Current Residents

Chelsea Harris
Birthplace: Holyoke, MA
Undergrad: Northeastern University – Political Science and International Affairs – BA
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Languages: Basic French

Chelsea was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts and grew up in Chicopee, Massachusetts. She attended Northeastern University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Affairs to explore her love of people and the world. Before pursuing a career in medicine she worked in municipal government. Her interests include health policy and population health. Chelsea was drawn to family medicine as the perfect way to integrate policy and practice within medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass, also known as the Paris of the New Millennium. She was drawn to the GLFHC residency because of its strong connection to the Lawrence community, outstanding faculty, and the unprecedented opportunity to improve her Spanish skills. When she is not working, she enjoys traveling, yoga, independent films, and spending time with her family. She is looking forward to learning and laughing with her co-residents.

Stephen Krumland
Birthplace: Lincoln, NE
Undergrad:   University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Latin American Studies and Spanish – BA
Med School:  University of Nebraska College of Medicine
MPH: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Languages: Advanced Spanish

Born and raised in the heart of Great Plains in Lincoln, Nebraska, Stephen attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he majored in Latin American Studies and Spanish. During college he studied abroad in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and volunteered as a Spanish language interpreter in a free clinic in Lincoln. He made the move up the road to Omaha to attend medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. At UNMC, he served as co-president of SHARING Clinic, a student-run clinic, where he provided for patients without insurance and learned the ins and outs of running a clinic. He felt he needed a better understanding of health in our complex society so he decided to study public health in North Carolina between the third and fourth years of medical school. As part of the Health Care and Prevention MPH Program in Chapel Hill, he fell in love with policy, prevention, and chicken cheddar biscuits. His Master’s project delved into physician involvement in the built environment as a means to improve active living and healthy eating in the community. Beyond the wonderful faculty, social mission, and robust curriculum of the program, it was the city of Lawrence that had him at “hello” on first visit. He chose Lawrence because it was the best opportunity to learn and live community medicine as a resident in the program and a citizen of the city. Though he will miss the open skies of the prairie, he is excited to be in close proximity to new things like mountains, trees, and lobster rolls. His favorite things include running, hiking, trivia, historical markers on highways, maps, Peruvian pisco, Chilean Carménère, and cheering for the Cornhuskers on fall Saturdays.

Nathan Macedo
Birthplace: New Bedford, MA
Undergrad: Boston College – Biology – BS
Med School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Good Spanish, fair Portuguese

Nathan was born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, an old mill city similar to Lawrence in the southeastern region of the state. He is the son of Azorean-Portuguese immigrants and was the first person in his family to attend college.  At Boston College, Nathan developed a passion for community service and social justice while volunteering and leading one of the university’s largest service groups, during which he worked at a local school for youth with special needs.  After graduating with a degree in biology, Nathan returned to his hometown for a gap year and worked with adolescents as a high school math and science teacher and a youth educator in a teen pregnancy prevention program.  Within the program, he wrote and directed four short films with New Bedford area youth that were ultimately incorporated into the program’s reproductive health curricula.  This community-driven work inspired him to choose the MD/MPH dual-degree program at the Tufts University School of Medicine where he was able to discover his calling for family medicine. At Tufts, Nathan was a lead volunteer for a student-run free health clinic, worked to improve patient advocacy and medical education on LGBTQ health and developed a series of community health promotion projects outside of Managua, Nicaragua with his friend, and now fellow resident, Audra Williams. He is also a member of the Tufts University Honos Civicus honor society.  Nathan is passionate about community medicine and is excited to be part of the family medicine residency at Lawrence because of its strong social mission and rich clinical training and education.  Nathan enjoys spending his free time with his loved ones, traveling, and sailing on the sea and considers himself a pretty avid TV/film buff, comic book geek and coffee aficionado.

Raman Nohria
Birthplace: Naperville, IL
Undergrad: Case Western Reserve University – Biomedical Engineering – BSE
Med School: Temple University School of Medicine
Languages: Good Hindi

Born in the suburbs of Chicago, Raman was exposed early through religion, scouting, and education to believe in service, community, and curiosity. These beliefs ultimately led Raman to Ohio where he happened to stumble upon Tracy Kidder’s “Mountains Beyond Mountains” through talking with public health classmates. Reading about how one physician sparked a health-care revolution in Haiti, Raman was inspired to believe in community medicine, social justice, and health equity. These interests were further solidified when in medical school Raman became a community advocate at a local community grassroots organization. After attending the Northeast Family Medicine Education Consortium conference and AAFP National Conference, Raman saw that pursuing family medicine was an opportunity to make his mark on the future of medicine. He wanted to be at a residency program where both innovation and health equity were core tenants of the program. Lawrence became a natural fit with its four-year curriculum, progressive PCMH-Community Health Center clinic model, and community-centered approach. In his free-time, Raman enjoys explorative outdoor activities such as hiking, traveling, and sailing; learning pop tunes on his acoustic guitar; and playing board games with his classmates.

Melissa Palma
Birthplace: Worcester, MA
Undergrad: University of Iowa –Biochemistry and Spanish – BS
Med School: University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Languages:  Advanced Spanish, Basic Tagalog

Melissa was born in Worcester, MA and spent her semi-nomadic childhood moving to many other states brought to you by the letter M, such as Missouri and Mississippi, before settling in the rolling cornfields of the Hawkeye State. She came to medical school at the University of Iowa interested in pursuing a primary care field and was an active member of LMSA and SNMA. Melissa graduated with a Service Distinction Track following three years as an executive board member of the University of Iowa Mobile Clinic, a student-run free medical clinic that provides basic health care and patient education for Spanish-speaking migrant farm workers and undocumented patients in rural Iowa. She also graduated medical school with a Global Health Distinction Track for her work in marginalized populations both in the US and abroad including clubfoot research in Lima, Peru; mental health education with residents of impoverished colonias in the Rio Grande Valley on the Texas-Mexico border; and a health needs assessment of Burmese refugees in her hometown of Waterloo, IA. As a contributor to the online magazine in-Training, her column, The Aesculapian Advocate, was devoted to issues of social justice and health equity, much like the unique curriculum at Lawrence. She was especially drawn to the program’s commitment to produce graduates fluent in both the language and culture of our patient population. When not at the hospital, Melissa spends her time dancing ballet, learning the Argentine tango, and searching for the perfect taro boba tea. She is looking forward to teaching yoga and exploring Lawrence and Boston neighborhoods via food adventures with her fellow co-residents.

Diane Smith
Birthplace: Hartford, CT
Undergrad:   University of Connecticut – Physiology/Neurobiology – BS
Med School: University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Languages: Fair Spanish

A life-long Nutmegger, Diane grew up in a rural Connecticut town where she learned to value community and lending a hand wherever possible. She attended the University of Connecticut’s combined BS/MD program where she developed a serious case of Husky Pride. The year after college, Diane served as an AmeriCorps case manager at a homeless shelter in Denver. There, she was introduced to liberation theology and became committed to working with underserved populations. Returning to Connecticut for medical school, she continued to foster these interests by helping to run a faith-based free clinic and volunteering at several shelter-based clinics. She graduated medical school with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award. She was drawn to family medicine for its unique emphasis on patients’ quality of life while also providing ideal preparation for working in a community health center and on medical missions. Her passions within medicine include advance care planning, global medicine, and obstetrics. Diane was drawn to Lawrence for its commitment to service and one-of-a-kind language training. In her free time, you will find Diane hiking, cheering on the UConn Basketball teams, contra dancing, playing board games, or being introduced to “new” technology (i.e. anything after the year 2005) by her co-resident Melissa.

Julia Tse
Birthplace: New York, NY
Undergrad:   Dartmouth College – Biology and Spanish – BA
Med School:  Georgetown University School of Medicine
Languages: Basic Portuguese, Fair Chinese

Julia grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She left the city for the first time to attend Dartmouth College where she developed a commitment to community service and a love for learning other languages and cultures. She decided to pursue medicine as a career after an internship at a clinic in NYC, where she developed a better understanding of the social determinants of health and became interested in family based interventions for chronic disease prevention. Working with a low-income minority community led her to become an advocate for culturally and linguistically competent health care. After college, she moved to Washington, D.C. to join a research team on health behaviors where she learned about the power of motivational interviewing. As a medical student at Georgetown University, she learned more about health advocacy through the Health Justice Scholars Track. She is excited to be at Lawrence because she is passionate about working with immigrant families and knows the community of health care advocates here will be great mentors in preparing her for her work in the National Health Service Corps after residency. Her interests in family medicine include women’s health, behavioral health, and integrative medicine. In her free time, she enjoys running, attending cultural events, and exploring new neighborhoods.

Audra Williams
Birthplace: Flint, MI
Undergrad:   University of Michigan – Chemical Engineering – BSE
Med School/MPH: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Advanced Spanish

Audra Williams was born in Flushing, Michigan, a small town outside of Flint, Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan (GO BLUE) with a degree in chemical engineering. During her undergraduate years, she had the opportunity to travel to Honduras and Nicaragua on medical and public health trips, and was inspired by the work of the community health programs and the doctors that worked alongside them. She decided to apply her passion for social justice and her desire to improve access to healthcare, and attended Tufts University School of Medicine to study medicine and public health. During her time at Tufts, she served as President of the Community and public Health Interest Group and worked as a Case Manager at the student-run free health clinic, working to connect patients with needed social services. She had the opportunity to travel with her now co-intern Nathan to Nicaragua working with community health workers. In 2014, she served as the Student Delegate to the AAFP National Conference, and submitted resolutions to the Board of Directors that documented the need for required suboxone training in residency. Audra was awarded AOA honors at Tufts and was inducted into the Honos Civicus Society, awarded for a dedication to community service. Audra was attracted to the Lawrence program for its mission of social justice and advocacy, its honest dedication to the community, and the innovative ways in which they provide the most comprehensive health care to patients. With her particular interest in addiction medicine, she was drawn to the program as it recognizes the need for Suboxone training in residency and to the 4-year curriculum as an opportunity to maintain breadth in family medicine while being able to explore her interests in addiction medicine and women’s health. In her free time, she enjoys rock-climbing and learning acroyoga.

Sarah Cassel
Hometown: Hastings-on-Hudson, NY (Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY)
Undergrad: Amherst College – Interdisciplinary (Sociolinguistics) BA
Medical School: Duke University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish, Catalan

Sarah’s path to medicine was somewhat circuitous, via yoga and linguistics. After writing her undergraduate thesis in Spanglish, she took off for Barcelona, Spain, where she completed doctoral-level studies in the Catalan language, taught English, did more than her fair share of wandering, and became a yoga instructor. It was yoga that sparked a deep desire to serve and empower others in their journeys through health and disease, and through the years she has continued to lead volunteer classes in English and Spanish in various community non-profit settings. In medical school, she was thrilled to be part of Duke’s Primary Care Leadership Track, and in her research years she co-authored a VA Evidence Mapping Project reviewing the evidence base for yoga for conditions impacting veterans, designed and piloted a novel no-cost telephonic integrative health coaching program, and completed foundational training in integrative health coaching. Sarah is passionate about increasing the accessibility of compassionate, comprehensive healthcare that meets both individual and community needs, and she couldn’t be happier to be part of this outstanding program in Lawrence. She also loves ecstatic dance, learning new languages, and knitting scarves with pockets. She is grateful to have a wonderful husband and two amazing children, so now in her free time, which generally lasts about four minutes, she enjoys a moment of silence, a delicious cup of coffee, and a few deep breaths.

Olayinka “Yinka” Edwards
Birthplace: Bronx, NY
Undergrad: University of Connecticut
Med School: University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Languages: English, Basic Spanish, Very Basic Yoruba

Yinka was born in the Bronx, moved to New Jersey, but ultimately was raised in the Nutmeg State.  She had awesome adventures in Connecticut including beautiful autumns and fragrant springs. In terms of “interests”, her Christian faith is a large part of her life.  She is very interested in makeup, skincare, and hair because it is so much fun to change looks and admire the artistry of others through this medium. In terms of medicine, her interests include obstetrics, women’s health, global health, and serving urban underserved populations. She believes that the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency has done an awesome job of tailoring to the community it serves and was very attracted to that and the opportunity to explore the diversity within Family Medicine. If she had one piece of advice to give to medical students it would be to enjoy the experience. You will get to your ultimate destination soon enough – no worries!

Jesus Iniguez, MD
Hometown: Mattawa, W (born in Othello, WA)
Undergrad: Central Washington University, BA in Biology
Med School: The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Languages: Spanish

Jesus grew up in a small migrant farm working town. As the son of Mexican American migrant farm workers, and the tenth child in a family of eleven, Jesus has a long-standing interest in serving underprivileged and disadvantaged populations. He went to college at Central Washington University where he studied Biology, Chemistry and Anthropology. Underserved volunteering opportunities and research led him to medical school at Dartmouth where he became involved in migrant health projects and the office of Diversity and Inclusion as Class representative and Diversity Fellow. He graduated with Dartmouth’s Diversity Visionary Leadership Award. He chose family medicine with hopes to influence individual health both through support of the family and through changes in policy. His passion is to increase access to affordable services that are appropriate and effective especially to marginalized populations in a way that helps them navigate and eliminate poverty from their lives. Jesus’ medical interests include Addiction, Obstetrics, Sports medicine and healthcare leadership. He chose Lawrence because of its commitment to breaking physical and cultural barriers to care for the people in the community and for the institutions willingness to be innovative for the goal of improving the delivery of healthcare to the public. In his free time he stays in contact with his 10 siblings, enjoys the outdoors, plays music on his guitar, and cooking his mother’s traditional cuisine.

Laura Kaufman
Hometown: Tampa FL (born in Mt. Kisco, NY)
Undergrad: Vanderbilt University – Neuroscience – BA
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Languages: Learning Spanish

Laura was born on Long Island, NY, grew up in Tampa, FL (not on the beach), and headed up to Vanderbilt in NashVegas for college and then medical school. She majored in neuroscience and minored in music, playing the piano. As a medical student she helped to direct the student-run free clinic, where she learned how much she valued continuity with her patients. Even though she spent medical school thinking she would go into almost every specialty, she eventually found her home in family medicine – she could treat outpatient medicine as a specialty, make the patient experience less fragmented, and work with underserved communities. She was drawn to Lawrence for the community-focused PCMH, the group visits, its integrative medicine program, and the chance to truly practice full-spectrum care. But Lawrence really stood out when she realized how much the clinic and hospital staff seemed to actually enjoy working there. She also has tried teaching herself Spanish sporadically over the years, and is excited to actually learn it once and for all. Other skills she hopes to learn this year are knitting, cheese-making, and running a half-marathon. She also enjoys skiing, rock climbing, and cookie dough ice cream.

Shira Lerner
Hometown: Winnipeg, Canada
Undergrad: University of Pennsylvania – Biological Basis of Behavior – BA
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Languages: Hebrew

Shira’s passion for social justice was ignited when she had the opportunity to co-lead a chronic disease management clinic based out of one of the University of Pennsylvania’s student-run free clinics. This was her first exposure to the role a physician can play in reducing health disparities for patients and communities, and she was hooked! After college, she spent a year in New Orleans working on improving access to care for high-needs patients before moving back north to Cleveland to attend medical school at Case Western. Her biggest passion as a medical student was her work with Case Western’s student-run free clinic, which she led together with an interdisciplinary team of healthcare students. Shira graduated with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award and her school’s Outstanding Graduating Medical Student award. She fell in love with Lawrence for its unparalleled commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, emphasis on community medicine, the four-year curriculum, and the opportunity to learn Spanish during residency. Shira’s clinical interests include HIV/Hep C primary care; healthcare for the homeless; women’s health/obstetrics; and end-of-life and palliative care. In her free time, she is an avid reader and aspiring writer and enjoys yoga, running, biking, and exploring Somerville/Boston. She is looking forward to being inspired by, and having fun with, her co-residents.

Rachel Martin
Birthplace: Spartanburg, SC
Undergrad: Milligan College – Biology – BS
Medical School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
Languages: Basic Spanish

Rachel was blessed with an idyllic childhood in the mountains of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee—full of boat races in the creek, exploring the woods around her house with her two brothers, and Woolly Worm Festivals. She also got to go with her Dad (a family medicine doc) to Mexico each year for nine years straight. While watching her Dad see patients on those early trips, her desire to practice medicine in an underserved area first took root. After high school, Rachel attended Milligan College (go Buffs!) where she played soccer and studied Biology and Humanities. There she learned the importance and beauty of service, commitment, and community involvement through the example of her friends and professors as well as her own local and international community health experiences. During medical school her interest in Family Medicine solidified as she observed how uniquely fitted Family Medicine is for service to marginalized patients and communities. Rachel is excited about GLFHC because her co-residents, the faculty, and the staff at Lawrence are committed, passionate people who are driven to serve and care for their patients/community in a way that will continue to challenge and inspire her. Also, GLFHC’s intentionality in helping its residents learn the language and culture of the community they serve adds to the program’s charm for Rachel. When not at the hospital, Rachel enjoys soccer, reading, exploring trails, church, eating ice cream, and watching Parks and Rec with Shira.

Natalie Stahl, MD, MPH
Birthplace: Ridgewood, NJ
Undergrad: Bowdoin College (BA), Neuroscience and French
Grad school: University of Washington (MPH), Community-Oriented Public Health Practice
Med School: Emory University School of Medicine (MD)
Languages: French, Spanish, some Haitian Creole

Natalie grew up in northern New Jersey in an immigrant family, as the daughter and granddaughter of two female physicians who were raised and educated in Europe (France and Vienna, respectively). After college she headed to Washington, DC for an Americorps position in the health & wellness center of N Street Village, a shelter and social services program for homeless and low-income women. She stayed N Street Village for two additional years, working as a social services case manager during the day while finishing up her pre-med requirements in the evenings. Natalie then headed across the country to Seattle to pursue a Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington. Upon graduation she spent two years as a Presidential Management fellow at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) working in community-based chronic disease prevention and health equity, before deciding she want to go to medical school after all! While at Emory SOM she served on the board of Health Students Taking Action Together (a statewide, multi-disciplinary, student-run nonprofit dedicated to building a healthier Georgia and fostering leadership among health professional students) and was involved in student-led efforts to integrate social medicine and disparities education into the medical school curriculum. Natalie found “her people” in family medicine, and was drawn to LFMR because of its commitment to social justice and community medicine, the opportunity to fully supported in becoming a Spanish-speaking physician, and the amazing spirit of everyone working at GLFHC. She is passionate about public health, behavioral health, HIV/AIDS, and homelessness. In her free time she loves to visit her adorable niece in Boston, listen to NPR, hike, trot (“run” would be an overstatement), and play music – primarily instruments of the woodwind variety, but she’s learning the ukulele.

Michelle Vargas
Hometown: Cayey, Puerto Rico (born in New York, NY)
Undergrad: University of Puerto Rico at Cayey-Biology-BS-Cayey, Puerto Rico
Medical School: Ponce Health Sciences University –Ponce, Puerto Rico
Languages: Spanish

Michelle was born in Harlem, New York City and grew up in Washington Heights and Lodi, New Jersey before moving to Cayey, Puerto Rico. Michelle spent the majority of her childhood and young adult life in the “ The best green city of the Americas- Cayey”. She is the daughter of a Puerto Rican father and a Colombian mother. She attended the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. In college she developed a love to serving the underserved while volunteering. She received her medical degree from the Ponce Health Sciences University (formerly Ponce School of Medicine). She was drawn to family medicine because it gives the possibility to provide broad spectrum care. She was drawn to the GLFHC residency because of its community involvement, faculty, residents, and the opportunity to be involved with the Hispanic community. When she is not working, she enjoys traveling, doing crafts, spending time with her family, seeing the Colombian National team winning soccer games or crying when they lose, facetiming with her niece Emma and sleeping. She is looking forward to learning with her co-residents.

Morgan Younkin
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
Undergrad: Wheaton College (IL) – Biology
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish

Morgan grew up in St. Louis and will always be a Cardinals fan. He attended Wheaton College, where he studied the liberal arts and ecology, though he spent most of his time rock climbing and camping. As a student, he worked in rural community health in the Peruvian selva through a holistic community development program. Seeking a new adventure, he and his wife moved to Boston where Morgan worked in air pollution epidemiology. He became increasingly involved in his neighborhood and knew that he needed to join his passion for public health with the intimacy of clinical care. The MD/MPH program at Tufts was the perfect fit. There, he was an Albert Schweitzer Fellow and led an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program in his neighborhood. He also had the opportunity to return to Peru and live in community with like-minded mentors. Along the way he became passionate about correctional medicine, substance use, harm reduction, and local public health. He was excited to combine these interests in his MPH thesis, which involved a multi-agency public health investigation of the recent outbreak of opioid overdoses in Massachusetts. He is inspired to be training at Lawrence, a place that truly values solidarity, humility, and equity while caring for families with the comprehensive rigor made possible by full-spectrum family medicine. Morgan loves to run, backpack, play with his cat, listen to music, and chill with his wife and friends.

Elie Ata
Hometown: Methuen, MA
Undergrad:  Merrimack College, North Andover
Med School: Central Michigan University – College of Medicine
Languages: Arabic, English, Spanish

Elie was born to Lebanese immigrant parents and grew up in Methuen. He was the first in his family to pursue higher education and went to Merrimack College where he was part of the inaugural honors class where their mission was to give back to neighboring communities through service learning and continued evaluation of the human condition. During his time at Merrimack, he majored in biology and minor in chemistry, Jewish Christian Muslim relations and Spanish. Additionally, Elie volunteered at St. Mary’s in Lawrence, teaching ESL to adults and organized an after school STEM program for the grade school students. Elie moved to Michigan after being accepted to the inaugural class of Central Michigan University College of Medicine. As part of the first graduating class, Elie and his classmates worked on pioneering a primary care continuity clerkship in rural and medically underserved communities. As a student, Elie came to work at GLFHC and was thoroughly impressed with what the residents and faculty were doing, not only in the world of clinical medicine but with policy, research, and community outreach. He especially was drawn to numerous interactions with clinicians that focused not only learning for the sake of regurgitating facts but for a deeper understanding of why. In his spare time he likes to participate in outdoor activities like running, kayaking, and skiing; and occasionally indulges in mind-numbing videogames and listens to all kinds of music from jazz and blues to country and rock but has a  predilection towards 90s rap and hip-hop.

Layla Cavitt, MD
Hometown: Saint Petersburg, FL
Undergrad: University of Florida, Nutrition/Dietetics
Med School: Florida International University
Languages: Spanish, very basic Farsi

Layla grew up with her three younger brothers in an Iranian-American family. Prior to college, multiple collaborative community projects alerted her to the resource disparities that accompany growing up in a lower socioeconomic status household and married her love of diversity with a passion for service to humanity. During her undergraduate studies, she focused on nutrition as a means of disease prevention and health maintenance. After graduation, Layla worked at WIC, within the Phoenix school district’s nutrition department, and as a hospital dietitian. These experiences motivated her to pursue primary care medicine in order to broaden the care she could offer, while still focusing on health maintenance, chronic disease self-management, and healthcare advocacy. During medical school Layla participated in Stand By You, a national palliative care program, and was avidly involved in women’s health work. She found that family medicine provided the biopsychosocial framework that subsumed her seemingly disparate passions, and that Lawrence’s focus on clinical excellence within a culture of dedication to care of the underserved was the fit she was looking. During residency, Layla plans to explore rural medicine and obstetrical training, while seeking healthcare advocacy opportunities. In her free time Layla enjoys reading, playing soccer, traveling, trying new food, and spending quality time with her cat Frida.

Julia Cooper
Hometown: New York, NY
Undergrad: Swarthmore College, PA
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Languages: American Sign Language-Basic, French-Advanced

Originally from the Bronx, Julia grew up passionate about urban farming and conducted plant genetics research for her honors major in biology at Swarthmore College. However, a growing interest in longitudinal relationships and community based work convinced her to shift her focus from crops to clinical medicine as a way of providing for the underserved. Julia spent a VISTA year at Project HOME, a homeless housing and advocacy organization in Philadelphia, and then entered medical school at the University of Rochester. There, she enjoyed caring for homeless patients on street rounds, providing smoking cessation counseling in the student-run free clinics, and promoting primary care careers through the school’s Primary Care Progress chapter. Julia is honored to be joining the passionate and progressive community at GLFHC and to pursue her particular interests in homeless care, addiction medicine and behavioral health. She speaks French and is excited to learn Spanish and Haitian Creole. Still a botanist at heart, she enjoys hiking, gardening and concocting vegetarian treats.

Jamie Ellis
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Undergrad: Northeastern University – Psychology – BS
Medical School: University of Vermont Medical School
Languages: English, learning Spanish

Jamie grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where she spent her time playing a variety of sports, keeping up with her two older brothers and taking care of as many pets as her parents would allow her to have. Leaving the desert in search of new adventures, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Northeastern University for college where she fell in love with seasons (and snow). She majored in psychology and explored a few different career paths through the Northeastern co-op program before she found medicine through a volunteer job at the Mount Auburn Emergency Department. She attended University of Vermont College of Medicine where she found herself invigorated by every patient encounter and relished the breadth of opportunities family medicine has to offer. She was lucky enough to rotate at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center during her 4^th year of medical school where she developed an affection for the wonderful patient population and was impressed by the current residents. She is excited to tackle the new challenges of residency and looks forward to learning Spanish.  Jamie wishes to practice full-spectrum family medicine and medical interests include addiction medicine and obstetrics. Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time exploring the outdoors with her two rescue dogs, watching the latest Disney or Pixar movie and trying new restaurants.

Caroline Komanecky
Hometown: Northborough, MA
Undergrad: Colgate University – Hamilton, NY – Biochemistry
Medical School: Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University – Philadelphia, PA
Languages: learning Spanish

Caroline grew up in central Massachusetts and is excited to be returning to New England after spending many years away in the farmland of upstate New York for undergrad, and, most recently, Philadelphia for medical school. Her passion for community-based medicine was first inspired by working in Boston before medical school in case management at a medical respite center for people experiencing homelessness. She was thrilled to move to the city of brotherly love for medical school, where she had the opportunity to train to become a doctor among a vibrant, urban underserved community. Caroline is passionate about the intersection of addiction and primary care and her time in Philadelphia was markedly impacted by her work with Prevention Point, the city’s syringe exchange program, in various capacities, including as a weekly mobile outreach medical clinic director. Also at Jefferson, she was active in the population health and urban underserved primary care tracks, and received the graduating senior prizes for accomplishment in family medicine and for compassionate patient care. She was drawn to Lawrence for the opportunities to learn from like-minded and inspiring residents and faculty, learn Spanish, train at a community health center. Outside of medicine, Caroline loves to run, bike, and be active outside with her family and friends, and plans to complete more marathons during residency.

Rebecca “Becky” Lee
Hometown: Cambridge, England and Concord, Massachusetts
Undergrad: Wesleyan University (MA) – Chemistry, Certificate in Molecular Biophysics
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish, French, Basic Hindi

Half-Italian American and half-Chinese, Becky spent the majority of her childhood in Cambridge, England before moving with her family to Concord, Massachusetts. While studying at Wesleyan University, Becky divided her time between the chemistry lab and the art studio, studying both drug design and oil painting. Her interest in public health and medicine began after she worked as a teacher and health educator in a small village in Northern India for a summer. From the beginning of her medical school tenure, Becky was drawn to community-focused healthcare. During her first two years of medical school, she spent one day each week with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Street Team, developing a deep interest in both homelessness and addiction medicine. She co-founded the Student Coalition on Addiction, an organization focused on improving education on addiction in the health professions, advocating for better services & treatment availability at the city and state level, and promoting student involvement in community activism. She graduated medical school with the Tufts University Presidential Award for Civic Life. Becky was drawn to Lawrence for its extraordinary commitment to social justice and community empowerment. Her passions within medicine include homeless health, addiction medicine, family planning and global medicine. She enjoys making art, practicing her ukulele, going on road trips and spending time in museums and with her cat, Nimu (although not necessarily at the same time).

Ye Ri Park
Hometown: Pomona, CA
Undergrad: University of California, San Diego – Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia\
Languages: English, Korean, basic Spanish

Yeri Park is an avocado-loving, corgi enthusiast native Californian with a whole lot of Seoul. Originally from Korea, Yeri moved to sunny Southern California in her youth with her family where she gained a fine appreciation for the Pacific Ocean, flip flops and carne asada fries. She attended the University of California San Diego, where she developed her passion for working with underserved patients and having awareness of social determinants of health. She flew across the country and attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine as one of the Family Medicine Scholar Training and Admissions Track Scholars. She learned how the world of family medicine fits into our current healthcare system, which lead to her position as a Regional Coordinator for Family Medicine Interest Groups (FMIGs) for the AAFP to provide resources for medical students to lead successful FMIGs at their schools. It was all of these experiences together that helped her learn to celebrate diversity of all kinds. As a physician, this appreciation for diversity and people’s unique circumstances lead her to purse family medicine. Only family medicine offered her the ability to become an integral member of her patients’ lives and an agent for social change. Her interests include women’s health, geriatrics, addiction medicine, mentoring/teaching and advocating for her patients. She chose Lawrence due to its strong commitment and passion for the mission statement she witnessed from all of the individuals associated with the GLFHC. She knows that her residents, faculty and community members will be excellent guides for her continued path to work with the underserved communities, hopefully with an FQHC one day. When Yeri is not wearing a white coat, she can be found at the gym, aggressively meal-prepping on a Sunday evening, or on the town exploring with her friends.

Tuhin Roy
Hometown: Danville, CA; San Francisco Bay Area
Undergrad:   University of California, Berkeley – Economics and Molecular Cell Biology
Medical School/MPH: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish, French, Bengali

Tuhin grew up in sunny San Francisco Bay Area, and attended UC Berkeley (GO BEARS!). While growing up, he was drawn to the diverse cultures of the Bay Area, mostly through the exploration of food. In college, he explored and pushed his understanding of the community around him through different community engagement programs. He was involved in several global health projects, which sparked his interest in understanding the disparities in healthcare access both at home and abroad. Undecided between a path in public health or medicine he decided to explore both at Tufts University School of Medicine’s MD/MPH program. There, he continued his commitment to community service and exploration of global health, but also fostered newfound interests in policy, social justice, and advocacy. While he is still surprised by New England winters and the price of avocados on the East Coast, he was attracted to Lawrence because it well integrated all of his interests and stood out in its dedication to training physicians to be the best possible resources for their patients in underserved settings, helping to close the disparities in healthcare that made him passionate about medicine in the first place. His clinical interests are broad and varied, which makes him even more certain that Family Medicine at Lawrence is the perfect fit. At this time, he is looking forward to exploring his interests in adolescent health, addiction medicine, HIV care, and academic medicine. When not delving into nearly every clinical interest possible, he enjoys exploring new places to eat, and learning (debatably) fun facts.

Sumana Setty
Birthplace: Springfield, MA
Undergrad: Brandeis University- Biology and Neuroscience BS
Medical School: New York Medical College
Languages: Telugu

Sumana grew up in Shrewsbury, MA where she quickly realized that she had a love of science and music. Her passion of science brought her to Brandeis University, where she threw herself into research and teaching. In her spare time, she continued with voice lessons and expanded her musical repertoire to include opera where she had originally just learned classical music. At the end of her senior year she put on her own senior music recital. She was not sure what she wanted to do after graduation, but she loved teaching, so she landed herself the Wilcox Fellowship at Concord Academy (CA). At CA she taught two sections of freshman biology to a group of lively 9th graders and during her second year there, she was given the additionally responsibility in the Academic Support Center where she worked one on one with struggling students. The two years that she spent at Concord Academy reinvigorated her love of science and inspired her to use science to help people on both a micro and macro level. This lead her to New York Medical College (NYMC). Her four years at NYMC were spent immersed in community service and any educational opportunity she could get her hands on. It seemed only fitting that family medicine was the best fit for her and when she interviewed at Lawrence she knew that it had everything she cared about. Outside of medicine, Sumana continues to sing (at the very least during car rides), rock climbs, and loves going on adventures.

Jennifer Wolf
Hometown: Hyde Park, NY
Undergrad: Binghamton University
Medical School: Wayne State University School of Medicine
Languages: Basic French

Jennifer grew up in Hyde Park, NY in the beautiful Hudson Valley. She attended college at Binghamton University where she majored in Neuroscience and minored in Global Studies. She then moved out to the Midwest and spent a brief stint as a scribe in an emergency department before starting medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Eager to jump right in to clinical medicine, she began volunteering at a student-run free clinic in the city. During her time there she saw firsthand the barriers that people in underserved communities encounter on a daily basis and the impact it has on their health and well-being. This fueled her passion for working with underserved populations, and wanting to become more involved, she became one of the students to run the clinic during her second year. Jen was also very active in her school’s chapter of World Health Student Organization and went on trips to Ecuador and Haiti. There were many factors that contributed to her choosing family medicine as a specialty, but most important was a gut feeling she would have when surrounded by family medicine physicians – something just felt right. Lawrence really stood out as a program for Jen because of their strong training in obstetrics, Spanish language curriculum, and a deep commitment to the community that they serve. She is so excited to finally be back in a place close to real mountains (sorry Michigan!) so she can resume hiking and skiing. Her other favorite pastimes include exploring local restaurants, and hanging out with her husband and dog, Hudson.