PGY1 Residents
General Track
Stephanie Fagbemi, M.D.
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Stephanie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in biology. In medical school, she was the President of the Student Government Association, cofounded her school’s Diversity Council, and started a food pantry for her classmates who were food insecure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she assisted the Philadelphia Department of Public Health in distributing personal protective equipment to healthcare sites and senior living facilities that were in the greatest need. She also helped to distribute donated electronic devices to patients and senior residents, so they could stay connected with their loved ones despite social distancing. Her research in medical school focused on finding ways for Black and Hispanic North Philadelphia community members to become involved in the medical student applicant selection process. Stephanie also did research in Episcopal Hospital’s Crisis Response Center, looking for factors that determine whether patients are admitted or discharged following a 23 hour observation. Her interests include women’s mental health, trauma, schizophrenia, mood disorders, community mental health, and cultural psychiatry.
Josie François, M.D., M.P.H.
Harvard Medical School
Josie graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s in Chemistry and attended Harvard Medical School. In medical school, she mentored premedical students and volunteered at The Family Van, providing health education and screenings to the local community. Her research in medical school focused on the use of digital technology in psychiatric care. She obtained an MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her MPH focused on health disparities, health equity, and population mental health. Josie‘s interests include public and community psychiatry, cross-cultural psychiatry, global mental health, psychotherapy, and consultation-liaison psychiatry.
Jack Huang, M.D., M.B.A.
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Jack graduated from Harvard College, where he started HealthPALs (Health Peer Advisors and Liaisons), a team of student community health workers connecting the student body with the campus healthcare system. He also worked with the MGH Chelsea Healthcare Center on quality improvement initiatives. After college, Jack worked in population health management at Mass General Brigham as well as health policy research at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He then returned to Pennsylvania, where he completed a MD at the Perelman School of Medicine and a MBA at the Wharton School. At Penn, Jack worked with the Department of Psychiatry and Center for Healthcare Innovation to launch a telepsychiatry program at the start of the pandemic. Jack is interested in healthcare delivery system innovation, cross-cultural psychiatry, improving access through technology, and physician leadership.
Todd Jones, M.D.
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Todd received his AB degree in Classical Languages and Literatures from Harvard College with a secondary concentration in Mathematics. In college, Todd founded a philosophical parliamentary debate society and participated in the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club as an actor and director. In medical school, Todd conducted research in virtual reality exposure therapy, filming and compiling 3D videos for patients with post-intensive care syndrome. Todd's academic interests include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, hypnosis, and the incorporation of psychiatry into cutting-edge theories of work, flow, and challenge.
Sarah Kovan, M.D., M.Sc.
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Sarah graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Comparative Cultures and Politics and a B.S. in Human Biology. Her extensive work on understanding the barriers to health access in a global context led her to complete an M.Sc. in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and an M.Sc. in Medical Anthropology, both at the University of Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. Following her graduate education, she attended the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Sarah is a recipient of the U.S. Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award, recognized for expanding access to health care services for individuals without housing in Vermont and New Hampshire. She is currently interested in community psychiatry and global mental health, with a focus on transition age youth. Sarah enjoys gardening (and fresh produce), canoeing, most soccer-related activities, and a good memoir.
Deborah Park, M.D., M.S.
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Deborah graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she majored in biology as part of the Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (GPPA) in medicine. At the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Deborah participated in the medical humanities journal, student government, and the communication skills course for the M1 and M2 class. During medical school, Deborah additionally obtained a Master’s in Clinical Research with a research focus in psycho-oncology. Her other interests include the intersection between theology and psychiatry, mood disorders, women’s mental health, and medical education.
Evelina Sterina, M.D., M.S.
Emory University School of Medicine
Evelina Sterina graduated from the University of Chicago with majors in Psychology and Biological Sciences with Specialization in Neuroscience. In Chicago, she received honors for her thesis exploring the neural mechanism of ultradian (<24 hour) biological rhythms, co-founded a public health case competition, and managed a team of researchers at NowPow, a social impact technology start-up. In medical school at Emory University, Evelina led a primary care student clinic for low-income immigrant communities on the West Side of Atlanta and a mental health student clinic for the refugee and asylee community in Clarkston, Georgia. Evelina also received an NIH TL1 grant to complete a Master’s in Clinical Research at Emory University, where she studied the effects of trauma timing and cortisol rhythmicity on PTSD symptomatology. She was selected as an American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Scholar for her work studying the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of older adults and volunteering at Emory’s geriatric neuromodulation clinic. Her interests include geriatric psychiatry, consult-liaison psychiatry, immigrant mental health, neuromodulation, and biological rhythms. Her hobbies include yoga, raising animals, international film and literature, and all things arts and crafts, most recently cross-stitching.
Lake Walsh, M.D.
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Lake graduated from UMass-Amherst with a degree in English and Psychology. He then completed a postbacc at Harvard Extension School and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. While in medical school, Lake helped grow the humanities community at Penn Med, leading a monthly writing workshop, and becoming an editor-in-chief of the school’s literary journal, apenndx. Lake also worked in a lab studying the application of behavioral economics to treat apathy in Parkinson’s disease, and then worked in a lab studying whether patients at the end of life are receiving care that is concordant with their goals. Lake has interests in palliative care, the treatment of psychotic disorders, mindfulness, and novel research and treatments in interventional psychiatry. He enjoys reading, writing, walking his 10-year old rescue dog “Manchas”, and the martial art Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
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Jason West, M.D.
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at University of Nevada Las Vegas
Jason majored in Physiology and Developmental Biology from Brigham Young University. In college, he established social venture projects based out of Madagascar that specifically focused on pig farming and sustainable agriculture. During this time, he also performed research into salt-tolerant halophyte bacteria in stimulating alfalfa growth. As a medical student, Jason served as Treasurer for the Student National Medical Association and was an integral part of the LEAAD-UP initiative that focused on integrating anti-racism into the medical curriculum while advancing health equity in Las Vegas. Jason’s interests include consultation-liaison psychiatry, global mental health, interventional psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and cross-cultural psychiatry.
Bijan Zarrabi, M.D.
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Bijan graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) majoring in Psychobiology with a minor in Theater. After graduating, Bijan worked as a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technician at a TMS clinic specializing in neuronavigation-based TMS for mood disorders and tinnitus. Bijan later became the clinical director of the practice while also performing stand-up comedy across Los Angeles. During medical school, Bijan became the president and founder of the Rush University COVID-19 Journal Club, an organization dedicated to informing clinicians and the general public on new research findings related to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. Bijan was the recipient of Rush University’s Department of Psychiatry Award for Student Excellence and was nominated for the American Medical Association’s Physicians of Tomorrow Award. He also graduated from Second City’s Improvisational Comedy training program in Chicago. Bijan is interested in neuromodulation, neuropsychiatry, and addiction psychiatry.
Child Track
Jad Hilal, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Jad studied International Relations, music, and Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. During his studies, he worked for Pittsburgh City Council, conducting legislative research and outreach regarding marijuana decriminalization and protecting residents from housing discrimination based on income. After graduating, he was selected as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, working for the historically-underrepresented Wilkinsburg Borough, for the Obama Foundation on a project to support men and boys of color, and for a biostatistics firm authoring a white paper regarding the state of NOWS healthcare. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he served as a social medicine fellow, working to reform the curriculum and build a home visiting program to better address inequities in healthcare. He was a regular volunteer at the local needle exchange clinic and free clinic, and organized a home-visiting program for medical students and pediatrics residents. He also chaired the school addiction medicine area of concentration and was selected to attend the Hazelton Betty Ford summer fellowship in addiction medicine in Rancho Mirage, CA. Stemming from his interest in policy and addictions, his research pertained to state policies affecting maternal-infant wellbeing in families affected by substance use disorders, the results of which were presented at several national conferences with a manuscript pending publication. He has been an avid violinist since age 4, a godfather to two delightful cousins, and an average but generous cook.
Jeremy Wortzel, M.D, M.P.H., M.Phil
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Jeremy Wortzel earned his ScB at Brown University where he studied Biology and Geology. During college, he worked with non-profits and governmental agencies to help improve the state of healthy and sustainable housing for low-income and immigrant families and mentored inner-city high school students in a wilderness immersion therapy program. He then pursued an MPhil at the University of Cambridge in clinical research and experimental medicine. Jeremy then attended the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where he was the Student Wellness Chair of the Gold Humanism Honors Society. He focused his clinical work on addressing youth homelessness and mental health in Philadelphia and his research on studying social inequity in Asbestos exposure with the Center for Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. Jeremy then pursued a Master of Public Health at the University of Pennsylvania with a focus in Environmental Health. His research studied the intersection of toxic environmental stress, greenspace, climate change, and mental health. Professionally, Jeremy is interested in child and adolescent psychiatry, climate change, environmental and social determinants of mental health, mindfulness, community psychiatry, and health equity advocacy. Outside of medicine, Jeremy enjoys playing guitar around various campfires across America’s national parks, jogging through any greenspace he can find, and working on fun art projects with his wife!
Research Track
Katharine Brieger, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Michigan Medical School
Kate graduated from Pomona College with a major in Environmental Analysis. In college, she studied environmental contaminants impacting human health, led the Writing Center, and ran on the cross country and track teams. She then went on a Fulbright Research Scholarship to the University of Geneva to study oxidative stress in neurons. Kate completed her MD/PhD at the University of Michigan, where her dissertation in epidemiology focused on modifiable risk factors during the prenatal and post-menopausal periods. Her main projects examined gene-environment interactions relevant to the development of autism spectrum disorder and on behavioral and medical factors extending ovarian cancer survival. Her final dissertation project has now motivated a large clinical trial investigating hormone replacement therapy among ovarian cancer patients. While in medical school she also taught at the School of Public Health, edited the medical school’s literary and arts magazine, and led the MD/PhD student-faculty group for PhDs in the social sciences and humanities. During residency, Kate looks forward to combining her passion for research and clinical work by developing intervention-focused research. Her current interests include child and adolescent health, women’s mental health, psychiatric epidemiology, psychotherapy, and medical education.
Rachel Kery, M.D., Ph.D.
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Rachel Kery earned a BA from Wellesley College with a double major in neuroscience and anthropology. She then went on to attend the Stoney Brook University School of Medicine Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) for her MD, PhD training, earning a PhD in Neuroscience in 2020. While part of the MSTP, Rachel was awarded a prestigious F30 Fellowship from NIMH, a teaching award from her efforts as a TA in the Neuroscience Department, and served as a founding member and president of the Underrepresented Genders in Stony Brook’s MSTP. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, Rachel was part of a team of Stony Brook graduate students who engineered a test for SARS-COVID-2 infection using what limited resources were available at the time, and personally tested hundreds of patients. Rachel’s research has focused on understanding complex thalamocortical pathways critical for sensory perception, with particular interest in understanding sensory hypersensitivities commonly seen in neurodivergent patients. A passionate advocate for neurodiversity and ASD/ADHD pride and acceptance (over mere awareness), her interests in psychiatry include neuropsychiatry and child psychiatry.
PGY2 Residents
General Track
Marie Desir, M.D.
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
Marie graduated from the Honors College at Florida International University with a major in Biological Science. She worked as an ER medical scribe and participated in medical missions to both Haiti and Nicaragua after college. In medical school, she was the treasurer of the Psychiatry Student Interest Group and the Vice President of NutriGardens, a program that educates children on healthy foods and nutrition; she also serves as a worship leader in her church. Marie’s research through the multi-center STOP-COVID collaboration focused on the effects of renal dysfunction on mortality in COVID patients. She has also conducted a project evaluating potential biomarkers in mild cognitive impairment. Marie’s interests are in addiction psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry, community psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.
Grace Ma, M.D.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Grace graduated from the University of Miami with a major in Biology. She volunteered at a hospice center and was the president of UGenerations, a group that worked to bridge the gap between younger and older generations. While in medical school, Grace was treasurer of the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association and co-president of the Bamboo Sprouts program where she organized educational activities for children adopted from Asian countries. Grace’s research has focused on targeted interventions to reduce emotional distress for geriatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also studied women presenting with a first-time epileptic seizure during pregnancy. Her interests in psychiatry include neuropsychiatry and geriatric psychiatry.
Kabir Nigam, M.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Kabir majored in Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In college he created the UCLA Music Production Club that promoted student musicians and tutored at an underserved middle school. After working at the UCSF Alcohol and Addiction Research Group after college, Kabir completed a Master’s degree in Experimental Neuroscience at the Imperial College of London. In medical school, Kabir served as the co-president of the student psychiatric society, participated in the VCU summer institute in psychiatry, and worked as a research assistant at the institute for drug and alcohol studies. He has also led a research project on diminished inhibitory control in cocaine users and co-authored a review article on hallucinogens as treatments for addiction. Kabir is interested in consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychosocial oncology, palliative care, and research on the integration of interventional psychiatry/psychopharmacology with psychotherapy.
Harish Pudukodu, M.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Harish graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a major in Environmental Health Sciences and Biology. In college, he co-led the Neuroscience Club and worked with NeuroCare leadership to connect students with psychiatry-related service opportunities. In medical school, Harish created a medical student podcast to foster student well-being and led a program to offer support to high-risk patients during COVID. For his volunteer work in urban clinics, Harish was awarded a prestigious community engagement scholarship. His research has focused on the effects of CFTR modulators on depression as well as prevalence of OCD symptoms in cystic fibrosis patients. Harish is interested in consultation-liaison psychiatry, academic leadership, and clinical/translational research.
Lucas Wittman, M.D., M.P.H.
Harvard Medical School
Lucas completed his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. In college, he was the president of the Nu Rho Psi Neuroscience Honor Society, served as the program chair of the PRISM Interfaith Organization, and organized academic and volunteer science events for a local elementary school. At UPenn and HMS, his research has characterized the effects of social factors (e.g., childhood adversity and poverty) on brain development. During medical school, Lucas additionally obtained an MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Recently, he has completed research on the implementation of alcohol use disorder treatments in a native Alaskan community and has a manuscript under review. Lucas is interested in community mental health, child and adolescent psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry.
Child Track
Bryana Bayly, M.D.
University of Michigan Medical School
Bryana graduated from the University of Michigan with majors in Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience and Spanish. In medical school, Bryana was a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and was an active volunteer in the No One Dies Alone Program, assisting in end-of-life support for patients. Bryana also created the MedConnect program in conjunction with the School of Social Work to provide virtual social support for patients at risk for negative mental health outcomes associated with isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research in medical school has focused on epigenetic modification of Fragile X patient-derived cells. Bryana’s interests include child and adolescent psychiatry, psychotherapy, neuroscience, geriatric psychiatry, and medical education.
Margaret Duncan, M.D.
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Margaret was a Pre-Professional Studies and Theology double major at University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, Margaret played in the drumline, acted as a mentor for high school students, and wrote a regular column in the student newspaper. In medical school, Margaret established a narrative medicine interest group, created a program to build resilience for classmates during COVID-19, and served as Peer Advocate to help students access resources. Margaret was selected for a Fellowship at Auschwitz to study at their Professional Ethics Program. Her interests include women’s mental health, child and adolescent psychiatry, advocacy, consultation-liaison psychiatry and palliative care.
Research Track
Andrew Pines, M.D., M.A.
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine-Arizona
Andrew completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Economics at the University of Denver. After college, Andrew completed a Master’s in Philosophy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Before medical school, Andrew worked as a research technician in a neurosurgery lab that focused on educating patients and residents using 3D printing, augmented reality, and simulation modules. In medical school, Andrew designed and taught a wilderness medicine course, received a grant for educational innovation, and earned a certificate in the Science of Health Care Delivery. His research interests include neuroimaging and the biological causes of psychosis. Clinically, his interests include schizophrenia, psychiatric effects of autoimmune diseases, cross-cultural psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry.
Ali Raza, M.D., Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Ali graduated from Columbia University with a major in Biology. In college, Ali created and taught an introductory neuroscience course to a group of under-privileged New York City high school students and acted in a play directed by a Tony Award recipient. Prior to medical school, Ali completed a Ph.D in Neurobiology and Behavior at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia. During medical school, Ali developed a database to connect medical students to COVID-related volunteer opportunities in the community which led to the establishment of 501c3. Ali’s work as a research assistant at McLean led to a curated database of reduced fee mental health providers for residents. His interests include mood disorders, advocacy, and the intersection of clinical psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, research and technology.
Erin Reed, M.D., Ph.D.
Yale School of Medicine
Erin graduated from Davidson College with a major in Neuroscience. In college, Erin was a member of the Bio-Math Connections Club and participated in the Honor Council. During medical school, Erin completed a Ph.D in neuroscience at Yale. Erin received the Austen Riggs Scholarship in Computational Psychiatry & Representation and was recognized for computational and translational research in cognitive neuroscience and psychiatry. Her research involves computational modeling in patients, healthy participants and animals in order to ascertain underlying mechanisms of generating and updating beliefs. Erin is also interested in depressive disorders, alcohol use disorder, and consultation-liaison psychiatry (especially liver transplant).
PGY3 Residents
General Track
Alyssa Ehrlich, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Alyssa graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with majors in Neuroscience and Philosophy. At Columbia, she discovered a passion for near-peer teaching and worked as a teaching assistant and tutor throughout college. During medical school at Harvard, Alyssa spent a year working in a translational hepatology laboratory investigating clinical and genomic predictors of hepatic fibrosis progression in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease while funded by an NIH T32 predoctoral research fellowship. In medical school, she also founded an online education company that helps medical students prepare for standardized exams like the USMLE. Prior to joining Brigham Psychiatry, Alyssa completed her internship in internal medicine at Stanford University. Professionally, she is interested in medical education, psychotherapy, women’s mental health, and consultation-liaison psychiatry. Alyssa’s hobbies include speed chess, improv and sketch comedy, hot yoga, figure skating, downhill skiing, and playing with her corgi.
Nichola Haddad, M.D.
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Nikki graduated from Brown University with a concentration in Health and Human Biology. During her senior year of college, Nikki created and led her own course “Music as Medicine.” At Brown Medical School, she created an arts-based curriculum in medical education and was an advocate at a sexual assault and trauma center. Nikki was active in her medical school's Student Health Council and Student Wellness Board and co-founded the Medical Humanities Society. As a psychiatry resident at Brigham & Women's Hospital, she works in the Women's Mental Health Clinic, which specializes in treating psychiatric disorders that disproportionately affect women such as trauma disorders, eating disorders, and reproductive-based disorders (perimenstrual, perinatal, and perimenopausal). Her primary research projects include 1) using music therapy as an intervention for older adults experiencing loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2) and using personalized lullabies to help connect caregivers to infants in the NICU. Nikki’s interests within psychiatry include women's mental health, the medical humanities, and geriatric psychiatry. Her hobbies include singing jazz/R&B, guitar, and barre classes.
Amanda Kim, M.D., J.D.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Amanda was a Psychology major at Northwestern University where she was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She then graduated from Harvard Law School with a JD prior to working as an attorney at Sidley Austin. Amanda has also been a volunteer attorney at the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children and a volunteer French and Spanish interpreter at the Marjorie Kovler Center, where she worked with survivors of political torture. Amanda became involved with opioid policy early on in medical school, and took time off after her second year to serve as the Deputy Director of Strategic Health Initiatives at the Illinois Department of Public Health, directing statewide opioid initiatives. She has also studied pre-prohibition era psychedelics and functional neurological disorders, contributing to a review article. Her interests include addiction psychiatry, public psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Amanda enjoys playing classical piano and harp, yoga, travel, and learning languages.
Maria Kryatova, M.D.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Maria graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a major in biology and then attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Societies. In college, Maria created and taught a free MCAT preparatory course for low-income pre-medical students. During medical school Maria spent two years conducting research in a genetics laboratory where she studied the role transposable elements play in human disease while funded by a fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She also volunteered with MERIT, an organization that helps low-income Baltimore City high school students with an interest in health professions prepare for the SAT and for college. Maria is interested in inpatient psychiatry and neurotherapeutics. She enjoys theater, foreign movies, hiking, and has a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Kritika Kulkarni, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Kritika graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in Biological Sciences. In college and through medical school, she volunteered at the First Trinity Homeless Ministry to provide lunches and companionship to homeless residents. Kritika served as a guest columnist for an online Indian magazine on the topics of personal development, mental health and wellness within the South Asian community. Kritika also studied the physical and psychosocial effects of breast reduction in adolescent patients as well as, the most common types of secondary malignancies in patients with circulating tumor cells. Kritika is interested in consultation-liaison psychiatry, global mental health, cross cultural psychiatry, palliative care and psycho-oncology. Her hobbies include fitness and weightlifting, coffee shop exploration, and dance.
Cynthia Peng, M.D.
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Cynthia graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to medical school, she was an Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the Lab of Brain and Cognition at the NIH, where she studied the functional connectivity of higher-order visual cognition using 3T and 7T fMRI methods. In medical school at Brown, Cynthia developed an interest in arts interventions in patient care. She pioneered a study investigating live music on symptomology in palliative care patients, of which the narrative medicine part was published in JAMA Oncology. She has also studied the impact of reflective writing and a painting program on quality of life in chemotherapy patients. Cynthia is interested in psycho-oncology, interventional psychiatry, and psychotherapy. Cynthia’s hobbies playing music (flute), figure skating, acroyoga (a form of acrobatics and partner balancing yoga), hiking, skiing and photography.
Pranav Reddy, M.D.
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Pranav majored in Political Science and Microbiology at the Ohio State University. In college, he researched the impact of hypoxia on transcriptional responses in neonatal mice, served as a legislative aide in the Parliament of Canada, and defended a thesis on political philosophy and healthcare reform in southern India. After college, he worked with Calcutta Kids, a maternal and child health NGO in West Bengal, India where he implemented use of behavior change indices and started a pediatric diarrhea treatment center. In medical school, Pranav established a design incubator (Design+Health), founded Rhode Island’s asylum clinic, and taught bioethics to high school students. Pranav also conducted research in Santiago, Dominican Republic on retention of pregnant women in HIV care. After medical school, he obtained a Master in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School with a concentration in social and urban policy. There, he studied public narrative and crisis leadership and researched links between civil rights, housing, and health. Prior to joining Brigham, he trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale. Pranav is interested in intergenerational trauma, epidemiology and epistemology of psychiatry, and psychoneuroendocrinology during fetal development and over the human life course. He enjoys hitting the courts (basketball, squash, and tennis), magical realism in literature and film, and scented candles.
Child Track
Jessica Haddad, M.D.
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Jessi graduated from Brown University with a major in Psychology. In medical school, Jessi was a member of the AOA and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She was also active in peer mentoring third year medical students. Jessi created a support group for medical students who have experience as patients with physical and mental illnesses. She has served as a victim advocate for patients who are victims of sexual trauma. Jessi is writing a case report and meta-analysis on co-morbid schizophrenia and narcolepsy in the setting of childhood sexual trauma. Her interests include child and adolescent psychiatry, women’s mental health, and consultation-liaison psychiatry. Jessi enjoys singing, barre classes, acting, concerts, sudoku, travel and her rottweiler-pit bull.
James Powers, M.D.
Duke University School of Medicine
James graduated magna cum laude from Duke University, where he majored in neuroscience and Spanish. At Duke School of Medicine, he engaged in many research projects through his medical school’s Neurodegenerative Disease Retinal Imaging initiative and Autoimmune Brain Disorder clinic before becoming interested in a career in child psychiatry. During residency, James’ interests have led to numerous pursuits related to the diagnosis, treatment, and support of persons with neurodevelopmental disorders. Professionally, he is interested in child psychiatry, neurodevelopmental disorders, LGBTQ+ health, psychopharmacology, and medical education. James’ hobbies include travelling, weightlifting, and playing with his chihuahua and yorkipoo.
Research Track
Matthew Baum, M.D., Ph.D., D.Phil
Harvard Medical School
Matt holds a B.S. and M.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Yale University; an M.Sc. in Neuroscience from Trinity College, Dublin (where he was a George Mitchell Scholar); a D.Phil. in Neuroethics from Oxford University (where he was a Rhodes Scholar); and an M.D. and Ph.D. (in Neuroscience) from Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the book, “The Neuroethics of Biomarkers: What the Development of Bioprediction Means for Moral Responsibility, Justice, and the Nature of Mental Disorder” (published by Oxford University Press), which was awarded the Carol Davis Ethics prize by the American Psychiatric Association for an “outstanding contribution to literature on the ethics of psychiatry”; He has given plenary lectures on the Neuroethics of biomarkers at the annual meeting of the International Neuroethics Society, the Dutch Neuroscience Meeting, has taught medical ethics at Oxford and Harvard. His neuroscientific work at Harvard focused on the complement cascade, and its regulation, in a synaptic pruning hypothesis of schizophrenia; for this work, he received the Sanger Award graduation prize for research related to psychiatry. During residency, he hopes to develop an integrated scientific, neuroethical, and clinical pursuit of immune-molecule dysfunction in psychosis and mood disorders. He is currently interested in immunological biomarker discovery in bipolar disorder, workup of secondary psychoses, pharmacogenomics, and is a recipient of the NIMH outstanding resident award. Matt also enjoys fermentation (intellectual and actual), a collaborative pursuit that has yielded “Microgli-Ale”, a tribute to the brain cells that engulf synaptic components, and a beer to be “engulfed responsibly”.
Yong Hoon Kim, M.D., Ph.D.
Perelman School of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Yong graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a major in Molecular, Cell, and Development Biology. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine for his MD and PhD. During graduate school, he investigated how 3D chromatin architecture modulates circadian gene expression, which led to a first-author publication in Science. For his thesis work, he received numerous research awards, including the Saul Winegrad Award for Outstanding Dissertation. In medical school, he founded a student interest group, the Precision Medicine Initiative, to foster translational research in personalized diagnostics and therapeutics. Yong is a recipient of the Kenneth E. Appel Graduation Award for his outstanding performance in psychiatry and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) Travel Award. His clinical interests include novel psychopharmaceutical discovery and psychiatric genetics. Yong enjoys kickboxing and outdoor activities, including hiking and fishing.
Amanda Koire, M.D., Ph.D
Baylor College of Medicine
Amanda graduated from Pomona College with a major in Molecular Biology. She then went on to Baylor College of Medicine to complete her MD/PhD with her PhD work in Quantitative and Computational Biosciences. In medical school, she served as co-president of the AOA honor society and the co-founder of the infectious disease student interest group. Her PhD research entailed developing a computational method for identifying rare genetic variants that contribute to the development of autism. Currently, her clinical interests are in perinatal psychiatry, and while in residency she co-founded the trainee interest group Repro Psych Trainees (www.repropsychtrainees.com). She is an APA Leadership Fellow and AWP Alexandra Symonds fellow. Outside of work, she enjoys reading sci-fi and watching NCAA gymnastics!
PGY4 Residents
General Track
Rachel Asher, M.D.
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Rachel grew up in Chicago and attended Northwestern University for college and UIC College of Medicine prior to coming to BWH for psychiatry residency. She had the opportunity to work with political asylum-seekers as a case manager and participate in mental health research in spine surgery patients prior to medical school. During medical school, she continued this research and became involved with Unsilence, a human rights education nonprofit. These experiences continue to inspire her academic and clinical interests, which include narrative medicine, theoretical and scientific foundations of psychiatric diagnosis, and the neuroscience of consciousness. Her hobbies include meditation, creative writing, and spending time by the ocean.
Diana Back, M.D.
Chief Resident of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
University of Minnesota Medical School
Diana was a Psychology major and Chemistry minor at the University of Minnesota. She spent time abroad working in Chile as a clinical observation intern for public, private, and community health care facilities while in college. During medical school, she was awarded the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Summer Medical Student Fellowship. Diana has volunteered at Planned Parenthood and her student-run clinic.
Kelly Brown, M.D.
Administrative Co-Chief Resident
Tufts University School of Medicine
Kelly completed her undergraduate degree in General Biology and Economics at the University of Michigan. Working as a cardiothoracic surgery resident, she treated many patients with IVDU associated endocarditis. Moved by her experiences with these patients and recognizing the stigma that they faced, her interest in psychiatry was reignited. Her research has focused on the intersection of cardiac surgery and psychiatry, including the psychiatric comorbidities of heart failure. While remaining committed to the treatment of patients with co-morbid substance use disorders, her interests have shifted primarily to women’s mental health. She would like her career to focus on trauma, personality disorders, and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the perinatal period with integration of psychosocial treatments. She is also deeply committed to medical education, focusing on implementing ongoing developments in adult learning theory as well as competency-based training. Outside of work she enjoys skiing, eating her way through the Boston food scene and going to the symphony.
Stephen Conway, M.D.
Pennsylvania State College of Medicine
Stephen graduated Summa Cum Laude from Layafette College with a major in Neuroscience. In college, Stephen worked as a mental health technician and a special Olympics swim coach volunteer. Stephen is a member of the AOA at Penn State College of Medicine. Stephen’s research has ranged from studying eating disorders in Drosophila to clinical studies of bipolar disorder.
Ann Felhofer, M.D.
Chief Resident of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Tufts University School of Medicine
Ann attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she graduated with a major in Brain and Cognitive Science and a minor in Chemistry. As a medical student, Ann has volunteered at the MIT student mentor group as well as the Phoenix club where she educated inmates about substance use, mental illness, and nutrition. Ann participated in research at the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts that analyzed fetal brain MRIs in down syndrome.
Lauren Goldschen, M.D.
Chief Resident of Outpatient Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Lauren grew up in Maryland and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in Biological Sciences. While in medical school, Lauren pursued qualitative research that explored the experience of college students with eating disorders. During medical school Lauren was a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Lauren’s clinical interests include public psychiatry and women’s mental health. Outside of work, Lauren enjoys exploring new yoga studios, attending spin classes, and spending time with her cat, Finn.
William Kromka, M.D.
University of Colorado School of Medicine
William was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and majored in Anthropology and Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In college, he developed a passion for global health by volunteering for a health exchange in India dedicated to providing primary healthcare services and health awareness campaigns to rural villages across the Himalayan mountains. He then attended medical school at the University of Colorado where he spent several months working clinically in a high-volume, resource-poor emergency department serving the Khayelitsha township in South Africa. He is a member of the AOA and has conducted research on ED re-visits for mental health concerns. In his free time, he enjoys hiking/backpacking, snowboarding, golfing, writing, listening to any live music, and trying to keep his menagerie of house plants alive.
Jessica Principe, MD
Brigham-McLean Chief Resident
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Jessica attended medical school at the Augusta University (Medical College of Georgia)/University of Georgia Medical Partnership in Athens, GA where she earned membership in AOA and Alpha Upsilon Phi honor societies and held several student leadership positions after an eight year career as a clinical dietitian in Atlanta. Prior to her dietitian career, Jessica earned a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition from the University of Georgia. Her Master’s thesis examined the effects of isoflavone-rich soy protein on weight and fat gain in female college students in a randomized controlled trial. Her scholarly work in residency has focused on examining evidence-based nutrition interventions in psychiatry and exploring a role for vitamin K in mood and cognition. Her other clinical and research interests include geriatric psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, behavioral neurology, neuromodulation, and CL psychiatry. She is serving as the inaugural BWH-McLean chief resident, and she is looking forward to fellowship training in Geriatric Psychiatry at Mass General Brigham in PGY-5. In her free time, she enjoys cuddling with her 6-month old son and exploring the New England coast with her sun-loving husband.
Research Track
Jacinta Leyden, M.D.
Administrative Co-Chief Resident
Stanford University School of Medicine
Jacinta graduated from Rice University Houston with a major in Bioengineering, Global Health Technologies. After College, she received the James Wagoner Fellowship Grant with the WHO and developed a tool to look at the commercial potential of medical devices in low resource settings. At Stanford, Jacinta’s scholarly concentration has been in health services and policy research with an application to global health. Jacinta was an AACAP research fellow and has looked at the barriers to CAP in the Bay Area. She has also researched tech based hypnosis for smoking cessation.