Current Residents

PGY1

  • Megan Cavanaugh, MD

    Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Megan went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northeastern University in Boston. At Northeastern, she developed her interest in medicine while simultaneously discovering a passion for working with underserved communities through volunteering at local hospitals and working on the planning board of the University’s Relay For Life fundraiser. Megan stayed in Boston to work in cancer research,contributing to several immunotherapy clinical trials at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

    After many Red Sox games and runs along the Charles River, Megan finally made her way back to New York to become the first physician in her family, attending New York Medical College. As a medical student working in New York City’s public health care system, she learned more about the socioeconomic and racial disparities patients face and became involved in research efforts to educate fellow medical students on ways to mitigate their implicit biases. In addition, Megan advocated for patients during her time on the Public Health Commission with the New York State Academy of Family Physicians, where she also gained insight into how physicians can fight for their patients through proposing legislation and lobbying government officials. She believes in a doctor’s responsibility not only to their patient but the community as a whole, one of the many reasons she pursued family medicine!

    Megan is excited to continue her journey at NYP-Columbia Family Medicine, where she hopes to give patients and their families the comprehensive healthcare they deserve. She is thrilled to pursue her interests in reproductive health, advocacy, and preventative medicine, among many others. Outside of medicine, Megan enjoys time consuming baking projects, running all over the city, and spending time with her family and friends.

  • Ella Chaffin, DO

    Ella was born in Maine and raised in a small town in the mountains of Colorado. She attended Colorado State University and majored in Human Development & Family Studies. As a University Honors Scholar she completed her Senior Honors Thesis on a research project exploring type 2 diabetes mellitus risk factors in adolescent girls with depressive symptoms. This experience helped form her interests in primary care, mental health, and disease prevention. Following graduation Ella moved to Madrid, and later Barcelona, to work as an English language teacher, primarily with elementary school children. During this time, she took advantage of the opportunity to improve her Spanish language skills to better serve her future patients. She fell in love with the Spanish language, culture, food, atmosphere, and lifestyle, and met her husband, Pablo.

     

    Ella attended the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University. While in medical school she became involved with the Community Health Clinic, a volunteer-based health center providing free primary care and mental health services to uninsured patients in the Chicago area. This furthered her passion for community medicine and working with underserved populations in an urban setting.

     

    She is thrilled to be joining an incredible team of physicians at the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Program. Her interests include reproductive health, addiction medicine and preventative care. Outside of medicine, Ella can be found baking sourdough bread (a pre-pandemic hobby if you can believe it), exploring the various neighborhoods in Manhattan, and taking weekend escapes to the mountains that remind her of her hometown in the Rockies. 

  • James Camacho, DO

    James was born and raised on the island of Saipan, the capital of the U.S. Territory recognized as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It was in high school where his journey to medicine began, providing music therapy to his grandmother in hospice before her eventual passing during his senior year. After graduating from high school, James moved away from home to pursue his dream of becoming a physician to one day return to serve his own island community in the CNMI. 

    James went on to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. While completing his prerequisite courses for medical school there, James learned so much about the importance of his cultural identity as an indigenous person, modeled very passionately by the Native Hawaiian community. This deeper understanding of his culture became reflected in his work as a resident assistant, upholding student safety as taught by native Hawaiian and his own Samoan and Chamorro cultural values, respectively. This type of service work helped him garner an internship at the Office of Insular Affairs under the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., where he learned about strategies to improve the operational capacity of indigenous communities and how they can move forward to a state of self-determination with guidance from the federal government. Following his graduation from the University of Hawaii in 2016, James relocated to Portland, Oregon to obtain more healthcare experience as a medical scribe and hospice volunteer before applying to medical school.   

    James attended Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest (WesternU COMP-NW) in 2019. He served as the president of the Equality Alliance Club and even founded the school’s Cultural Awareness Club. He was COMP-NW’s very first Diversity Officer under Student Government and even helped organize in-person and virtual leadership seminars for physicians during the Covid-19 pandemic for several counties in the State of Oregon. He was also a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, recognized for their attention to compassion and humanism in clinical practice. His medical passions include diabetes medicine, palliative care medicine, improving the health literacy in indigenous communities, and advocating for an increased capacity of healthcare services to remote island communities around the world. 

    James is so excited to be a part of the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Residency program and looks forward to serving the community of Washington Heights by learning more about the people through their language and culture. In his spare time, James enjoys reading, exploring the city via public transportation, playing racquet sports and volleyball, celebrating The Arts, going thrift shopping, grabbing boba tea, and reflecting in his journal. 

  • Alexandra Greenberg, MD

    Ali is a born-and-raised New Yorker but left the city to attend Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies and Master of Science in International Health with a Concentration in Social and Behavioral Interventions as well as a Certificate in Health Communications. For her thesis research Ali spent six months living in Lima, Peru studying disparities in asthma management and control before moving to Washington DC to work as the Advocacy and Campaigns Officer for the global health non-profit Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM). Through her work with UAEM, Ali discovered a passion for grassroots organizing and an appreciation for community medicine. Ali attended medical school at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn where she served as president of the school’s Medical Council, led the institution’s student-run free clinic and graduated with distinctions in both the Medical Educator and Health Advocacy, Equity, and Leadership Pathways for her engagement in curricular reform and social justice efforts, both locally and more systemically. She was recently recognized as a 2022 recipient of the national Pisacano Scholarship for emerging leaders in family medicine for her leadership, service, and dedication to advocacy in medicine and particularly for access to appropriate and affordable primary care. 

    Ali is thrilled to join the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Program and continue to train in an urban, underserved setting within a community-anchored residency. She is even more eager to work alongside committed, collaborative, and conscientious providers while remaining in the city she considers home and ultimately plans to practice in. While at Columbia, Ali cannot wait to get to know the Washington Heights community. She also looks forward to continuing to pursue her broad interests in community medicine and advocacy, health policy, structural competency, social justice, LGBTQIA+ healthcare, integrative medicine, medical education… and basically everything else! When she isn't in the clinic or the hospital, Ali enjoys getting outside into nature, taking candid and landscape photos, doing yoga/stretching, getting a massage or acupuncture, cuddling with her cats Jackie and Hyde, and spending time out and about in the city with friends and family.

  • Haorui Sun, MD

    Haorui was born in Beijing and moved to the suburbs outside Philadelphia at age 6. She grew up interested in everything, bouncing between Science and English and Art. In college at Pennsylvania State University, she discovered an interest in service by volunteering at a community center providing basic needs services and a 24-hour crisis hotline. While looking for a course to complete her English minor, she accidentally and happily discovered a way to merge her interests in science and the arts via a medical humanities course. 

    At Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Haorui continued her pursuit of medical humanities by publishing multiple poems both in medical and literary journals and received the Ballantine award to create paintings of patients' hands during her palliative care rotation. She also pursued projects in racial equity in medicine including: writing and editing more inclusive Problem Based Learning cases for her medical school curriculum, grant writing and content creation for the National Antiracism in Medicine Curriculum Coalition, and conducting a research project on the insurance coverage of dermatological conditions found in lighter-skinned vs darker-skinned patients. 

    Haorui is beyond excited to join all the amazing people at the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Program. She looks forward to learning more about medical humanities and social justice and getting to know the Washington Heights community. In her free time, she loves weightlifting, reading and writing poetry, travelling, and painting. 

  • Robert Volodarsky, MD

    Robby and his fraternal twin were born on the Upper East Side at The New York Hospital which merged with Presbyterian Hospital a couple years later to form NewYork-Presbyterian. During high school he played home football games on 193rd and Audubon Ave, about halfway between Columbia University Irving Medical Center and The Allen Hospital. As an undergraduate he attended SUNY Binghamton in upstate New York where he studied Biochemistry and served two terms as Service Chair of his medical organization. After graduating he completed one year of biochemistry research studying cellular trafficking proteins which play a role in disease states such as Spinal Muscular Dystrophy when mutated. He attended Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia for medical school where he was twice elected Service Representative of his learning society. During pre-clinical years he enjoyed volunteering at health fairs and free clinics that provided underserved residents of Philadelphia with medical care. His third year was completed at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in impoverished Chester, PA. It is there that he discovered his love for Family Medicine as he witnessed the breadth of care that doctors in that specialty were able to provide their patients. He particularly enjoyed conducting home visits and working at the Federally Qualified Health Center that served underinsured patients including several undocumented families spanning generations. Many of these patients were seeking medical care for the first time in the United States and had severely untreated conditions. Through it all Robby was blown away by the compassion and dedication to holistic care that the Family Medicine doctors embodied and decided that was the kind of physician he wanted to be. Prior to graduating he was awarded the Daniel M. Tabas Award for outstanding scholarly achievement within the pursuit of Primary Care.

    Robby is elated to return home to NYC and train within the prestigious NYP-Columbia system while serving his community. In his down time he enjoys watching professional football and basketball or anime, going to the gym, playing videogames, and hanging out with his childhood friends – many of whom still reside in the city.

PGY2

  • Joel Castillo, MD

    Joel was born in the same Allen Hospital he would eventually be a resident at, and was raised in Yonkers, NY. Raised in a Dominican household, Joel was able to learn both English and Spanish and utilize his languages to further connect with his community. He attended Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, where he combined his interests in Biology and Anthropology that ultimately rooted his journey into medicine. At Fordham University, Joel served as a Social Justice Leader, where he worked with community organizations focused on food insecurity, the experiences of individuals uprooted by gentrification, and police brutality. He also volunteered at the Montefiore Family Health Center in the Bronx, where he began to tune-in to the disparities in healthcare present in underserved populations such as his own. 

    After graduating from Fordham, Joel went on to attend Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he diligently worked to improve his medical knowledge base and cultural awareness. He briefly served as a certified Spanish medical interpreter at a pediatric hospital, and was on the board for the Latino Medical Student Association. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha society and was selected as a Gold Humanism Honor Society recipient, based on his service to both the school and to his patients.

    Joel is excited to return to New York and give back to the communities that have built him from the ground up. His desire is to continue to approach patient care in a multidisciplinary way, collaborating with important services like social work and other physicians to deliver services to the patients that need them most. He is particularly interested in the experiences of Latinx patients in an urban setting, and how their health interacts with the various financial and social systems that may create barriers to their care. He looks forward to connecting with the Washington Heights & Inwood community, so that he may learn from and work with them to become a resource on their journeys to improve their mental and physical well-being.

    In his free time, Joel has a passion for music that he channels through hip-hop music production and as a long-time pianist. He also enjoys video games, anime, dancing, dystopian thrillers, horror movies, and spending time with friends. "

  • Shean Hinds, MD

    Shean Hinds is a Jamaican who immigrated to the United States at the age of three. He was raised primarily in New York and New Jersey. He is a first-generation college graduate and the first in his family to become a physician. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences from the City College of New York and earned his medical degree from the CUNY School of Medicine in one of the school’s first graduating classes. His first-hand experience in dealing with limited care options for low-income immigrants has motivated Shean to focus on a career that promotes healthcare access and health equity.  

     

    During his time in medical school, Shean served as the co-chair of the Advocacy in Medicine workgroup at the New York Academy of Medicine. This student-led group focuses on promoting health advocacy skills and creating a space to discuss and work toward solutions that dismantle barriers to care. During his time in leadership in the organization, Shean developed the foundation of how Advocacy in Medicine (AIM) operates and conducts outreach. Shean is also a founding member of FinGem, a social innovation organization that aims to uplift communities out of poverty by teaching financial literacy to underserved populations. 

     

    Shean is ecstatic to continue his journey of becoming a community doctor as he joins the NYP- Columbia Family Medicine Residency Program. In his new role, he will continue following his passion for advocacy work, community medicine, preventative medicine, financial literacy education, and the promotion of health care access. In his free time, Shean enjoys expressing his passion for the arts and reading manga.  

  • Adjoa Mante, MD

    Adjoa grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs. She was raised by Ghanaian parents with connections across the globe who fostered her curiosity about different languages, cultures, and communities. Adjoa graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor's degree in Spanish with a focus on global health and Latin American studies. Her interests in the African diaspora, justice in health, and Spanish led her to further study and internships in Cuba and Colombia as an undergraduate. Adjoa continued to pursue population and community health work after graduation. As a public interest fellow in Chicago, she co-led neighborhood health planning efforts and developed tools to evaluate social service programs. Adjoa later returned to Philadelphia to attend the Perelman School of Medicine. As a medical student, she worked with community members to coordinate local health programs promoting activity through dance and barbershop-based blood pressure screenings. She also advocated for a more equitable and evidence-based approach to addressing race and racism in medical curricula alongside a team of students and mentors, earning a prize in medical education. Adjoa graduated as a member of the Gold Humanism Honors Society and was awarded the Morris Ginsburg Prize in recognition of her dedication to others.

    Adjoa is grateful for the opportunity to take care of and learn from patients at Farrell Community Clinic and the Allen Hospital as a family medicine resident. She looks forward to getting to know the neighborhood of Washington Heights and exploring creative ways to address the individual, social, and structural factors influencing health. In her free time, Adjoa enjoys reading fiction and memoirs, running or dancing outdoors, and spending time with loved ones.

  • Olivia Patsos, DO

    Olivia was born in New Hampshire and raised primarily in Concord, Massachusetts. She attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where she earned both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience, with a Minor in Spanish. While at Tulane, Olivia volunteered as an EMT where she witnessed first-hand the many social and economic factors that compromise access to healthcare. This experience ignited both a passion for social justice and a desire to become a primary care physician.

    After graduate school, Olivia worked as a Professional Research Assistant for the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado where she focused her academic research skills in behavioral health. This and her hands on clinical experience led her to attend medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. Here, Olivia was selected as a Gold Humanism Honors Society recipient and graduated with an honors distinction through the Care for the Underserved Pathways, a nationally recognized Area Health Education Centers Program for her dedication to serving marginalized populations.

    Olivia’s approach to medicine is to focus on the root cause of disease instead of just treating the symptoms. Applying a holistic lens to her patients, Olivia is committed to treating her patients as a whole and in a manner that considers not only the patient’s role in their health, but the role that cultural and socioeconomic factors play in determinants of overall health. She is dedicated to serving all individuals and has a special interest in serving the LGBTQIA+ community and providing gender affirming care, advocating for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, and taking harm reduction approaches to treatments.

    Olivia is driven by learning from her patients and is looking forward to continuing to do so from the diverse medical community of NYP-Columbia University. She is so excited and fortunate to join the Family Medicine Residency at NYP-Columbia where she can provide comprehensive healthcare for all patients and their families while being supported by an outstanding group of co-residents and faculty.

    Outside of medicine, Olivia enjoys running, reading historical fiction, going to her aunt’s 80s tribute band shows in the city, and binge-watching Jeopardy with her cat Leo.

  • Janani Prasad, MD

    Janani was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from UCLA with a minor in Public Policy. In addition to developing her interest in medicine at UCLA, she also discovered her passion for working with underserved communities through teaching after-school classes to students at underserved schools in LA. As a student at UC Irvine School of Medicine, she learned how socioeconomic disparities extend to healthcare while rotating at federally qualified health centers in Santa Ana and Anaheim, CA and as a board member of a An Lanh student-run free clinic. She enjoyed working with family medicine providers at these clinics, loving the perfect mix of patient-centered preventative medicine, and community medicine in the specialty. Janani also received the Medical Arts and humanities award and graduated with distinction in Arts and Humanities for her role on two medical humanities publications, which used various visual, written, and performing arts to reflect on experiences in medicine.

    Janani is so excited to join the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Program, where she is excited to pursue her interests in community medicine, preventative medicine, reproductive health, advocacy and more! Outside of medicine, Janani enjoys dancing, baking, playing with her pup, Riley, and is very excited to start exploring New York City with her partner, Ralph :)

  • Mattie Renn, MD

    Originally from the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut, Mattie grew up tagging along to theatrical rehearsals and quahogging with family. She attended college at the University of Chicago, majoring in Biology and minoring in Human Rights, and stuck around post-graduation to work in biophysics research. Mattie then moved closer to home to become the first “doctah” in the family. She attended Columbia through the Bassett track, with training in health systems leadership and trauma-informed care. During medical school, Mattie co-founded the American Medical Student Association’s Medical Students for Gun Safety national campaign. She also served as their Education and Advocacy Fellow between her third and fourth year, supporting all AMSA’s national advocacy efforts.

    Mattie has a particular passion for activism surrounding health justice for native populations, gun violence prevention, access to mental health resources, and rights for immigrant communities. She hopes to pursue a career in health equity, providing ethical and just care to communities who experience violence at the hands of the American healthcare system. In her free time, Mattie likes to bake pies, spend time with her family, and take long walks through Fort Tryon Park with her partner, Trevor, and their dog, Peaches. She is incredibly grateful to be joining her co-residents in the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Residency Program and is excited to continue learning from the wonderful Washington Heights and Inwood communities.

PGY3

  • Eda Akyar, MD, MPH

    Eda was raised in New Jersey with her twin sister by immigrant parents. She attended Carnegie Mellon University where she was a Science and Humanities Scholar and conducted research in both biological sciences and public health. She majored in Biological Sciences and earned a minor in Chemistry. At CMU, Eda recognized her passion for global and community health, founding CMU’s chapter of Global Medical Brigades and later creating local brigades to support surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

    After college, Eda served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Tana Toraja, Indonesia. There, she taught conversational English to high school students and helped lead the UNESCO Youth Desk International Youth Forum. Upon her return to the United States, Eda attended the Yale School of Public Health where she earned a Master of Public Health in the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. At Yale, she was selected as a member of the Global Health Justice Practicum to explore the intersection between HIV criminalization and prostitution in the US. After graduate school, Eda worked as a clinical research coordinator and published research on linkage to care amongst suburban heroin users with hepatitis C in New Jersey.

    Eda attended Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine where she led Loyola’s student-run free clinic during her second year. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Eda organized and led Loyola University Medical Center’s COVID-19 hotline. She was awarded the Susan Hou Humanitarian Award and graduated with both Research Honors and Global Health Honors. Eda also worked as a public health administrator for the Chicago Department of Public Health, assisting with Chicago’s nursing home COVID-19 response and vaccine distribution. She is a founding board member of the Chicago Refugee Coalition. Eda is thrilled to be part of the NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Program and looks forward to pursuing her interests in community health and underserved medicine.

  • Carla Anderson, MD

    Carla, a first-generation college and medical school graduate was born and raised in Southeast Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan in Neuroscience with a minor in Women’s Studies: Gender and Health. After college, she moved to Bronx, New York where she attended medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Having witnessed first-hand the effects of health disparities, Carla is passionate about learning ways to reduce health disparities and learning more about the barriers faced by those who are underserved. During medical school, she volunteered at a student-run free clinic at Walton Family Health Center. She believes that it is important for physicians to listen to their patients, while learning about their health concerns and finding ways to advocate for patients.

    As a resident of the Columbia/NYP Family Medicine Program, Carla is excited about being a part of the Washington Heights Community and having the opportunity to continue to serve vulnerable populations in New York City.

    In her free time, Carla enjoys acrylic painting, pilates, and spending time with friends and family.

  • Melissa Encarnacion, MD

    Melissa Encarnacion was born and raised in New Jersey. She is a first-generation college graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Seton Hall University and medical degree at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Having been raised in a Dominican household, she became sensitive to the health care challenges of the Latinx community as she developed her interest in medicine. She participated as a student doctor and Spanish interpreter at Promise Clinic, a student-run clinic through which she worked in an interdisciplinary team to provide primary care for medically underserved and uninsured patients. Through these experiences, Melissa fell in love with promoting community wellness through primary care. Melissa is very excited to be part of NYP-Columbia Family Medicine Residency Program, where she will further nurture her interest in community medicine, advocacy, and women’s health. In her free time outside of medicine, Melissa enjoys playing the piano, exploring new places (or food), and strategic board game

  • Roxanne Ko, MD

    Roxanne Ko grew up on an organic farm in Pālolo, Hawai’i. She received her first degree in linguistics and spanish from Boston University with plans on working in community improvement and education. A highlight of her time after graduation was her service in the United States Peace Corps, where she worked to develop sustainable agricultural practices and improve food security and nutrition in Guinea. This experience was a pivotal moment in her life and inspired her to enter the field of medicine. She continued her education and received a second degree in microbiology from the University of Hawai’i and explored her interests in medical innovation by working at Columbia University’s Genome Center while applying to medical school. For her medical education, she returned home and received her medical degree from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai’i. Now back at Columbia University for residency, Roxanne is excited to re-immerse herself in the Washington Heights and Upper Manhattan neighborhoods and learn about what can help the community thrive. She always embraced a healthy and active lifestyle and would like to work to make that a reality for all of her patients. She has a passion for pediatrics, geriatrics and preventative medicine and believes that true community involvement is one of the best ways to build strong and healthy neighborhoods. Outside of medicine Roxanne is an avid runner, diver and hiker and loves to learn languages.

  • Shikha Patel, DO

    Shikha was born in India and immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of nine. Her journey in medicine started in high school through attending the Health Care Sciences Academy at Morris County School of Technology in Denville, NJ. She then graduated with a BS in Human Biology, Health, and Society from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. While in college, she realized her passion for health policy and became interested in addressing both individual and societal level health problems. Being drawn towards the holistic model of patient care, she then decided to attend medical school at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, NJ. In medical school, she advocated for changes in the healthcare system through meeting with Congress officials and writing resolutions for professional medical organizations. She also promoted osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) in the community through volunteering at the free OMM clinic.

    Shikha is excited to be a part of the residency program at Columbia where she can pursue her many interests, including community medicine, integrative medicine, preventive care, health policy, and medical education. In her free time, Shikha enjoys watching international TV dramas, exploring New York City by foot, and spending time with family and friends.

  • Aerial Petty, DO

    Aerial earned her BA in Spanish and minor in Anthropology from the University of Florida, her Masters in Medical Sciences from the University of South Florida, and her medical degree from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM). She enjoys using her Spanish to volunteer at underserved clinics in her community so that non-English-speaking patients may receive the best quality of care possible regardless of any cultural or language barriers they may face. As a medical student, Aerial played an active role in the SNMA and Omega Beta Iota Honor Society.

    Aerial participated in the National Medical Fellowships (NMF) Primary Care Leadership Program twice, completing projects on the opioid epidemic in Boston, MA and later, on COVID-19 virtually in Miami, FL. She was also a three-time recipient of the NMF United Health Foundations Diverse Medical Scholars Program, where she completed a community needs assessment that led to the creation and implementation of a mental health education program for adolescent minority girls in her community.

    Aerial’s professional interests include social determinants of health, health disparities, mental health, health policy and advocacy, and minority health care. Outside of medicine, she loves reading fiction novels, learning languages, eating way too many sweets, and discovering what it means to be a New Yorker. Aerial can still hardly believe that she gets to join her co-residents as a part of the NYP/Columbia University family medicine residency program and is so excited for her future here.