Current Residents

Louise Amat, MD
Hometown: Potomac, MD
Undergraduate: University of Michigan - B.S. in Biomolecular Science and Spanish
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish, Native French

Louise was born near Lyon, France and raised in the DC area. She is the youngest of four children in a Francophone household, and takes pride in having taught her parents many of the American colloquialisms. She attended the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) where she had the opportunity to become a Spanish medical interpreter for the Student Run Free Clinic. In this role, she was exposed to healthcare disparities and developed a curiosity for language and cultural barriers to care. She also participated in global health work in rural Honduras, which sparked her interest in addressing health disparities back home. She went on to serve as an AmeriCorps member at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and spent a year working as a women's health care coordinator. This experience was highly impactful and solidified her commitment to serve unhoused and underserved communities in her career. She returned to the Midwest to attend Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where she enjoyed summers on the lake before hibernating in the hospital for the long winters. She sought out experiences to learn more about health disparities and became involved with Chicago Street Medicine, where she piloted outreach projects to help the unhoused obtain shelter and primary care services. Right before graduation, she had the opportunity to pursue a global health rotation in Bolivia, which furthered her Spanish language skills and understanding of rural medicine in resource-limited environments abroad. She looks forward to continuing her pursuit of global health work in residency and beyond. Louise is elated to be joining the GLFHC family. She spent a month rotating at Lawrence as a medical student and immediately felt at home with the program's welcoming community and fierce commitment to health equity. She is looking forward to practicing full spectrum family medicine at an FQHC and is particularly excited to deliver babies and learn addiction medicine! Outside of medicine, she can be found exploring the running trails in the Boston area and escaping to the beach with her lovely co-interns. Although she is not as well versed in TV series' as the rest of her class, her favorite fictional doctor would have to be McDreamy (obviously).

Mikayla Ambarian, MD
Hometown: Wyomissing, PA
Undergraduate: University of Pittsburgh
Medical School: Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Languages: Fair Spanish

Mikayla grew up in Wyomissing, PA, a town about an hour away from Philadelphia, and loved listening to Taylor Swift (another Wyomissing native) with her three younger brothers. She moved across the state to Pittsburgh for college, where she majored in Chemistry with a minor in Spanish. Mikayla returned to eastern PA to attend medical school at Temple University, where she was exposed to how systemic inequality can affect the health of a community. From her involvement with the Thrive student-run clinic and service learning program, Mikayla developed an interest in harm reduction and caring for patients with substance use disorders. She was drawn to family medicine because of the opportunity to combine this interest with her other varied clinical interests, including hospital medicine, nutrition, group visits, POCUS, and reproductive health, while taking a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. As a scholar in the AAFP Foundation’s Emerging Leader Institute, Mikayla was able to explore the consequences of weight stigma in healthcare and developed a workshop to introduce weight inclusive care and anti-fat bias to medical students. Mikayla is excited to be a part of the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency and to work alongside and learn from others who are passionate about full-spectrum family medicine and advocating for the community. When she's not in the hospital, Mikayla enjoys playing field hockey, cheering on Pitt and Philly sports teams, running with her partner Nick, listening to Noah Kahan, and reading thrillers and romance novels. Because sitcoms are the best category of TV show, Dr. Sheldon Cooper is her favorite fictional doctor.  

Edward Bickham, MD
Hometown:  Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: University of California Santa Barbara
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish - Advanced 

Eddie is originally from Los Angeles. As the second of five brothers, he spent childhood summers on the family dairy farm in northern Mexico and many days afterschool hanging out at skate parks and PC bangs (internet cafes) in southern California. His favorite sports are basketball, soccer, and judo. He slightly prefers dogs to cats. Eddie studied Biochemistry at University of California Santa Barbara, during which he was exposed to a career in medicine through a biomedical summer research project at Yale. After university, he spent several years as an EMT in Riverside, California where he found it especially rewarding to help people navigate our healthcare system while carefully avoiding bringing financial problems to people. Eddie received lots of support and love from his various biological and step-grandparents and so is very interested in the care of older adults. He attended Tufts University School of Medicine and grew to appreciate the different seasons available on the east coast. He plans to relearn how to snowboard if and when there is time off. His favorite doctor is Dr. Doof from “Phineas and Ferb” as he believes in second chances. Eddie excited to join the fantastic team at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center and Lawrence General Hospital working to help people be as healthy as they can.

Abigail Boeck, MD, MPH
Hometown: Portage, WI
Undergraduate: Concordia University in Austin, Texas
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Languages: Portuguese, Learning Spanish

Abi was raised in a big extended family in rural Wisconsin, which wove the value of relationship and mutual care into the fabric of her being. She attended a small university in Austin, Texas, where she studied biology with a focus in ecology. During her time in Austin, she got her first glimpses into medicine through work in mobile health units, primary care clinics, and in-home care. After college, she worked for the US Peace Corps in Mozambique for a few years, where she collaborated with Community Health Workers and clinicians at a clinic and in health promotion in an elementary school. From there, she went back to Wisconsin for medical school, where she completed a dual degree program in medicine and public health. This allowed her time and framework to assess health in a more holistic way, in a way that centers the experience of individuals in unique situations and environments with unique goals for their health and wellbeing. Her research focus was the health implications of carceral systems, and this continues to be a focus area for her. When she found the breadth of practice and depth of relationship in Family Medicine, she knew she was home. Her approach to care centers autonomy, kindness, and mutual accountability in patient relationships, while insisting on improving the structures we all live in that impact health. Abi loves being outdoors when it's not toooo cold. She enjoys hiking in the woods and gardening in community gardens. She also loves reading poetry and essays. Always a Robin Williams fan, her favorite fictional doctor is Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Her happiest moments are spending slow days with family, friends, and great food.  

Daniela Castelblanco, MD
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia
Undergraduate: University of Central Florida
Medical School: Ponce Health Sciences University
Languages: Native Spanish

Daniela was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to Florida at the age of 6. At a young age, she witnessed situations where loved ones did not seek medical attention due to a lack of resources and language barriers. These experiences led her to strive towards addressing health disparities. While in university, she volunteered at a free community clinic that served an uninsured and underserved population, which fueled her passion to study medicine and provide care to Spanish-speaking patients in their preferred language. She is the first in her family to become a physician, thanks to the support of her parents and learning from their exemplary work ethic. Her passion for family medicine deepened throughout her medical education. She enjoyed each of her clinical rotations and the opportunity to engage with diverse patient populations. It was during her family medicine rotation that everything harmoniously coalesced. The complexity of care and the breadth of medical knowledge required in this field seamlessly align with her yearning to be a lifelong learner. Family medicine also grants her the privilege to perform procedures such as c-sections, colposcopies, skin biopsies, and more. She was drawn to the Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Residency because of its robust full-spectrum curriculum. She is grateful to be training at a residency that will prepare her to provide the best possible care to every patient, including learning surgical obstetrics and caring for critically ill hospitalized patients. Outside of work, Daniela enjoys weightlifting, hiking, and swimming. She also enjoys watching TV shows, and her favorite fictional doctor is House.

Courtney Cloud, MD, MPH
Hometown: Olathe, KS
Undergraduate: University of Kansas
Graduate: University of Kansas SOM, MPH
Medical School: University of Kansas SOM
Languages: Beginner Spanish

Courtney grew up in Olathe, KS and attended the University of Kansas where she majored in Behavioral Neuroscience. She was always interested in becoming a doctor, but after witnessing compassionate health care by physicians in both personal and professional settings, her love for medicine was cemented. After college she worked as an AmeriCorps member at her local health department. There she saw patients face numerous barriers to care and developed a passion for public health. In medical school her love for public health continued and she returned to the health department during the pandemic to help with contact tracing. Throughout her rotations, she continued to see patients experience barriers to care that resulted in preventable conditions spiraling out of control. She decided to pursue an MPH to become more equipped to contribute to systemic change beyond the individual health level and learn how to better advocate for her patients. During this time, she had the opportunity to engage in different forms of equity work and helped form a health equity team with community members and organization leaders. She is so thankful to be part of a program that shares her same passion and values, and intentionally prioritizes advocacy, and community engagement. She is particularly excited to learn Spanish so she is able to provide better care to patients in her community. In her spare time, she enjoys playing sand volleyball, karaoke whenever she can convince friends, chilling with her dog, and spending time with friends and family. She was going to say her favorite fictional doctor was Dr. Phil, but apparently he really does have a doctorate, so her second favorite is Dr. Turk from "Scrubs."

Savannah Creel, DO
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Undergraduate: The University of Tennessee - BS in Microbiology
Medical School: William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Languages: Basic Spanish

Savannah was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the eldest daughter of a large Cajun family. Her community imparted a strong work ethic and dedication to service that she witnessed firsthand during Hurricane Katrina. Savannah left home for college in the mountains of Tennessee where she received a Bachelor's of Science in Microbiology and developed her passion for public health as a Peer Health Educator, working with undergraduate students on access to contraceptive care, sexual health education and interpersonal violence prevention. She also learned to drive in the snow. Savannah then went to southern California for her Master in Biotechnology where she was able to further her understanding of healthcare systems as a whole.  She completed research that connected the more esoteric aspects of biotechnology to primary care when she completed a thesis on access to cardiovascular rehabilitation resources to patients in the San Joaquin Valley of California.  Her passion for Family Medicine began before medical school, witnessing the deep need for primary care across the deep south, and the increasing specialization of medicine that often perpetuates barriers to care in healthcare systems. It was during her third and fourth-year rotations in medical school that she found the full spectrum training that Family Medicine offers, which was the perfect combination of her true passions for primary care, advocacy, and building strong relationships with her patients. Savannah is elated for the opportunity to train at GLFHC and to learn Family Medicine from clinical leaders in a program dedicated to full-spectrum training and community medicine. In her spare time, Savannah can be found exploring rail trails with her husband, toddler and golden retriever. She also enjoys cooking, true crime podcasts and long phone calls with her mom. Her favorite fictional doctor is easily Dr. Harley Quinn (although Savannah is not that bold with her clinic attire).

Xian Mao, MD, MPH
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Undergraduate: Yale University
Medical School: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Languages: Mandarin (Expert), French (Beginner), Spanish (Beginner)

Born on a cold Chicago winter and raised in the mountains of Utah, Xian had spent the past 10 years on the East Coast, first in New Haven at Yale University, then two years working in Bethesda, and finally five years of medical school (plus an MPH) in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. Xian is a proud first-generation Chinese American, following two generations of doctors. Student activism during undergraduate years gave Xian a broad perspective on the intersections of health and social justice; the works of Loretta Ross and Mia Mingus have strongly influenced Xian’s thinking on the importance of racial equity, reproductive justice, and disability rights within medicine. Xian also volunteered with AIDS Project New Haven, developing communication skills and a phone voice that caused a landlord to hang up. During medical school Xian was introduced to harm, and that has been a guiding philosophy ever since. During medical school, Xian was involved in projects focused on substance use and housing instability. Xian is excited to be a part of the Greater Lawrence Health Center family and to explore the frontiers of family medicine, including substance use treatment. Xian is excited to be surrounded by New England’s greenery once again, and identifying the local birds of the Merrimack Valley. In rare spare time, Xian enjoys reading and writing (primarily science fiction and fantasy), knitting, playing video games and Magic the Gathering. Xian’s favorite fictional doctor is Dr. Jekyll (Mr. Hyde does not hold a medical degree)

Brian Nickley, MD
Hometown: Abington, MA
Undergraduate: Georgetown University – B.S. Human Science
Graduate School: Tufts University School of Medicine – M.S. Biomedical Science
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School – M.D. (Global Health Track)
Languages: Intermediate Spanish

Brian Nickley grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts in a small town called Abington. Being actively involved in his community has always been one of the most important things to him since childhood and is a through line in the story which ultimately brought him to Family Medicine in Lawrence. He found his true passion for serving others and his community in more meaningful ways during high school and college, especially while working as a lifeguard and eventual BLS/CPR/AED instructor. In this role he coordinated with the local Police/Fire/EMS to plan simulations and trainings to reinforce safety and emergency preparedness for staff of the town pool/camp. He then brought this passion for service to Washington DC during undergrad where he was active in numerous clubs and organizations focused on community engagement and health promotion. During the first two years of medical school, Brian spent much of his free time working on public health outreach initiatives, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a Primary Clinic Coordinator for a free medical clinic in Worcester which ran weekly. In addition, he worked with numerous local and state agencies to conduct COVID-19 vaccination outreach. Traveling across the Commonwealth from Springfield to Chelsea and everywhere in between, he found renewed meaning in his medical calling when working with groups that minimized barriers to access to the vaccine; participating in walking street clinics for unhoused individuals, door-to-door knocking for those with mobility or transportation barriers, clinics at local churches and barbershops, and many more pop-up vaccination efforts reinforced his desire to promote comprehensive, holistic healthcare to those most in need. He is incredibly excited to train at GLFHC because of their commitment to upholding and acting on these same ideals as a Community Health Center. His Family Medicine interests include comprehensive integrated care across inpatient/outpatient settings, sports medicine, and obstetrics/reproductive justice. He is an avid baker, loves exploring new places (as of writing is at 302 of 351 Massachusetts cities and towns visited), and prefers to spend as much time as possible outdoors, even in the dead of winter. His favorite fictional doctor is Dr. Tobias Funke from "Arrested Development."

Cassandra Nytes, MD, MPH
Hometown: Monona, WI
Undergraduate: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Languages: Spanish, conversational Finnish

Cassie calls home a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, though she spent a lot of time while growing up in Helsinki, Finland, visiting her mother’s family. There, she grew to have an appreciation of universal healthcare and adequate social supports, and got more curious about cultures and languages around the world. She attended University of Wisconsin-Madison for her undergraduate studies in Biology and Spanish. After graduating, she served for a year in AmeriCorps at a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC) in Aurora, Colorado and then spent three years as a community resources specialist at an FQHC in Madison, WI. Seeing the challenges her patients faced due to systemic injustice, she developed a passion for social justice, health equity, advocacy, and providing care to the underserved. At these clinics, she also saw the power of the long-standing relationships family medicine physicians had with their patients and how they had a holistic understanding of their patients. Returning to school, she attended University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health where she completed a dual MD-MPH. Throughout her medical training, she participated in the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) program where she worked with a community-based syringe services program in Milwaukee, developing a hepatitis C testing initiative with referral to treatment. Her studies at UW taught her the importance of community and public health measures to the health of a population. With her experiences and passions, she felt that family medicine was a perfect fit for her! She is excited to be joining Lawrence Family Medicine Residency as the program’s values align with her own passions and she is excited to become a full-spectrum family physician. When she’s not at work, you can find Cassie spending time with loved ones, reading a book, watching her favorite period drama, trying new restaurants and breweries, exploring the outdoors, or traveling. If she could run around on adventures with any fictional doctor, she’d choose Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes (especially if it’s the BBC version) – what could be cooler than solving mysteries and being a physician.

Sienna Schaeffer, MD
Hometown: Grimes, IA
Undergraduate: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Medical School: University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Languages: Basic Spanish

Sienna was born and raised outside of Des Moines, Iowa. She attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities for her undergraduate education, where she studied cell biology and Spanish. At UMN, her time outside of class was spent in a science communication club, at trivia nights, and eating ice cream. Her favorite class was a service-learning Spanish course at Centro Tyrone Guzman in Minneapolis, where she developed a deep appreciation for community-based health programs. She attended medical school at the University of Iowa. Her interest in community health and health equity led her to pursue an MPH and volunteer at the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic during her time there. While at UI, her passion for science communication and community medicine developed into an interest in evidence-based clinical practice, and particularly the intersection of evidence-based care, health equity, and medical education. Sienna was drawn to family medicine because of the broad scope of care, the longitudinal relationships, and the significance of primary care in community and population health. She is excited to come to Lawrence for the full-spectrum training; the opportunity to learn Spanish (for real this time); and the emphasis on innovation and community-based care. Outside of medicine, she enjoys making all types of food, but especially sweet treats and ice cream; running; hiking; and reading (especially sci fi and fantasy). Her favorite fictional doctor is Dr. Frederick Frankenstein; she likes to watch “Young Frankenstein” every Halloween.  

Sabine Shaughnessy, MD
Hometown: Brookline, MA
Undergraduate: Barnard College of Columbia University
Medical School: University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine
Languages: Intermediate Spanish

Sabine was born in Boston and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts (just a T stop away from Fenway Park!). She attended Barnard College, where she majored in anthropology and completed her thesis on reproductive health policies and practices in Cuba. Outside of the classroom, she connected Harlem Hospital patients with public benefits and community resources as a volunteer with Health Leads. Through these experiences Sabine began to recognize how societal injustice can manifest in the human body, and that her interest in medicine intersects at this critical juncture. After college, Sabine worked as a perinatal care coordinator at a federally qualified health center in the Bronx. In this role, she was trained as a Centering Pregnancy facilitator, lactation counselor, and doula. It was here that Sabine discovered the beauty of family medicine. As a medical student at the University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine, her commitment to the specialty deepened, so did her understanding of how ill-equipped the healthcare system is to address the underlying problems affecting patients’ lives. This realization led her to help create a workshop-based, advocacy skill-building elective for herself and her peers, which has since been incorporated into UMass' curriculum. Sabine is thrilled to join the GLFHC team and to continue sharpening her clinical skills and civic voice to better care for and partner with her patients to create change. Outside of medicine, Sabine enjoys testing out new recipes on friends and family, spending time in green spaces, and hunting for her next great thrift find. Her favorite doc is none other than Dr. Seuss.

Hanako Agresta, MD, MPH
Hometown: Burlington, CT
Undergraduate: University of Connecticut
Medical School: University of Connecticut
Languages: Intermediate Spanish

Hanako was raised in central Connecticut and was immersed in the medical field from a young age by her incredible parents—a family physician and a nurse midwife. She is a proud double Husky, attending the University of Connecticut for both undergraduate and medical training. She earned an undergraduate degree in Physiology and Neurobiology with a minor in Spanish and had the opportunity to work with a mobile healthcare unit providing care to agricultural workers as well as spend meaningful time volunteering at a local soup kitchen. These early experiences deepened her passion for caring for patients facing barriers to healthcare access. During medical school, she engaged in a variety of interests, serving on the student DEI committee, helping to integrate climate justice into the curriculum and campus initiatives, and teaching a peer-led course on emotional regulation and burnout. Throughout it all, she was always eager to share her enthusiasm for family medicine with anyone who would listen. One of her most cherished experiences of medical school was restarting the Migrant/Seasonal Farmworker Clinics that she was part of in college, which had shut down during COVID. Shen then had the privilege of shifting that mobile clinic model to provide weekly care for unsheltered individuals at a local warming shelter. She took a brief hiatus during medical school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health, focusing on the food environment as a social determinant of health. Through this, she spent a year working with BIPOC farmers in the first stages of transforming vacant lots in the city of Hartford into urban farms and completed community-based participatory research about the relationship between food insecurity persistence and psychological distress. She is absolutely thrilled to be joining the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency and looks forward to becoming a part of the community here. She chose Lawrence for their intentional engagement in the community, broad-spectrum training, strong emphasis on Spanish-language development, and the opportunity to dive deeper with their four-year program. She is committed to providing care aligned with her patients’ values and has difficulty deciding on a particular interest in family medicine  she wants to do it all. Outside of medicine, she enjoys creating pottery, embroidery, cozying up with a good book and cup of tea, game nights, rock climbing, camping, and hiking. Her goal in residency is to finish hiking all 48 of the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire! If Hanako was a color, she would be clementine orange.

Elana Cohen, MD
Hometown: Albany, NY
Undergraduate: Cornell University – Molecular and Cell Biology (BA), Fine Arts (BFA)
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Languages: Beginner Spanish

Elana was born near the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, where her earliest trips to the doctor involved running from roosters and milking goats outside of the local provider’s home clinic. This idyllic memory, paired with a strong desire to help others, shaped her vision of what her future might look like as a doctor. The loss of a friend at a young age transformed that vision into a personal mission to save lives, driving Elana to seek out volunteering opportunities in healthcare throughout her formative years. After graduating from Cornell University, Elana moved from Ithaca to Brooklyn to begin medical school at SUNY Downstate, drawn by the opportunity to learn from a vibrant and diverse patient population. Her clinical experiences at Downstate and work with the Brooklyn Free Clinic deepened her understanding of the structural inequities that shape access to care and highlighted the creative problem-solving often required to navigate the complex systems that patients face. Elana’s time in medical school also sparked her passion for teaching. As a part of SUNY Downstate’s Medical Educator Pathway, she developed and facilitated peer-led educational sessions on topics such as nutrition, motivational interviewing, and opioid use disorder. Her work in medical education brought her to both the Family Medicine Education Consortium and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, where she was honored as an STFM Scholar in 2025. Elana is also a proud member of the New York State Academy of Family Physicians’ Education Commission. While at SUNY Downstate, Elana also participated in the Global Health Pathway, where she studied disease, healthcare access, and culturally-informed solutions across different international contexts. This experience culminated in a month in Quito, Ecuador, where Elana worked with physicians in public hospitals, private clinics, and rural care settings. While there, she also explored her interest in integrative medicine by shadowing shamans who partnered with physicians in indigenous clinics. Elana is thrilled to be continuing her journey at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, surrounded by mentors and peers who share her commitment to working with communities to build healthcare systems that reflect the community’s values, strengths and needs. In her free time, you can find Elana gardening, painting, hanging out with her cats or hiking with her partner, Jonathan. Given her love for outdoor activities, it’s no surprise that if Elana were a color she would be evergreen.  

Alondra DeSantiago, MD
Hometown: Walterboro, SC
Undergraduate: Clemson University
Medical School: University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
Languages: Native Spanish

Alondra was born and raised in Walterboro, South Carolina. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science from Clemson University, where she developed a passion for women’s health. After graduating college, she worked as a nutritionist for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Greenville, SC, guiding families toward healthier lifestyles through nutrition education. Driven by a desire to challenge herself academically and professionally before entering medical school, she completed a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences at Duke University in Durham, NC before returning to Greenville, SC to begin her medical education. In 2025, she graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, becoming the first medical doctor in her family; an achievement made possible through the strong support of her family and the sacrifices her parents made as immigrants to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico. As the youngest of four daughters, and a proud aunt to a niece and nephew, family is at the heart of everything Alondra does. She is deeply committed to providing compassionate, patient-centered care, with special interests in women’s health, immigrant health, and chronic disease management, including diabetes and hypertension. Alondra chose Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Residency as her top choice because of its vibrant, bilingual community and strong commitment to caring for patients in a way that respects their cultures, values, and experiences. She feels at home in Lawrence and is excited to serve its diverse population. Outside of medicine, Alondra enjoys caring for her indoor tropical plants, finds joy in organizing her home by red to violet color order, loves gardening, biking, swimming in the ocean, and spending time with family. She dreams of one day owning a flower farm filled with sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias, where she can create floral arrangements for special occasions. Alondra’s peer selected “personality color” is rose gold.

Ana V. Guimarães-Blandón, MD MSc
Hometown: Miami, FL
Undergraduate: Brown University
Medical School: The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
Languages: Spanish, Conversational Portuguese, Conversational French

Ana was born and raised in Miami, Florida among a rich and vibrant immigrant community that has shaped her worldview. She saw firsthand how shared language creates a sense of belonging and understanding. She attended Brown University where she majored in Health and Human Biology as well as Francophone Studies. As an undergraduate she helped connect patients at a local clinic with resources for food, housing, and other assistance programs. For Ana, this work cemented the need to think about care beyond the clinic walls, and she went on to complete a Master of Science in Population Medicine alongside her medical degree. As a medical student Ana worked at free clinics as both a Spanish interpreter and student volunteer, taught sexual health education at a local school, and revamped the pipeline program for local high school students interested in medical fields. Ana is elated to be joining the GLFHC for her Family Medicine residency, where she can learn from full-spectrum physicians and clinical leaders as well as from the diverse population they serve.  Her interests in medicine include accessible patient health education, maternal and child health, patient-centered goals of care conversations, and palliative care. In her spare time, Ana enjoys trying out new recipes friends and family, lounging with her cat, reading in coffee shops, practicing yoga, and going for hikes when she needs to unplug. If Ana was a color she would be Robin’s Egg Blue.

Naveed Nikpour, MD, MA
Hometown: Miami, FL
Undergraduate: Vassar College – BA in History and Biochemistry
Graduate: Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University – MA in Bioethics, Medical Humanities, and Compassionate Care
Medical School: Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Languages: Intermediate Spanish, Beginner Farsi

Naveed was born and raised in Miami, Florida to a family of Iranian immigrants. He moved to the Hudson Valley in NY to attend Vassar College, where he double majored in History and Biochemistry. After graduating from Vassar, he worked for two years in a translational research lab at Massachusetts General Hospital studying evolutionary resistance mechanisms in lung cancer. He attended medical school at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY. At Stony Brook, he also received a Master’s in Bioethics, Medical Humanities, and Compassionate Care. His research focus has been the history of medicine, previously studying the use of mass educational programs for wartime nursing in China, the development of family medicine in Cuba and its response to the Special Period, and the creation of a city-run network of health centers in the backdrop of the closure of Philadelphia General Hospital. Through his involvement with the New York State AFP, he learned how family physicians can play a significant role in caring for their patients and community, beyond the clinic, by advocating for their needs. Naveed loves family medicine for the breadth, continuity, and emphasis on community. He was especially drawn to Lawrence FMR for the full spectrum scope, integration of Spanish training, and the environment that puts the community at the forefront. His favorite parts about the city of Lawrence are the architecture, history, and food. His favorite spots in Lawrence so far are La Grekka, Pollo Tipico, and the views along the Duck Bridge. For fun, he loves hiking (favorite trails close by are Mount Moosilauke and Franconia Ridge), running, building Legos, and geography. If Naveed was a color, he would be peridot green.

Isaac Perez, MD 
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA; Edinburg, TX
Undergraduate: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Biology
Graduate: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Health Informatics
Medical School: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Languages: Native Spanish, Learning Japanese

Isaac was born in Los Angeles, California before moving to Guadalajara, Mexico at the age of 5. Being the son of two Mexican immigrants, Isaac did not learn English until he discovered his love for reading upon moving to South Texas in the 3^rd grade. He attended the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he majored in Biology before pursuing a master’s degree in Health Informatics. During his time in the Rio Grande Valley, Isaac was part of various mariachi ensembles. While his singing resembles a loud yell, he enjoys celebrating his culture through music. After graduating from college, Isaac was called to be a high school science teacher in his community through Teach For America. He was awarded an educational grant to equip his students with portable, paper microscopes and non-fiction books to increase scientific literacy for his students. During the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Isaac moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work on the Moderna Vaccine Clinical Trials. Through his work, he advocated for the recruitment of members of the Latinx community for these studies. Eventually, he returned to the Rio Grande Valley to begin his medical education at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. He continued to participate in programs to advance the participation of minority groups in research through both the Robert A. Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program and the National Medical Fellowship’s Health Equity Leaders Program. He strives to become a trusted family medicine physician to encourage other members of his community to contribute to future research efforts, especially through public health programs focused on health literacy. Isaac was drawn to Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Residency due to their emphasis on full-spectrum training in an under-resourced community. This mission was close to him, seeing as he grew up having Medicaid, CHIP, and at times, no insurance; he hopes that his contributions can help increase healthcare access for everyone in America. Outside of medicine, Isaac is attempting to enjoy running. Despite completing a marathon and running a few half-marathons, he is still denies enjoying it. Moreover, you can find him tinkering with computers and his home server when the weather is not favorable for outdoor activities. If Isaac was a color, he would be Salsa Red, which he refuses to put on his tacos. Don’t tell his family though because they might disown him.

Diana Rodas, DO
Hometown: Weehawken, NJ; and Cali, Colombia
Undergraduate: Rutgers University-Newark
Medical School: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
Languages: Native Spanish

Diana was born in Cali, Colombia, and immigrated to the United States at the age of three with her parents and her older brother. She was raised in Weehawken, NJ, where she spent most of her life before moving to Philadelphia for medical school. Growing up, she witnessed firsthand the health disparities and language barriers her parents faced, which sparked her passion to make a change in the healthcare system. During her time at Rutgers University, Diana shadowed a gastroenterologist, where she also served as a translator. It was here that she recognized the profound impact of bilingual physicians and the need to make these options available to patients. Seeing the relief on a patient’s face when she spoke in Spanish and the immediate trust it created, fueled her dream of working in an underserved community where she could use her native language to advocate for her patients. In medical school, Diana served as a mentor for the Summer Opportunities Academy, a program designed for high school students who are underrepresented in medicine, introducing them to healthcare careers, mentorship, and college readiness. As the POFPS Diversity Chair, she co-founded and launched the Future DOcs program in Pennsylvania, which introduces high school juniors and seniors to osteopathic medicine and family medicine while learning directly from medical students about their journeys. As a first-generation student and the first physician in her family, Diana is passionate about mentorship and empowering younger generations to pursue their goals despite the challenges and barriers. She hopes to find other opportunities to continue mentoring and educating the future leaders in the community. Diana discovered her passion for family medicine in her second year of medical school through workshops and lectures hosted by the family medicine club. After attending national conferences and completing her third-year rotation, she realized that she had found her home in a specialty that aligns with her values for patient care. She is especially grateful for the month she spent at GLFHC as a medical student, where she immediately felt at home. She is thrilled to be joining a program that prioritizes advocacy, community engagement, meaningful patient relationships, full-spectrum patient care, and Spanish language proficiency. Outside of work, Diana enjoys group fitness classes including yoga, HIIT, cycling, and boot camp, reading, embroidery, puzzles, watching movies, and hiking. Fun fact: If Diana were a color, she would be the purple of Wisteria flowers in bloom.

Ella Satish, MD, MSc
Hometown: Dover, NH; Providence, RI
Undergraduate: Brown University – Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Medical School: The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Languages: Fluent Spanish, learning Portuguese

Ella grew up in southern New Hampshire and then spent almost a decade living in Rhode Island. Her paternal side of the family is from New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding parishes while her maternal side is from Central Massachusetts by way of Italy. She is a community organizer and a practitioner of Transformative Justice as well as a firm believer in prison/police abolition, and Palestinian liberation. Ella is a first-generation college student and trained as a full spectrum doula during medical school and has also worked as a certified nursing assistant and an elementary and middle school teacher. Ella went to Brown University for undergrad where she majored in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and wrote a thesis that explored the Cuban public health system as a model for improving pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity for Black people in the U.S. Prior to and during medical school, she spent time working in the COVID-19 Unit at the Rhode Island Department of Health in the beginning of the pandemic, and later in the Maternal and Child Health Unit. Ella stayed at Brown for med school where she was a member of the Primary Care/Population Medicine Program and received her Masters of Science in Population Medicine. Her areas of focus included Reproductive Justice, Trauma-Informed Care, and Medical Education. She dove deeper into community organizing as a med student and was involved in advocating for the rights of Black and brown birthing people in RI, resistance to the RI prison system and medical neglect in the prisons, as well as Palestinian liberation. Ella is super excited to be a full-spectrum family medicine doctor. She is particularly interested in obstetrical care and lactation medicine, reproductive health, and street medicine for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Ella believes that doctors should be active members of the communities in which they live and work. She is happy to be at a program whose mission formed by and grounded in the needs of the community. Ella strives to put the health, dignity, and liberation of the people above all else. Outside of medicine, Ella is looking forward to building relationships with her new neighbors in Lawrence, getting tapped in to organizing work in the Merrimack Valley, and continuing to be connected with her comrades in Rhode Island. She loves movement in all forms but in no particular order, her favorite activities are walks outside (where she has a tendency to say hello to plants and animals along the way), playing soccer, basketball, Pilates, and especially dancing. Ella enjoys reading, baking, and cooking for others with in-season, local produce. You’ll also find her listening to music constantly. Perhaps most importantly, she absolutely loves the beach and is finally learning how to surf after many years of pining. If Ella were a color, she would be a yellow like that of the goldenrod plant.

 

Nola Sundquist, MD, MPhil
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Undergraduate: Williams College
Graduate: University of Cambridge, MPhil in Epidemiology
Medical School: Harvard University
Languages: Basic Spanish

Nola grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and studied math and biology at Williams College. Following undergrad, Nola spent one year in England studying public health and epidemiology, working on a thesis project focused on infant feeding and weight gain in the first year of life. Nola has lived in the greater Boston area since, first performing HIV vaccine research at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, and then attending Harvard Medical School. While in medical school, Nola led a student group offering support to pregnant women receiving prenatal care in the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) as well as mentoring younger students to do the same. Nola also worked in the student-run foot clinic at the BHCHP’s respite facility. Seeing the importance of understanding each patient in context, including within systems of injustice, these experiences led Nola to choose family medicine at GLFHC. One of Nola’s favorite research projects in med school involved watching 700 TikToks about different forms of birth control to better understand messaging on social media (although Nola’s most recent social media post was on Facebook in 2014). Nola loves to run and ran the Boston Marathon in 2022 and again in 2024. If Nola was a color, it would be butter yellow (after Nola’s favorite food).

Tori Valachovic, MD
Hometown: Bridgeville, PA
Undergraduate: Allegheny College
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
Languages: Beginner Spanish

Tori was born and raised outside of Pittsburgh, PA. She has been progressively migrating north for her educational opportunities, first completing her undergraduate education at Allegheny College where she studied biochemistry and global health studies. During this time, she was introduced to the world of medicine, caring for aging folks in her community as a residential & in-home personal care aid and health coach. She was drawn to the work of cultivating deep relationships through trust-building and helping her patients navigate barriers to care. Her studies and work experiences established the conditions for her to reflect on the inequitable landscape of health on these stolen lands and drove her to learn more about addressing these disparities as she began medical school at the University of Rochester. Given the pervasive issue of food insecurity made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, she joined the local mutual aid network in Rochester, organizing to meet the needs of the community through grassroots efforts. Her work with the group over the past 5 years has taught her the importance of communal care and both the challenges of and hope in creating alternatives to inadequate & harmful existing systems. As a co-leader of the Rochester Human Rights Initiative (RHRI), she also organized forensic evaluations and wrote medico-legal affidavits for asylum seekers to aid them in their cases for safe residence. Her connections with the people seeking services through RHRI made personal the devastating legacies of colonialism, imperialism and US intervention abroad, deepening her conviction that as health care providers, we must work in opposition to these systems. As she progressed through her clinical training, she found resonance in the ethos of Family Medicine to care for the whole person, which included addressing the structural forces impacting their life. She was especially drawn to the Lawrence FM residency program due to its focus on equitable community care in addition to its full-spectrum primary care training. Tori is incredibly excited and humbled to partner with and be accountable to her patients and broader Lawrence community. When she’s not working, Tori is likely participating in one of her many “side quests,” as her fiancé lovingly refers to them. You can catch her social dancing on the weekends, listening to an audiobook or podcast whilst puttering around, chaotically cooking for a dinner party, rollerblading or biking about, and spending quality time with friends & family. Through consensus decision-making, her fellow co-interns have determined that the color that best embodies her essence is terracotta orange.

Rachel Weger, MD
Hometown: Berwyn, PA
Undergraduate: American University – Neuroscience and Community-Based Research
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish

Rachel grew up in Berwyn, PA. She went to American University to study neuroscience. There, she was a Community Based Research Scholar, and she collaborated with various organizations serving low-income residents of Washington, DC. From then on, she dedicated herself to learning more about health disparities and ethical engagement with community-based organizations. After graduating, she worked at the NIH for two years, studying racial and gender disparities in pain treatment as well as mental health during the COVID pandemic. She then continued to hone her skills as a researcher and community partner as a Social Medicine Fellow in medical school, where she collaborated with community organizations on medical education projects. In medical school, she led a study interviewing people who inject drugs about their experiences with harm reduction and healthcare. Through this research, she learned the importance of meeting patients where they are, a central principle of harm reduction. Throughout her career, she has always had a particular interest in working with immigrants and refugees. She finds joy in being able to connect with patients so much more readily by speaking their native language, as well as by being a welcoming and accommodating partner in a healthcare system that overwhelms even native-born patients. She is excited to join LFMR due to its genuine commitment to serving the needs of the Lawrence community, its commitment to full-spectrum family medicine, and its enthusiasm to help her attain her goal of being a bilingual physician. Outside of medicine, Rachel enjoys watching her favorite soccer team (Hala Madrid!),trying new restaurants, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her family. If Rachel were a color, she’d be the Purple Mountains Majesty crayon.  

Ryan Weis, MD
Hometown: Higganum, CT
Undergraduate: Siena College
Medical School: Albany Medical College
Languages: Basic Spanish

Ryan grew up in the small town of Higganum, Connecticut where he gained a large appreciation for trees, winding roads, and the New England seasons.  He moved from Connecticut to Albany, NY where he majored in Biology and Spanish at Siena College.  During that time, he made friends with a couple friars and learned the value of Franciscan service and advocacy.  In his first year of medical school, Ryan spent time working through AmeriCorps with a community garden in the underserved South End of Albany. It was here that he was exposed to the legacy of environmental injustice in communities across the United States and began to think about the connection between the built environment and health. He spent the rest of medical school exploring this connection and continuing to work with community organizations in the South End.  It was this interest that led him to Family Medicine, a field that he saw as taking in the entire context of a person’s life. Ryan is excited to join GLFHC because of their strong commitment to their community (and the chance to practice more Spanish!). Outside of work, Ryan enjoys hiking, baking, and gardening.  He also loves reading sci-fi and drinking tea (which go wonderfully together).  If Ryan was a color he would be indigo.

Madelin Brown, MD
Hometown: Troy, NY
Undergraduate: Cornell University
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Beginner Spanish

Madelin grew up in Troy, NY amongst her tight-knit family of six. With initial aspirations to become a veterinarian, she majored in animal science at Cornell University as a first-generation college student. Madelin found her way to human medicine when she discovered a new interest in reproductive science. Combining this new interest with her passion for helping women, she directed her career towards one with ample opportunity for women’s health. Madelin stayed in Ithaca after graduation and worked for a year as a hemodialysis technician while applying to medical school. As a medical student at Tufts, Madelin continued her push towards equity for all. She took on a few leadership roles, however, her most valuable experience was founding the Tufts Medical Student Doulas Program (MSDP), a program intended to increase accessibility to doula services for underserved birthing persons in the Boston area. As a co-founder, she found fulfillment in building something that would outlive her time in medical school while positively impacting the community. As a doula, she greatly valued her experience supporting, educating, and building relationships with her clients. When choosing a specialty, a Sub-I at GLFHC helped to show her that a career in family medicine would not only give her the women’s health experience she desired, but also the skills, continuity, and connection needed to holistically care for a community. Madelin was drawn to Greater Lawrence FM for many reasons: their genuine support for one another, their devotion to the community, the familial culture, the unique Spanish learning program, and the outstanding opportunities for a true full spectrum FM experience. She is grateful to be able to train at LFMR. Outside of medicine, you can find Madelin visiting her family, giggling with her friends, practicing her guitar, or playing JustDance. Madelin’s favorite food combo is eggs (over easy) with toast and grape jam. She believes that this combination embodies the meaning of the word “breakfast.”

Taylor Christensen, MD
Hometown: Lawrence, KS
Undergraduate: University of Utah
Medical School: University of Utah
Languages: ASL, learning Spanish

Taylor grew up in Lawrence, KS where her love for cities called Lawrence began. She traded the great plains for the Rocky Mountains when she moved with her family to Utah during high school. She went on to attend the University of Utah for undergrad, where she studied biology and had the opportunity to volunteer with CHCs in the city. This is what initially began her desire to pursue family medicine and attend medical school. Throughout medical school, she got to continue with the clinics that she fell in love with as an undergrad which solidified her passion for primary care. While working in these clinics she, alongside her wife and now co-resident, developed a diabetes education curriculum for group classes and implemented this across clinics in the county. She also spent time with the pediatrics genetics department, where she gained skills in taking complicated medical topics riddled with jargon and helped families better understand their child's diagnosis. When selecting a residency she was enamored with the Spanish curriculum, commitment to serving underserved populations, the four-year curriculum, obstetrics opportunities, and the ability to train at an FQHC. Outside of medicine she enjoys baking sourdough, watching the Philadelphia Eagles, and trying new cafes. She is thrilled to be here and see how Lawrence MA compares to Lawrence KS! Her ultimate food combination is cherry and chocolate.

Ana Mia Corujo Ramirez, MD
Hometown: Isabela, PR/Rochester, MN/Milwaukee, WI
Undergraduate: Iowa State University
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Languages: Spanish

Ana Mia is a family medicine resident from Puerto Rico with a strong commitment to community-centered, culturally responsive care. She earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she focused on health disparities, patient advocacy, and community engagement. Ana Mia's work has been shaped by experiences in both academic medicine and community settings. As a post-baccalaureate research scholar at Mayo Clinic, she conducted regenerative neuroscience research and gained an appreciation for the scientific foundations of clinical care. Her experiences in Puerto Rico, including post-Hurricane Maria education initiatives and COVID-19 response efforts in Loíza, Puerto Rico, have deeply informed her dedication to underserved communities. She has also been actively involved in a student-run clinic for uninsured patients, advocating for equitable access to care. Her professional interests include reproductive care, obstetrics, evidenced-based medicine, health equity, and serving Spanish-speaking communities. She is passionate about building long-term relationships with patients and addressing the social factors that impact health. She is interested in reproductive health care, obstetrics, and integrative medicine. Outside of work, Ana Mia likes to write letters, garden, explore local businesses and coffee shops, try out new food places, junk journal, bike, watch sunsets & trash TV, read all of Isabel Allende's novels and annoy her cat Rosa. Her all-time favorite food is mofongo con caldo y carne frita and her current obsession is brown sugar milk tea with boba.

Lillian Eckstein, MD
Hometown: Portland, ME/ Chicago, IL/Milbridge,ME
Undergraduate: Bowdoin College
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine
Languages: Spanish

Lillian was raised on the South Side of Chicago. She studied Comparative Politics and Anthropology at Bowdoin College with a special focus on ethnolinguistic conflict and nationalism in Sri Lanka. Lillian’s first exposure to health advocacy work came through leading an Anti-Smoking campaign while teaching in Madrid, Spain and later, working for the City of Portland, Maine’s Minority Health Program. She loved engaging with her students and fellow community members to examine the systems that contribute to poor health outcomes. During the COVID pandemic, she began serving as a Medical Case Manager for community members experiencing homelessness in Portland, eventually leading the clinic’s Suboxone Bridge program for patients with opioid use disorder. She is passionate about harm reduction and strongly believes everyone has a right to affordable, supportive housing and health care. Lillian also spent three summers serving as the Director of Health and Wellness at the Blueberry Harvest School in Downeast Maine, a school dedicated to providing a safe, nurturing space for children of Latinx and First Nation harvest communities. Lillian attended the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine where she was fortunate to expand her understanding of social determinants of health and physician advocacy through the Urban Medicine program, Chicago Street Medicine, and the Patient-centered Medicine program. Lillian was thrilled to match with LFMR because of the full-spectrum family medicine training, the strength of the program’s relationship with the surrounding communities, and the strong mission to provide language-concordant care. She cannot wait to be a full-spectrum Family Medicine physician, with special interest in community medicine, reproductive health and FM-obstetrics, advocacy, and addiction medicine. Lillian loves her cat Garp, open water swimming, cycling, canoeing with her partner Jesse, the Chicago Sky, and her community. Her ultimate food combo is watermelon and popcorn.

María del Mar (Marimar) Fletcher Ruiz, MD
Hometown: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Undergraduate: Brown University
Medical School: University of Missouri School of Medicine
Languages: Native Spanish

Born and raised in Puerto Rico to Colombian parents, Marimar proudly embraces a vibrant multicultural background that deeply influences how she connects with people. Her academic journey began at Brown University, where she earned a degree in Neuroscience. While navigating her studies, she kept her roots alive on the dance floor through salsa dancing. It was also at Brown that she began volunteering as a Spanish medical interpreter. Witnessing firsthand the profound impact of language concordant care in clinical settings shaped her vision to become a physician who actively addresses language barriers to care. Marimar then moved to Maryland for a two-year post-baccalaureate fellowship at the NIH, assisting with clinical research on primary brain tumors. Outside the lab, she built community by continuing her passion for Latin dance, spending almost every Thursday night dancing salsa, bachata, and merengue. She later became involved with pediatric COVID-19 research at Children’s National Hospital in D.C., and caregiver-support implementation research at the Recinto de Ciencias Médicas in Puerto Rico. While attending the University of Missouri School of Medicine, Marimar discovered her calling to Family Medicine the summer after her first year. She was drawn by the compassion, humanity, creativity, trust, advocacy, and teaching that characterize this field. As a bilingual physician passionate about medical education, equitable care, and patient advocacy, she is thrilled to be a part of the residency at GLFHC, surrounded by a team that shares her commitment to serving historically underserved communities. She is also excited to connect with the community at Lawrence through Latin dance and karaoke and is enthusiastic to continue to pursue outdoor hobbies such as hiking, biking, and kayaking.  Her ultimate food combination is tostones de pana with arroz con pollo and habichuelas rosadas (plus jugo de acerola on the side).

Elizabeth Irvin, MD
Hometown: Beverly MA
Undergraduate: Barnard College
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Languages: Intermediate Spanish

Liz was born and raised on the North Shore of Boston, where she found an early love for writing, reading and creating. She grew up working on her grandparents’ farm in Western New York during apple-picking season where she learned arithmetic, customer service, and a deep appreciation for local foods. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College, where she studied the societal forces that impact health and disease. She briefly considered a career in feminist philosophy, but her experience working on an ambulance in New York City brought the intersections between social inequity and physical illness to life and inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. She returned to Massachusetts for medical school, attending the UMass Chan Medical School on the Population-Based Urban and Rural Community Health Track. She spent medical school working with migrants and refugees, survivors of intimate partner violence, people living with substance use disorder, unhoused patients, and other vulnerable and marginalized populations. Along the way, she wrote and shared poems and essays about her journey through medicine and the patients that indelibly shaped her perspective as a physician. She continues to strive to be a jack-of-all-trades in medicine and in life and believes that creativity and connection can solve almost any problem. She is thrilled to be joining the GLFHC community where she can learn how to be a truly full-spectrum family doctor while practicing in an FQHC setting. When she is not in the clinic, she can be found on Plum Island with a good book in hand, spending time with her family, or knitting elaborate cable-knit sweaters. Her favorite iconic food combo is salted heirloom tomato on crunchy bread because nothing is more impressive than a well-grown tomato.

Molly McCabe, MD
Hometown: Takoma Park, MD/Washington, DC
Undergraduate: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Medical School: Texas Tech Health Science Center, Paul L Foster School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish

Molly was born in Washington, DC and lived in Takoma Park, MD, enjoying access to the city’s museums, parks and her high school by train. She is the older of two children. Her mother is a transplant from the UK and an advocate against police racial profiling, and her father is from upstate New York and a physicist/businessman, and she believes that their careers influenced her to combine science with care for society and humanity. As a young adult she enjoyed writing poetry, reading manga, painting and protesting/fundraising with the Activism Club. She was an avid athlete in running, basketball and martial arts. She didn’t love science or math, but fell in love conditionally with science when her 8th grade teacher dissected and described the heart. Their DC/MD community was largely composed of Spanish and Spanglish speakers from Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. She noted the differences in access to healthcare and community resources that her immediate family had relative to her friends’. Passion for stabilizing and nurturing families drove her to become a public health major and a health educator/advocate. As a leader in UMass’ Reproductive Justice Club, she lobbied at the statehouse, hosted expert panels, distributed barrier protection and attended multiple statewide conferences including birth doula training. She was a bilingual intern at an FQHC in Springfield, MA and spent six months in Ecuador working with community health workers, family doctors and obstetricians in a rural town. Her interest in education drove her to apply to TFA and she taught biology and chemistry for two and a half years in the Rio Grande Valley on the TX-MX border. Her passion to care for children and their family units beyond the classroom eventually called her back to healthcare. While applying to medical school, she was a remote COVID19 case investigator, an assistant swim/track and field coach, and an internal medicine scribe. She attended medical school in El Paso, maintaining her connection with the TX-MX border region. She was a founding medical volunteer in the non-profit Hope Clinic during this time, serving migrant shelters in Juarez once to twice per week, and over the course of three years became a member of their board and a leader of their community health fair operations. Yeah, she is kind of old now (in her thirties!), and everything hurts, but despite her injuries she remains active and uses movement, outdoor adventures and mindfulness meditation to connect with herself, her surroundings, and her loved ones. Her other hobbies include writing letters, doodling her friends, pretending she can play the guitar, exploring with her dog, and cooking. She hopes to learn to play Magic the Gathering this year to connect with her younger brother. One of Molly’s favorite food combinations is hummus and stir-fry – the sesame flavors play oddly well. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

Medha Palnati, MD
Hometown: Westford, MA; Albany, NY
Undergraduate: Siena College
Medical School: Albany Medical College
Languages: Advanced Spanish, Beginner Hindi and Telugu

Medha grew up in Westford, MA, where she was raised in a household of Indian immigrants. Growing up, she and her brother were privileged to be parented by their mother, father, and grandmother – who provided an abundance of love, delicious meals, and a mix of cultural traditions. Medha attended Siena College due to a strong passion for service, where she became heavily involved with refugee and migrant communities in Albany, NY. During her undergraduate studies, Medha served as a camp counselor at Double H Ranch, a summer camp for kids with chronic illnesses, and led the San Damiano Refugee Partnership, an organization focused on advancing the education of middle and high school refugee and low-income students. She also taught ENL classes locally and traveled to the U.S.-Mexico Border where she served at Casa Anunciación Juárez, a homeless shelter for women and children seeking asylum. During these experiences, Medha began to understand the specific health challenges that immigrant communities face, especially during and after their journeys of migration. Medha stayed in Albany, NY for medical school, where she continued to deepen her relationships with refugee and migrant families in the area. She brought her skills and knowledge to several service-learning programs, including the Backstretch Clinic in Saratoga Springs, NY, a free clinic serving migrant workers who care for racehorses, and AMCRI, a program focused on improving the health literacy of refugee patients. Through these service-learning programs, Medha was privileged to work with some of the same families she grew to love as an undergraduate student – her first peak at continuity of care. It was through these experiences that Medha fell in love with outpatient medicine, though she longed for a profession that would allow her to participate meaningfully in obstetrical care, emergency medicine/critical care, and global health as well. This led her to the field of Family Medicine – and specifically to GLFHC. After rotating at Lawrence as a medical student, Medha knew she was home. She is beyond grateful for the opportunity to speak Spanish with her patients every day, learn from her incredible co-residents, and call herself a primary care physician. She is looking forward to delivering babies, spending time on mobile health units, participating in group-visits, and pursuing various global health adventures. Outside of medicine, Medha enjoys hiking, dancing, birding, creative writing, and listening to books and podcasts. Like the rest of her class, Medha loves to consume food, and her favorite food combination is pizza and curry.

Genesis Perez-Melara, MD
Hometown: Boston, MA
Undergraduate: Bryn Mawr College
Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Languages: Spanish

Genesis is a proud daughter of Salvadorean immigrants and was born and raised in the vibrant immigrant and working class community of East Boston. Because she was constantly by the Harbor, whether playing at the playground with the sails in view as a child or engaging in shenanigans with her friends at the abandoned piers in high school, she prioritized residencies that were in close proximity to bodies of water. But more importantly, she was drawn to Lawrence for its mission-driven approach to full-spectrum family medicine, its deeply rooted partnership with the immigrant community it serves, and its emphasis on language-concordant care. Since arriving in Lawrence, she has been thrilled to see that its faculty and co-residents share the same vision of medicine – one that is equitable, patient-centered, and collaborative. Growing up in Eastie, she witnessed firsthand the ways that socioeconomic barriers and limited access to care shaped the health of those around her, including her own family. These experiences set her on a path toward medicine rooted in a deep commitment to health equity and community-based primary care. Her clinical interests include women's health and chronic disease management. During medical school, she volunteered with the Massachusetts General Hospital Community Care Van, a mobile clinic that partnered with La Colaborativa, a grassroots organization supporting undocumented and low-income individuals. She provided patient care and health education while also addressing patients’ socioeconomic challenges and barriers. She also conducted research in maternal and child health at Boston Children's Hospital focusing on the health outcomes of those with PMOS. As a first generation, low income student, she has found joy in mentorship and education. She has led programming for high school and college students interested in STEM, served as an education representative during clerkships, and participated in her medical school’s admissions committee. She is driven by the knowledge that investing in students from all walks of life creates lasting change by increasing representation and strengthening culturally concordant care. Outside of medicine, Genesis likes to do arts and crafts, swim, hike, read, and spend time with friends and family. Also, her favorite food combo is chicken broth and rice.

Gabriela Rodriguez, MD
Hometown: Akron, OH
Undergraduate: Temple University
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish

Gabi was born in San Diego, California and moved to Copley, Ohio when she was 5 years old. While growing up she loved animals and spent most of her life wanting to be a veterinarian. Somewhere along the way some of those wires crossed and she ended up applying to school to be a doctor for people instead! Gabi has spent most of her life trying to learn Spanish while visiting family in Spain and while listening to reggaeton. In medical school she led an elective class for students from Cleveland and from Cuzco, Peru which convinced her of the value of bilingual education in medicine and cultural exchange with peers in Latinoamerica. She feels passionate about continuing to improve her skills en espanol and providing language concordant care for Spanish-speaking patients all over the world. Gabi is also passionate about improving the systems that govern the way our healthcare systems operate and hopes to one day treat patients in a world where the level of wealth you enjoy is not so inextricably tied to the ability to care for your health. She is so excited to be able to start this journey at Greater Lawrence, to learn from her patients and the surrounding community, and to be able to speak in English y en Español. Her favorite food combination is pan con tomate.

Elizabeth Schwartz, MD
Hometown: Reading, MA/ Worcester, MA
Undergraduate: Northeastern University
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Lizzie was born and raised in Reading, MA (less than 30 min drive from Lawrence). She went to Northeastern University for undergrad, where she studied Biochemistry. Outside of class, she spent time volunteering with the women’s health clinic at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program where she began to understand the many reasons why patients, sleeping only a few streets away from very impressive hospitals, were unable to access care. She went on to serve as an AmeriCorps member at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and spent a year working as a re-entry case manager. Here she saw how easily patients fall through the cracks of complex systems such as carceral health and substance use treatment, and how community partners were integral in filling these gaps. Lizzie attended medical school at UMass Chan as part of their Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health Track. During medical school, she volunteered with AIDS Project Worcester and continued learning about harm reduction. With the help of community partners she met through APW and the Worcester Free Care Collaborative, the student-run free clinics at UMass, she developed and led an elective curriculum where her fellow students could meet and learn about their local community partners. Lizzie is so excited to be joining the GLFHC team, where understanding the patient community and working with partners is at the forefront of the program. Outside of medicine, she is looking forward to finding running trails along the Merrimack River and reading fun books with her book club. Lizzie’s iconic food combo is BBQ chips and watermelon, because these are the two snacks she always brings to the beach.

Anna Tidwell, MD
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Undergraduate: University of Utah
Medical School: University of Utah School of Medicine
Languages: Learning Spanish

Anna was born and raised in Salt Lake City surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Though she enjoys a gentle ski and stroll through the mountain peaks, she grew up with a love of reading, watching football with her dad, and singing along to musicals with her mom. Her love of the University of Utah began early on while cheering on the Utah Utes at Rice Eccles Stadium and performing piano recitals at Kingsbury Hall (where she would later get her first white coat!). She studied biology during her undergraduate time there where she also fell in love with her future wife and co-resident. During her time as a medical student, she enjoyed volunteering at the local free clinics where she first discovered the joys of family medicine and providing care to vulnerable populations. She enjoyed the clinic, hospital, and labor deck during her clinical rotations which solidified her desire to pursue full-spectrum family medicine and was lucky enough to match at GLFHC to further her training in the clinical sphere alongside learning Spanish and integrating into the Lawrence community. Her interests include diabetes management, prenatal and obstetric care, inpatient medicine, and patient education. Additionally, she loves to drink delicious coffee, bake with her wife, and snuggle with her sweet cats Monkey & Yeti. Her ultimate food combination would have to be fresh chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.