NHF-Takeda Clinical Fellows

Dr. Ang Li is currently an Acting Instructor in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Washington (UW) and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle where he cares for patients with benign and malignant hematologic disorders at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He received his medical degree at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and received his internal medicine residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Li is planning for a career in non-malignant hematology, with a long-term career goal of becoming an academic hematologist and clinical researcher in the field of coagulation medicine. As an NHF-Shire clinical fellow, Dr. Li will pursue dedicated training in comprehensive clinical care of bleeding disorders at the Washington Center for Bleeding Disorders (WCBD) under the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Rebecca Kruse-Jarres and David Garcia. He is also pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Research degree from the UW Department of Epidemiology.

Dr. Michael H. White is a pediatric hematology and oncology fellow at Emory University/CHOA. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Harding University and completed his medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He went on to complete his general pediatrics residency training at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Clinical Research at Emory University and has received a TL1 research training grant (also known as a "Linked Training Award"), through the National Institutes of Health for his focus on multidisciplinary clinical and translational science. Dr. White is also the Chair-Elect of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society (HTRS) Fellows Network and serves as a board member for the International Health Care Foundation. As an NHF-Shire clinical fellow, Dr. White will receive specialized clinical training in the Comprehensive Bleeding Disorders Clinic and Women and Girls' Bleeding Clinic at CHOA under the mentorship of Drs. Robert Sidonio and Shannon Meeks. In addition to his clinical focus treating patients with disorders of hemostasis and thrombosis, Dr. White will pursue his clinical research characterizing the management and outcomes of heavy menstrual bleeding in adolescents with bleeding disorders and in those who are taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications.

While an NHF-Shire Clinical Fellow, Dr. Hanny Al-Samkari will acquire a clinical and research expertise in hemophilia and rare bleeding disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Stacy Croteau at Boston Children's Hospital and Drs. Eric Grabowski and Larissa Bornikova at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Al-Samkari received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was elected to AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha is a national medical honor society). He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed his fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) combined program. During this fellowship, he strengthened his passion for classical hematology, and his research was focused on novel indications for thrombopoietin receptor agonists. Dr. Al-Samkari will lead the Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) clinic at MGH under the mentorship of Dr. David Kuter. He is also a dedicated medical educator, having worked as a member of the American Society of Hematology's Benign Hematology Curriculum Initiative, and he has continued to be active in teaching medical students, residents and physician assistants.

Dr. Patricia Zerra is currently completing her pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Emory University/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and will begin an additional fellowship in Transfusion Medicine focusing on coagulation in July 2017. Dr. Zerra graduated from Connecticut College followed by two years of research at Boston Children's Hospital. She received her M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed pediatrics residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital where she served as chief resident with an additional year practicing general pediatrics. As an NHF-Shire Clinical Fellow, Dr. Zerra will work under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Sidonio, Pediatric Director of the Emory/CHOA Hemophilia Treatment Center to focus on the clinical management of children with bleeding disorders. She will also continue her current research under the mentorship of Drs. Shannon Meeks and Sean Stowell, focusing on the immune response to FVIII in an effort to identify initiating immune events that can serve as targets to prevent FVIII inhibitor formation. Her goal is to serve as a pediatric hematologist and clinical/translational researcher focusing on the care of pediatric patients at risk for developing inhibitors.

Dr. Karen Zimowski is a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at Emory University/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Dr. Zimowski received her BS in Biochemistry from Clemson University and her MD from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins University. As a NHF-Shire Clinical Fellow, she will receive clinical training under the guidance of Drs. Robert Sidonio and Shannon Meeks in the Comprehensive Bleeding Disorders Clinic at CHOA and Special Coagulation Laboratory at Emory University. In addition, she will continue her current research projects, investigating the structure-function relationships of both coagulation factor V and factor VIII. Dr. Zimowski aims to become an expert physician-scientist in the field of pediatric hemostasis and thrombosis. She seeks to apply the knowledge gained through laboratory analysis to the clinical setting and provide the highest level of medical care to patients with bleeding and coagulation disorders.

Dr. Jessica Garcia is currently a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at the Medical College of Wisconsin/Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Her clinical mentor is Dr. Joan Gill, Director of the Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders (CCBD) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Dr. Garcia's primary research mentor will be Dr. Veronica Flood, with Dr. Bob Montgomery as her secondary research mentor. Dr. Garcia attended medical school and completed her pediatric residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria/Children's Hospital of Illinois. During her pediatric residency, Dr. Garcia worked with Dr. de Alarcon studying the mechanisms underlying the thrombocytosis seen with iron deficiency anemia in an animal model. As a NHF-Baxalta Clinical Fellow, Dr. Garcia will receive specialized training in hemostasis and thrombosis, available through the Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders (CCBD) and Blood Research Institute (BRI). Her research will focus on the biology of von Willebrand factor.

Dr. Yasmina Abajas is a clinical assistant professor in pediatric hematology/oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed her subspecialty training in 2016. A native of Miami, FL, she attended medical school at the University of Miami and completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. During her fellowship training, she focused on studying hemophilia B inhibitors in a humanized mouse model under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Monahan. As a NHF- Baxalta Clinical Fellow, Dr. Abajas will work on transitioning her efforts from bench research to a translational/clinical research focus under the mentorship of Nigel Key, MB ChB, FRCP, section chief of hematology and director of the Hemophilia Treatment Center at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Abajas will continue to focus on FIX inhibitors and evaluate whether or not a combined B and T cell immunosuppressive regimen helps with inhibitor eradication in affected hemophilia B patients.

Dr. Angela Weyand is a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at The University of Michigan, Mott Children's Hospital. She is a native of Kansas City, Kansas and a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Weyand attended medical school at the University of Michigan and completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Washington/Seattle Children's Hospital. As a NHF-Baxalta Clinical Fellow, she will receive dedicated clinical training in the care of patients with disorders of hemostasis, as well as continuing her current research projects investigating genetic modifiers of coagulation in a zebrafish model. Dr. Weyand will be seeing patients with hemophilia and other hemostatic disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Pipe and Dr. Jordan Shavit, and Dr. Pipe will include her in the management and interpretation of test results in their special coagulation laboratory.  Dr. Weyand's long term goals are to further the field of coagulation through translational research and to provide the highest level of comprehensive clinical care to patients with hemophilia and coagulation disorders.

At the time of his application, Dr. Pavan Bendapudi was finishing his third year of adult hematology/oncology training at the combined Dana Farber Cancer Institute- Massachusetts General Hospital (DFCI-MGH) fellowship program. After finishing his medical degree at Stanford University, he did his residency in internal medicine at MGH, where he developed a strong interest in bleeding and clotting disorders. This led him to complete an additional fellowship in blood banking and transfusion medicine through the Harvard Combined Transfusion Medicine Program, where he was the first graduate of his residency program to have pursued additional training in this area. As a hematology fellow, Dr. Bendapudi provided care to patients at the hemostasis clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and pursued additional research opportunities in the labs of Dr. Robert Flaumenhaft and Dr. Bruce Furie. Dr. Bendapudi received a Mentored Research Award from the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society (HTRS) and will join the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital as an instructor with an appointment in the Division of Hematology.  While a NHF-Baxalta Clinical Fellow, Dr. Bendapudi will participate in the Comprehensive Hemophilia Clinic at Children's Hospital Boston, attending all clinical sessions and training under the mentorship of Dr. Ellis Neufeld. Dr. Bendapudi will continue expanding his training, along with a focus on the transition from pediatric to adult hemophilia care.

Dr. Stacy Croteau received her B.S. and M.S. in Neuroscience, and her M.D. at Brown University, where she was awarded AOA. She was resident and chief resident in pediatrics at Boston's Children's Hospital and received the Sydney Farber Award. At the time of her application, she was a third year Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and was accepted on faculty at Harvard as an instructor in pediatrics. Her research during fellowship was on a clinical review of Kaposi form Angioendotheliomas which resulted in 2 publications in the Journal of Pediatrics (2013, and 2014) as well as an ASH Trainee Research Award. She was the first fellow to complete the BCH-Novartis Clinical Fellowship in Early Oncology Drug Discovery. While a NHF-Baxalta Clinical Fellow, Dr. Croteau will be mentored by Dr. Ellis Neufeld, Medical Director of the Boston Hemophilia Center. She also has plans to pursue clinical research in “rationally designed personalized prophylaxis regimens”.

Dr. Maissaa Janbain was born in Lebanon and received her M.D. degree from the Lebanese University in 1999. After completing her internship and residency in Internal Medicine in Lebanon, she came to the U.S., where she completed a second internship and residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She then entered the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program at Tulane University, which she is scheduled to complete in 2015. Dr. Janbain has developed a strong interest in coagulation medicine and has spent much time receiving guidance from her mentor Dr. Cindy Leissinger, Director of the Louisiana Comprehensive Hemophilia Center. In conjunction with Dr. Leissinger, she has worked on clinical research projects for porcine rFVIII and FXIII. Dr. Janbain has not only had several research abstracts accepted but also presented at several professional meetings. She is interested in global assays and thromboelastometry. She has been applying this technique to assess FVIII and VWF in pregnant women.

Dr. Lindsey George is a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. As a NHF-Baxalta Fellow, Dr. George will receive clinical training under the mentorship of Dr. Leslie Raffini, Director of the Hemophilia Treatment Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She will also be pursuing training in translational science in coagulation molecular biology and gene transfer in the laboratory of Dr. Katherine High. Dr. George graduated from Cornell University and received her M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. She did her pediatric residency and chief residency training at Weill Cornell Medical School, where she had the fortunate opportunity to interact with Dr. Donna DiMichele. Dr. George has a longstanding interest in the intricacies of coagulation physiology and the incorporation of that understanding to the clinical care of patients with coagulation disorders. Dr. George hopes to contribute to the improvement of treatment for patients with bleeding and thrombotic disorders through a career in translational research.

Ng was a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at the University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus. He attended medical school at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and completed his pediatrics residency at the University of Washington/Seattle Children's Hospital. Ng pursued fellowship training in Colorado because of the University of Colorado Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center and its commitment to clinical care and hemostasis-based research. As an NHF-Baxter Fellow, Ng learned about the care of patients with bleeding and clotting disorders under the mentorship of Dr. Marilyn Manco-Johnson. He continued with his research projects involving the role of von Willebrand factor in hemostatic and thrombotic diseases as evidenced by his multiple research awards in this field. Ng's career goals are to focus on the care of pediatric patients with bleeding and clotting disorders through clinical care and academic research.

Dr. Tyler Buckner is a native of Tullahoma, TN, and a graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He completed medical school and residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also completed a combined fellowship in adult hematology and pediatric hematology/oncology in June 2013. Dr. Buckner will continue to work at UNC as a member of the School of Medicine faculty. His research training includes a National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship at the UNC Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, as well as didactic coursework that will lead to a Master's of Science degree in Clinical Research from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. As a hematologist and health services researcher, Tyler aims to study patient-centered methods for improving the delivery of healthcare services to individuals with hemophilia. Dr. Buckner's current research efforts are focused on improving the management of chronic pain in persons with hemophilia.

Dr. Jonathan Roberts is currently a pediatric hematology and oncology fellow with the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. His fellowship mentor will be Joan Gill, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Director of the Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders (CCBD) at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin. Roberts graduated with honors from Greenville College, Illinois, and received his MD from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He did his residency in Pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Peoria and Children's Hospital of Illinois, where he also distinguished himself, receiving awards of excellence for critical care and research. During his pediatric residency, Roberts worked with Dr. Michael Tarantino to initiate a clinical research trial to assess the role of FXIII on intraventricular hemorrhage in premature, low birth weight infants. As a NHF-Baxter Clinical Fellow, Roberts will receive focused training and gain clinical experience through the hemostasis clinics at CCBD and further develop his research skills in a project to develop a new ELISA-based assay for assigning VWF phenotype. Roberts has plans to pursue a Master's Degree in Clinical and Translational Science. His goal is to become an expert physician/scientist with a long-term career focus on hemophilia, and other bleeding and clotting disorders.

Dr. Tammuella Chrisentery-Singleton is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Tulane University and is board certified in pediatric hematology/oncology. She will receive training under the mentorship of Cindy Leissinger, MD, Chief, Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology at Tulane University School of Medicine and Director of the Louisiana Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders. Chrisentery-Singleton graduated with honors from Xavier University, received her MD from Louisiana State University and then completed her pediatric residency at the University of Miami. Following residency, she completed pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University, where she worked with Dr. Jim Cassella and developed a serious interest in disorders of coagulation, particularly hemophilia. After her fellowship training, she was recruited to join the pediatric hematology/oncology faculty at LSU and Children's Hospital of New Orleans. In 2010, Chrisentery-Singleton accepted a position at Tulane University because of her desire to receive more training and spend more time in the specialized coagulation medicine program. As an NHF-Baxter Clinical Fellow, she will receive dedicated training in bleeding and clotting disorders for both children and adult patients, along with mentoring in clinical research related to bleeding disorders. She will also continue her work on several ongoing clinical trials, and pursue her project in developing models to better determine pharmacokinetic parameters with a minimal number of needle sticks in pediatric patients with hemophilia. Her goals are to steadily improve her knowledge and skills in caring for patients with coagulation disorders, and continue building her academic career in coagulation medicine.

Dr. Zia earned a MBBS degree from King Edward Medical College, Pakistan. Following an internship in pediatrics at the Children's Hospital, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, she completed her second and third years of pediatric residency at the Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University in Detroit. Since becoming a hematology/oncology fellow in 2009, Dr. Zia presented at the American Society of Hematology and has had five abstracts accepted for presentation at other major hematology meetings. Dr. Zia will continue her specialized training in pediatric hemostasis-thrombosis under the directorship of Dr. Jeanne Lusher. The NHF-Baxter Clinical Fellowship award will foster Dr. Zia's development as a clinical scientist, allowing her to study clinical research design, statistical analysis as well as pursue research concerning the thrombogenicity of hormonal supplementation in adolescent girls under the mentorship of Drs. Madhvi Rajpurkar and Michael Callaghan, a previous NHF/Baxter clinical fellowship recipient.

Since 2009, Dr. Branchford has been a hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplant fellow at the Children's Hospital of Denver. Prior to this post, he served as Chief Resident at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin-Milwawukee. Dr. Branchford received his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and his BA in Biology from Lawrence University. He is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Colorado Medical Society as well as the American Societies of Hematology, Clinical Oncology and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. As an NHF-Baxter Clinical Fellow, Dr. Branchford will be continuing both his clinical and research training under the mentorship of Dr. Marilyn Manco-Johnson. In addition to this, he will be working in the lab of Dr. Jorge DiPaola on a project researching the microfluidic properties of von Willebrand Disease as well as the role of the TAM pathway in platelet activation and thrombus formation. In the long-term, Dr. Branchford's career goal is to serve as Director of a Hemophilia/Thrombosis center, providing clinical care as well as basic or translational research within the structure of an academic pediatric department.

Dr. Grace joined Children's Hospital Boston / Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a Pediatric Resident after receiving both her undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Brown University. She has since gone on to become a fellow in the institution's Hematology/Oncology program and was chief fellow in her final year of fellowship. As Dr. Grace begins her NHF-Baxter fellowship, she will be on staff as a Hematologist at Children's Hospital Boston / Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As an NHF-Baxter fellow, Dr. Grace will spend two years developing advanced skills in clinical hemostasis and clinical trial design. Under the mentorship of Dr. Ellis Neufeld, she will continue her work on several ongoing clinical studies. Dr. Grace is currently the Co-Investigator of a study on the genetic modifiers of chronic ITP. Dr. Grace's goal is to become a clinical expert in hemostasis and thrombosis as well as a productive independent clinical investigator. She hopes to contribute towards improving the treatment, outcomes and quality of life of pediatric patients with bleeding and clotting disorders through a career in clinical research.

Dr. Pels joined the hemophilia treatment center at Yale University as a pediatric hematology/oncology resident in 2004 after receiving her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins and her MD from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Her recently-authored poster abstract on immune thrombocytopenia was selected for presentation at the 2009 Plenary Scientific Session of the Hemophilia and Thrombosis Research Society's Annual Meeting. As an NHF-Baxter Clinical Fellow, Dr. Pels will spend two years developing advanced skills in clinical hemostasis and learning rigorous methodologies of clinical trial design, completion and monitoring. She will also continue her work on several ongoing studies under the mentorship of Dr. Diana Beardsley. Dr. Pels intends to pursue a career that includes both academics and research, including clinical work in the broad areas of hemostasis and thrombosis. She is hopeful that this work will lead to better therapies for patients with hemophilia as well as other bleeding and clotting disorders.