Biodesign Training Program 2020-2021 Participants Jay Chudow, MD (Division of Cardiology) Dr. Jay Chudow is a clinical cardiology fellow at Montefiore Medical Center. He is interested in the application and integration of machine learning technology to help diagnose and prevent cardiovascular diseases and improve physician efficiency. Dr. Chudow assisted in the development of the PacemakerID algorithm, a machine learning algorithm, and associated mobile phone app for identification of implanted cardiac devices. For this research, he received 2nd place in the 2019 Montefiore Einstein Young Investigators Research Symposium. He is also a member of the Montefiore ECG working group and has conducted research on risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation. His research into daylight saving time and atrial fibrillation hospitalizations was featured in various news outlets, including NPR. Dr. Chudow grew up in the Hudson Valley. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Civil Engineering after which he spent three years coordinating oncology clinical trials at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before earning his medical degree from Stony Brook University School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center Moses/Weiler residency program. During residency, he was a 2018 quality improvement idea contest winner and recipient of the Leo M. Davidoff Society Medical Student Teaching Award. Shitij Arora, MD (Division of Hospital Medicine) Dr. Shitij Arora has been a practicing physician-educator for the last 6 years and enjoys identifying problems that can be automated to reduce physician burden. Dr. Arora joined Montefiore in 2014 first as a direct care physician and then as an academic hospitalist. He brings clinical and basic science research experience along with start-up experience from his role as an advisor while working with the founding teams at MeraDoctor and Paycillin. Meradoctor was a venture capital backed start-up based out of Mumbai, India, which allowed patients to be able to connect with physicians using a chat application. Paycillin was a spin-off that allowed physicians to monetize those transactions by allowing them to generate secure invoices. Dr. Arora’s current interests include developing applications that record patient reported outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. He is enthusiastic about the technological applications that improve workflows within inpatient medicine and medical education. Miguel Cervera, MD (Division of Infectious Diseases) Dr. Cervera completed an MD degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and then trained in Internal Medicine at the Roger Williams Medical Center / Boston University program in Rhode Island. His published research includes the clinical description of human tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis, tuberculosis among Lupus patients, the epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae fecal carriage, and red cell exchange therapy in babesiosis, among others. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. Currently, he is an Infectious Diseases fellow at the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine program in New York City. His current research interests include sepsis, machine learning, and the immunocompromised host. Nijas Nazar, MD (Division of Hospital Medicine) Dr. Nijas Nazar completed Medical School at Government Medical College, Trivandrum, India and an Internal Medicine Residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. Dr. Nazar currently works as an ED Hospitalist at the Jack D Weiler Hospital. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine. Dr Nazar is a member of the Weiler Hospital’s Heart Failure committee, which strives to reduce heart failure admissions in the hospital. Dr. Nazar has helped to develop and launch the ED version of ASTHMAXcel mobile intervention for asthma patients. Dr Nazar completed original research in hear failure and his project was presented at ACC 2020. Dr Nazar is actively involved in teaching medical students and is constantly looking for ways to improve the education experience. His current area of research includes improving education and physician wellness using digital health tools. He is also interested in improving the patient experience and quality of care with the help of mobile tools in the ED setting.
