Translate Meet Our Fellows
First-Year Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellows (2022-2025)
Tim Chang, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Transposons and other repetitive sequences, non-coding RNAs, and epigenetics
Tim received his B.S. in biology at Stanford University where he studied the effects of maternal inflammation on fetal neurogenesis. While at Stanford, he became interested in small RNAs and so he went to the University of Massachusetts Medical School to pursue an MD/PhD. For his graduate work in Phillip Zamore’s lab, he studied how piRNAs, germline small RNAs that are created from repetitive sequences such as transposons (endogenous retroviruses), are created and are required for genome stability. While transposons need to be expressed to make piRNAs, unregulated transposon expression leads to mutations and cellular damage. To address this paradox, Tim discovered that the protein Maelstrom is required to safely express these potentially dangerous sequences as piRNA precursors through a non-canonical transcriptional pathway. While at UMass, he was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and fell in love with pediatric hematology and oncology. After medical school, he completed his residency training in the BCRP in the Accelerated Research Pathway.
Emily Harris, MD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Non-malignant hematology, immune cytopenias
Emily earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Duke University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors and High Distinction and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Duke, she worked in the lab of Robert Lefkowitz studying the molecular mechanisms of aortic aneurysm formation in Marfan syndrome and completed a research fellowship at the Duke Institute of Genome Science and Policy studying genetic factors underlying differential platelet response to aspirin. She attended medical school at Columbia University where she worked in the lab of Siddhartha Mukherjee studying novel combination therapies for AML and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Emily completed her pediatric residency in the BCRP at BCH. Emily has worked on several clinical research projects including studies of pain management in sickle cell disease with Natasha Archer and investigations regarding immune thrombocytopenia with Rachael Grace. She plans to pursue a career in non-malignant hematology.
Colleen Kelly, MD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Patient preferences and treatment decision-making in oncology, healthcare disparities
Colleen received a BA in economics with honors from the University of Notre Dame. After college, she was a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting, executing growth strategy and M&A projects for medical technology, pharmaceutical, and healthcare companies. In this role, she discovered a love of medicine and completed a post-baccalaureate pre-medicine program at Goucher College. She matriculated to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where she was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and selected as school co-president. Colleen completed her pediatrics residency in the Urban Health and Advocacy Track of the Boston Combined Residency Program where she solidified her interest in pediatric oncology. In medical school and residency, she worked on projects identifying and creating interventions to address healthcare disparities and understanding/eliciting patient and family preferences and aiding in treatment decision-making in oncology. She stayed on for a year as chief resident, with a focus in advocacy education and administrative improvements.
Amy Li, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Altered immune responses in pediatric malignancies, clonal hematopoiesis and immune dysfunction in cancer survivors
Amy received her undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Harvard College, where she studied innate immune signaling and antigen presentation. She then completed her MD and PhD training at Harvard Medical School and MIT where she studied T cell immunity in a mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma with Tyler Jacks. In her PhD work, she identified interleukin 33 as a mediator of regulatory T cell differentiation that can impact the balance of anti-tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment. Her work led to a publication in Cell Reports, as well as co-authored publications in Immunity and Cell. She completed her residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program in the Accelerated Research Pathway, and during that time she has pursued interests in immune dysregulation and reconstitution in pediatric leukemia patients with Yana Pikman.
Cory Rillahan, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Genetic and small molecule screening to identify novel therapeutics and chemical probes
Cory grew up in Massachusetts and attended Tufts University where he majored in biochemistry. He then conducted his PhD at the Scripps Research Institute in chemical biology where he developed small molecule inhibitors and chemical probes for the study of carbohydrate biosynthetic enzymes and carbohydrate binding proteins. This work resulted in many first in class molecules, some of which are commercially available and widely used by the research community. With a growing interest in cancer biology and therapeutics, Cory conducted postdoctoral research at Sloan Kettering where he received a leukemia and lymphoma postdoctoral scholarship for his work on AML and Ph+ B-ALL. Working closely with physician scientists and seeing the rapid advancement and application of genomics for targeted therapies, he decided to attend medical school with the intention of using his patient interactions to fuel his research.
Rebecca Sutherland, MD
Residency: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Research interests: Translational research in liquid oncology and bone marrow transplant, early phase clinical trials
Rebecca received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology with honors from Williams College. Prior to medical school, she studied stem cell engraftment and globin switching as a research assistant in Dr. Leonard Zon’s lab. Rebecca attended the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and awarded the Faculty Award for Overall Academic Excellence. As a medical student, Rebecca built upon her clinical interest in oncology through a summer research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she studied combinatorial mutations implicated in leukemogenesis. Rebecca completed pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. During residency, Rebecca pursued an advanced skill in clinical research while studying the outcomes of patients with infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia who underwent stem cell transplant.
Cary Weiss, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Epigenetic dysregulation, malignant predisposition, pediatric solid tumors
Cary received his bachelor’s degree with honors in biology and in environmental studies at New York University prior to graduate school. He then completed his MD and PhD in cell biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. There he described the mechanism through which microRNA-22 regulates megakaryocyte differentiation, under the guidance of Keisuke Ito. In subsequent work with Art Skoultchi’s laboratory, he identified the role of linker histone H1 in chromatin compaction through patterning of specific epigenetic marks. His work led to several publications, including articles in Nature and Blood Advances. Cary has served as editor-in-chief of EJBM, a student-run peer-reviewed biomedical journal. He completed his pediatric residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP) in the accelerated research pathway. His interests are in malignant predisposition, and the role of chromatin architecture and epigenetic dysregulation in malignant transformation.
Second-Year Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellows (2021-2024)
Lauren Jiménez-Kurlander, MD
Residency: NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center
Research interests: Late effects of novel cellular and gene therapies and early phase clinical trials
Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in biopsychology at Cornell University. Prior to her medical training, she completed an AmeriCorps year in East Harlem, New York, as a coach and tutor in an under-resourced school. She graduated from medical school at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School with distinction in global health for implementing a tablet-based health curriculum in Sierra Leone following the Ebola epidemic. She then completed pediatrics residency at NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell and received the Excellence in Teaching Award. Under Susan Prockop, she presented phase I/II clinical trial results of EBV-directed T-cells as an alternative therapy for EBV-associated leiomyosarcoma at the 2018 ESMO Immuno-Oncology conference. After residency, she pursued a survivorship fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and published the first report of COVID-19 outcomes in survivors. Her clinical interests include stem cell transplant and cellular therapies with specialization in late effects.
Rosemarie Mastropolo, MD
Residency: UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Research interests: Medical education and leukemia / lymphoma
Rosemarie received her bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she participated in research in intervertebral disc degeneration and interventions for improving disc health through biomechanical loading and vasogenic medications. She then completed her medical degree at State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, where she developed her love of medical education through her work on a feedback project regarding pediatric oral presentations. She went to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for pediatric residency, where she worked on a formalized feedback tool for inpatient rotations, a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) resident curriculum, and a supplemental resource for medical students to practice core-pediatric skills with one-on-one observation and formative feedback from a resident. During this time, she was engaged in research projects including a pediatric surgical oncology collaboration investigating pediatric neutropenic appendicitis and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors; a 5-year case-series on pediatric melanoma; and presentations on autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). She stayed on as a chief resident after her residency, where she continued work on her interests in medical education and oncology.
James Morrow, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Gene transcription, epigenomics, and solid tumor metastasis
James received his bachelor’s degree in biology with highest honors at Pennsylvania State University. He attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University, where he was selected as an HHMI-NIH Research Scholar. During this fellowship James worked in the pediatric oncology branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), studying the molecular mechanisms of solid tumor metastasis. James went on to complete a PhD, splitting research time between Case Western and NCI. His research showed that gene enhancer dysregulation is a key driver of osteosarcoma metastasis. James completed his pediatric residency in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. He participated in the Integrated Research Pathway during residency, which allowed him to work in the lab of Kimberly Stegmaier at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's, studying the transcriptional dynamics of EWS/FLI1 in Ewing sarcoma and completing a small molecule screen to identify lead compounds for the development of EWS/FLI1-targeted therapy. James plans to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, studying and treating pediatric solid tumors.
Helen Reed, MD, MPH
Residency: Baylor College of Medicine
Research interests: Chronic disease within non-malignant hematology, including inherited bone marrow failure syndromes and transitions of care
Helen received bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and neurobiology at the University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Public Health in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, she worked with the California Childhood Leukemia Study on identifying genetic and environmental risk factors of childhood leukemia. She then went on to complete a Cancer Research Training Award fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she conducted epidemiologic research on the Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes study under the mentorship of Dr. Blanche Alter. Her time at the NIH was particularly formative, motivating her to pursue medicine and sparking an interest in non-malignant hematology. She received her MD at the University of Pennsylvania and completed her medicine-pediatrics residency at Baylor College of Medicine / Texas Children’s Hospital, where she served as the Med-Peds chief resident. Following residency, Helen took a brief hiatus from academia to work in primary care with the Albuquerque Indian Health Service.
Nitin Shrivastava, MD, MPH
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Global oncology and capacity building
Nitin majored in biochemistry and community health at Tufts University, where he first developed his passion for global health. He spent a year after college living in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, where he worked for Timmy Global Health and Asociación Pop Wujto to develop public health programming in chronic malnutrition as well as managed referrals for patients requiring subspecialty care. He attended the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Given his commitment to a career in global health, he earned a Master of Public Health in health management from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Throughout his time at UMass and subsequently in his residency at the Boston Combined Residency Program, he has been focused on improving access to pediatric oncology care in low-and-middle-income countries. He plans to continue this work and will pursue a career in global oncology.
Geoffrey Smith, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research interests: Pediatric solid tumors, chemical biology, immuno-oncology, and tumor microenvironment
Geoff received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Harvard University before working in industry prior to graduate school. He then completed his MD and PhD in chemical biology at the University of California, San Francisco, studying cytokine signaling with Jack Taunton and Art Weiss. In his PhD work, he identified a new JAK3 kinase inhibitor and used it to characterize the consequence of JAK3 inhibition in IL-2 signaling. He collaborated to apply the inhibitor to several therapeutic areas, including graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and ETP-ALL. He also uncovered differences in CD4 and CD8 T cell IL-2 signaling dynamics that contribute to their distinct proliferative responses. His research has led to multiple publications, including articles in Science Signaling, Nature Chemical Biology, and eLife. In medical school, he developed a love for pediatric oncology while doing a longitudinal oncology clinic and oncology sub internships at UC San Francisco and Boston Children's Hospital. He completed his residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP) in the Accelerated Research Pathway. While in the BCRP, he was a co-leader of the Academy of Basic and Translational Investigation, the BCRP’s community of physician scientists.
Third-Year Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellows (2020-2023)
Rahela Aziz-Bose, MD
Residency: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Research interests: Medical education and racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities within cancer survivorship
Rahela majored in molecular and cellular biology at Yale University, where she first developed her interest in working with adolescents through teaching in a community health education program in New Haven. She then taught biology for a year at a boarding school in rural England, followed by a clinical research year in a Queens emergency department. She attended University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. At UMass, she founded a health education program for adolescents in juvenile detention facilities. Throughout her Med-Peds combined residency at CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), she has strengthened her interest in health disparities through various clinical and research projects. She is also a member of the medical education track.
Yoav Binenbaum, MD, PhD
Residency: Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel
Research interests: Myeloid cells in the cancer microenvironment, chemotherapy resistance, and bone sarcomas
Yoav received his MD at Tel Aviv University School of Medicine. He completed his PhD in the Technion Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Professor Ziv Gil, where he characterized a mechanism of macrophage-induced chemotherapy resistance involving transfer of miRNAs between cells. In collaboration with the physics department in the Technion, he has developed a device for solid tumor treatment using Cold Atmospheric Plasma, a technology that was transferred for further development in the industry. He also collaborated with the computer science department to develop an artificial-intelligence system for prediction of breast cancer molecular biomarkers from H&E-stained slides. His work led to several publications in journals including Cancer Research, Jama Network Open, and PLOS One. Yoav completed his residency in pediatrics at Tel Aviv Medical Center in the physician-scientist track, where he focused his attention to the role of neutrophil NETosis in the cancer microenvironment of bone sarcomas. Yoav is also a cave explorer and recently introduced a new prophylaxis protocol for tick-borne relapsing fever.
Lev Gorfinkel, MD
Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital
Research interests: Biology and treatment of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes
Lev received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology at Brandeis University and his medical degree at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In medical school, he was involved in medical education and helped develop a supplementary histopathology curriculum of interactive modules to improve clinical-pathologic correlations. He continued his involvement in medical education as a pediatric resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he helped create a formal bedside pediatric physical exam teaching curriculum for medical students during their pediatric clerkship. During residency, Lev worked on deriving a clinical decision model for obtaining peripheral blood cultures in febrile pediatric oncology patients presenting to the emergency department. This work has evolved into a quality improvement project developing a fever and neutropenia clinical pathway for Yale New Haven Hospital. He is interested in bone marrow transplant and presented a poster at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) Conference on a fludarabine-based reduced intensity conditioning regimen with in-vivo T-cell depletion in patients with Fanconi anemia.
Miki Nishitani, MD
Residency: Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago
Research interests: Outcomes in stem cell therapy and medical education
Miki received her undergraduate degree in biology with high distinction at Duke University and later received her medical degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to medical school, she worked at the NIH Clinical Center, where she helped to broaden the understanding of congenital adrenal hyperplasia through its largest ever national history study under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Merke. She then completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago's Comer Children’s Hospital, where she developed a strong interest in medical education through the Medical Education Research, Innovation, Teaching, and Scholarship (MERITS) Program. Her research interests also focused on transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy in those with high risk neuroblastoma who underwent autologous stem cell transplant. Afterwards, she completed her chief residency during which she dedicated time to establishing a primary care curriculum and improving resident scholarship.