Residents

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hometown: Mattawa, WA (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.

Hometown: Concord, NH
Undergrad: Cornell University – Psychology – BS
Medical School: Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Languages: Good Spanish, basic Arabic

Alex had an early experience with the healthcare system that taught him two truths: that primary care saves lives and that we need universal health insurance. He was homeschooled, public schooled, and private schooled, and preferred all of them. He studied psychology and neuroscience at Cornell University and then researched schizophrenia and traumatic brain injury at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He went to Rush Medical College in Chicago where he was a community organizer and developed interests in street medicine, substance misuse treatment, and global health. He looks forward to joining an enthusiastic team dedicated to serving the wonderful community around Lawrence. In his free time he loves being physically active and creating art. Despite playing basketball for years, he remains average at best according to trusted local sources.

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.

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.

Hometown: Dublin, OH
Undergrad: DePauw University
Medical School: MI State University College of Human Medicine
Languages: Basic Spanish

After graduating from college Alison spent time in various settings studying malaria including assessing anti-malarial quality and accessibility in Uganda, clinical shadowing and vector management in Kolkata, and immunology research in a malaria lab at the NIH. She completed her medical studies at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine through the Rural Physician Program. This included spending her clinical years in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) where she learned the true meaning of winter and spent time cross country skiing and exploring the natural wonders up north. Following medical school, Alison spent one year as a fellow with the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) outside Washington D.C. working on policy and organizing for various grassroots campaigns. Alison came to medicine as a path towards social justice and is excited to be at Lawrence where her fellow residents and staff care about empowering communities as part of a larger picture of health. She envisions her future working in a rural area or in an international setting practicing full spectrum family medicine with a focus on women’s health and obstetrics. In her free time, Alison loves anything to do with nature and being outside but especially enjoys rock climbing, hiking, running, and spending time with her fellow residents! She has a pet Axolatl named Dirk and aspires to welcome a new cat to her home soon.

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

4Audra 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Birthplace: Haverhill, MA
Undergrad:  Harvard – Organismic and Evolutionary Biology – BA
MPH: Tufts University
Med School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Languages: Native French, fair French Creole, basic Greek
Interests: Josh grew up in a single-parent home in Haverhill, Massachusetts, another mill city down the road from Lawrence. Supported in his voracious reading appetite from a young age, he became the first member of his family to go to college. While an undergraduate at Harvard, Josh realized that his interests in social justice and advocacy, further developed by his time spent singing with the Kuumba Singers, meshed well with his passion for biology in a future career as a primary care physician. Graduating with a degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Josh spent a year applying to medical schools while working as a research assistant in a lab studying adaptive evolutionary genetics in angiosperm plants. His excitement for primary care, social justice, and public health found him completing a combined MD/MPH degree at Tufts University School of Medicine where he discovered that specializing in Family Medicine would allow him to pursue his various sundry interests. At Tufts, he worked extensively with the Brazilian immigrant community and completed his MPH thesis by creating and assessing a novel group medical visit for Brazilian mothers and babies at Union Square Family Health in Somerville. He was drawn to Lawrence for its devotion to social justice and advocacy, its linguistically challenging population, its innovative curriculum, and its strengths in HIV primary care, addiction medicine, group medical visits and mental health care. In his spare time, Josh enjoys learning languages (he speaks Québec French, Spanish, Portuguese and elementary Haitian Creole), reading literary fiction, singing Broadway and gospel tunes, mentoring, traveling, and embracing his Québécois roots largely by attempting to add maple syrup to everything he eats. He struggles to help limit Jonathan’s massive daily caloric intake, but it’s difficult since he’s still a growing boy.

Birthplace: Toledo, OH
Undergrad:  Ohio State University – Microbiology: BS; Spanish: BA
Med School: University of Toledo School of Medicine
Languages: good Spanish
Interests: A native Midwesterner, Emma grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and was raised in a family where faith, service, and justice were core values.  After high school, she moved to the capital city of Ohio to attend THE Ohio State University, gaining degrees in both microbiology and Spanish.  After feeling the pull to medicine, Emma attended The University of Toledo College of Medicine, as a dual degree MD/MPH student.  Her interest in full spectrum family medicine and health care amongst Spanish-speaking communities was nurtured during medical school, where she served as president of Medical Spanish Outreach, was a founding member and executive director of the Urban-Rural Medical Association, and was an MPH intern at the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice, helping to organize and run their free clinics.  She chose to come to Lawrence because of the opportunity to practice full spectrum family medicine, the Spanish-speaking patient population, its commitment to the health of an impoverished community, and the experimental four-year trial residency.  In her free time, she likes to watch AL central division baseball with her husband, Eric, and enjoys a good hike, Church, the Buckeyes, and a good book.  Emma wishes she knew OMM like Andrea, who heroically saved the backs of the class during intern orientation.

Birthplace: Washington, DC
Undergrad:  Barnard College – Anthropology – BA
Med School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Language: basic Italian, good Spanish
Interests:  Cara grew up in the Washington DC area where she developed an interest in HIV care in underserved communities. She attended college at the University of Maryland and Barnard College, where she majored in anthropology and completed a senior thesis on group identity within Narcotics Anonymous. She took a few years between college and medical school to find the meaning of life, after which she attended the University of Pittsburgh.  In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, traveling, and eating peanut butter chocolate Rice Krispie treats provided by Emma, the class mom. She is very excited to be at Lawrence, where she can continue to pursue her interest in HIV primary care and re-learn Spanish.

Birthplace: State College, PA
Undergrad:   Penn State – Biochemistry/Molecular Biology – BS
MPH: Harvard University
Med School: Boston University School of Medicine
Languages:  Fair Spanish; basic Chinese
Interests:  Born in Happy Valley, Jonathan lived in South Africa and Connecticut before growing up in York, PA. Following in his parents’ footsteps, he attended Penn State (We Are!) where he watched Nittany Lions’ Football and joined GlobeMed, which inspired him to pursue a career in social justice and global primary care. While at Boston University School of Medicine, he became passionate about federally qualified health centers and their ability to care for the whole patient and community. He co-founded the BU IHI Open School Chapter and led a quality improvement project that decreased wait times for Suboxone patients at The Dimock Center, an FQHC in Roxbury, MA. With an MPH in Health Care Management, Jon aspires to be a part of the family medicine revolution to improve health care quality while decreasing per capita costs. He is excited to join Lawrence for the full-spectrum training, commitment to local community, and Spanish curriculum. He enjoys all sports, trying new foods, and listening to Dr. Chari belt out a perfect high C.

Birthplace: Chicago, IL
Undergrad: Johns Hopkins University- Biology- BS
Medical School: Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
Language: Basic Spanish
Grace was raised in the city and suburbs of Chicago, where she played a lot of tennis and developed a strong appreciation for comedy. In college, she studied biology and Spanish and performed research in academic and hospital settings. Grace developed a passion for community-based work with the Johns Hopkins Tutorial Project, which provided education services to over 120 inner-city elementary school children each year. During medical school, Grace volunteered in student-run clinics for four years and completed electives in homeless medicine and family medicine. She also received a grant for international work, which she used to travel to Belize and provide caravan-based medicine to patients in remote areas. Grace is honored to join the Greater Lawrence family and is eager to serve the community. She also looks forward to exploring Massachusetts on her new bike during her spare time.

Birthplace: San Francisco, CA
Undergrad:   Vassar – International/Hispanic studies – BA
Med School: Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Languages:  Advanced Spanish
Interests: Andrea hails from northern California, where she grew up hiking in the hills, and swimming in the Pacific Ocean. After high school she spent time working with Mexican midwives trained in both traditional and Western approaches to maternity care. This experience instigated her continuing love for women’s health, integrative medicine, and social justice. In college and beyond, Andrea pursued these interests further through her coursework in International and Hispanic Studies, and her service as an assault/abuse counselor, reproductive rights advocate, medical translator for Spanish-speaking immigrants, size acceptance activist, and Americorps health educator. She is excited to be in Lawrence, where she will have the opportunity to use all of these skills in the quest to provide full-spectrum, humanistic care to the residency’s incredibly dynamic patient population. Andrea completed a pre-doctoral fellowship in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, and also looks forward to sharing her knowledge and abilities with her colleagues and patients. Outside of work, she can be found exploring new bike or hiking trails, learning how to play in the snow, eating scrumptious food with her co-residents, and as often as possible being serenaded by her favorite Québécois vocalist, Dr. Joshua St. Louis – king of song, linguistics, and delicious brunch locales.

Birthplace: Carrollton, TX
Undergrad:  University of Texas – Plan II Honors – BA;
MPH: University of Texas – Community Health Practice
Med School: Baylor College of Medicine
Languages: Basic Spanish, basic Chinese
Interests: Except for several years in Hong Kong and Connecticut, Jacklyn Cheng spent the majority of her life in the Great State of Texas. She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she majored in Plan II Honors (an interdisciplinary liberal arts program) and was not really sure she wanted to be a physician until she took the class “Sociology of Health and Illness.” After writing her thesis, “Gentrification in Austin and its Effect on Access to Healthcare,” she realized that family medicine offered her a career where she could combine her interdisciplinary interests, desire to work with underserved populations, and commitment to social justice. She attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston where she helped lead the Family Medicine Interest Group, volunteered at the free clinic Casa El Buen Samaritano, and sat as the student director on the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors. As part of the dual-degree program, she also received her MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Although incredibly sad to leave the land of TexMex and BBQ, Jacky found the perfect residency in Lawrence Family Medicine with its genuine dedication to the underserved, unique Spanish language training program, and incredible and passionate residents. This fact was further confirmed when, at Rassias, the enigmatic Michelle Barlow saved her life on the Connecticut River. In her free time, she enjoys live music, hiking, cooking, and going to art museums.

Birthplace: Burlington, VT
Undergrad:  Indiana Wesleyan – Biology – BS
Med School:  Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai
Languages: good Spanish
Interests: Michelle is a native New Englander, born in Burlington, VT, who then grew up in the boondocks of northeastern CT.  She ultimately gave up her childhood dream of being a farmer to pursue a career in medicine when she realized she was better at helping people than growing plants (which she discovered after spending her summers during college working at a greenhouse).  She studied Biology at Indiana Wesleyan University and then attended Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan.  She chose to come to Lawrence for Family Medicine due to her interests in working with the underserved, preventive medicine, global and community health, and interest in improving her Spanish skills (gracias Rassias!).  In her free time, Michelle enjoys hiking, camping, reading, board games, and eating exorbitant amounts of cookie monster ice cream in random New Hampshire towns with Cara.

Birthplace: Indianapolis, IN
Undergrad:  Dartmouth – Environmental Studies – BA
Med School: New York Medical College
Languages: Basic Spanish; basic Tami
Interests: Roopa grew up in Andover, MA, very close to Lawrence, and went to school at Dartmouth College where she majored in Environmental Studies and minored in Public Policy. After graduating, she worked in Wilmington, DE at a community health center doing research on patient-doctor communication and health literacy in an under-resourced setting. There, Roopa met inspirational patients and many doctors who were amazing resources for their communities and started to understand how primary care could be a means for advancing social justice in underserved communities. She went to medical school in the lovely hamlet of Valhalla, at New York Medical College and spent time working with the student run health clinic, La Casita de Salud. She was drawn to Lawrence because of its commitment to community, strong training in OB, and supportive environment for learning Spanish. In her free time she likes to read, run, and sing in hopes of one day becoming a physician singer/songwriter. She is also looking forward to having Jackie teach her about all things Tejas (Texas).

Birthplace: Rochester , NY
Undergrad: Brigham Young University, BS in Neuroscience
Med School: Northwestern University, The Feinberg School of Medicine
Languages: French, Spanish/Spanish Creole
Interests: Clark first developed a passion for working with underserved populations walking the streets of Parisian suburbs on a 2 year church mission. Since then he has been searching for opportunities to prepare him for a career dedicated to this endeavor and has found a home in family medicine and the perfect place to train in Lawrence. During medical school he helped organize a health fair for African refugees and helped lead a cultural sensitivity program for medical students. Upon graduation he hopes to run a FQHC in an urban neighborhood and is excited about the patient advocacy and leadership training at GLFHC. He speaks English and French and is working on learning Spanish and Haitian Creole. During his free time he loves anything sports and spending time with his wife Shelly and unofficial class of 2017 mascot, son Connor. He aspires to learn how to play drums on Rock Band like Elise and prevent Zach from teaching Connor Spanish before he learns French from his dad.

Birthplace: St. Paul, MN
Undergrad: University of Michigan, BS in Sociology
Med School: Boston University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish, Italian, French
Interests: I grew up in Torino, Italy until the age of 10 before moving to Michigan, where I stayed through college. Growing up with an Italian father and a Colombian mother, I was encouraged to embrace both backgrounds from an early age, which fostered within me an interest in learning about peoples’ unique experiences.  In college, I developed a passion for service learning and community involvement, partnering with organizations tutoring Ann Arbor’s Latino population, as well as leading large-scale service events in the city of Detroit. My med school experience at BU was a continuation of this passion, as working with Boston Medical Center’s incredibly diverse patient population in a mission-driven environment furthered my commitment to underserved medicine, and to family medicine as a means to affect social change. I’m excited to be a part of this residency, with its unique opportunity to practice the true full spectrum of family medicine- not only clinically, but also in the realms of policy, leadership, and community health. The committed and supportive faculty and staff, as well as the vibrant and exciting patient population we serve, have further reaffirmed my decision.  In my spare time, I enjoy exploring new cities, relaxing with friends, eating good food, sports, and indulging in guilty pleasures of trashy TV shows and house music. During residency I hope to continue exploring the Greater Boston area with my co-residents, and to eventually be able to dominate Clark in basketball 1-on-1.

Birthplace: Knoxville, TN
Undergrad: University of North Carolina, BA in Anthropology (Minor – Spanish/Chemistry)
Med School: University of NC at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish/Spanish Creole
Interests: After working for a year at a clinic within an orphanage in central Mexico and working with a predominantly African-American church’s health ministry that focused on healthy living and affordable housing, I was sold on the idea that medical practice needs to be tailored to the needs of the community to be relevant. I was drawn to Lawrence because it is a true community health center: HIV care, Hepatitis C treatment, behavioral health, and innovative group visits are all under one roof and made accessible to our patients. I am interested in addiction medicine, HIV care, quality improvement and pretty much everything else and am excited to have 4 years of training to master it all. In Lawrence, I live in the renovated mill whose workers launched the strike of Bread and Roses in 1912 and approximately 50 yards from a candy factory, which is really fantastic. In addition to becoming an excellent physician, my goal for residency is to beat out the stiff competition at the local pub trivia with my fellow trivia buffs Lisa Koers and Whitney Lefevre.

Birthplace: Waterloo, IA
Undergrad: University of MO-Columbia, BA Psychology; BS Biology
Med School: University of MO-Columbia School of Medicine
Languages: French
Interests: Whitney made the long trek out East with husband Nick (co-resident) from the Show-Me-State. After spending four years studying Biology and Psychology at the University of Missouri –Columbia, she took a hiatus from the sciences and joined Teach For America, teaching middle school math and science for two years in inner city Baltimore. While she loved her students and teaching, she knew her true calling was in medicine. During medical school, she spent much of her time as one of the directors of Mizzou’s student-run free health clinic. She also created a new diabetes care program for uninsured patients at the clinic, the outcomes of which she presented both locally and nationally. Her work with this clinic and its patients solidified her love for Family Medicine. She and Nick hope to practice and teach full spectrum family medicine, working with underserved populations both here and abroad. In her free time you will find her rooting on the Mizzou Tigers, checking on her fantasy football team, cooking with her husband and friends, sipping on a glass of wine from Lisa’s extensive wine collection, and learning how to be a Massachussite with help from Elise.

Birthplace: Melrose Park, IL
Undergrad: Northwestern University, BA in Psychology (Minor in Global Health)
Med School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish/Spanish Creole, Hindi
Interests: Like several of my colleagues at Lawrence, my interest in healthcare began with an interest in social justice. I became interested in social policy and global health during college, and I studied public health in Mexico City during the summer between college and medical school. In medical school, I discovered family medicine and fell in love with full spectrum care, both because of the philosophy of caring for the whole family across the life cycle and because of the public health and social conscience mindedness of many of the family physicians I met. After completing my third year of medical school, I took a year off to intern with the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health and work at a consulting firm dedicated to serving the needs of Federally Qualified Health Centers and safety net hospitals. My clinical interest is in providing care to underserved populations, and I am also interested in healthcare systems, administration, and policy. In my free time, I enjoy spending time outdoors (hiking mostly), cooking, and exploring Somerville/Boston.

Birthplace: Columbia, MO
Undergrad: Centre College, BS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Med School: University of MO, Columbia School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish
Interests: Originally from Columbia, Missouri (go Tigers), Nick migrated south to the bluegrass state for degrees in molecular biology and music from Centre College where he studied trumpet performance.  While there, he spent each summer in Florida working as a counselor and staff leader at one of the late Paul Newman’s summer camps for children with chronic and terminal illnesses.  Backpacking in Central America, a semester in Mexico, and the study of liberation theology with Witness for Peace in Nicaragua planted the bug for global service.  In medical school he led a group of students to rural Veracruz, Mexico to work with and learn from Mexican physicians.  He also spent time working at mission hospitals in Bolivia and, as a MAP international fellow, Honduras.  He graduated AOA and, along with wife Whitney, couples matched at Lawrence where they find themselves surrounded by patients that stretch them to their limits and colleagues that drive them to be better in both skill and compassion.  He plans to make a career of service in underserved communities both here and in global missions and to practice full-spectrum Family Medicine, including operative obstetrics.  In his free time he enjoys hiking with Whitney, good food, playing guitar or jazz piano, and growing in faith with his local Church.  You’ll recognize him as the one listening to the Avett Brothers on repeat, honoring his adopted Kentucky roots with a glass of bourbon, and pretending to be a bluegrass band with Will on banjo and Zach on violin.

Birthplace: Indianapolis, IN
Undergrad: Indiana University, BS in Entrepreneurship
Med School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish
Interests: In case you couldn’t tell from the information listed above, my upbringing is perhaps not quite exotic as Matteo’s.  I am a lifelong Hoosier, born, raised, and educated in Indiana.  Sometime during the completion of an undergraduate business degree I discovered an interest in natural childbirth and took a course to become a birth doula.  I set off to medical school with the hopes to one day facilitate more integration among obstetricians and midwives.  My interest in obstetrics blossomed during medical school and I created “Partners in Pregnancy,” a group of medical students that provides labor support to low-income women.  However, I could not ignore the need for primary care physicians in our country’s medical system and happened to enjoy taking care of all types of people.  I did some work with a clinic for homeless men in Indianapolis and also spent a few months in Kenya, both experiences that solidified my commitment to working with underserved populations.  Though I will ultimately return to Indiana to practice in an underserved community, I came to Lawrence for residency to acquire a unique skill set including the ability to speak Spanish, practice integrative medicine, and work with within a Patient Centered Medical Home.

Birthplace: Detroit, MI
Undergrad: University of MI, BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology
Med School: Northwestern University, The Feinberg School of Medicine
Languages: Spanish/Spanish Creole, French, French Creole
Interests: Zach was born in Detroit, Michigan, a city wrought with sharp distinctions between rich and poor.  He grew up in a family where service was the rule and leisure was the exception, and thought early about disparities with the help of his parents who instilled in him the value of striving for a more just system. Seeing inequality at home sparked an interest in learning about global disparities and no field seemed more fitting in addressing them than medicine.   He went to college at the University of Michigan where he studied Molecular Biology, French and Environmental science.  Global health and service opportunities led him to medical school at Northwestern University where he became involved as President of NU’s AMSA chapter which he led in service and outreach projects.  Through this position he worked to coordinate health fairs, lead mentorship and tutoring programs, and organize fundraising efforts for the disasters in Haiti and Chile.  He studied Spanish in Mexico during his fourth year of medical school where he also had the opportunity to participate in the training of a group of midwives taking care of women in rural Oaxaca.  He graduated with Northwestern’s Humanism in Medicine award.   Zach is passionate about HIV care and advanced obstetrics and loves learning languages (he speaks French and Spanish and is learning Portuguese, Creole, and Ojibwe).  He was drawn to Lawrence for its honest devotion to serving the underserved and its commitment to learning the language of the people it serves.  In his free time he loves to run, keep up with friends, and try to teach Spanish to Clark’s 4 month old son (who babbles back politely).

Birthplace: Boston, MA
Undergrad: Holy Cross, BA in Biology
Med School: UMASS Medical School
Languages: Spanish/Spanish Creole
Interests: I am part of a giant Italian family and grew up locally in a suburb of Boston called Canton, MA. I developed an interest in helping the underserved while studying at Holy Cross. Knowing that I wanted to go into the medical field, I worked as a medical assistant at a private OB/GYN for two years after college. This experience helped me to realize my interest in women’s health. During this time I also traveled to Haiti to better understand how a particular NGO became successful and self-sustainable. I then went to medical school at UMASS and was a leader of the Center for the Advancement of Primary Care Group. I believe that family medicine is such a great specialty, because physicians in this field take time to understand how a patient fits into a society, a family, and how all these factors affect healthcare. I am currently learning Spanish and was fortunate enough to live in Costa Rica for 9 weeks last year for this reason. In my spare time I visit with my family, go to concerts, visit friends in Boston, hike, run, and travel. On Sundays I force Zach to make me dinner, and when my co-interns are lucky I invite them to my mother’s house for lasagna and pasta.

Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
Undergrad: Barnard College, Columbia University, BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures
Med School: Raymond and Ruth Perelman SOM at University of PA
Languages: Spanish/Spanish Creole
Interests: I came to Lawrence from Philadelphia, where I learned to love working in urban, underserved communities at the University of Pennsylvania. It was easy for me to choose family medicine, where I could develop long term relationships with my patients, and care for the whole family. Since going to Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala in 2009, I have spent as much time there as possible, where I conducted research on alcoholism, led groups of undergrad researchers, and volunteered at the local Centro de Salud and a small non-profit hospital called the Hospitalito Atitlan. Before medical school, I worked at a research institute at Columbia University investigating the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians.  I´m thrilled to be at Lawrence where I can learn to be a broad spectrum family doctor. In my free time I like exploring Somerville eateries with Azmina, and staying at Whitney and Nick´s possibly haunted apartment during night float.