By DoM Communications | Date published: July 7, 2026

Hawa Abu, Elizabeth Douglas, Kevin O’Day, Laurie Pearson, Sandhya Tagaram, and Xavier Vela Parada, Complete Junior Faculty Development Program 

On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 28 UMass Chan Medical School faculty members who completed the Junior Faculty Development Program this year celebrated their graduation. The Junior Faculty Development Program, established in 2010, is the longest-running professional development program at UMass Chan. The 12-month program comprises a comprehensive curriculum on research, education, and career development, and completion of an individual project under the guidance of a senior faculty member. 

Please join us in recognizing the following Department of Medicine faculty: 

Hawa Abu, MD, PhD’19, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics 
(Mentors: Alok Kapoor, MD, MSc, professor of medicine, and Jennifer Reidy, MD). 

Elizabeth Douglas, DO, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine 
(Mentor: Tiffany A. Moore Simas, MD’00, MPH, MEd, MHCM, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology, chair and professor of obstetrics & gynecology, and professor of pediatrics, psychiatry & behavioral sciences, and population & quantitative health sciences) 

Kevin O’Day, MD’16, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine  
(Mentor: Kimiyoshi Kobayashi, MD, MBA, associate professor of medicine) 

Laurie Pearson, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology 
(Mentor: Mara Epstein, ScD, ScM, associate professor of medicine) 

Sandhya Tagaram, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine 
(Mentor: Meghna Trivedi, MD, associate professor of medicine) 

Xavier Vela Parada, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine 
(Mentor: Honghuang Lin, PhD, professor of medicine)