Nicole Agcanas, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva
University
Nicole grew up in Antelope, California. She attended California State University, Sacramento where she graduated with a BS in Biology with a concentration in Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Prior to medical school, Nicole volunteered with programs such as Reading Partners of Sacramento and California Library Literacy Services to increase literacy among all age groups. Additionally, she participated as a tutor for the Roberts Family Development Center, an after-school program, which caters to several underserved public middle schools in the Northern California area. Nicole attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine. During medical school, Nicole volunteered with the HIV Education and Rapid Testing (HEART) group. Through HEART, she provided sexual health education, promoted, and performed free HIV testing at local College campuses throughout the Bronx. She was also involved with the student run free clinic, Einstein Community Health Outreach (ECHO), as a HIV Pre-Test counselor her first year. As a pre-test counselor, she provided HIV education and one-on-one counseling regarding the testing process, and safe sexual practices. She returned during her fourth year, as a session coordinator, which allowed her to work in various positions within the clinic, from supervising first year or pre-clinical students, or overseeing the flow of the clinic, to seeing her own patients. Nicole continues to be passionate about educating/empowering others and providing healthcare to underserved areas. Her interests outside of medicine include: a new found love of cooking, trying to bake, salsa dancing, trying new things such as rock climbing, and of course spending time with family, friends, and her dog Bogey aka the cutest and plumpest Boston terrier!
Albert Bararwandika
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert grew up in Rwanda. He also lived in Burundi, Kenya
and Tanzania before emigrating to US in 2006 and he entered college the same
year. While at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, he volunteered at Part of
The solution, POTS in the Bronx that delivered food to homeless and families
with food insecurity. He graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and has continued
to participate in homeless outreach initiatives at his alma mater during
medical school. Albert attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he
continued to deepen his commitment for health disparity and global health.
During his time off in 2012, Albert travelled to Kenya to volunteer in AIDS
outreach clinic run by his father in rural Kisii. He also completed a global
health fellowship in Kisoro-Uganda during his last year of medical school. An
experience he describes as “educational, life-changing and humbling”
In his free time, he enjoys long distance running,
basketball, volleyball, travelling and learning about other cultures; which is
of great importance to him. He is also an active member of the New York School
of Practical Philosophy. However, being the oldest of seven; nothing is more precious
to him than spending time with his younger brothers and sisters.
Alice Beckman
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Alice Beckman is from Rochester, NY and attended the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she received a BA in Economics. While
in college she began working as a research assistant for Rodney Hayward and the
Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, where she became more interested
in medicine. After college she moved to Washington DC to work for the RAND
Corporation in their health department; there she worked on a number of
projects including one modeling health care reform as the Affordable Care Act
was being drafted and debated. After working in DC for two years, she moved to
New York City to join Montefiore's Department of Family and Social Medicine as
a project coordinator. At Montefiore she helped with the development of a
collaboration between community clinics, community organizations and
leadership, and the Bronx Department of Public Health to tackle social
determinants of health in communities surrounding family medicine clinics. She
then attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and during that time worked
on communication research developing and interest in patient empowerment. She
is thrilled to be returning to Montefiore's Department of Family Medicine as a
resident.
Kim Bui
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
A transplant from Bien Hoa Vietnam to suburban Solon, Ohio. Raised by a single
mom and a precocious older sister. The youngest of four daughters.
Nurtured and enlightened
at Williams College, graduated with a degree in Art Studio and Biology. Learned
the powers of observation and introduced to the capabilities of her own two
hands. Acquired restless legs. On streets of Hanoi Vietnam, attempts at
education of street children living on the banks of the Red River.
Volunteer-tourism in Nicaragua, helping to build a multipurpose building in a
primary school. Semester spent exposed to public and global health on campuses
of India, China, Switzerland, and South Africa. A month in Egypt focused on
drawing and painting.
Cincinnati, Ohio-mentored
by a radiologist who became quadriplegic during medical school. Learned to read
radiographs and counseled patients regarding biopsies. Applied to medical
school and last four years in Rochester NY.
Worked with men and women
who were homeless to provide health care—fast recognition that best health care
was a home. Translated this knowledge to Hotspotting-an effort that identified
and supported highest utilizers of healthcare dollars. Lured by the promise of
primary care to prevent a myriad of complex, advanced, and chronic conditions
seen in the hospital setting. Summer in Hanoi, Vietnam crunching data on TB
research with the WHO. Currently in Uganda, working in rural clinics in and
around Mbale. Excited to start working with a diverse population in the Bronx,
and learning from dedicated educators in the field of family and social medicine.
"
Melissa Burnside
Ohio State University College of Medicine
Melissa
was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica and raised in The Bronx, NY. Her entire
schooling occurred thru the Bronx public school system until she headed off to
college at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, MD. She obtained a
Bachelor of Arts in Public Health with a minor in Spanish. While at JHU she was
actively involved with mentoring Baltimore City youth, conducting
community-based participatory research in health disparities, and serving on
the Executive Board of the premedical chapter of Student National Medical
Association(SNMA). She recognized that health issues extended beyond doctors'
offices and hospital walls and developed a strong interest in the Social
Determinants of Health. She pursued her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health where she earned a Master of Health Science
in Environmental Health. Her thesis focused on the impact of smoking in urban
adolescent populations. After completion of her graduate studies Melissa
returned to The Bronx to serve as a Project Manager at the Bronx Center to
Reduce and Eliminate Ethnic and Racial Health Disparities(BxCREED). In this position, she spearheaded several
community-academic conferences that would encourage open and honest dialogue
about the interaction between social justice and health care. She was also
responsible for the East Coast debut of "Food Stamped", a documentary
film about a couple attempting to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet on
a food stamp budget - a reality for many families.During her time at
Einstein, Melissa became actively involved in Mentoring in Medicine(MIM). She
relocated to Columbus, OH to attend The Ohio State University College of
Medicine (OSUCOM). Melissa is passionate about education and mentoring, health
disparities, adolescent medicine, women’s health, and HIV/AIDS. She speaks
Spanish and English. She enjoys traveling, cooking, exercising, mentoring, and
spending time with family and friends. Melissa is excited to return to The
Bronx and serve the community that she calls home!
Hymavati Kavuri
Albany Medical College
Hyma grew up in Cerritos, CA. She graduated from Union
College with a B.S. in Philosophy and Biology and M.S. in Healthcare
Management. She was part of the Leadership in Medicine program, an 8 year
combined B.S./M.S./M.D program. While at Union, she led Campus Action, a
club dedicated to social activism. She
went on to Albany Med where she was AMC’s AMSA Public Health Chair and actively
involved with Girl’s Inc and Project SOAR (after school programs for middle
school kids in inner-city Albany).
Through these experiences and time spent abroad, she fostered an
interest in gaining a deeper understanding of policy affecting underserved
communities. Between her 2ndand
3rdyear of medical
school, she spent two years exploring the medical and legal aspects of human
rights issues. She worked as an Intern at Apne Aap, a grassroots
organization in New Delhi, India addressing sex trafficking, and later went to
Boston, MA as a Visiting Scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
and Intern at the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology. Her projects focused on domestic and
international human trafficking both within and outside the healthcare
setting. This included a qualitative
research study giving voice to survivors of trafficking to create an
appropriate evaluation tool for anti-trafficking initiatives in India. In
addition to learning about trafficking, she has also contributed to a Supreme
Court case in India on staffing shortages in public hospitals. Hyma is
passionate about the intersection of medicine and law and hopes to continue
learning from patients and communities about the practical implications of
policies. She loves to play basketball, sing Carnatic music, dance, go on
long drives, and star gaze.
Lily Ryzhkova
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine – Tulsa
Lily was born in St. Petersburg,
Russia and grew up in Norman, Oklahoma. She graduated from Northwestern
University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and International Studies, and a
minor in Global Health. Lily became deeply interested in health disparities
after becoming involved in NU’s GlobeMed chapter, further cultivating this
interest by participating in a public health study abroad program in Uganda.
She attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma where she helped
develop a longitudinal partnership between the medical school and a partner
site in Gulu, Uganda. She also co-founded a discussion group called Fireside
Chats to encourage constructive discourse about prevailing global health
challenges.Lily is passionate about growing global health interest on the
Tulsa campus as well, and founded the Global Health Interest Group to provide
engagement and learning opportunities for other students. During her final year
of medical school, Lily helped launch The Ladder, a pipeline mentorship
program for kids in underserved communities interested in the health fields.
Lily’s medical interests include community medicine, global health, and
promoting social determinants of health within medical education. In her spare
time, she enjoys exploring cities, spending time outdoors, and reading Sufi
poetry.
Andrew Telzak
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Andrew grew up in New Rochelle, NY, and moved to Baltimore
to complete his BA in Public Health studies at Johns Hopkins University. While
there, he focused on health disparities in the local Baltimore community, as
well as internationally. He spent a semester studying the public health system
in Bahia, Brazil, and a summer working in a pediatric HIV clinic in Cape Town,
South Africa. After graduating, he stayed to work for the Baltimore City Health
Department, getting to know the communities of West Baltimore through
counseling, testing and partner notification based out of an HIV/STI clinic,
and then doing Quality Improvement at the Ryan White office within the Health
Department. He returned to New York to complete his pre-med requirements, and
then received his medical degree in the Bronx from Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. While at Einstein, he was involved in a number of medical education
curricular reform efforts, including building a systems sciences curriculum
focused on population health and the practice of medicine. He continued to
address health disparities with a student group aimed at teaching social
determinants of health through longitudinal patient relationships, as well as
helping to organize other activism initiatives on campus. He feels privileged
to be able to stay in the Bronx to build on the many great relationships he’s
formed with friends, mentors and patients, and is excited to continue to learn
from and be inspired by each of these communities.
Inimfon Udoh
Drexel University College of Medicine
Inimfon
was born in Nigeria, and immigrated to Bronx New York at the age of 14. She
attended Harry S. Truman High school and later went on to attend Brooklyn
College where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and a minor
in Psychology. While in College, Inimfon volunteered at Eastchester Rehabilitation
and Health Care Center, where she facilitated various activities to encourage
emotional and physical health of the elderly. After graduating from college,
she volunteered
as a Community Health Ambassador through a program sponsored by the American
Heart Association, which gave her the opportunity to speak
to individuals in her neighborhood about their health and ways that diseases
such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension can be prevented. Her goal was
to improve lives and make her community a better place, and these
experiences led to the discovery of her love for people, her
passion for service, and her dream of working with underserved populations.
Before attending Medical School, Inimfon
worked as a Student Advocate at the Harlem children Zone, where she served as
part of a dynamic team that help to create positive change and opportunities
for Harlem youth. Inimfon later went on to attend Drexel University College of
Medicine. In medical school she volunteered at St. Christopher’s Children
Hospital as part of the pediatrics play program and also volunteered at a
homeless shelter for women and children. She loves the Bronx and is looking
forward to serving this great community. In her free time, Inimfon loves
spending time with her family and friends.
Melissa Cadet, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Melissa grew up in Orange, New Jersey. She attended Montclair State
University in Montclair, New Jersey where she graduated with a BS in
Molecular biology and biochemistry. Following undergraduate school,
she went on to pursue a graduate degree in Physiology and Biophysics
at Stony Brook University. Melissa then went on to attend medical
school at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY.
While in medical school, Melissa served as the co-president for the
International Medicine Club, which was successful in fundraising over
$700 towards the Malawi Mom’s Project, a program that is geared toward
providing safe delivery and antepartum care in Malawi. She also
participated in efforts to provide health care supplies to countries
in Africa and Haiti, including traveling to Haiti with a medical
missions group. She volunteered at the student run clinic in East
Harlem, NY, providing healthcare to the community of Harlem. She began
as a patient advocator providing patient education, to student
clinician, and student coordinator. To relax, Melissa was also a
member of her school's A-capella group called the Arrhythmias. Prior
to completing her medical school curriculum, Melissa worked for IBM as
a Watson Senior Medical Annotator in IBM’s Watson Group based in
Yorktown heights, NY working to improve physician diagnoses and
navigation through an EMR.
Other interests include: traveling, trying new foods, playing
volleyball, and spending time with her friends and family.
