Fellows

Yonatan Dollin

ydollin@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Captain Yonatan is an officer in the United States Air Force as well as a physician Internist who completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, OH. He completed his medical degree from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, NY. He has 7 publications with 40 citations, an H-Index of 3. This research includes serving as principal investigator for a randomized controlled trial (NCT05355974) which was awarded a research grant from Wright State University. For this research, he was awarded the Charles E. Payne, Jr., MD Award for Scholarly Activity and the Raj Dhingra Nephrology Scholarship Award from Wright State University. A few fun facts; he loves dogs, hiking, Sci-Fi and Fantasy books/movies, skiing, completed the Tri-Boulder triathlon in Boulder, CO, and owned a DJ business in high school

Education

• 2009-2014: B.A. in Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
• 2016-2020: D.O., Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown, NY
• 2020-2023: Internal Medicine Residency, Wright State University, Wright Patterson Medical Center/Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dayton, OH

Research Interests

• Critical Care Airway
• Critical Care Hemodynamics/Physiology
• Lung Transplant
• ICU Quality Improvement

Jennifer Doran

jadoran@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Jenny is from Albuquerque, New Mexico where my family still lives and my love for green chile originates. She went to undergrad at SMU in Dallas and double majored in Chemistry and Spanish, graduating summa cum laude. She took a few years off before medical school where Dr. Doran worked in a medicinal organic chemistry lab at UTSW making compounds now used today. From there she went down to Galveston, Texas and earned her medical degree at UTMB, and was inducted into the AOA honor society and Gold Humanism Society. After medical school, she left the beach and went to Denver, Colorado for her internal medicine residency at the University of Colorado (UCH). Dr. Doran became very interested in ultrasound and global health and started doing qualitative research on ultrasound implementation in low-resource settings. Once she finished her residency, she decided to take a year to do a Global Health Fellowship at UCH, which allowed me to spend half the year in Zimbabwe before starting her fellowship. Dr. Doran hopes to be able to continue doing global health with a critical care and pulmonary focus and to continue implementing ultrasound amongst other procedural skill sets in these settings. She loves dancing, being outdoors, hiking, running, and traveling.

Education

• 2009-2013: BS Chemistry, BA Spanish, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
• 2015-2019: MD, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
• 2019-2022: Internal Medicine Residency, University of Colorado Hospital, Denver, CO
• 2022-2023: Global Health Fellowship, University of Colorado Hospital, Denver, CO

Research Interests

• Point of care ultrasound
• Health equity in ICU care
• MTB
• Extracorporeal life support

Guillermo Jimenez

gujimenez@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Guillermo was raised in the border town of El Paso, Texas, and completed his undergraduate studies in Austin at UT - hook'em! - and went back home to obtain a medical degree where he graduated with AOA honors. Given the border community surrounding the medical program, the school had a dedicated curriculum on health disparities which ultimately contributed to a large portion of Dr. Jimenez’s medical education and clinical experience. He then moved north and lived in the mountain state during his residency in Colorado and then worked as a hospitalist in the community for a year after residency.

Dr. Jimenez is proud to be a Latino physician who was raised by immigrant parents from El Salvador who are also physicians. Spanish was his first language. As such, his ideal career focus would be to treat underserved populations of Latino immigrants in border communities. Research interests include health outcomes and addressing health disparities. Ultimately, he would love to tie these in with a clinical interest in severe asthma.

He loves to hike and ski! While in San Diego Dr. Jimenez and his wife would love to learn how to surf. They enjoy traveling internationally and learning about the culture and history of different people but most importantly, Dr. Jimenez is looking forward to spending weekends out with his family in the sunny southern California weather.

Education

• 2011-2015: B.S. Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin
• 2015-2019: Doctor of Medicine, TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
• 2019-2022: Internal Medicine Residency, University of Colorado

Research Interests

• Health disparities
• Severe asthma
• Transplant pulmonology
• Interventional pulmonology
• Infectious disease

Sarah Kemp

sekemp@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Sarah completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry with a minor in Spanish at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. After graduating in 2015 she moved to Kalamazoo Michigan to complete medical school at Western Michigan University. She was then stationed at Fort Bliss, TX as a Transitional Year Intern and went on to complete an Internal Medicine Residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. She has been interested in Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine throughout her residency presenting posters at both CHEST and ATS conferences. She was excited to receive a civilian deferment from the Army and be accepted to attend UC San Diego for fellowship.

Education

• 2008-2011, 2013-2015: BS, Biochemistry, Brigham Young University
• 2015-2019: MD, Western Michigan University School of Medicine
• 2019-2020: Transitional Year Internship, William Beaumont Army Medical Center
• 2020-2023: Internal Medicine Residency, William Beaumont Army Medical Center

Research Interests

• Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia
• Pulmonary Hypertension

Daniel Lee

dgl002@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Dan was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Chino Hills California. He attended Purdue University with an interest in medical physics and furthered his education in the field of medical physics at Duke University. He obtained his MSc degree from Duke University with a focus on radiation therapy. After receiving his master's degree, he pursued medical education and attended Midwestern University in Arizona for medical school. He obtained the health professions scholarship program with the United States Air Force and completed his Internal Medicine residency at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Daniel Spends his free time going on runs, cooking/eating and attempting to grow bonsai trees. He is an avid fan of motorsports, his cat Billie and his high school sweetheart/wife Alyssa Lee.

Education

• 2009-2013: BS, Purdue University, Medical Physics
• 2013-2015: MSc, Duke University, Medical Physics
• 2016-2020: DO, Midwestern University at Arizona
• 2020-2023: Internal Medicine Residency at SAUSHEC.

Research Interests

• ECMO
• Critical Care Medicine
• Pulmonary HTN
• Medicine in Austere Environments

Chetna Pathak

cpathak@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Chetna was born and raised in the city of Ahmedabad in western India. Guided by a love for math and physics, she completed a Bachelor’s in Engineering at Gujarat University. With dual goals of pursuing higher education and exploring the world, she moved to the United States for a Master’s in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Computer Vision at North Carolina State University. For the next eight years, she worked in the field of medical imaging, first as a research engineer developing software for image-guided surgery at the University of North Carolina and subsequently in California’s Silicon Valley developing imaging and visualization software for various medical applications. Through her work, her appreciation for and interest in medicine grew and she decided to change careers and pursue medicine. After taking premed courses, she chose UC San Diego for medical school during which she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. In medical school, she did research on blood pressure variation with sodium intake for chronic kidney disease patients. She stayed at UC San Diego for her residency in internal medicine and became interested in pulmonary medicine. She did research on the relationship between interstitial lung disease and GERD and the effect of asthma biologics on the severity of COVID-19.

After graduating from residency, she worked as a hospitalist for a year. She was thrilled to match at UC San Diego for a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care. Her research interests are in interstitial lung disease and asthma. When not practicing medicine, she enjoys long-distance running, hiking, making ice cream, traveling, and exploring San Diego with her two young children and husband.

Education

• BE, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India
• MS, Electrical Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• 2015-2019: MD, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA
• 2019-2022: Internal Medicine Residency, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA

Research Interests

• Interstitial Lung Disease
• Asthma

Erin Roberts

eroberts@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Erin grew up on the Central Coast of California in a town called Templeton. She moved to the Bay Area for her undergraduate studies in Public Health and Global Poverty at UC Berkeley, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member. Erin traveled further west for medical school, attending the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, where she received a Dean's Certificate of Distinction in Social Justice. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at UC San Diego, where she furthered her passion for teaching as a member of the Residents as Clinician Educators track and was the recipient of the Medicine 401 Excellence in Teaching Award. Erin was then selected to serve as one of the Internal Medicine Chief Residents, during which time, she was awarded the Medicine 401 Humanism in Medicine Award as an attending physician. She is thrilled to continue her training at UC San Diego and looks forward to honing her point-of-care ultrasound skills and studying how to improve cardiac arrest outcomes. Outside of the hospital, Erin enjoys going to the beach, hiking, and exploring new San Diego restaurants.

Education

• 2011 - 2015: BA in Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
• 2015 - 2019: MD, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine
• 2019 - 2022: Internal Medicine Residency, University of California, San Diego
• 2022 - 2023: Internal Medicine Chief Resident, University of California, San Diego

Research Interests

• Point-of-Care Ultrasound
• Medical Education
• Cardiac Arrest Outcomes

Hannah Robertson

hrobertson@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Hannah was born in Cambridge, United Kingdom and was raised in San Diego. She earned her undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Pomona College, where she also swam and played water polo on their varsity teams. After college, Hannah spent a year in Greensboro, Alabama participating in a community health fellowship program called Project Horseshoe Farm. She then moved to Boston to pursue her medical degree from Tufts University and stayed in Boston to complete her internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). In residency, Hannah was awarded the Elmer-Hinton award for for outstanding physician-patient relations. At BIDMC, she also explored her interest in pulmonary vascular disease by studying advanced CT imaging techniques in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and by contributing to the medical education podcast, COREIM, as an episode producer. Outside of the hospital she enjoys swimming, beach days, cooking, and traveling.

Education

• 2011-2015: B.A. Neuroscience, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
• 2016-2020: M.D., Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
• 2020-2023: Internal Medicine Residency, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Research Interests

• Pulmonary vascular disease
• Advanced imaging tools
• End-of-life care
• Medical Education

Matthew Rockstrom

Biography

Matthew was born in Eastern Washington and attended Whitworth University in Spokane, WA where he received a bachelor’s in biophysics. After completing his undergraduate, he spent two years as a director of a Boys and Girls Club in Spokane, WA, and played music in several bands around town. He moved to Washington DC and attended Georgetown University where he received a Master’s degree in biophysics and worked as an instructor for Georgetown the following year. He decided to return to the West Coast for medical school, attending the University of Washington. During this time, he pursued research examining in vitro models for sleep and investigating the effects of inflammatory cytokines on sleep. He moved to Denver, Colorado for Internal Medicine Residency. During residency, he developed an interest in pulmonary hypertension, working on outcomes research for PAH patients. He also created a mobile vaccination program that focused on outreach in underserved communities in Denver. He worked as a hospitalist for one year in Denver before coming to San Diego for a fellowship. In his free time, he enjoys music, cooking, skiing, and finding new restaurants.

Education

• 2007 - 2011: Whitworth University, BS in Biophysics
• 2013 - 2014: Georgetown University, MS in Biophysics
• 2015 - 2019: University of Washington School of Medicine
• 2019 - 2022: University of Colorado, Internal Medicine Residency

Research Interests

• Pulmonary vascular disease
• CTEPH
• Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy

Erica Feldman

e2feldman@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Erica was born and raised in San Diego, California. She moved to the east coast to complete a dual undergraduate degree in Biology and Community Health at Tufts University in Boston where she graduated magna cum laude. She then moved to Miami where she earned both an MD and an MPH at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. During medical school she received the Alving Endowed Award for her research on improving screening rates for Hepatitis C Virus. She was thrilled to return home to San Diego for her internal medicine residency at UC San Diego. During residency she realized her enthusiasm for pulmonary and critical care and conducted research on health disparities in asthma exacerbations and became interested in sleep in the ICU. Once again, she was ecstatic to match at UC San Diego for fellowship. Outside of the hospital, Erica enjoys running, cooking, hiking, taking road trips to Mexico and traveling.

Education

• 2010–2014: BS, Biology and Community Health, Tufts University
• 2015–2019: MD and MPH, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• 2019–2022: Internal Medicine Residency, UC San Diego

Research Interests

• Health disparities in Asthma
• Sleep in the ICU
• Post-ICU care
• Palliative care in the ICU

Katie Epler

keepler@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Katie was born in raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she completed she her undergraduate degree in in chemical engineering and graduated summa cum laude. During that time, she was involved in basic science research aimed at the development of a targeted delivery nanoparticle for the delivery of various therapeutics to cancer and infectious diseases. She remained in Albuquerque for medical school, where she explored interests in quality improvement and patient safety. She was inducted into the AOA and Gold Humanism Society. Katie left the southwest to complete combined Internal-Medicine and Pediatrics residency and the University of Michigan. She hopes to incorporate her pediatrics training in the future by working with a transitional population of young adults with chronic lung disease as they transition from pediatric to adult providers. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, hiking, traveling, and exploring new beaches with her dog, Winston.

Education

2009–2013: BS, Chemical Engineering, University of New Mexico
2014–2018: MD, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
2018–2022: Internal Medicine- Pediatrics Residency, University of Michigan

Research Interests

Pediatric to adult transitions of care
Chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure
ICU deconditioning

Ana Lucia Fuentes

afuentes@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Ana Lucia was originally born in Arequipa, Peru, but immigrated to California with her family at a young age. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Loyola Marymount University, where she also played division I tennis. During this time, she developed a research interest in amyloid, and studied the effects of protein (IAPP) aggregation in diabetes. She then moved to the East Coast to complete her medical school education. During her time in New Jersey, she pursued research focusing on the signaling pathways involved in severe asthma. She then came back to the best coast to complete her internal medicine residency at UC San Diego. It was there that she discovered her passion for pulmonary and critical care and became involved in research within the field. She was a winner at the UCSD Research Symposium for her work involving neutrophil extracellular trap formation in patients with COVID-19 and was invited to present at the internal medicine grand rounds. In her free time, Ana Lucia enjoys running, hiking, backpacking, and traveling.

Education

2011–2015: Loyola Marymount University, BS in Biochemistry
2015–2019: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, MD
2019–2022: University of California San Diego, Internal Medicine Residency

Research Interests

Inhalant induced lung injury
Healthcare disparities in the ICU (and chronic pulmonary diseases)
Pulmonary hypertension

Stephanie Mergen

smergen@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Stephanie was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She then moved to Upstate New York where she graduated summa cum laude from St. Lawrence University. After commissioning in the U.S. Army in 2015, Stephanie returned to New York for medical school at the University of Rochester. She moved to Texas to complete Emergency Medicine residency at San Antonio Military Medical Center where she received multiple Army Achievement Medals for academics. Her clinical interests include point-of-care ultrasound, palliative and end-of-life care, austere and tactical medicine, and the multidisciplinary care team approach in healthcare. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys reading, hiking, being outdoors, and spending time with her dog.

Education

2010–2014: BS, Psychology and Estudios Hispánicos, St. Lawerence University, Canton, NY
2015–2019: MD, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY
2019–2022: Emergency Medicine Residency, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX

Research Interests

Point-of-care ultrasound
End-of-life care
Multidisciplinary team care in medicine

Michael Miller

mam038@health.ucsd.edu

Biography

Michael grew up on an apple orchard in Maryland and was an avid soccer player before starting undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Chicago. During college, he worked in a lab and also began participating in clinical research. After college, he helped start and manage a COPD readmission reduction program in Chicago. He then moved back to charming Maryland for medical school at the University of Maryland. While there he worked on various point-of-care ultrasound projects and ML trauma investigations. He started shifting West for internal medicine residency at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. While there he hit the bench investigating the role of mitochondrial proteins in cellular senescence driving the development of IPF. He is thrilled to be joining a group of smart and friendly clinicians and investigators at UCSD for pulmonary and critical care fellowship. As a new West Coaster, he enjoys wearing ugly sun hats to walk his goldendoodle puppy, Scooter, and enjoys all the delicious cuisine that San Diego’s various neighborhoods have to offer.

Education

2009–2014: University of Chicago; BA Biological Sciences with specialization in Neuroscience
2015–2019: University of Maryland School of Medicine; MD
2019–2022: UPMC; Internal Medicine Residency

Research Interests

Extracorporeal life support
Cellular senescence
Heart-lung interactions
Pulmonary vascular disease

Danielle Munce

dmunce@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Danielle was born and raised in the Bay Area, completing her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley. She first made the trek from sunny Northern California to sunnier San Diego for medical school in 2012. She graduated from UCSD School of Medicine with academic honors including AMWA’s Glasgow-Rubin Academic Achievement Award. Danielle stayed at UCSD to complete her combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency and was awarded the Excellence in Leadership award by her graduating Internal Medicine class. Danielle was then selected to serve as one of the Internal Medicine Chief residents where she led the Advancing Women in Medicine curriculum and Resident Wellness Program. Danielle is now pursuing a combined Adult-Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship at UCSD/Rady Children’s. Prior to transitioning to her adult pulmonary years, Danielle completed a year of pediatric pulmonary fellowship where she was voted “Fellow of the Year” by the pediatric residents. Her career interests include transitions of care from pediatric to adult health-care systems, medical education, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary embryology/development. Outside of the hospital she enjoys running along the beach, hiking, and playing beach games.

Education

2007–2011: BA, Molecular and Cellular Biology-Neurobiology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA
2012–2016: MD, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego CA
2016–2020: Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency, UC San Diego, San Diego CA
2020–2021: Internal Medicine Chief Resident, UC San Diego, San Diego CA

Research Interests

Transitions of Care
Pulmonary Embryology and Development
Interstitial Lung Disease
Immunology

Janna Raphelson

jraphelson@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Janna is a born Midwesterner from Kalamazoo, Michigan. She completed her undergraduate studies at University of Michigan where she was a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member. She then set off for Canada to attend her dream medical school, McGill University. While in Montreal she learned French and by the end of her four years could speak to patients and watch the Avengers in la belle langue française. She moved to beautiful San Diego for residency where she began clinical research on suspected obesity hypoventilation syndrome in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. She also pursued the Residents As Clinical Educators track at UCSD and developed her passion for physical exam and other bedside teaching. She hopes to develop a critical care core curriculum for resident learners. In regards to future research, she is thrilled to have been selected as a 2022-23 ATS ASPIRE fellow and will continue to pursue clinical research in the areas of sleep medicine and pulmonary disease in obesity.

Education

2011–2015: University of Michigan
2015–2019: McGill University Medical School
2019–2022: University of California San Diego Internal Medicine Residency

Research Interests

Obesity and Pulmonary Disease
Sleep Medicine and Respiratory Mechanics
Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome

Megan Trieu

metrieu@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Megan was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. She attended University of Southern California, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and minored in Public Health and East Asian Languages & Cultures. She then moved across town to attend medical school at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Megan stayed at UCLA to complete her residency training in internal medicine and received the Excellence in Teaching with Humanism Residents and Fellows Award. She went on to serve an additional year as a Chief Resident and completed a Medical Education Fellowship, where she helped establish a longitudinal point-of-care ultrasound curriculum for the internal medicine residency program. Some of her general career interests include pulmonary hypertension and post-ICU recovery. Outside of the hospital, Megan enjoys staying active and spending time outdoors, including running, playing Spikeball, and stand-up paddleboarding.

Education

2010–2014: B.A., Biological Sciences, University of Southern California
2010–2014: M.D., Dvaid Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles
2018–2021: Internal Medicine Residency, University of California Los Angeles
2021–2022: Internal Medicine Chief Resident, University of California Los Angeles

Research Interests

Pulmonary hypertension
Critical care outcomes
Post-ICU care
Medical education

Anna Astashchanka

aastashchanka@health.ucsd.edu

Background

Anna was originally born in Minsk, Belarus and immigrated to the Denver, Colorado at the age of 8. She received her undergraduate and graduate in her home state of Colorado, being selected as a member of the first cohort of the University of Colorado BA/BS-MD Program. In college, Anna worked with the School of Public Health to research cancer epidemiology. During her time in medical school, she continued to pursue oncologic research focused on breast cancer cell biology, which earned her several awards including the Neil and Catherine Hamilton Award for excellence in research. After a lifetime of being landlocked, Anna migrated to the West Coast to complete her residency in Internal Medicine at University of California San Diego. During residency, she shifted her focus to pulmonary/critical care medicine, where she was engaged in research in pulmonary hypertension and CTEPH. Her academic interests include pulmonary hypertension and End-of-Life Care, both inside and outside the ICU. In her free time, Anna enjoys writing fiction, going to the beach, and taking weekend trips to enjoy everything Southern California has to offer.

Education

2010–2014: University of Colorado (Denver, CO), B.S. in Psychology with minors in Astrophysics and Interdisciplinary Research Methods
2014–2018: M.D., University of Colorado School of Medicine, CO
2018–2021: University of California San Diego, Internal Medicine Residency

Research Interests

Pulmonary Hypertension
End-of-Life Care
Delirium in the ICU

Alex Cypro

Background

Alex was born in Prague, Czech Republic, and immigrated to the U.S. in elementary school. Eventually settling in Washington State, he went to UW for undergrad and medical school. In college, Alex conducted basic science research, including cell culture, immunohistochemistry, and fluorescent microscopy on projects related to mechanisms of aging. During medical school, he switched his focus to retrospective observation patient studies and was awarded a student research grant from the American Nephrology Society studying the incidence of acute kidney injury. For residency, Alex decided to try a new place while staying on the best coast. He completed his residency at UCSD and went on to serve as a VA Chief Medical Resident in Quality and Safety. Alex was fascinated by critical care and pulmonary medicine throughout medical school and residency. He conducted clinical outcome research of patients with lung cancer in residency. He chose UCSD for fellowship for the phenomenal clinical training, supportive program leadership, and varied research opportunities. Alex spends his free time cycling, adventure traveling and exploring the great outdoors. He and his high-school-sweetheart-now-wife Caitlin also just adopted two little kittens.

Education

2008–2012: University of Washington, B.S. in Neurobiology
2013–2017: University of Washington, MD
2017–2020: UC San Diego, Internal Medicine Residency
2020–2021: UC San Diego, VA Chief Medical Resident in Quality and Safety

Research Interests

Lung cancer
Pulmonary vascular disease
Critical care outcomes
Medical education

Rocky Fox

Background

Rocky was born and raised in sunny San Diego before enlisting in the US Navy at the age of 22. After 6 years working as a nuclear power plant operator onboard the USS Henry M. Jackson out of Bangor Washington he returned to San Diego for undergraduate and graduate studies at UCSD. He then went onto medical school at Western University of Health Sciences on the Air Force health professions scholarship before completing residency at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Rocky enjoys distance running, rock climbing, playing music (piano and guitar), and hanging out with his son, Aiden.

Education

2008–2012: University of California San Diego, Warren College, Bachelor of Science Human Biology, Cum Laude
2014: University of California San Diego, Masters of Science in Biology with emphasis in Neuroscience
2015–2018: Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine May
2018–2021: Internal Medicine Residency, San Antonio

Research Interests

Intervention pulmonology
ECMO
Critical Care

Nicholas Hogan

Background

Nick grew up in Northborough, Massachusetts and attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate studies, graduating with a B.A. in Molecular Biology and a minor in Economics. He continued his education in the Northeast, entering medical school at the University of Rochester where he also took advantage of Rochester’s Medical Humanities Pathway to study the architectural history of American medical schools. However, he soon felt the call of the West. During medical school he undertook a year-long Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellowship and came to UCSD to study transcriptional regulation of endothelial cell biology and inflammation in the lab of Dr. Christopher Glass. Nick left his research year enamored with the city of San Diego and the culture of UCSD, and after graduating medical school was thrilled to return to pursue his residency here in Internal Medicine. After residency he spent a year as a hospitalist at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas and is now equally as thrilled to return to UCSD for fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care. He has clinical and research interests in the role of inflammation in various aspects of pulmonary disease, including asthma and acute lung injury, and looks forward to refining these interests throughout fellowship. A former sprinter during high school, he loves to run on San Diego’s many picturesque coastal routes—notably without the fear of frostbite. He’s also an avid football and baseball fan and enjoys catching a game, especially when the Red Sox come to town every couple years.

Education

2008–2012: University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Molecular Biology and minor in Economics
2012–2017: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
2017–2020: Internal Medicine Residency at UC San Diego

Research Interests

Genomics
Immunology
Asthma
Acute Lung Injury
Medical History

Alisha Kabadi

Background

Alisha was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In an effort to escape the rainy weather, Alisha ventured down to sunny California, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Studies at University of Southern California. After college, she spent a year at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, working in phase I and II clinical trials for monoclonal antibody treatments for HIV disease and a dose-dependent vaccine for Malaria. She attended Temple University School of Medicine, where she received multiple awards, including the 1st place Sol Sherry Award for Excellence in Research. Alisha returned to California to complete her residency in Internal Medicine at UCSD. Her interests rapidly changed during her pulmonary and ICU rotations, and she pursued studies assessing risk factors for massive hemoptysis in patients with CTEPH. Her career passions include pulmonary embolism, interstitial lung disease, hemodynamics in critically ill patients and preventative medicine. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling and cooking elaborate meals.

Education

2009–2013: B.S., Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
2014–2018: M.D., Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
2018–2021: Internal Medicine Residency, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA

Research Interests

Pulmonary embolism/pulmonary vascular disease
Interstitial lung disease
Hemodynamics in critically ill patients
Preventative medicine

Nicholas Leverone

Background

Nick grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and traveled all over his home state to complete his undergraduate, master's, and medical school training. While in medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University he was inducted into both the Gold Humanism and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Societies. He then made the transcontinental trip out to San Diego to do his internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Diego where he did clinical research focused on hypereosinophilia and eosinophilic lung disease. Nick was then selected as a Chief Medical Resident at where he helped advance the point-of-care ultrasound curriculum and spent time researching critical care education through Tele-ICU. His career interests include point-of-care ultrasound, medical education, and trying to figure out what aspect of pulmonary and critical care medicine he loves most! When outside the hospital Nick spends his time hitting the beach, exploring San Diego's various coffee shops, practicing his language skills (currently Japanese), or swimming to stay fit.

Education

2008–2011: B.S., Biology & Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic and State University
2011–2013: M.S., Biology, George Mason University
2013–2017: M.D., Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine
2017–2020: UC San Diego, Internship and Residency, Internal Medicine
2020–2021: UC San Diego, Chief Medical Resident

Research Interests

Pulmonary Hypertension
Advanced Lung Disease
Critical Care Point-of-care
Ultrasound
Medical Education

Alyssa Self

Background

Alyssa grew up in Denver, CO and moved to Rhode Island to attend Brown University, where she earned a BS in Biology and graduated with honors. She returned to Colorado for medical school at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. While in medical school she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and received multiple awards, including the American College of Physicians Award. She then ventured to the Midwest to complete her internal medicine training at Washington University in St. Louis, where she stayed for an additional year as a Chief Resident. Her research in residency focused on pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with connective tissue disease. Some of her general career interests include pulmonary vascular disease, physician burnout, and interstitial lung disease. Outside of the hospital she enjoys travel, yoga, hiking, and the San Diego sunshine.

Education

2009–2013: B.S. Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI
2013–2017: M.D., University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO
2017–2020: Internal Medicine Residency, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO
2020–2021: Internal Medicine Chief Resident, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO

Research Interests

Pulmonary vascular disease
Interstitial lung disease
Medical education

Brinda Desai

bjdesai@health.ucsd.edu
@mdbdesai

Background

Brinda completed her Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency training at the University of Minnesota where she was a resident representative, member of the resident clinic curriculum editorial board, co-lead for Women in Medicine, and co-lead for Heart of Medicine. Her research focus during residency included: Interactions of adolescents and their primary care physicians, PFAPA presentation in children, and use of Vitamin C in Sepsis. Dr. Desai was also awarded the best poster presentation at MN AAP, MN ACP, and University of Minnesota Global Health Symposium. She has spent the last year as a chief resident for the Internal Medicine-Pediatrics program at the University of Minnesota. Her passions include health equity, health advocacy, medical education, and medical humanities. In addition, she spends time working with a medical education podcast (COREIM) and has been featured on Clinical Problem Solvers. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, exploring a new place through its food scene, and yoga.

Education

2005–2009: Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) B.S. in Biochemistry & Nutritional Science, minor in Gender Studies
2011–2015: Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI)
2015–2019: Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency, University of Minnesota
2019–2020: Chief Resident Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, University of Minnesota

Research Interests

Transition of Pediatric to Adult Pulmonology Care (specifically chronic lung disease, pulmonary hypertension)
Post-ICU Care
Health Equity in ICU care and chronic lung disease
Medical Education

Caleb Taylor, M.D., MPH

Biography

Caleb was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and completed his undergraduate education there. He moved to Tucson, Arizona for medical school and also earned a master’s degree in public health concurrently. He then became a buckeye for five years for a combined fellowship in emergency medicine and internal medicine at the Ohio State University. He stayed there for a pulmonary and critical care fellowship for another three years. As a critical care fellow, he developed a passion for airway management in the critically ill. He developed a difficult airway teaching curriculum for the pulmonary fellowship based on standardized airway video feedback and review. He developed a standardized airway feedback mechanism. He even had one of his airway cases featured as a case report at the Society for Airway Management annual meeting in 2022. It was also during pulmonary fellowship that he had his first exposure to interventional pulmonary procedures such as robotic bronchoscopy and also his first experience with interventional pulmonary procedures in the airway including dilations, stents, and management of strictures and stenoses.  His desire to learn more about airways and advanced bronchoscopy brought him to UC San Diego as the inaugural interventional pulmonary fellow!

In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, spending time with family, brewing and roasting coffee by various methods, and spending time with his wife and daughter. Caleb became a coffee roaster during fellowship after brewing his first cup of coffee ever during the pandemic in 2021 and is now a competitive coffee roaster and brewer. 

Awards       

• 2012: Arizona Public Health Training Grant
• 2020: Emergency Medicine Resident Teacher of the Year- The Ohio State University EM/IM combined residency

Research projects (previous and current)

Pragmatic trial examining oxygenation prior to intubation (PREOXI) trial. Pulmonary critical care research group. 2022. An ongoing randomized clinical trial examining preoxygenation with NRB or BVM versus NIV via a ventilator (positive pressure) preoxygenation methods in critically ill patients’ effect on oxygenation during intubation. I worked directly with the site PI to recruit patients for this multicenter study run out of Vanderbilt. We were the third-highest enrolling center. We hope to publish this study in NEJM or JAMA.

Education

• 2006 – 2008: Glendale Community College, Associate of Science
• 2008 – 2010: Arizona State University, Bachelor of Science Biochemistry with an emphasis in medicinal chemistry
• 2010 – 2015: University of Arizona, Doctor of Medicine / Master of Public Health Dual Degree Program
• 2015 – 2020: The Ohio State University, Internal Medicine / Emergency Medicine Residency
• 2020 – 2023: The Ohio State University, Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Research Interests

• Critical Care Airway
• Critical Care Hemodynamics/Physiology
• Lung Transplant
• ICU Quality Improvement