Class of 2025

Megan Braiman, MD
Albany Medical College

Megan graduated from the University of Rochester with a bachelor's degree in epidemiology. As an undergraduate, Megan spent her time volunteering as an EMT with her university’s student-run ambulance agency. She also volunteered with AmeriCorps at the Boys & Girls Club where she led the Cyclopedia biking program that provided children with a safe, healthy environment to explore their community. She served as an AmeriCorps volunteer during her gap year before medical school, where she assisted in combating chronic absenteeism in Rochester city schools to analyze monthly house visit data led by schools’ social work teams. In medical school, Megan applied her passions for preventive medicine by leading a culinary medicine service-learning program. She built the nutrition curriculum with Albany Med Bariatrics center staff for monthly, student-led cooking classes with post-bariatric surgery patients. In addition, Megan served as a research fellow at the Center for Law and Justice, where she created a mental health resource guide for Albany County and advocated on behalf of center clients. In her free time, Megan loves to run, attend comedy shows with her husband and hang out with her friends’ dogs (and her friends)!

Catherine Casado-Pabon, MD
CUNY School of Medicine

Catherine is a graduate of the CUNY School of Medicine (CSOM). She completed her B.S. in Biomedical Science during the undergraduate portion of her combined BS/MD at the City College of New York. As an undergraduate, she was a member of her school’s local AMWA chapter and took part in research on adolescent health behaviors and decision-making. As a medical student, Catherine was part of CSOM’s Curriculum Committee. This work involved engaging in critical analysis of and implementing effective change to her school’s 7-year curriculum. Catherine was also a teaching assistant with CSOM’s Health Professions Mentorship Program, acting as teacher and mentor to high school students interested in the spectrum of healthcare careers. She later became a consultant for the program and worked continually on its design and quality improvement. Throughout her years of study, Catherine has engaged in the transformative and healing work of narrative medicine as a student, small-group leader, and invited guest lecturer. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys going on long walks and taking naps with her cat.

Jessica Mitter-Pardo, DO
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - California

Jessica graduated from Brown University with an undergraduate degree in Public Health and Master's Degree in Behavioral and Social Health. She worked with the Miriam Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights to investigate peer-led programs to prevent HIV/Hep C transmission in formally incarcerated individuals and completed her master’s degree on the topic. Following graduation, she interned at the Fenway Institute in Boston, MA while completing her post-baccalaureate at Harvard Extension School. In medical school, she continued her public health research, investigating barriers to the use of community health workers for family planning services in Uganda. She completed a Predoctoral Primary Care Academic Teaching Fellowship at Touro University, during which she taught preclinical students clinical reasoning, history taking, and physical exam skills. She also used this opportunity to create and implement a course on structural competency and carried out widespread changes to the pre-clinical curriculum. Jessica was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. She is also passionate about health policy and authored multiple resolutions for the California Academy of Family Physicians and American Medical Association, where she was a member of the Committee for Global and Public Health.

Briana Cox, MD
CUNY School of Medicine

Briana graduated from the CUNY School of Medicine/Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, a 7-year combined BS/MD program. She is the product of a West Indian background, having parents of Barbadian descent. As an undergraduate, Briana joined the CCNY GlobeMed program to support fundraising efforts for mission trips to Peru. She also volunteered working with people in nursing homes, federally qualified health centers, and community health clinics within Brooklyn and the Bronx. In medical school, Briana was elected as Treasurer for CCNY’s Graduate Chapter of SNMA where she assisted with outreach, recruitment, and hosting of a fundraising event. She also served as Vice President of the Cardiology Student Interest Group, assisting in its initial establishment at the CUNY School of Medicine while organizing workshops and coordinating networking opportunities.

Fides Elamparo, MD
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Fides graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. As president of the South Carolina Honors College Pre-Medical Community, as well as co-founder and president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology chapter, she spent her undergraduate years organizing educational events on science-related careers for her peers and arranging charity fundraisers. She was additionally president of Project Vida, which provided healthy living presentations for children and teens at local shelters, receiving Outstanding Student Organization Service Award in her senior year. For her efforts she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She is the child of Filipino immigrants and has mentored pre-medical students.

Abed Jean-Louis, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Abed graduated from Barry University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Music with focus on Piano Performance. While at Barry, he focused his time on giving back to the community by building homes for Habitat for Humanities, working with athletes at the special Olympics in Miami, and spending weekends with patients at the Holtz Children’s hospital as part of the Adopt-a-floor program. He also helped pioneer the University’s Gospel choir while performing at a variety of concerts and showcases with singers and the university’s chamber choir. After graduating, he volunteered at the Montefiore Emergency Department and joined the non-profit organization, Mentoring in Medicine (MIM). While being a part of MIM, he participated in various community activities such as creating a walk-group called Brooklyn-10 that promoted active and healthy lifestyle changes in surrounding communities. He worked as a teaching assistant in the MIM’s after school and in-school program, working alongside attending physicians as they taught high school students anatomy and physiology and about the various opportunities available in the medical field. He attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he became the vice president of his school’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association, working to connect with other chapters in the greater New York area while paneling and facilitating talks at regional conferences. He also volunteered at the student-run Einstein Community Health Outreach clinic as a patient advocate and also class instructor in the public-school arm of the program, teaching about healthy living and other science related topics to elementary school children. Abed is the son of Haitian immigrants and is the first in his family to graduate from medical school.

Sarah Kellner, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Sarah graduated from Columbia University with a BA in dance. As an undergraduate, she became interested in reproductive health and volunteered as a full spectrum doula with the NYC Doula Project. After graduating, Sarah spent two years doing research at Yale University on cognitive impairment in patients with essential tremor and led the development of a study of caregiver burden in the patient population. In medical school, Sarah used her experience as a doula to create an abortion doula program which trained medical students to support patients emotionally and physically through procedures. As a leader of Einstein’s chapter of Students for a National Health Program, Sarah testified at a state hearing on the New York Health Act and organized a town hall with Einstein’s District’s Congresswoman to discuss federal policies affecting the health of the local community.

Tasfia Rouf, MD
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine

Tasfia graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. During her time at UTD she volunteered for several women’s health and safety advocacy groups such as the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center and IGNITE – Political Ambition for Women. She is the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants and lived with her parents in Bangladesh for 7 years during middle and high school. She completed her medical school training at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. During medical school, Tasfia focused much of her time mentoring premedical students. As an alumnus of the Joint Admission Medical Program, an organization working with high achieving premedical students who are financially disadvantaged, she worked with JAMP to continue many of these mentorship roles. Tasfia spent much of her elective time working in community clinics. Her passion for the local Bronx community led her to conduct research projects to identify and increase medical student interest in serving local communities throughout their training and future

Briesny Tejada, MD
New York Medical College

Briesny graduated from Hunter College with a BA in Theatre and Psychology. Following her undergraduate studies, Briesny shifted her professional goals towards a medical career and completed a Postbaccalaureate Program at Columbia University earning a certificate in Premedical Sciences. Thereafter, she attended medical school at New York Medical College. Her hobbies include spending time with her pup Rhody, hiking, and practicing yoga. In 2015, Briesny became a certified yoga instructor.