The 28 members of the Junior Faculty Development Program Class of 2019 were honored for their achievements during a graduation ceremony at UMass Medical School on May 23. The celebration recognized completion of the year-long program as well as progress on individual projects under the guidance of senior faculty mentors, who were also recognized at the event.
The intensive professional development experience for junior faculty is designed to accelerate the academic and professional development of junior faculty. Since its introduction at UMMS by course developers Luanne Thorndyke, MD, vice provost for faculty affairs and professor of medicine, and Robert Milner, PhD, associate vice provost for professional development and professor of neurology, the program has become a national model. It is co-directed by Dr. Milner and Susanne Muehlschlegel, MD, MPH, associate professor of neurology.
A total of 198 junior faculty members have completed the program, guided by more than 130 senior faculty mentors. The program has a proven record of success, both for individuals and for the institution. Graduates of the program are retained at UMMS and achieve academic advancement at much higher rates than nonparticipants. Graduates are also moving into leadership positions, including department chair, division chief and residency director.
For this year’s class, which included two junior faculty members from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the individual projects represented the full range of activities conducted at UMMS, from basic science to outcomes-based research, educational initiatives and planning for new clinical services. Each project represents a substantial step along the academic career path of the junior faculty members, as well as unique contributions to UMMS and UMass Memorial Medical Center. For additional information about the program and a complete list of the graduates, mentors and projects, visit https://www.umassmed.edu/ofa/development/JFDP.
The 2019 Junior Faculty Development Program graduates are:
Nita Amornsiripanitch, MD, assistant professor of radiology (mentor: Robert Goldberg, PhD, professor emeritus of population & quantitative health sciences)
Andrew Bouley, MD, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: David Chiriboga, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine)
Jennifer Bradford, MD, assistant professor of family medicine & community health (mentor: Marie Hobart, MD, associate professor of psychiatry)
Patricia Cho, MD, assistant professor of urology (mentor: Chinmay Trivedi, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine)
Muriel Cleary, MD, assistant professor of surgery (mentor: Patricia McQuilkin, MD, associate professor of pediatrics)
Jessica Cox, MD, assistant professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine (mentor: Anne Larkin, MD, associate professor of surgery and senior associate dean for educational affairs)
Amy Darukhanavala, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics (mentor: Kate Lapane, PhD, professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Rachel Davis, PhD, assistant professor of emergency medicine (mentor: Kathleen Mazor, EdD, professor of medicine)
Juan Ding, OD, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences (mentor: Sheri Keitz, MD, PhD, professor of medicine)
Colleen Harrington, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Jomol Mathew, PhD, assistant professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Ashley Hart, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics (mentor: Carol Bova, PhD, professor of nursing)
Christopher Hemond, MD, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: Ann Rothstein, PhD, professor of pathology)
Christopher Ito, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology (mentor: Pichard Pavao, MD, assistant professor of anesthesiology & perioperative medicine)
Adalia Jun-O'Connell, MD, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: Anthony Rothschild, MD, professor of psychiatry)
Lara Kovell, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Tiffany A Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd, professor of obstetrics & gynecology)
Celine Larkin, PhD, assistant professor of emergency medicine (mentor: Gail March Cohen, PhD, MFA, assistant professor of medicine and assistant dean for undergraduate medical education)
Julianne Lauring, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology (mentor: David McManus, MD, associate professor of medicine)
Amity Manning, PhD, assistant professor of biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (mentor: Paul Kaufmann, PhD, professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology)
Sabareesh Natarajan, MD, assistant professor of neurological surgery (mentor: Nikolaos Kakouros, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine)
Marcey Osgood, DO, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: Aaron Scott, DO, assistant professor of anesthesiology & perioperative medicine)
Auralyd Padilla Candelario, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry (mentor: Warren Ferguson, MD, professor of family medicine &community health)
Mechelle Plasse, PhD, APRN, assistant professor of nursing (mentor: Arlene Ash, PhD, professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Katherine Rotker, MD, assistant professor of urology (mentor: Eric Alper, MD, professor of medicine)
Lindsey Sobin, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology (mentor: Stephenie Lemon, PhD, professor of population and quantitative health sciences)
Jeevarathna Subramanian, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Lori Pelletier, PhD, MBA, assistant professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Sasha Svendsen, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics (mentor: Melissa Clark, PhD, adjunct professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Catherine Whittington, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (mentor: Arthur Mercurio, PhD, professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology)
Dan Yoon, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences (mentor: Matthew Gounis, PhD, professor of radiology)
