Core Faculty & Staff
Faculty
Associate Professor and Program Director
Department of Family Medicine - Chair
Dr. Catinella has over 25 years of experience in several renowned academic institutions, including the University of Arizona College of Medicine, the University of Utah Health, and Indiana University. Dr. Catinella has also held a number of major executive leadership roles, including positions as vice chair of primary care programs at the University of Utah and chief medical information officer at the University of Arizona’s University Physicians Healthcare.
Dr. Catinella received his medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and his Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida. He completed his residency in family medicine at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, and is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
M'melo Banda, M.D., is a board-certified family medicine physician specializing in full-scope family medicine and general inpatient care. She received her Doctor of Medicine from St. George University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. Following medical school, she completed her residency in family medicine at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma. Dr. Banda provides patient-centered, outcome-driven and cost-effective care.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Dr. Esparza was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Baylor University in 2009. Afterward, she completed a Master of Science in medical sciences degree at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. She then earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at UNTHSC-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2015.
She trained at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family Medicine Program in San Antonio, Texas, and is a board-certified family physician. Dr. Esparza has now relocated back to El Paso, Texas, as a faculty member of TTUHSC El Paso's Department of Family Medicine - Transmountain.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Dr. Ibiye Owei Nwanze is a graduate of the University of Ibadan College of Medicine, Nigeria, and has a master’s in public health from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia. She completed her residency training in family medicine at the TTUHSC El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in June 2020, where she had the privilege of serving as chief resident. She is board certified in family medicine. Her research interests include prediabetes, diabetes and obesity, and she has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals. She enjoys the broad spectrum of family medicine practice, medical education and community outreach programs.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Dr. Sinnott is originally from the Des Moines area of Iowa. She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived in Leogane, Haiti, for a year: “Ane pale kreyol, ti cras” (“A year of speaking Haitian Creole”). She returned to the states and attended medical school in Iowa. She lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a year, then moved to Rochester, Minnesota, to train in family medicine.
Dr. Sinnott is board certified in family medicine, so she sees everyone including pregnant women. She has several years of experience working with addiction medicine and enjoys the variety that family medicine offers. She most recently lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and now lives with her husband and children in El Paso, Texas. Her husband is a fourth-generation El Pasoan. She speaks Spanish, and her family is happy to be home in El Paso.
Staff