Biodesign Training Program 2021-2022 Participants Adam Ammar Adam Ammar, MD was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the Johns Hopkins University and received his BA in Neuroscience in 2010. He then attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he received his medical degree in 2015. He is currently a chief resident of neurosurgery at Montefiore. His interests are in global surgery, pediatric neurosurgery, and improving the affordability and applicability of neurosurgical equipment to low resource settings. Felix Reyes Felix Reyes, MD is a native of the Dominican Republic where he also completed medical school. Afterwards, he finished an Internal Medicine Residency in Brooklyn, a Hospice and Palliative Care fellowship at Montefiore, and now is a senior Pulmonary And Critical Care fellow in the Montefiore Healthcare System. He has focused his career on improving access to care for vulnerable populations and aims to focus his career at developing population level interventions to improve healthcare in Latin America. He is the co-founder of PrepMedRD a virtual learning platform for doctors in the Dominican Republic. Priyanka Mahali Priyanka Mahali, MD, was born and raised in South India where she also completed her medical school. She finished Internal Medicine Residency at Montefiore Medical Center and now is a Chief fellow in the Division of Endocrinology at Montefiore Einstein. Her areas of interest are improving quality of life in Type I Diabetes, advances in Diabetes technology, and improving Diabetes self-management. Rafael De La Garza Ramos Rafael De la Garza Ramos, MD is a neurosurgery resident at Montefiore Einstein. He was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. He received his medical degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in 2013, graduating with honors. He then completed a three-year research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery, receiving the A. Earl Walker Outstanding International Fellow Award in 2015 in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of the neurological sciences. He has a clinical and research interest in spine oncology and cancer health disparities, innovation, and predictive analytics. Kumar Vivek Kumar Vivek, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Einstein and an Attending Anesthesiologist in the Division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center. Kumar grew up in India and graduated medical school from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He trained in the Anesthesiology residency and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center. Kumar is an educator and tinkerer. Kumar’s interests include streamlining communication between patients and providers during the perioperative period. Sweta Chekuri Sweta Chekuri, MD is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine, currently working as a hospitalist at Montefiore Medical Center. She is dedicated to her profession and has been awarded Hospitalist of the Year in 2020. Dr. Chekuri has published in multiple journals and is actively pursuing a Masters in Bioethics.
