Our Residents

Catherine (Cathy) Bradley, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc.

Catherine (Cathy) Bradley, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., is from Houston, TX and earned her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University. In school, she worked as a microbiology teaching assistant and  organic chemistry tutor. A formative experience in viral genome assembly motivated Cathy to pursue further research training at the Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD where  she studied lung inflammation and discovered her passion for physician-scientist careers. Cathy earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine as part of the Medical Scientist  Training Program. There, she worked as a histology teaching assistant and served on the Student Operating Committee. Her early doctoral research in the Department of Molecular and Human  Genetics focused on DNA damage. Following the 2019 outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, Cathy refocused her efforts on developing a new method for sequencing viral RNA mutations. Her work helped  establish the de novo mutation rate for SARS-CoV-2 and uncovered mutation patterns across the viral genome. Overall, Cathy earned six research awards and two service awards as a McNair  M.D./Ph.D. Scholar. In her free time, Cathy enjoys experimenting with new recipes and exploring local hiking and cycling trails with her dogs, Penny and Oliver.

Cathy is pursuing AP/CP training with a strong interest in molecular pathology and solid tumors.

Monika Chung, M.D., M.Phil.

Monika Chung, M.D., M.Phil., was born in Japan to a Polish mother and Korean father, and as such grew up in a household appreciative of different cultures. At a young age, she moved to the  United States with her family and spent most of her childhood in New Jersey. She completed a B.S. in Biotechnology from William Paterson University of NJ followed by an M.Phil. in Translational  Biomedical Research from the University of Cambridge in the UK. She also worked as a postbaccalaureate fellow at the NIH on a project to understand the impact of age and immunity on breast  cancer metastasis to the brain. Wanting to combine her strong passion for basic science inquiry with a desire to directly impact today’s patients on a clinical level, she began her medical  education at Rutgers NJ Medical School.

Outside of medicine, Monika enjoys traveling and long hikes. She also enjoys keeping up with her two favorite childhood activities - figure skating and playing the violin.

Monika will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Krystal English, M.D., Ph.D.

Krystal English, M.D., Ph.D., was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She attended Amherst College in Amherst, MA where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Neuroscience cum laude. After  college, she successfully completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Neuroscience at the UTHealth MD Anderson Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Her dissertation focused on  astrocytic mitochondrial transfer to neurons damaged by the platinum-based chemotherapeutic, cisplatin. During her time in MD Anderson, she became inspired by the synergistic relationship 
between research and patient care expressed by many physician-scientists.  This encouraged her to pursue her medical doctorate at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. She continued her  contributions to the field of cancer neuroscience in the Kalluri lab at MD Anderson where she studied the effects of pancreatic cancer on neuronal survival, microglial function, and behavior. She worked on several medical education projects to enhance the effectiveness of McGovern curricula for her peers, including fighting for the creation of a sub-internship in Pathology. She also  spearheaded the enhancement of interpersonal violence education in the clinical years. Her research interests include paraneoplastic neurological disorders, the various pathologies of the aging  brain of cancer patients, and neuronal-glial dysfunction in nervous system pathologies. During her free time, she enjoys saltwater/freshwater aquaria husbandry, playing with her dog (Stormy), 
baking/cooking, gardening, video games, and outdoor activities. 

Krystal is pursuing AP training.

Tracee Guthrie, D.O., M.A.

Tracee Guthrie, D.O., M.A., was born and raised in Georgia. She attended Columbus State University in Columbus, GA where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of  Arts in Chemistry. This is where she developed a passion for education and research. Her senior projects focused on Progesterone in Astrocyte viability and Antibiotic activity of N, N’-bis-substituted 1,2,4-triazolium salts with cyclic substituents. After undergrad, she decided to pursue a Master of Arts in Biomedical Science where she researched heavy metals, specifically mercury, in  rice. This research highlighted the impact heavy metals can have on the body while illustrating the necessity for further research and the importance of public awareness and education for  prevention of exposure to mercury via rice ingestion. This research was continued while in medical school.

Tracee earned her medical degree with research distinction from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Auburn campus. She continued her passion for education by being a tutor to her  peers and by being a Medical and Simulation Innovation Intern, where she assisted in prototyping, testing, fabrication of novel medical/educational simulation technologies. 

Tracee enjoys collecting a wide variety of things, such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Ancient Egyptian items, and much more. Really anything that is shiny will be collected. She also likes to  craft/work with her hands and do as many indoor activities as she can, since the sun is enemy number one. 

Tracee will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Cooper Hayes, M.D., Ph.D.

Cooper Hayes, M.D., Ph.D., was born in Seattle, Washington. As a child, he spent several years living in Michigan and Hong Kong before returning to the Seattle area. He attended Seattle University  where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology. Cooper developed his love for all things virology while studying the life cycle of a family of retroviruses called foamy viruses  as an undergraduate researcher.  Cooper began his physician scientist training at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. His thesis work focused  on using mouse models to study herpes simplex encephalitis, identifying important viral and host factors that contribute to viral virulence and neuroinflammation. This work resulted in multiple first author publications and conference presentations. Cooper was awarded an NRSA Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellowship (F30) by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  (NIAID) and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA). He has a continued interest in neurovirology and neurodegeneration. 

Cooper enjoys exploring the city with his wife, Taylor, and their Australian Shepherd, Murphy. He also has a love for running and is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan.

Cooper is pursuing AP/NP training.

Ahmad Kohsar, D.O., M.S.

Ahmad Kohsar, D.O., M.S., was born as the youngest of four children in Kabul, Afghanistan and immigrated to the United States in  1997.  He grew up in the great state of Connecticut and would spend his summers working at his family’s fast-food store. He  attended the University of Connecticut where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. After college, he spent a few years  in Boston where he attended the Tufts University School of Medicine’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences Program. While in  Boston, he met some of his best friends and worked a few odd jobs including working at a public stool bank. Ahmad earned his  degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine.  While at medical school, he became heavily  involved in medical education and bioinformatics research involving HIV sensory neuropathy. Outside of medicine, Ahmad enjoys  spending time with his wife and family, visiting art and history museums, playing video games, going for walks, and watching  movies that he has already seen. Fun fact: As a part of his wedding vows, Ahmad has promised to take his wife on a sushi date every  month. Ahmad is heavily relying on his peers to help him stay true to his word as he juggles his life as a pathology resident for the  next four years.

Ahmad is beyond excited to have matched at Johns Hopkins and will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Nikhil Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D.

Nikhil Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D., was raised in Solon, OH. He received a BS in Physics and an MD from Case Western Reserve University.   Afterward he received a PhD in Physics from University of Cambridge. Nikhil’s research has been focused on the evolution of  microbial communities, particularly during spatial expansions, and has included experimental, computational, and theoretical work.

In his free time, Nikhil enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching Cleveland sports, traveling to new places, making  music, and trying new types of food.

He will be pursuing AP/CP training during residency.

Delaram Shakiba, M.D.

Delaram Shakiba, M.D. was born and raised in Gorgan, Iran, where she completed her MD at GOUMS, discovering a passion for  research along the way. She then joined Washington University in Saint Louis as a postdoctoral researcher, spending five years  studying how the interplay between actomyosin and microtubules influences fibroblast activation — a process crucial for both  wound healing and the development of pathologies such as fibrosis. Throughout these years, her bond with microscopes deepened  as they never failed to magnify her curiosity!

Following her postdoc, she began a pathology residency at Saint Louis University and is now thrilled to be completing it at Johns  Hopkins University. Her journey in pathology has been an incredible exploration into the intricate world of diseases, each one a  unique story waiting to be understood and contributing to the progress of healthcare. Her particular passion lies in gynecologic  pathology, which provides hands-on experience in improving women’s health — a field that both inspires and drives her. She could  not be happier with the path she has chosen; she is truly thankful for the journey it has taken her on. She is excited to continue this  journey at Johns Hopkins University, starting a GYN Pathology fellowship in 2025 and contributing to the field that she loves.  A fun  fact about her is that seeing ciliated cells never fails to bring a smile to her face.

Dela is completing her final year of AP/CP training at Johns Hopkins Pathology.

Fatima Zaman, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., M.M.Sc.

Fatima Zaman, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., M.M.Sc., was born and raised in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and received her MBBS from Army Medical College. After graduation, she enrolled in the MMSc Immunology program at Harvard Medical School, working under Dr. Raif Geha;  her thesis was “The Effect of Acetaminophen on the Neutrophil Oxidative Burst and its Implication in the Screening of Chronic  Granulomatous Disease.” Her experience in the program enhanced her interest in basic science research. However, she became  more aware of the gap between bench science and bedside implementation, especially from a global perspective during COVID-19  pandemic. Driven by curiosity, she decided to pursue an MPH at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she  developed a deeper understanding of current global health problems and acquired translational research skills to solve these issues.   She then pursued her postdoctoral research in Dr. Aaron Tobian's lab in HIV cure-related projects. Fatima is passionate and optimistic about finding a definitive cure for HIV and developing innovative diagnostic tools applicable to both developed and under developing countries around the Globe. Fatima's hobbies include travelling, and spending time with family and friends.

Fatima will be pursuing CP-only training.

Nicole Bracewell, M.D.

Nicole Bracewell was born in Fairfax, VA but grew up in Satellite Beach, FL, watching the rockets go off and rowing along the Indian River Lagoon. She attended the University of Florida as a third generation Gator and graduated with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Anthropology. She then attended the University of Oxford in the first cohort of Frost Scholars to receive her MSc in Archaeological Sciences. Her graduate research focused on the perimortem interval and the relation to changes in collagen content in bone. She returned to the US and started working as a medical assistant for a multi-specialty clinic in Mobile, AL, which is where she first discovered her interest in pathology.

Nicole earned her M.D. from University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, TN. At UTHSC, she spent her free time tutoring the preclinical students and volunteering at Clínica Esperanza, a student-run free clinic that serves the underserved and uninsured Hispanic and LatinX community, for which she was nominated and inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Imhotep Society. During medical school, she completed her research at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, focusing in toxicology in suicides in Memphis, TN. In her fourth year, she was inducted in Alpha Omega Alpha.

Outside of medicine, Nicole enjoys attempting new baking recipes, knitting, running with her dogs, and reading far too many books.

Nicole will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Troi Lake, M.D., M.S.

Troi Lake was born in Miami, FL and has a diverse family background. Her father is from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a small Caribbean island and her mother a Native American.

Troi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a focus on Neuropsychology. She earned her medical degree from Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla where she reconnected with her extended family and her culture. While in medical school, Troi decided she wanted to gain a better understanding of the healthcare system by obtaining a master degree in Healthcare Administration.

During her free time, Troi enjoys volunteering and giving back to her community. She also enjoys traveling, strength training, and video gaming.

Troi will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Alicia Sandoval, M.D.

Alicia Sandoval was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended Arizona State University for her undergraduate degree in Forensic Science prior to earning her MD at University of Arizona. During the course of her education, Alicia spent a significant amount of time with the Office of the Medical Examiner, where she kindled her passion for forensic pathology. She has participated in research in forensic pathology and forensic limnology.

Alicia has a passion for advocacy and is hoping to find a way to incorporate advocacy into her practice of pathology. Outside of medicine, Alicia enjoys dabbling in the arts. She plays flute and bass clarinet, crochets, and paints. She is always looking for new hobbies to try.

Alicia will be pursuing AP/NP training.

Sanika Satoskar, M.D., M.P.H.

Sanika Satoskar was born in Boston, MA and raised in Columbus, OH. She attended the 6-year combined BS/MD program, where she earned her BS in Biology at Youngstown State University and her MD at the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). Sanika also participated as a student intern at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she worked in a vaccine science research laboratory focusing on the development of a live, attenuated vaccine for Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical infectious disease affecting primarily lower middle-income countries. With her growing interest in global health, Sanika took a gap year during medical school to pursue a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) at Johns Hopkins where she concentrated in Infectious Diseases. Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic happened in the same year as her MPH training, which provided her with several unique opportunities to learn and apply her public health skills in real-time. Her MPH thesis focused on head injury trends in the pediatric population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanika also worked with the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust based in India, which fostered her interest in global health further. Sanika started the Pathology Interest Group at her medical school and served as the Vice President throughout her medical training. She was also selected as one of the Society of 67’ Kinney Scholars by the Association of Pathology Chairs and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha.

Outside of medicine, Sanika enjoys music and is an avid pianist. She started a YouTube channel with her twin sister three years back and they both enjoy composing music to Bollywood songs. Sanika enjoys traveling (20 countries so far!), Indian classical dance, hiking, and entertaining her two ragdoll cats.

Sanika is thrilled to have matched at Johns Hopkins, and will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Yoseph Sayegh, M.D.

Yoseph Sayegh was born in Damascus, Syria before moving to the United States at a young age, where he grew up in South Florida. He attended the University of Miami and received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Political Science. After college, Yoseph attended the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine where he developed an interest in ocular oncology, researching the pathophysiology and genetics of intraocular tumors. He spent a year as a research fellow at the Harbour Oncology Laboratory creating unique cell lines and mouse models to help characterize potential therapeutic targets in uveal melanoma and retinoblastoma. Throughout medical school, he was also heavily involved in education, teaching anatomy to local high school students, as well as developing and implementing clinical skills training workshops for other medical students. After obtaining his medical degree, he completed a pre-residency clinical fellowship in Ocular Pathology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.

Yoseph enjoys basketball, tennis, diving, playing the saxophone, and traveling.

Yoseph will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Jesse Suben, M.D.

Jesse Suben was born in New York City and grew up in rural Central New York. He received a B.A. in Anthropology from SUNY Albany. After graduating, he took several years to develop his interests, during which time he worked mainly as a bartender. Jesse moved out to San Diego in 2013, where he began working with children with autism and volunteering at the Center for AIDS Research at UCSD. These two experiences led to him pursuing a career in medicine. He completed a post-baccalaureate degree at Cal State San Marcos and received his M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In medical school, Jesse worked in the Goldstein Lab investigating HIV-infected monocyte transmigration across the blood-brain barrier. He also worked for the Office of Academic Support and Counseling as a tutor and mentor for other medical students. He is passionate about medical education.

Outside of medicine he enjoys ultra-distance running, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, backpacking, and cooking.

Jesse is pursuing AP/CP training.

Andrew Sulaiman, D.O., Ph.D.

Andrew Sulaiman was born and raised in Markham, Canada and received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His undergraduate sparked a fascination with science and cancer research, leading him to complete a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa where his thesis was on novel methods/approaches to target Triple Negative Breast Cancer with a focus on targeting the cancer stem cell populations. He received several awards throughout his research training including the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship. He then completed his medical school training at Kansas City University.

Outside of medicine, Andrew enjoys spending his time with his wife Sarah, his son Theo, German Shepard Zoey and cat Ari. Andrew is an avid weightlifter (always trying to increase those PBs), is always looking forward to travelling (especially internationally!), playing video games and loves attempting new recipes.

Andrew is pursuing CP-only training.

Yeh Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Yeh Wang was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and received his M.D. from Fu-Jen Catholic University. After graduation, he moved to the United States and spent a year working as a research fellow in the lab of Drs. Ie-Ming Shih and Tian-Li Wang, where he learned essential benchwork skills and developed an interest in translational research. As a result, he decided to pursue Ph.D. training in Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins. Yeh's passion for pathology was cultivated during his doctorate training. His projects focused on elucidating the earliest molecular events in the development of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma and applying these findings toward the early detection of cancers from Pap specimens. He received a translational research award for presentation of his thesis work at Pathology Young Investigators’ Day.

Outside of medicine, Yeh enjoys trying out new restaurants (especially Indian and Thai food) with friends, spending time with his cat, and traveling.

Yeh will be pursuing AP-only training.

Waqar Arif, M.D. Ph.D.

Waqar Arif was born in Florida but grew up in Toledo, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Toledo with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Physics. As an undergraduate, he conducted research investigating the biophysical properties of mitoNEET, an outer mitochondrial membrane protein. Waqar then went on to complete his M.D./Ph.D. training at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His Ph.D. research focused on studying posttranscriptional gene regulatory mechanisms involved in facilitating liver regeneration during injury. His doctoral work was supported by an NRSA Individual Predoctoral M.D./Ph.D. Fellowship (F30) from the NIDDK. Waqar’s current research interests include gastrointestinal cancers, stem cell biology, and bioinformatics.

In his free time, Waqar enjoys spending time with family, playing video games from his childhood, programming and watching random videos on YouTube. He also loves cooking, especially pizza, and dreams of one day building his own outdoor pizza oven.

Waqar is pursuing AP only training.

Diana Fang, M.D.

Diana Fang spent her early years in China, then moved to Charleston, SC where she spent most of her childhood. The first in her family to go to college, Diana obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Genetics at Clemson University, where she was involved in research on how Cryptococcus neoformans develops resistance to the antifungal drug, fluconazole, as well as research on the differential bioenergetics expressed in cancer cells as a druggable target.

While earning her M.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina, Diana developed interests in Nephrology and Pathology. She wrote a case detailing the use of hypertonic saline in conjunction with continuous renal replacement therapy in a critically ill patient to limit neurologic sequalae. Diana also mentored pre-medical and medical students at MUSC. Additionally, she received various awards and distinctions for her dedication to Academic Pathology, becoming a Society of ’67 Kinney Scholar, awarded by the Association of Pathology Chairs, and receiving the ASCP Medical Student Award, given by the American Society of Clinical Pathology.

Diana enjoys boba tea, reading, making UV resin jewelry, and trying out local restaurants. Diana will pursue AP/CP training, and if someone is interested in a boba tea run, please let her know!

Julia Gales, M.D.

Julia Gales was born and raised in Mason City, Iowa. She graduated from Saint Louis University with a B.S. in public health and minors in health care ethics and biology. During this time she did volunteer work developing and teaching after-school music programs for kids in St. Louis. She then worked as an EMT in an emergency department in St. Louis during the year following college graduation. Julia received her M.D. from University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. During medical school she volunteered with the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition and the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic. She also completed a research project regarding end-of- life surgical outcomes in pediatric patients. Between her second and third years of medical school, she completed a one year externship in the pathology department, where she further participated in teaching and curriculum development for an introductory pathology course and worked on research projects regarding surgical pathology and digital image analysis.

She enjoys reading, crochet, running, playing board games, and wandering through antique stores and museums.

Julia will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Jeremy Johnson, M.D., Ph.D.

Jeremy Johnson was raised in Bluefield, VA, a small town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He attended Roanoke College in Salem, VA, and received a B.S. in Chemistry and a Minor in Math. While there, he developed a passion for basic scientific research by working with Dr. Vern Miller to synthesize bisamine boron cations. He presented posters at two national meetings of the American Chemical Society and received the Goldwater Scholarship.

Upon graduation in 2013, he joined the MD/PhD Program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He completed his dissertation under Dr. Mark Evers, and his work involved targeting metabolic proteins (Akt and AMPK) to improve therapeutics of triple negative breast cancer. He has published three first-author manuscripts and presented posters at four annual meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research.

In his free time, Jeremy enjoys working out, hiking, reading epic fantasy, and playing video games.

He will be pursuing AP-only training.

Samuel Law, M.D.

Samuel Law was born in Houston, TX and migrated to Milwaukee, WI before settling in sunny Southern California. He went to UC Irvine and graduated with a BS in biology, then went on to pharmacy school for one year at UC San Diego, where he realized a passion for histology through a pharmacy school course on histopathology. He attended California Northstate University College of Medicine and completed a preliminary intern year at St. Mary Medical Center. During medical school, he investigated the relationship between oncogenic protein downregulation in corneal neovascularization, studied the pitfalls of Wnt agonists in the study of the Wnt signaling pathway, and spearheaded a research study on the association between cigarette smoking and glaucoma in the United States and South Korean populations.

He currently is leaning towards the fields of neuropathology, gastrointestinal pathology, head and neck pathology, and ophthalmic pathology, but would like to take a keen eye at blood banking/transfusion medicine as a future career, inspired through his prelim IM training.

He is pursuing AP/CP training.

Molly McGowan, M.D.

Molly McGowan grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana where she cultivated a passion for classical music and playing the cello. After earning her undergraduate degree in Music Theory from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, she began working for Whole Foods Market and held many leadership positions over the following nine years, eventually bringing her to Texas. After deciding to finish her medical school prerequisites, she earned admission to the John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Both in her grocery career and medical school career, she cultivated her enjoyment of mentoring, celebrating her mentees’ successes both in the retail and medical worlds, and eventually serving as an official Step 1 Mentor through her medical school. As a fourth-year medical student she was awarded the William Todd Midgett, MD Award for Superior Clinical Practice and was elected to AOA.

Outside of work, Molly enjoys the outdoors, keeps an active interest in music, and enjoys spending her time off with her partner and their cat, Aurora.

Molly is pursuing AP/CP training.

Brian Pedro, M.D., Ph.D.

Brian Pedro was born and raised in Portland, Maine and received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Tufts University. As an undergraduate, Brian discovered his passion for cancer research, leading him to enter the MD/PhD program at Emory University. His dissertation focused on characterizing the mechanisms of collective invasion and metastasis in lung cancer. Brian’s interest in pathology grew throughout his MD/PhD training, as he realized the impact he could have on patients while also pursuing a research career.

In his spare time, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife Tori and their three sons, rooting for Boston sports teams, playing Ultimate, and trying out new breweries.

Brian is pursuing AP-only training as part of the Physician Scientist Research track, where he plans to continue working to better understand solid tumor metastasis.

Keysabelis Rivera Alvarez, M.D.

Keysabelis Rivera Alvarez was born in Mayagüez and raised in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. She grew up playing volleyball, surrounded by nature, and going to the beach. She graduated with honors from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, where she received her B.S. in General Science. Seeing the healthcare disparities in her hometown inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. Keysa moved to the Midwest to earn her M.D. from Wright State University. For the last four and a half years, Keysa has worked at Hopkins as a Research Data Analyst. She has been involved in several projects including the AACR Project GENIE consortium; she has reviewed thousands of pathology reports and clinical charts to fulfill an unmet need in oncology by providing the statistical power necessary to improve clinical decision-making. She has had a critical role in the implementation of various digital pathology systems in the department and completed a validation study for the remote digital pathology system allowing pathologists to have the flexibility to do signout remotely.

Keysa has adopted Maryland as her "second home" where she lives in Pasadena with her husband Miguel and two dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, cycling, working out, cooking, eating, and doing DIY home improvement projects. She likes to spend quality time with her husband, family, and friends. She is a proud Army wife!

Keysa will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Mahalia Robinson, D.O., M.S.

Mahalia Robinson was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC. She attended the illustrious North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT) and obtained her BS in biology premedical concentration. She then went to Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM) and obtained her master’s degree in biomedical science and shortly matriculated into the DO curriculum. At CUSOM, she spent her free time mentoring the youth in the surrounding area as well as being present on panels at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) to help inspire the future of medicine. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are very important to Mahalia and she takes pride in being a role model. She also helped start a diversity taskforce at CUSOM which she was a huge asset in starting a pathway program from her alma mater, NCAT, to CUSOM for students interested in medicine. Mahalia is also highly interested in teaching. 

Outside of medicine, Mahalia is involved in real estate development as well as novel business ideas such as snack vending. She enjoys live music, trying new foods, and traveling. 

Mahalia is pursuing AP/CP training and will also be pursuing a cytopathology fellowship.

Rachel Schendzielos, M.D.

Resident Leader of Recruitment

Rachel Schendzielos was born on Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but spent the majority of her childhood growing up in Chantilly, Virginia. She attended college at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and in Cellular, Molecular, & Physiological Biology. During her time at CNU, she researched the 3xTg-AD trangenic mouse model, specifically focusing on their ability to model the behavioral and histological changes seen in Alzheimer’s Disease. She additionally had the opportunity to complete a summer internship in Surgical Pathology at a local hospital, Riverside Regional Medical Center, which first sparked her interest in Pathology. Rachel earned her medical degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where she served as a society leader, the Pathology Student Interest Group President, and in multiple Medical Student Government roles. In medical school, Rachel honed her passion for education by serving as an individual peer-to-peer tutor, as a teaching assistant for the Foundations of Disease Course, and as a dedicated teaching assistant for a group of M1 students identified by the curriculum office as needing additional assistance.

During her free time, Rachel enjoys baking, cake decorating, cooking, crafting, reading, playing video games, and playing her oboe & saxophone.

Rachel will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Malavika Pia Sengupta, M.D., M.Sc.

Malavika Pia Sengupta was born in Mumbai, India but grew up between the Midwest and southern Canada. She attended University of Michigan for her undergraduate education, studying neuroscience and linguistics. She then enrolled at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a master’s degree in medical physiology. Taking time off from school, she worked at the Cleveland Clinic as a research assistant investigating tools to aid in early diagnosis of cognitive impairment while she applied to medical school. She soon found her way back to Dayton, OH—where her journey in the Americas started—for medical school at Wright State University, Boonshoft School of Medicine. Throughout all of her education, Pia has been passionate about research and in using it to improve medical education in evidence-based ways. She has also been honored with the James L. Funkhouser Scholarship for medical students pursuing pathology.

Pia loves running, trying out new cuisines and restaurants, listening to true crime podcasts, dancing, and hanging out with her husband, Matt—a PM&R resident in Greenville, NC—and their cats, Ymir and Daisy.

Pia is absolutely thrilled to be pursuing AP/CP training at Johns Hopkins.

Annie Wu, M.D., Ph.D.

Annie Wu was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University and earned her M.D. and Ph.D degree in Immunology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For her doctorate work, Annie utilized multiplex immunohistochemistry to investigate how the tumor microenvironment is influenced by novel immunotherapies given to patients. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned to medical school, where she served as president of the Pathology Interest Group and was the recipient of the William H. Welch Medical Student Award.

Outside of medicine, Annie enjoys playing tennis, watching the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, traveling the world, and hiking with family and friends.

Annie will be pursuing AP training.

Kevin Zhang, M.D., M.A.

Kevin Zhang was born and raised in China and moved to California at the age of eleven. He attended UCSD and earned dual degrees in Biochemistry and Economics. After undergrad, he spent several years conducting basic research on immunometabolism at the Salk Institute in La Jolla before attending Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. Prior to finishing medical school, Kevin moved to Baltimore with his wife. He spent two years pursuing research at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of Thomas V. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D. and investigated the use of stem cell transplantation in treating optic neuropathies.

Outside of medicine Kevin enjoys the NBA, cooking, hiking, trying new restaurants, and spending time with his wife Rowena, two sons Blake and Brook, and puppy Doug.

Kevin is pursuing AP/NP training.

Katherine Fomchenko, M.D.

Katherine Fomchenko was born and raised in New Jersey. She attended The College of New Jersey and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry. She enjoyed tutoring fellow students and performing research in biophysical chemistry during her time in college.

Katherine then earned her M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She participated in a variety of extracurricular activities from revitalizing the previously dormant pathology interest group to teaching cooking classes to peers through the Student Teaching Kitchen. She also performed research in pathology investigating differential protein expression between slow- and fast-twitch skeletal muscle fibers. She deeply enjoyed her pathology elective rotations during medical school and received the William H. Welch Award in 2020.

Katherine enjoys cooking, baking, and crocheting, as well as spending time with family (including her parents’ five cats and German Shepherd) and friends.

Katherine will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Samuel Harvey, M.D. Ph.D.

Sam Harvey grew up in Salem, Virginia, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA where he engaged in research investigating signal transduction pathways in the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.

After graduating with a B.S. in Biology, he matriculated to the MSTP program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. His doctoral research focused on bioinformatics investigations into the role of RNA binding proteins and alternative splicing in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and his work was supported by an NRSA Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellowship (F30) from the National Cancer Institute. Sam’s current academic interests include bioinformatics, digital pathology, and artificial intelligence.

In his free time, Sam enjoys gaming of all kinds including video games, board games, and Dungeons and Dragons. He also enjoys the great outdoors, especially hiking trips with his wife and dog.

Sam will be pursuing AP/CP training and the Informatics certificate track.

Tait Huso, M.D.

Chief Resident

Tait Huso grew up in the rolling hills of Northern Baltimore County before making his way to Penn State. There he studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and became interested in the field of medicine. During summers as an undergraduate Tait worked in Linda Smith-Resar’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins where he contributed to understanding the cellular pathways dysregulated by the HMGA oncoproteins. After graduating from Penn State, Tait spent a year and a half continuing this research before pursuing medical training at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. In medical school his research interests focused on exploring healthcare fragmentation and the negative effects it exerts on patients with chronic health conditions such as Sickle Cell Anemia. Outside of the hospital and laboratory Tait enjoys road-tripping across the upper Midwest to visit family, fly-fishing local rivers, playing pick-up basketball, and tackling ambitious small-scale agriculture projects such as beekeeping. Tait is pursuing AP/CP training.

Jae Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Resident

Jae Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. He received his A.B. in Chemistry at Princeton University. After college, he conducted research on multiple sclerosis at the National Institutes of Health for two years in the laboratory of Michael Lenardo. Jae then completed the MD/PhD program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. For his PhD research, Jae identified an intercellular inflammatory network underpinned by hepatocytes that directs metastatic spread of cancer cells to the liver in the laboratory of Gregory Beatty. During medical school, Jae served as co-chair of Oncology Interest Group and co-regional director of the Asian-Pacific American Medical Student Association. Jae enjoys traveling with his wife and family; playing tennis, squash, and soccer; and visiting art museums. Jae is pursing AP only training.

Chen Lossos, M.D., Ph.D.

Chen Lossos was born in Jerusalem, Israel and lived there until the age of eight before moving with his family to the US. He attended Stanford University, where he received a B.S. in biology with a minor in psychology. His research there focused on identifying features predicting patient immune and clinical responses to anti-idiotype vaccinations in lymphoma as well as studying the nature of acquired B-cell receptor mutations as they pertain to malignant and autoimmune processes.

After graduation, he spent a year working on developing a new mouse model of multiple myeloma before commencing his MD/PhD studies at Harvard University. There, he studied how lymphomas develop resistance to antibody therapy and how to use chemotherapy and the immune system to overcome this resistance. In his free time, Chen enjoys swimming, reading, playing chess and rooting on his favorite sports teams.

Chen is pursuing combined AP/CP training.

Khoa Pham, M.D.

Khoa was born and raised in SocTrang, a small town in southern Vietnam. After receiving his MD from CanTho University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Vietnam, Khoa practiced as a general practitioner for 5 years before coming to the United State to pursue research training. Khoa’s research interests focus on brain metabolism under physiologic and pathologic conditions.

Since late 2019, Khoa has been working as a post-doctoral fellow studying brain cancer at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. During his training, he was able to identify the important metabolic pathways in high MYC medulloblastoma tumor compared to normal brain by employing LC/MS and uniformly labeled glucose and glutamine. Targeting these pathways showed the benefit survival in a pre-clinical model. Khoa was awarded a prize at the Pathology Department Young Investigator’s Day at Johns Hopkins, and his work was presented at SNO-NCI joint symposium: Targeting CNS tumor metabolism.

Khoa enjoys spending time in the park or on trails with his wife and kids. He loves practicing meditation, cooking, and trying new cuisine.

Khoa is honored and excited to have matched at Hopkins and will be pursuing AP/NP training.

Kevin Toomer, M.D., Ph.D.

Kevin Toomer was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where he pursued research exploring molecular evolution of the bacterial endosymbionts within arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. After graduating from Cornell with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, he enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. His early clinical training helped solidify a research interest in immunology, as he began to recognize inflammation as a unifying mechanism behind diverse disease processes. For his Ph.D. project he studied the roles of interleukin-2 in functional programming, subset heterogeneity, and maintenance of regulatory T cells, an area of immense therapeutic relevance in the context of autoimmune disease. Kevin has been the recipient of various awards during his career, including the NRSA Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellowship (F31), and an undergraduate Biology Research Fellowship Award sponsored by the NSF. Outside of science and medicine, Kevin enjoys artistic hobbies including drawing, painting, and woodcarving. He is also an avid reader of historical nonfiction and enjoys touring museums and historical sites. Kevin will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Rebecca Wingfield, M.D.

Rebecca Wingfield was born and raised in Ona, WV. She earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from Marshall University in Huntington, WV. During college, Rebecca participated in a Learning Assistant Program where she facilitated small group tutoring sessions for introductory biology courses. Through this work, she discovered a love for teaching. In the interim between college and medical school, Rebecca worked as a medical intern at SCORE International in the Dominican Republic.

She went on to earn her M.D. degree from Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. As a medical student, she continued to pursue her passion for medical education by tutoring and serving on the Curriculum Committee. She further contributed to curriculum development through the curriculum student task force responsible for examination of the legacy curriculum’s content and pedagogy in preparation for a new 18-month curriculum design. Outside of these committees, Rebecca applied her love for teaching in her role as a co-leader of “Let’s Get Moving,” a medical student-led initiative to teach elementary students about living a healthy, active lifestyle.

Rebecca enjoys spending as much time as possible outside. She spends her free time reading, listening to podcasts, doing jigsaw puzzles, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.

Rebecca will be pursuing AP/CP training.

Eric Young, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Resident

Eric Young was born in New York and was raised in Menasha, WI. He graduated with a B.S. in Genetics, Cell Biology and Development from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he managed the U of M Zebrafish Core Facility before moving to Houston, TX. There, Eric spent three years researching soft tissue sarcoma at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, KS. For his thesis work, he studied the role of ITIH5 in suppressing pancreatic cancer metastasis to the liver. Current research interests include neuroendocrine tumors, metastasis, and developmental biology. He enjoys gardening, cooking, the outdoors and spending time with friends and family—especially his wife, children and dog. Eric is pursuing AP training and the PSTP track.