Class of 2023
Chelsea Alvarado, MD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Chelsea comes to us from University of Maryland School of Medicine. During her second year at UMaryland, she was the Volunteer Coordinator for the Latin Medical Student Association. In this role, she organized and led monthly health screenings at an East Baltimore church for Spanish-speaking residents of the Highland town neighborhood. This experience shaped the way that Chelsea viewed the need for more developed healthcare structures in underserved communities. Chelsea also became very involved in promoting the arts and humanities in medicine and helped create UMaryland School of Medicine's first medical-student led arts journal, The Healer's Art. She highly values the role of artistic expression in cultivating empathic care amongst physicians and other healthcare professionals. She hopes to continue her personal artistic growth in residency as a painter while supporting and lifting her community as a Family Medicine resident.
Natasha Borrero, MD
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Natasha is a native Bronxite and is excited to be returning home for residency training. Although her childhood was filled love, sofrito, and Salsa, Natasha witnessed many extended family members succumb to preventable diseases as a result of the rampant health disparities that plagued the community. She was inspired to take action and pursued a career in public health in hopes of making her hometown a healthier place to live.
After graduating from Yale University and serving one year as AmeriCorps Case Manager, Natasha remained at Urban Health Plan, Inc., a federally qualified health center in the South Bronx, for many years. She had the opportunity to work on several quality improvement projects and program interventions ranging from depression screening, childhood obesity, integrative health, and food justice. Natasha concurrently pursued a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. These experiences reaffirmed her desire to become a physician in order to build partnerships with patients, particularly in medically underserved neighborhoods. Throughout her time at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, she served on the inaugural board of UB HEALS (Homeless Education and Leadership in Street medicine), aimed at increasing health access for the homeless population of Buffalo. Natasha enjoys Salsa dancing, baking, Puerto Rican cuisine, puzzles, and spending time with friends and family.
Osarieme Evbuomwan-Esene, MD
State University of New York Upstate Medical University
Osarieme was raised in Queens, NY. She was introduced to health disparities through a high school internship and has pursued the intersection of medicine and the effects of the social environment on health outcomes ever since. Osarieme earned her B.A. in Sociology from Cornell University, with a minor in Inequality Studies. She then worked in Harlem where she investigated how food options influenced the prevalence of diabetes amongst Black and Latino community members. She transitioned to a quality improvement role where she worked with the Montefiore Medical Group on implementing the Patient-Centered Medical Home aiming to optimize how the practices functioned in teams and monitored their own performance to improve the patient experience.
Osarieme attended medical school at the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University with the goal of pursuing a career in primary care. During this time, she spent a summer piloting social determinants of health screening tool in three outpatient clinics in Brooklyn. She is a 2019 AAFP Family Medicine Leads Scholar and is ecstatic about joining a cadre of Family Physicians who are as fervent as she is about enhancing the quality of healthcare given to the full spectrum of underserved communities, as well as challenging the social constructs that marginalize these same communities. She is a wife and a mother who loves traveling, baking, and exploring outdoors.
Ndeye Fatou Gningue, MD
CUNY School of Medicine
Ndeye comes to us from the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine. During her undergraduate years, Ndeye Fatou joined GlobeMed, an organization that aims to strengthen the movement for global health equity by empowering communities through long term partnerships. The team partnered with a grassroots organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life of the elderly and empowering them by developing income generation projects using textile and agriculture in Ayacucho, Peru. Ndeye worked to organize and facilitate awareness events throughout campus on topics of elder abuse and other social justice issues concerning elderly populations. In her early years of medical school, Ndeye continued her work with GlobeMed as financial director, spearheading fundraisers to raise funds for income generation projects led by the elderly community. Ndeye has volunteered with Mini-Medical School, an initiative started and led by students to promote the advancement of health literacy in the Harlem community. With her fellow classmates, Ndeye has surveyed community centers in Upper West Harlem and collaborated with community leaders to conduct monthly health classes and discussions on the health topics that the community desired. Ndeye Fatou enjoys going to concerts and continues to learn how to play her guitar in her free time. She appreciates horticulture and watercolor painting.
Chantel Gordon, MD
Howard University College of Medicine
Chantel was born and raised in the Baychester area of the Bronx and is of Caribbean decent. She graduated from Howard University College of Medicine. During her time there, she enjoyed volunteering at the free student-run clinic, where she developed a passion for primary care and underserved medicine. She also enjoys hiking, traveling, art museums, and indoor gardening.
Nathalie Morales, MD
State University of New York Upstate Medical University
Nathalie comes to us from State University of New York at Upstate Medical University. She was born in Hoboken, NJ and raised on Long Island. She double majored in Biology and Psychology with a minor in business management at SUNY Stony Brook. During and after college she gained clinical work experience as a certified nursing assistant, surgical medical assistant and clinical research coordinator for two clinical trials.
She is the daughter of two extremely admirable Ecuadorian parents who showed her the value of diligence and believed in education. Nathalie is the first person in her family to graduate from college, graduate school and medical school.
After college, she earned her Master of Science at Rutgers University, completed her basic science research thesis on wound healing and volunteered at a shelter for women and children. During medical school she volunteered at the Rescue Mission clinic, a shelter for the homeless, collaborated with local elementary and middle schools to lead curriculum enrichment programs, served as an on-site crisis call volunteer for individuals experiencing sexual and domestic violence and assisted in orders of protection. She has also received core training in elder abuse, trauma-informed care and confidentiality as well as organized and hosted the first free public skin cancer screening at Upstate University Hospital. Nathalie was also participated in the selective Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Student Fellowship in which she conducted and presented her clinical research project on cutaneous carcinoma in the context of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Nathalie is so excited and proud to train at Montefiore’s Family and Social Medicine residency program, where she can continue to cultivate her interests in adolescent, reproductive, and migrant health needs. She is committed to becoming a physician who cares for the underserved while also providing the best medical care regardless of socioeconomic status. On her spare time, she loves watching movies and exploring new cities with her husband, baking, social ballroom dancing, cuddling with her Ragdoll cat, named Beignet and spending time with her family and friends.
Will Grant, MD
Duke University School of Medicine
Will is a graduate of Morehouse College and Duke University School of Medicine. During his time at Duke, he was a member of the Primary Care Leadership Track program, a unique track dedicated to cultivating community-engaged primary care physicians. He was a recipient of the 2018 HIV Vaccine Trials Network RAMP scholar award, in which he completed his scholarly project entitled, “Pilot Study Evaluating Innovative Educational Approach to Increase Knowledge of HIV Prevention in The Next Generation of Providers.” He served as Service Co-Chair for the Duke University Chapter of SNMA and interned for Triangle Empowerment Center, a community-based organization that provides linkage to care and social support for QTPOC in the North Carolina Triangle region. Will enjoys reading about political history and social movements, traveling, and binging shows, such as Insecure and Pose.
Noa Nessim, MD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Noa is an Arab, Jewish, agender femme from New Jersey. They graduated from medical school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. There, Noa co-developed a Racial Equity in Medicine Elective for medical students, and co-created a free Gender Affirming Care Clinic for trans folks in North Carolina. Before medical school, Noa worked as a full spectrum doula in the Bay Area of California; this work deeply informed the way they approached healing spaces as a medical student, and now as a doctor. Noa spends their time building their queer community, organizing for abolition, and caring for their plants and their cat Cucumber.
Chukwunwike Okafor, MD
Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Chukwunwike (Chike) was born and raised in North Jersey. Chike completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University with a B.S in Biological Sciences and a minor in Public health. He attended Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he found his passion for primary care. During his time, Chike engaged in Global Health efforts to improve maternal and child health care outcomes in Ghana with the International Health Care Volunteers. He plans to utilize his training at Montefiore to continue to promote capacity building in West Africa. Chike served as the President of the Student National Medical Association, in which he actively recruited and mentored minority students into the health care field. He made it a mission to connect these students with valuable resources and opportunities to promote their healthcare advancement. Chike has grown up playing sports and involved in outdoor activities. He is interested in injury prevention through the understanding of biomechanics and will hope to pursue a Sports Medicine fellowship. Chike is excited to work among the diverse and highly motivated residents and faculty at Montefiore to provide high quality and culturally competent care to the Bronx community.
Libby Wetterer, MD
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Libby (she/her) is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine where she was in the Population Health Scholars Track. While at Georgetown, she led group visits at the school's free-clinic and worked with Medical Students for Choice. She was also involved with the AAFP where she was a student delegate to the Congress of Delegates and member of the Commission for Health of the Public and Science. Her research at a D.C. school-based health center, entitled "Screening for Traumatic Stress in Latinx Adolescents" was selected as the best project in the Policy and Public Health Track of the Emerging Leaders Institute.
Before medical school, Libby completed her yoga teacher training and worked as an Americorps case manager in an FQHC in East Boston. This work deeply informed her decision to pursue family medicine, as a specialty rooted in social justice. As a New Hampshire native, she loves to be outside - running, biking, or hiking, and is excited to explore all the green that the Bronx has to offer!
