PGY1

Selma Abouneameh grew up in Derby, Connecticut, near New Haven, and earned her degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale University. During college, she spent her time volunteering at HAVEN Free Clinic and Yale Urban Improvement Corps, which is where she developed a passion for working with children. In between college and medical school, Selma worked as a Postgraduate Associate at Yale University School of Medicine where she conducted research on malaria transmission.

She then attended UMass Chan Medical School and knew immediately that she wanted to pursue a career in pediatrics. During her time at UMass, she served as a co-leader for the Pediatrics Interest Group, facilitating shadowing and volunteer opportunities for fellow medical students. Through her time in medical school, her passion refugee health and advocacy grew. She served as clinic co-coordinator for the UMass Human Rights and Asylum Program, where she facilitated the completion of forensic medical evaluations for asylum seekers in the Central MA area. She graduated from UMass Chan Medical School as a part of the accelerated MD program on the pediatrics track.  She is thrilled to continue her pediatrics training at UMass! Outside of medicine, you can find her exploring coffee shops and restaurants in Worcester, watching every Manchester City match, and spending time with family and friends! 

Neel Bapatla grew up in Ocala, Florida, described by locals affectionately and perhaps inaccurately as the Horse Capital of the World. He went to undergrad not too far up the road at the University of Florida (Go Gators!) where he majored in English, Russian Studies and Biology. Afterward he moved to New England for graduate school, living in Boston’s vibrant Chinatown for a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University, and fell in love with the city and region. Like most pre-meds in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic proved disruptive and formative for his life plans. Neel moved back to Ocala and worked extensively with North Central Florida’s medically underserved population for a year and a half, serving as the basis for his passion for medicine and pediatrics. After a short stint back in the Boston area to work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, he began medical school at Nova Southeastern University in coastal Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Now after four years of soaking in South Florida’s rich culture — largely Cuban coffee — and dodging its large reptiles, he’s excited to be in the heart of the Commonwealth. In his free time, Neel loves to watch movies, read books, go to museums, and explore new coffee shops. He is also looking to take advantage of Worcester’s proximity to natural beauty in Central Mass and beyond to explore new interests, like hiking and photography.

Christopher grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, and attended Harvard University, where he majored in Government. After graduation, he managed a pediatric malnutrition program in Uganda and worked in health economics consulting in New York City. He then transitioned to academic health economics research at the National Bureau of Economic Research and completed post-baccalaureate coursework. He completed medical school and a PhD in Public Policy and Economics at Duke University, where he studied health care price transparency. He is excited to join UMass and to return to New England.

Michael Bolstad grew up in South Boston, MA and attended high school at Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester. He graduated from Brown University with a concentration in Biology, then worked in the Emergency Department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston as an ED Technician while contributing to various research projects in the department.

Mike went on to attend medical school at UMass Chan, where he was involved in various programs throughout the Worcester community while also serving as Education Chair of the Peer Mentoring Program for the medical school. Mike was inspired by the internal medicine-pediatrics residents that he worked with throughout his medical school curriculum, admiring their compassion, versatility, and dedication to teaching. He is ecstatic to be continuing his training in Worcester, a city that he has grown to love. 

In his free time, Mike enjoys playing acoustic guitar, long-distance running, hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and coupon hunting with his wife, Kali. As a life-long Boston sports fan, he will always appreciate score updates when you see him around the hospital.

Ashley Galvin grew up in Pembroke, Massachusetts and earned her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from University of South Carolina. During college, she worked as a research assistant for several bone marrow failure registries at Boston Children's Hospital and volunteered as an applied behavioral analysis (ABA) assistant at a local autism center. After graduation, Ashley returned to Massachusetts, where she spent two years working in clinical research at Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She then attended medical school at UMass Chan Medical School, where she participated in the Sidekicks program and completed a research year with the Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics department, as well as the SHINE (NICU follow-up) clinic. Ashley has long been drawn to pediatrics, and her experiences in both research and clinical care throughout medical school further solidified her vocation to becoming a pediatrician. She is thrilled to continue her training at UMass Chan Medical School and looks forward to exploring her interests in hospital medicine and primary care. In her free time, Ashley enjoys crafting, recreating old Irish recipes passed down by her parents, traveling with her partner, and watching documentaries. 

Karen was born in Alexandria, Egypt and raised in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. She attended UMass Lowell, where she majored in Biology and spent four years on the crew team. During her sophomore year, she joined the BaccMD program at UMass Chan Medical School, where she was introduced early on to community health and developed an interest in health disparities affecting underserved populations. Karen went on to attend UMass Chan for medical school, where her passion for pediatrics continued to grow. Her interest in working with children started long before medical school through her involvement in her church community, where she spent years babysitting and teaching Sunday School. In Worcester, she became deeply involved in pediatric education and advocacy, helping lead teaching electives and working with the pediatric injury prevention team to expand Safety Quest, an interactive program designed to teach children about safety in the community. She quickly grew to love the Worcester community and is excited to continue building those relationships during residency.

Outside of medicine, Karen enjoys cooking, especially Middle Eastern dishes and trying new recipes, painting paint-by-number canvases, and traveling whenever she gets the chance. She also loves spending time with family and friends and is always up for a good game night!

Caitlyn was born in Germany to a military family, and raised in Falmouth, MA. She worked throughout high school and college as a certified nursing assistant and an early childhood teacher’s assistant for children with increased psychosocial needs, discovering her love for medicine, service and empowering children. She attended New England College, spending her time in the biomedical research lab, finding joy in marine biology and her dance team. She volunteered with equine therapy and a mission to Guatemala. She attended medical school at St George’s University, Grenada, in the West Indies, spending her free time scuba diving with sharks in shipwrecks and chasing waterfalls. She led teams creating free clinics for rural areas, while mentoring first generation pre-med students, coordinating Reach Out and Read projects, and learning tropical medicine in Kenya. She is so excited to continue to learn and grow at UMass! She is keeping an open mind to choose a specialty because she loves so many different aspects of each. She loves to read, paint, bake, thrift, dance, and spend time outside in her free time. 

Sharon Nandkishore grew up in Dubai, where she completed her medical degree at Mohammed Bin Rashid University. Her interest in pediatrics began early in medical school through research, where she explored the genetic associations of congenital heart disease (CHD). Her work was among the first comprehensive meta-analyses in the UAE to link CHD genotype, phenotype and cell type using genetic databases. During this time, she was also part of the “Game Changers” initiative, where she worked on raising awareness around mental health and getting involved with the community.  She later worked at Al Jalila Children’s Hospital, a tertiary paediatric hospital, where she cared for children with complex medical conditions and managed critically ill patients while building strong, trusting relationships with children and their families.
Outside of medicine, she enjoys baking (her cinnamon rolls are a must try!), watching movies in the theatre and has recently developed a bit of an obsession with building Lego sets. She looks forward to starting her residency and becoming part of the UMass family.

Tovey grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be a pediatrician and spent a great deal of time caring for children as she grew up, especially her little sister, Anneke. During her two gap years, Tovey worked as an ophthalmic technician and became passionate about preventative care after seeing how chronic medical conditions affect vision. She attended medical school at Rosalind Franklin University, located north of Chicago. Tovey’s favorite part of living in Chicago during medical school was spending time downtown and rotating at hospitals in different neighborhoods throughout the city. She is excited to continue working with diverse patient populations at UMass and to learn how to support families with complex needs. Her career interests include primary care, endocrinology, adolescent medicine, child abuse, and developmental/behavioral pediatrics. Tovey’s in-laws live in Worcester, and she is happy to join them with her husband, their newborn daughter, Gemma, and their cats, Ruby and Ginger! Tovey enjoys running half marathons, playing soccer, cooking and baking, watching football, and traveling, especially to her husband’s home in Vietnam.

Hannah Panzica grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she developed a lifelong love for the Buffalo Bills and Sabres and a deep appreciation for community. She attended the University of Pittsburgh for her undergraduate studies before taking a gap year in Tampa, Florida, where she worked as an ophthalmology scribe and technician. During this time, she practiced her Spanish and worked closely with a pediatric strabismus specialist, an experience that first sparked her passion for working with children. Watching this physician connect with both patients and their families gave Hannah a lasting appreciation for the unique challenges and joys of pediatric care.

She went on to attend the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, where her interest in pediatrics continued to grow through meaningful patient experiences and a passion for advocacy. She was actively involved in community outreach, including volunteering with the Priscilla Project to support refugee mothers and serving in the Human Rights Initiative, where she helped conduct forensic evaluations for asylum seekers. These experiences shaped her commitment to culturally sensitive, patient-centered care.

Outside of medicine, Hannah enjoys unwinding with paint-by-numbers, playing tennis, and spending time at the piano. She also loves a good thriller movie or true crime documentary. At home, she can often be found curled up on the couch with her very fluffy and cuddly cat, Smokey.

Hannah is excited to begin her pediatric residency at UMass Chan and to call Worcester her new home. She looks forward to being in Massachusetts, closer to her partner’s family and her siblings in Washington, DC and New York City. She is eager to explore both the energy of Boston and the natural beauty of Worcester, and is especially drawn to the area’s diversity and strong sense of community. She looks forward to continuing to learn, grow, and build meaningful connections with the families she will serve.

Justin hails from Skowhegan, Maine. He graduated from Princeton University with a major in Molecular Biology and a minor in Theater Studies. In his off time, he was involved with performing arts groups, including the Princeton Tigertones acapella group and the historic Triangle Club. Continuing his medical path, he completed a Master’s in Medical Science at Boston University, while conducting research at Boston Children’s Hospital and working as a unit coordinator for Brigham and Women’s cardiac surgery department. He was then accepted to the Tufts Maine Track, which allowed him to learn the foundations of medicine in his home state and advocate for medical inclusion and diversity initiatives as a person of color. Notably, he completed a longitudinal integrated M3 year at MaineHealth Franklin Hospital, which helped steer him towards Med/Peds! Knowing he enjoyed adult inpatient medicine but also loving outpatient pediatrics, he learned through Med/Peds mentors that keeping both was possible, so his path was set! Predictably, his future specialty is also undetermined. However, he will do his best to keep both the “med” and the “peds” in his future practice. Justin is especially excited to be a mentor to medical students at UMass for all things clinical or non-clinical. In his free time, he looks forward to perusing the public library’s shelves, trying out the local eateries, and preparing Dungeons and Dragons campaigns for his fellow residents that they can hopefully complete!

Noah grew up in various cities across the western US before settling in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he attended the University of Utah to study Biochemistry. During this time, he worked as a medical assistant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, which instilled in him a love of caring for people with serious and irreversible illnesses. He also spent his free time leading backpacking trips for college students, mentoring at summer camps for children with cancer, and volunteering with local wildlife conservationists. He stayed in Salt Lake City to attend the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, during which he led a chapter of the Planetary Health Report Card, practiced wilderness medicine in the Wasatch Front, and set up mobile clinics for rural schoolchildren abroad. Noah was excited to move to Worcester to experience a new period of life across the country, and he is thrilled to join the Med-Peds community at UMass. Noah is interested in pursuing careers in palliative medicine, rural primary care, and public health. You’ll find him exploring the wilderness of the Northeast, spiking volleyballs, and playing overly complicated board games.

Kirsten grew up in Acton, Massachusetts and later moved to Boston with her family. She attended Trinity College, where she continued her rowing career at the collegiate level. After graduating, she spent two years working in clinical research in the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which sparked an interest in neonatology. She went on to attend medical school at LMU-DCOM in Tennessee. Her experiences volunteering at a medical camp for children with chronic conditions further solidified her passion for pediatrics. After completing a visiting elective at UMass, she knew the program’s welcoming and approachable culture was the right fit. Kirsten is currently interested in neonatology and hospital medicine and looks forward to exploring more subspecialties during residency. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys long walks, baking sourdough bread, spending time at the lake, skiing, and trying new coffee shops, bagel shops, and restaurants. She is thrilled to return home to Massachusetts to continue her training at UMass and be closer to family and friends!