Commissioners
Donald Patterson, Commissioner
Since 2001, Mr. Patterson has served as Boxing Coordinator for the Northwest Buffalo Community Center, where he developed and implemented an amateur boxing program for local youth in Buffalo. He also trains and coaches individual boxers and provides training for USA Boxing coaches and officials. He was a boxer from 1987 to 1992, training, competing and representing the United States on national and international levels. He is the Vice President of USA Boxing Niagara District Local Boxing Committee (LBC), President of the Golden Gloves of America, Inc. Buffalo Franchise and a National Board Member of Golden Gloves of America, Inc.
In 2007, he coached the USA Boxing Team in the Golden Belt Tournament in Bucharest, Romania. As a boxer, he was a Silver and Bronze medalist in the 1989 and 1990 Empire State Games, respectively. He served twice as a representative for the United States Amateur Boxing Team Scandinavian Tour, and represented the Syracuse Friends of Boxing Team versus Finland.
Mr. Patterson is the Director of the Upward Bound Program at Buffalo State College. He previously worked as a counselor at Canisius College's Academic Talent Search Program, a Child Care Worker at Gateway Longview Youth and Family Service in Williamsville, a School Site Coordinator/Counselor at the University at Buffalo - Liberty Partnership (UB-LPP), a Mental Health Specialist at Baker Victory Services Juvenile Group Homes in Lackawanna, and a Recruiter for Buffalo State College. Mr. Patterson holds a B.A. from Buffalo State College.
Philip Stieg, Ph.D., M.D., Commissioner
Dr. Philip Stieg is a world-renowned neurosurgeon with expertise in cerebrovascular disorders and skull base surgery. He is the Chairman and founder of the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center, the leading neuroscience patient care center in New York City. In 2010 Dr. Stieg launched the Weill Cornell Surgical Innovations Lab, the first global multimedia neurosurgical teaching facility in the world.
Dr. Stieg is a widely published author and internationally known lecturer, and has been named by Castle Connolly Medical as one of the nation’s Top Doctors for 16 years in a row. Dr. Stieg is frequently featured in the media for his expertise and commentary on breaking news in healthcare, and he was the creator and host of the successful NPR radio show “How to Save Your Life.” Dr. Stieg is also one of the editors of the definitive textbook on AVMs, Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations. He is currently the president of the Brain Tumor Foundation, and president of the New York board of the American Heart Association. He is also a past Chairman of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AANS/CNS) and former President of the Society of University Neurosurgeons in addition to serving as an advisor to the Defense Department on brain injury. Dr. Stieg is board-certified in Neurological Surgery.
Dr. Stieg received his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (1974), his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neuroscience from Union University (1980), and his M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1983. He trained at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (Parkland Memorial Hospital) with Drs. Duke Samson and Hunt Batjer after completing a fellowship in cell transplantation for restorative neurological function at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Stieg joined the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Boston in 1989, after completing his postgraduate training.
Dr. Stieg’s research interests include cerebral protection as well as restorative function. He is also interested in neural transplantation and neuronal regeneration after stroke. His initial studies focused on understanding the mechanisms of injury in the central nervous system after trauma. His laboratory was one of the first to develop and characterize primary cultures of astroglial cells. Dr. Stieg’s expertise in cerebrovascular disorders combines with his research interests in stem cell biology and cerebral transplantation for restoring neurological function. Dr. Stieg has implemented a multifaceted approach to the management of neurosurgical disorders such as carotid artery disease, vascular malformations, aneurysms, epilepsy, brain tumors, trauma, pediatric disorders, spinal cord problems, and functional diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.
James Vosswinkel, M.D., Commissioner
Born and raised on Long Island, Dr. Vosswinkel received his medical degree from the SUNY Upstate Medical University in 1995, and completed his residency training in general surgery at Stony Brook. Subsequently, he gained fellowship training in trauma/surgical critical care at Yale University.
As a resident at Stony Brook School of Medicine, Dr. Vosswinkel in 2000 was the first to receive the David J. Kreis Jr. Award for Excellence in Trauma Surgery, an annual award given to a senior (fourth-year) surgical resident by the Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care Division in honor of the late Dr. Kreis, the founding chief of the trauma and surgical critical care service, who served with distinction on the faculty from 1986 until his untimely death in 1989.
On completing his training at Yale, Dr. Vosswinkel returned to Long Island and joined the faculty of Stony Brook’s Department of Surgery in 2002 as a traumatologist and general surgeon. Over the next decade, he distinguished himself with his clinical skills and leadership, and in 2013, he was appointed chief of the Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care Division.
Dr. Vosswinkel was instrumental in overseeing Stony Brook's recent verification as a Level 1 Regional Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons (read more). Stony Brook is Suffolk County's only Level 1 Trauma Center for both adults and children, which is the highest level of trauma care possible.
Over the last few years, Dr. Vosswinkel has earned recognition from several groups. He was named the Physician for Excellence in 2016 by the Suffolk Regional Emergency Medical Services Council.
For his exceptional leadership at the Trauma Center, Dr. Vosswinkel was invested as the Lillian and Leonard Schneider Endowed Professor in Trauma Surgery — the first endowed professorship in the Department of Surgery.
Lino Garcia
Lino Garcia, President of Unanimo Sports Media, is an International media executive with 25 years of network television and multi-media management experience. He was the founding General Manager of ESPN Deportes where he oversaw all operations including Programming, Marketing, and Advertising Sales across all platforms - Television, Digital, Radio and Print for 13 years and oversaw its launch in 2004.
Prior to joining ESPN, Garcia was a veteran in the cable and satellite industry, focusing much of his time on marketing to the Hispanic community for HBO and managing International Pan Regional television channel Sony Entertainment Television throughout Latin America and Brazil. Garcia's marketing expertise has been recognized several times by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) for both General Market and Hispanic campaigns, and by Hispanic Business Magazine and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). He has also been one of CableFax's Most Influential Minorities for many years and was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the most influential minorities in sports as well as by The Imagen Foundation as one of the most Powerful and Influential Latinos in the Entertainment Industry. A recognized industry leader, Garcia also served on the board of the Hispanic Federation and on the NYC Mayor’s Office Latino Media and Entertainment Commission. He is also former board member of NAMIC and Lighthouse International. Most recently Mr. Garcia founded Unanimo Sports Media, a company dedicated to covering sports and developing multi-cultural content for total market consumption across visual and audio platforms.