The Residents

Resident Pic 2011

	Katherine Baldwin, PGY-2 Katherine grew up in Boston and left Red Sox Nation briefly to attend college at Cornell University in upstate New York. While there she majored in English and developed an even stronger dislike of both the Yankees and turn signals. She took a year off after college to work at an fMRI lab at McLean Hospital where she studied normal childhood brain development and bipolar disorder. While attending UMass Medical School she traveled to Malawi to work with Baylor University's Pediatric HIV Corps. Katherine loved UMass so much that she managed to talk her husband into continuing the Worcester-Boston commute so that she could stay here for the wonderful Med/Peds residency! She is especially interested in Gastroenterology, specifically IBD, and hopes to pursue a combined fellowship after graduation from residency.
	Stacey Beberman, PGY-3 Stacey grew up in Worcester, MA. She left to attend Connecticut College as an undergraduate and then worked in Washington DC doing breast cancer reseach at the NIH. She returned to Worcester to attend medical school at UMass, and decided to stay at UMass for residency. During medical school, Stacey performed healthg policy reseach on student health insurance plans in Massachusetts, volunteered in a free clinic and actively participated in the Massachusetts Medical Society student section. Stacey plans to practice primary care in Massachusetts after residency. When she is not in the hospital, Stacey likes to read, make jewlery, and cook, especially desserts.
	Christine Bielick, PGY-3 Chris spent much of her childhood in Wisconsin, but left shortly after receiving her BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to matriculating at medical school, she spent a year in California taking care of her grandfather, which helped confirm her desire to care for critically ill patients. While attending Tufts University School of Medicine, she spent a summer studying the impact if HIV on children in rural India, and trained for and completed the 2007 Boston Marathon. Since moving to the New England area, she has enjoyed all of the hiking opprotunities the region offers, as well as rooting for her beloved Packers, Cubs, and Badgers teams.
	Bryon Gentile, PGY-4, Chief Resident A native of Connecticut, Bryon earned his undergraduate degree from Providence College, where he spent part of his time studying the molecular basis of osteosarcoma and Paget's Disease. Following graduation, Bryon moved to Hershey, PA where he attended medical school at Penn State. He now returns home to New England and plans to pursue subspeciality training after completing his Med/Peds residency here at UMass. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, skiing, golfing and playing piano.
	Salmaan Jawaid, PGY-1 Salmaan grew up in Houston, TX where he completed his Biology degree at the University of Houston. During this time he performed research on glucose control in Ghrelin receptor deficient mice at Baylor College of Medicine, while also volunteering as an EMT at various locations. He then moved to West Virginia to attend medical school at Marshall University, where he also studied the relationship between obesity and CA-MRSA infections in children. Continuing his exciting journey from the south to the north, Salmaan then decided to pursue a Med-Peds residency at UMass, where he could fully exercise his passion for teaching. He loves spending time with his wife and enjoys watching and playing all kinds of sports. Although he’s a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, the Red Sox are still his favorite team and he’s excited to see them firsthand at Fenway Park.
	Lana Kieras, PGY-1 Lana grew up in nearby Holden, MA and completed her undergraduate education at Holy Cross. At Holy Cross she pursued her interests in both science and international cultures and majored in biology and Germany. Prior to starting medical school, Lana worked at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence, RI on two behavioral research studies on childhood obesity. Lana then returned to Worcester to attend medical school where she continued to pursue her interest in different cultures and underserved populations. She traveled to Tanzania, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador as part of her medical education. She also served as a volunteer coordinator at a free medical clinic. She is very excited to be staying at UMass for med/peds residency and hopes to continue working with international and underserved populations.
	Jay Lawrence, PGY-2 Jay grew up in Massachusetts and studied psychology and film as an undergraduate at UMass Amherst. Before starting medical school at UMass, Jay worked with adults with developmental disabilities in San Francisco, managed business development and advertising sales for television production companies in New York City, learned Spanish in Central America, wrote for a newspaper in his hometown of New Bedford, MA and worked in neurocognitive research at Brown University. He had a great experience as a medical student at UMass and was active in public health education, health policy, and international medicine, completing electives in the Dominican Republic and Cambodia. It was in the DR where he got to know his classmate and now wife and co-resident, Stephanie. Jay remains a fan of film and television, plays guitar, travels as often as possible, and loves spending time with family and friends.
	Stephanie Lawrence, PGY-2 Stephanie grew up in the Worcester area and went to Tufts University for college. She studied bio-psychology and was on the cross country and swim teams. She stayed in Boston after graduation and worked at Children’s Hospital studying iron metabolism. She returned home for medical school and loved her four years at UMass. She was involved in international work, youth mentoring, and health education. Stephanie is excited to be staying on at UMass with her husband, Jay, and ultimately hopes to practice primary care. When she’s not working, she enjoys family, friends, running, swimming, yoga, and travel.
	Heather Mane, PGY-2 A Massachusetts native, Heather grew up in Haverhill and attended UMass Amherst for her undergraduate years, spending a semester abroad in Brisbane, Australia. She stayed nearby to attend medical school at UMass in Worcester. During her medical school career, Heather continued to travel, spending a month in Costa Rica for a Spanish language immersion and a month in India as part of a rabies virus antibody trial. In her free time, she also enjoys spending time with her new husband, reading, and running, having recently completed both the Disney World and Hartford Marathons. Heather's career interests include endocrinology and primary care. She is excited to be joining the Med/Peds program at UMass.
	Mike Mazzotta, PGY-3 Mike grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Middlebury College in Vermont. At Middlebury, he filled his time studying chemisty and running on the cross country and track teams. Mike then followed his wife to Missoula, Montana where he worked inj a microbiology lab studying Lyme disease. Mike returned home for four great years at UMass Medical School and is excited to join the Med/Peds residency program. He plans to pursue a career in primary care taking care of both children and adults. Mike loves to spend time with his wife, run, play sorts and explore the outdoors.
	Mythili Ransdell, PGY-4 Mythili is a Massachusetts native who is excited to be back home for residency. She was born and raise in Lincoln, MA. She left MA to Attend Georgetown University, where she earned her BS in French and Economics. Prior to going to medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, she worked in international public health reform and in securing immunization funding for developing nations. When Mythili is not working in the hospital, she enjoys learning languages and spedning time with her husband, cat and dog. Mythili ended up pursuing Med/Peds training to prepare for a career in women's health and advocacy. One day, she also hopes to practice medicine abroad where she can treat people of all ages and advocate for women's rights both in the US and abroad.
	Brian Schneider, PGY-1 A native of New England, Brian grew up in Maine where he developed a passion for the outdoors that persists to this day. He pursued a degree in biology from Brown, while also doing research on neurodegenerative disorders and coordinating a group that taught swimming lessons to children with asthma. Between college and medical school, he spent a year working as a phlebotomist at a small hospital in Maine, then a little further away at a larger hospital out in Oregon, before taking time to travel across the country. While attending medical school at the University at Buffalo, Brian was president of his school's AMA, spent a summer doing pediatric research in Vermont, and ran over 50 road and trail races. Brian is strongly thinking about primary care after residency. When not in the hospital or running, he enjoys being with family and friends, cycling, hiking, snowboarding and sailing.
	Carla Schwartz, PGY-1 Carla was born and raised in Rochester, NY. A lifelong upstate New Yorker, she attended Cornell University, where she majored in Human Biology, Health and Society, and earned her medical degree from SUNY Upstate. While an undergraduate, Carla spent a semester abroad learning Spanish in Seville, which she later put to good use, spending a month in Guatemala with a traveling medical clinic and seeing patients in Syracuse, NY at her medical school's migrant clinic. After residency Carla is planning to practice primary care. In her free time Carla enjoys tennis, piano, and cooking, but mostly spending time with family and friends.
	Mike Sylvia, PGY-4 Mike, a native New Englander, was raised in Dartmouth, MA and attended Providence College earning his BS in biology. Throughout college he worked in an ICU and ED developing a fondness for critical care medicine early on. In addition, he studied in Scotland for 6 months where he perfected his fencing amongst Olympic hopefuls and won several awards. Immediately after college Mike continued his interest in basic science earning a Master’s from Boston University where he investigated pediatric immunizations and infectious diseases, in particular HIV. He attended UMass for medical school where he was active in basic science education and curriculum improvement. Mike is ecstatic to stay at UMass for residency where he hopes to pursue his interests in teaching, science, and critical care. When not in the hospital he enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, photography, and occasional fencing!
	Kathleen Townes, PGY-4 Katie grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts and went to college at Harvard Univeristy where she sang in an all-women's choir and played on the Junior Varsity field hockey team. Before coming to UMass for medical school, she spent time at Dana-Farber in Boston, studying HIV pathogenesis. Katie enjoys reading, sailing, and watching movies with her husband. Her career interests include primary care and infectious disease.
	Stephen Weinberger, PGY-3 Stephen is a New Yorker, but is excited to make the transition to Massachusetts life. Raised in Westchester County, NY, he attended SUNY Binghamton and earned a double major in Biology and English. He was active in Habitat for Humanity during college and captures mosquitoes wihle doing West Nile Virus field research. Between college and medical school he worked on community outreach programs as an Americorps VISTA member at a health center in Mount Vernon, NY. Stephen attended medical school at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse where he pursued his interest in international medicine while working at a clinic in the Peruvian Andes and also raised funds and awareness for international medical organizations on the Ride for World Health, a cycling trip across the United States. He enjoys running, cycling, backpacking, and specning time with his finacee. He plans to pursue a career in primary care or infectious disease.