residency training at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington DC. He completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Dr. Edelson is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan.
He is widely published in bone and mineral, diabetes, and lipid disorders. He is a past president of the Michigan chapter of the American Diabetes Association and is a past member of the board of directors of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD). He is the immediate past President of the Michigan Chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), and is a current board member for the National AACE organization. He also serves as the Chief of Endocrinology at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit and is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan Consortium for Osteoporosis (MCO).
Dr. Edelson is affiliated with the following hospitals:
- William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
- DMC Sinai Grace Hospital
Dr. Edelson sees patients in our Farmington Hills office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Carla M. Ferrise received her Masters of Science in Nursing from The University of Detroit Mercy. She is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner.
Carla has been involved in establishing glycemic guidelines for managing the critically and non-critically ill patient populations at St. John Hospital, Detroit. Most recently, she developed the Inpatient Surgical Diabetes and Glycemic Management Program at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
She has special interest in intensive diabetes management, including insulin pumps, continuous monitoring devices, and emerging technologies and therapies. She also has a passion for patient and family education.
Carla sees patients at the Farmington Hills Office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Erica Forbes NP-C received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honors from Michigan State University and her Master of Science in Nursing with High Honors from South University. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She also holds national Critical Care Registered Nurse certification.
Erica has a special interest in the management of osteoporosis including interpreting bone densitometry as well as parathyroid and thyroid disorders. She has a strong passion for patient and family education.
Erica is currently affiliated with the following hospital:
• William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
Dr. Moe received his Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from the University of Minnesota Duluth and his Doctor of Medicine degree from A.T. Still University in Kirksville, MO. He completed his residency at the Detroit Medical Center and his fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA.
Jacob L. Moe, DO received his board certification in Internal Medicine in 2015 and is eligible for board certification in Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Dr. Moe specializes in the management of disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, and adrenal glands, as well as obesity, lipids, and diabetes mellitus. He has special interests in thyroid disorders including thyroid cancer and intensive diabetes management. He completed training in thyroid ultrasonography and ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy.
Dr. Moe is currently affiliated with:
• William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
• William Beaumont Hospital — Farmington Hills
Lowell Schmeltz, M.D., F.A.C.E.
Associate Professor, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Fellow, American College of Endocrinology
Lowell R. Schmeltz, M.D. received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University. Dr. Schmeltz completed his Endocrinology fellowship at Northwestern where he pursued clinical research in diabetes management and has since authored multiple publications on intensive diabetes management, autoimmune thyroid disease, lipids, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Schmeltz is board-certified in Endocrinology & Metabolism. He has received additional training and certification in thyroid ultrasonography, ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy, nuclear medicine, and bone densitometry.
Dr. Schmeltz specializes in managing disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, and adrenal glands, lipids, and diabetes mellitus. He has special interests in thyroid nodules/cancer, thyroid ultrasonography, and intensive diabetes management (both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes), and diabetes technologies (insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors).
Dr. Schmeltz is an Associate Professor at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. He is very active in medical education, teaching medical students, residents, and fellows on various endocrine disorders. He served as the Chief of Endocrinology at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital from 2007-2017.
He has been recognized annually since 2008 in Hour Magazine Detroit “Top Docs” in Endocrinology and received the Physician of the Year award in 2011 at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. He was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Endocrinology in 2014.
Dr. Schmeltz serves as President of the American Diabetes Association of Michigan and the Chairman of Camp MIDICHA, the American Diabetes Association camp for kids with diabetes. He is also active in the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), The Endocrine Society, and the American Thyroid Association.
Dr. Schmeltz is currently affiliated with:
- William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
Dr. Schmeltz sees patients at the Farmington Hills office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and some Fridays.
Dr. Syed received her medical degree from Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine. She received a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley during which time she examined barriers to education for girls in Pakistan. Dr. Syed completed her internal medicine residency and endocrinology fellowship at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She pursued public health research during her endocrinology fellowship with a focus on transportation barriers to health care.
Dr. Syed is dual certified in Internal Medicine (2011) and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (2014).
Dr. Syed specializes in the management of disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, adrenal glands, bone and diabetes.
Dr. Syed is currently affiliated with:
William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
She sees patients on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Charles I. Taylor, M.D. graduated from Wayne State University Medical Center, Detroit He completed a medical residency at Sinai Hospital of Detroit and Henry Ford Hospital. A Fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism was completed at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Dr. Taylor has worked in private practice limited to Endocrinology for over 40 years. His past administrative positions include President of the Medical Staff at Providence Hospital, Chief of Endocrinology at Providence Hospital, and Director of Endocrine education at Sinai Hospital of Detroit.
Dr. Taylor is currently affiliated with the following hospitals:
- William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak
- Providence Hospital – Southfield & Novi
Dr. Taylor sees patients at the Farmington Hills Office Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Dr. Wood received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan. He was trained in pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology at the Children’s Hospital of Boston from 1998-1994. He has been a practicing pediatric endocrinologist since 1994.
From April 2013 to December 2018, he was the clinical director of the Pediatric Diabetes program at the University of Michigan. He has been doing research in diabetes for more than 10 years, and was a principal investigator on the Medtronic STAR3 trial as well as the recent trial of Medtronic’s 670G hybrid closed loop system in children ages 7-13. In addition, he is working with a group from Michigan State University, led by Bree Holtz, PhD, creating an app designed to improve communication between adolescents with diabetes and their parents.
He is inspired by families every day, and loves the practice of medicine. His goal in joining the practice of Associated Endocrinologists is to give families the best care possible in a supportive environment, and to listen intently to suggestions about how to make the practice better meet their needs. Although he intends to see patients with endocrine disorders as well as diabetes, his career specialty has been helping families manage Type 1 diabetes with the use of technology.
He has been married for 32 years to his wonderful wife Maureen, and they have 3 fantastic adult children. His son Andy, age 30, is a Urology resident physician in New York. His son Tim, age 27, is a computer consultant in Chicago, and his daughter Mary is a practicing pediatric nurse (who will be joining him at AE!) on her way to becoming a nurse practitioner.
The entire family was educated at the University of Michigan (7 degrees in all), and are huge Michigan fans! In addition to his time at the office, you may see him at Michigan football or basketball games which he has been attending for about 40 years.