Mahshid Abir is an emergency medicine physician. She received her bachelor's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from UCLA and both her medical degree and an internship in internal medicine from the University of Cincinnati. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Her research interest is in disaster medicine and preparedness. Particularly, she is interested in looking at health care needs and delivery in the acute phase of different mass disasters.
Medell Briggs-Malonson, M.D., M.P.H.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Medell Briggs-Malonson (VA Scholar) is an Emergency Medicine physician who completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA with a degree in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Briggs received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master’s of Public Health in Health Care Management from Harvard School of Public Health. She then completed her Emergency Medicine training at Harbor-UCLA where she also served as Chief Resident during her last year of residency. Dr. Briggs has worked on various projects including evaluating the leading causes of child mortality at the Department of Health and Human Services, developing community action plans to address health care disparities, and serving as a resident representative on committees to improve the distribution of health care services throughout Los Angeles County. Her research and policy interests include racial and socioeconomic health disparities, health care financing, and emergency health services accessibility. As a Scholar, Dr. Briggs plans to investigate the impact that declining emergency services has upon the health of low income communities of color.
Deepa Camenga, MD, MPH is a pediatrician who received her undergraduate degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology from Yale. She received her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at the Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong at the University of Rochester. Dr. Camenga is interested in adolescent smoking cessation and parental attitudes towards second hand smoke exposure among premature and term newborns. She is also interested in understanding the experiences of low income adolescents and young adults as they transition from pediatric to adult care.
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Alejandra Casillas, M.D., M.P.H.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Alejandra Casillas is an internist who completed residency in the Internal Medicine Primary Care program at the University of California San Francisco, and was chief resident at UCSF. She received her undergraduate degree at Harvard College in neurobiology through the Mind/Brain/Behavior program. She also completed her MD at Harvard Medical School, where she co-directed a community clinic mentoring program for "at-risk" minority adolescents. While in residency at UCSF, she worked on a project comparing mental health measures between immigrant and non-immigrant groups across various ethnic populations. She presented this research at SGIM 2008. Her interests involve community medicine and systems issues in the delivery of health care, particularly for vulnerable immigrant populations
Colin R. Cooke, MD, MSc, is a pulmonary and critical care physician who received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and his medical degree from the Ohio State University. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine, and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. While completing his fellowship he also received a master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health. His research interests include characterizing and removing disparities in ICU processes of care and research participation in clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Cooke is interested in understanding how families and physicians integrate prognostic information in the care of patients with critical illness.
Rebecca Dudovitz, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz completed her pediatrics residency at UCLA in the Community Health and Advocacy Trainign (CHAT) Program, where she is currently doing a year as chief resident. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, at Davis with a major in philosophy. Afterwards, she attended UCLA medical school where she earned her MD. Her research interests are in improving the assessment and management of school function issues in the primary care setting. She is also partnered with a rural population in Ghana to increase bed net use and prevent malaria using a participatory research approach.
E. Jennifer Edelman, MD (VA Scholar) is an internist who received her undergraduate degree in human development and human biology, health, and society from Cornell University. She received her medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Edelman completed internal medicine residency at Yale, where she recently served as Chief Resident. She is interested in improving the care of patients with a known diagnosis of HIV as well as increasing access to screening.
Neera Goyal is a pediatrician who received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Emory University and her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Dr. Goyal completed her training in pediatrics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she also spent one year after residency as a hospitalist in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her current research and clinical interests are in pediatric hospital care, focusing specifically on physician decision-making, disparities in hospitalization rates, and patterns of resource use for former premature infants.
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Ryan Greysen, M.D., M.A.
Yale University
Ryan Greysen, MD, MA (VA Scholar) is an internist who completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. He earned a combined MD/MA at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston. After completing residency in primary care internal medicine at the George Washington University, he joined the faculty as a hospitalist at the Washington VAMC and researcher in the Department of Health Policy. Dr. Greysen’s research interests focus on intersections of quality improvement, disparities in care, and medical education. He is also interested in improving awareness, knowledge, and skills of medical students and residents to confront disparities, particularly within cardiovascular care, and exploring the relationships between current and historical workforce expansion, medical student debt, diversity, and specialty distribution.
Stephen Henry, MD, (VA Scholar) is an internist who completed residency at the University of Michigan. He graduated from medical school at Vanderbilt University, where he developed a research interest in medical epistemology and the nature of evidence that led him to the RJW Clinical Scholars Program. He is interested in studying clinical decision-making and doctor-patient communication, with a particular concern for developing effective methods to understand and promote individualized, patient-centered care.
Adriana Izquierdo, M.D., M.S.C.E.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Adriana Izquierdo completed her residency in primary care and general internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She received her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, majoring in history and German. After graduating from college, she spent a year in Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar, researching the development of women’s art education in Weimar Germany. She returned to Philadelphia to complete medical school training at the University of Pennsylvania. Her clinical and research interests are focused on Latina health and HIV disease. She is eager to evaluate the causes of disproportionate HIV disease incidence in women of color, and to develop effective interventions to address these health disparities.
Sophia Jan, MD (Internal Medicine - Pediatrics) obtained her undergraduate degree from CUNY Brooklyn College and medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She then completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she served as chief resident. She is broadly interested in disparities in healthcare access and how children with special healthcare needs transition to adult care.
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Kristin Jensen, M.D.
University
of Michigan
Kristin Jensen, MD, is an Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Physician who completed her residency at the University of Michigan. Her research interests focus on transitions of care from pediatric to adult care settings for individuals with developmental disabilities. Her aim is to help pediatricians and internists care for such individuals with better quality and continuity of care. Kristin received her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago – Stritch School of Medicine and her bachelor of arts in History with a minor in German from Duke University.
Elizabeth Krans, MD, is an obstetrician-gynecologist who completed her residency training at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and her medical degree from the University of Mississippi. She is interested in improving the delivery of prenatal care with a particular interest in ways to tailor the structure and content of the prenatal care to different patient populations.
Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., M.P.H. University of Pennsylvania
Jeff Kullgren, MD, MPH (VA Scholar) (Internal Medicine) received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Michigan State University, and his public health degree from the University of Michigan. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His current research interests include improving access to care for low-income populations and the use of public policy tools such as health incentives, insurance benefit design, and regulations to encourage healthy behaviors.
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Kelly Kyanko, M.D.
Yale University
Kelly Kyanko, MD is an internist who received her undergraduate degree in biological sciences from Case Western Reserve University and her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. She completed residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Kyanko’s research interests include improving care coordination and chronic disease management through both physician practice and community-based initiatives.
Elise Lawson, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Elise Lawson (ACS Scholar) is a general surgeon who received her medical degree from Stanford University. She has completed 2 years of general surgery residency at UCLA and will finish her training after completion of the Clinical Scholars Program. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvey Mudd College where she studied molecular biology. Between college and medical school she worked with a public health NGO in Peru for a year. Dr. Lawson’s interests include improving the quality and efficiency of surgical care. Specifically she is interested in studying the quality of colorectal cancer care in the Los Angeles county hospital system.
Lenard Lesser, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Lenard Lesser completed his family medicine residency at Tufts University Family Medicine Residency at Cambridge Health Alliance, where he was chief resident. He studied nutrition at Cornell University and then continued to medical school at the University of Rochester. He is a Pisacano Leadership Scholar, which recognizes future leaders in family medicine. He currently works on nutrition advocacy with the National Physicians Alliance and serves on the Board of Directors of the North American Primary Care Research Group. His research interest is in policy solutions to obesity and poor nutrition.
Kasia Lipska, MD is an endocrinologist who received her undergraduate degree in molecular biochemistry and biophysics at Yale. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Lipska spent a year working as an internist on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, where she became interested in type 2 diabetes. She completed an endocrine fellowship at Yale and is interested in pursuing research in cardiovascular health outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Demetria Malloy, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Demetria Malloy (VA Scholar) completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University in human biology in 2000 and her medical school education at Tufts University School of Medicine in 2005. She went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at the Cedars Sinai/UCLA-VA combined internal medicine residency program and is currently serving as chief resident over that program for the 2008-09 year. She is interested in the patient-physician relationship and its effects on patient health outcomes (particularly in vulnerable patient populations), medical school/residency curricula and training, and resource utilization for optimization of chronic disease management. Other interests include philanthropy/charity, traveling and sports.
Raymond Perry, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Raymond Perry completed his pediatric residency at University of Chicago. He attended medical school at Emory University, and received his undergraduate degree in physiology from University of Maryland- College Park. His primary interests are in adolescent health. During residency, he completed research on perspectives of health and healthcare among African-American adolescent males. He plans to continue research focusing on underserved adolescent males, their health awareness, and their barriers to healthcare.
Kerianne Quanstrum, MD, is a general surgery resident at the University of Michigan. She received both her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and her medical degree from the University of Chicago. She is interested in the impact of unwarranted and inefficient care on healthcare costs, and in how to create incentives for efficient, quality care.
Janice Scobie, M.D., M.S. University of Pennsylvania
Janice Scobie MD, MS (VA Scholar) (Cardiology) received her undergraduate degree in Biology & Society from Cornell University. She completed medical school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and then completed her internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She then went on to complete a cardiology fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Her clinical and research interests include cardiovascular disease prevention, disparities in cardiovascular disease and care, factors that impact patient adherence after a cardiovascular event and utilization of cardiovascular technologies, access to health care, and health policy to improve health care access and reduce disparities.
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Kimberly Smith, M.D.
University
of Michigan
Kimberly Smith, MD, is a nephrologist who earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan. She then completed her internal medicine and nephrology training at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Smith is interested in factors limiting high-quality primary care of chronic kidney disease, with the aim of developing and evaluating effective quality-improvement interventions.
Amy Tsou, MD, MA (Neurology) received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia before pursuing studies in studies in religion at Westminster Theological Seminary. She trained at the University of Pennsylvania for medical school and completed residency in the department of neurology. Her research interests include end of life care, cultural factors impacting decision-making and the role of media in healthcare.
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Brownsyne Tucker-Edmonds, M.D., M.P.H. University of Pennsylvania
Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds is originally from Atlanta, GA. She received her undergraduate degree in Community Health and African American Studies at Brown University. She went on to receive her medical degree from Brown as well, and, concurrently, completed a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Brownsyne trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center where she served as an Administrative Chief Resident in her final year. Her research interests include substance abuse among pregnant and parenting women, medical ethics, humanism in medicine, and cultural competency in medical education
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Oliver Wang, M.D., M.B.A.
Yale University
Oliver Wang, MD, MBA is a cardiologist who received his undergraduate degree in psychology at Stanford University. He received a combined MD/MBA degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Graduate School of Business. He spent a year working in London as a healthcare analyst with a focus on the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Wang completed his clinical training in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is interested in evaluating and improving the efficiency and delivery of cardiovascular health care.
Niamey Wilson, MD received her medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. During medical school she helped to found a free, student-run medical clinic in Washington Heights that served primarily Dominican uninsured patients. Dr. Wilson is currently completing her General Surgery training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests are focused on health care disparities in surgical access, care and outcomes in the uninsured patient population, and the subsequent policy implications. Her goal is to create research which will ultimately help promote and create universal health care.
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Katherine Yun, MD Yale University
Katherine Yun, MD is a pediatrician who received her undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Princeton University. She worked as an English teacher in Uzbekistan and a research assistant at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before receiving her medical degree from Harvard University. She completed her pediatric residency at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. Dr. Yun is interested in refugee and immigrant health.
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