Current Residents, Graduates & Research Opportunities

PGY-1 Residents

As an intern class we chose Loyola because we found the program to be approachable and friendly during our interviews. We also believed the surgical experience would be educationally robust. Furthermore, our first year has completely exceeded our expectations. We have grown to know a group of individuals that feels more like family than colleagues. Our mentors are not only constantly trying to improve the program but they are also personally invested in us as individuals.

Nasreen Al-Qadi, MD

Alexandra Brady, MD

Lauren Capra, MD

Samriddh Chaudhari, DO

Samantha Diulus, MD

Amanda Miyuki Dougherty, MD

Jonathan Dzielski, DO

Trisha Gupte, MD

Minhaj Jabeer, MD

Gyu Bin Jang, MD

Jacob Lindemann, MD

Devon Mitchell, MD

Samuel Plaska, DO

Emma Sheedy, MD

Divya Sridharan, MD

Luke Taylor, MD

PGY-2 Residents

Alexandra Brown, MD

Hometown: Pontiac, IL
Undergraduate: Illinois Wesleyan University
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine- Rockford
Professional Interests: general surgery, trauma surgery, women in surgery
Personal Interests: Cooking, exploring new restaurants, plants, crafting

Kellie Brue, MD

Hometown: Detroit, MI
Undergraduate: University of Chicago
Medical School: Wayne State University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Surgical Oncology, Critical Care
Personal Interests: Health & wellness, international bakeries, Bible study, walking along the riverfront

Brooke Garnica, MD

Hometown: Davenport, IA
Undergraduate: University of Iowa
Medical School: Wayne State University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Trauma, Critical Care, Acute Care Surgery
Personal Interests: Travel, Skiing, Hawkeye Football, Family & Friends

Jericho Hallare, MD

Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Undergraduate: UC San Diego
Medical School: California Northstate University College of Medicine
Professional Interests:: Cardiothoracic, Vascular, Critical Care, and Robotics
Personal Interests: Food fanatic, SD Chargers, skiing, family & friends

Emil Maric, MD

Hometown: Zagreb, Croatia
Undergraduate: Illinois Wesleyan University
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria
Professional Interests: Cardiothoracic Surgery, Colorectal Surgery
Personal Interests: Pickleball, soccer, playing guitar, trying new restaurants!

Joseph Royeca, MD

Hometown: South Bend, IN
Undergraduate: Indiana University
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: General Surgery, Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery, and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery
Personal Interests: Weight lighting, Piano, Notre Dame Football, and trying ne resturants and breweries

Nelson Rubert, MD

Hometown: South Florida
Undergraduate: University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: General Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, Burn Surgery, MIS and Robotics
Personal Interests:Traveling, Gastronomy, Latin dancing, Exploring the wonders of Chicago

Nataly Sanchez, MD

Hometown: El Dorado Hills, CA
Undergraduate: Saint Mary’s College of California
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Gynecological surgeries, reproductive rights advocacy, critical care, burn surgery
Personal Interests: Cooking fun recipes, reading, plants, weightlifting

Conrad Williams II, MD

Hometown: Springfield, IL
Undergraduate: B.S. Mechanical Engineering - Arkansas State University
Medical School: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Professional Interests: Thoracic surgery, Trauma/Critical care surgery, surgical education
Personal Interests: Travel, baking, music production, krav maga, language learning

PGY-3 Residents

Third year of residency is a transition year in many ways. Residents who are coming back from their two years of research re-enter seamlessly into our year. This is the year where we as residents begin to work on autonomy in the operating room. We are able to operate independently with our chief residents on multiple rotations including at the VA Hospital as well as on the Acute Care Surgery service at Loyola. This is facilitated by a transition away from primary floor responsibilities as a 1st and 2nd year resident. Our year is also where we begin to refine our leadership skills as the chief of the Burn ICU and pediatric surgery service. A fun aspect of the third year is a dedicated endoscopy rotation solely focused on improving our endoscopic skills with our gastroenterology colleagues.

Jennifer Darby, MD

Hometown: Watertown, MA
Undergraduate: Northwestern University
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicinel
Professional Interests: Machine learning, health disparities, ECMO, clinical informatics
Personal Interests: Yoga, sailing, houseplants, house music

Matthew De Jong, MD

Hometown: Willowbrook, IL
Undergraduate: Calvin University
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Surgical oncology, robotic surgery and surgical education
Personal Interests: Formula one, skiing, escape rooms and exploring new restaurants/breweries

Sharika Kaula, MD

Hometown: Springfield, MO
Undergraduate: University of Missouri – Kansas City
Medical School: University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Minimally invasive surgery and surgical education
Personal Interests: Hiking, yoga, exploring coffee shops and piano

Xane Peters, MD

Hometown: Jerseyville, Illinois
Undergraduate: Illinois Wesleyan University
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Surgical Oncology, Health Services Research, Surgical Quality, Geriatrics
Personal Interests: Personal fitness, hiking/camping, philosophy and literature

Travis Smith, MD

Hometown: North Richland Hills, TX
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University
Medical School: University of Texas Health Science Center Houston
Professional Interests: Trauma surgery, global surgery, public policy, social determinants of health
Personal Interests: College football, photography, hiking, weight lifting, running, quoting movies

Andrew Stone, MD

Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA
Undergraduate: University of Oregon
Medical School: Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: General surgery, acute care surgery and medical education
Personal Interests: Playing guitar, running, exploring, LA Chargers, Oregon Ducks and fantasy football

Frank Villa Hernandez, MD

Hometown: Kannapolis, NC
Undergraduate: Catawba College
Medical School: Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
Professional Interests: Cardiothoracic Surgery
Personal Interests: Soccer, Running, Lifting, Hiking, Board Games, Breweries, and Chicago Festivals

PGY-4 Residents

The PGY-4 year is our transition to chief responsibilities on all services. Four months total are spent covering trauma. Loyola is a Level 1 trauma center, and we see a mix of penetrating trauma from the local community, high-speed MVC polytrauma, and complex trauma involving electrical and burn injuries. As the PGY-4, we serve as the trauma chief and team leader. We run the evaluation and resuscitation of all traumas, determine each patient's work-up, evaluate the need for immediate operative intervention, and literally save lives. The other PGY-4 rotations include Transplant, Vascular Surgery, and Thoracic Surgery, and a community General Surgery experience. In addition, PGY-4s each have an elective month which allows residents to explore varied interests including robotics, endoscopy, other services like plastic surgery, or to schedule away or international rotations.

Andrew Abadier, DO

Hometown: East Greenwich, RI
Undergraduate: University of Rhode Island
Medical School: University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine
Professional interests: General Surgery, Trauma, Endocrine, Robotics
Personal Interests: Pizza making, my dog, hikes with views, the ocean

Kevin Galicia, MD

Hometown: Lincolnwood, IL
Undergraduate: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Burn Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, Medical Education
Personal Interests: Cooking, Crosswords, Game Theory, Sports Trivia, and Oreos

Mohammed Hasan, MD

Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Undergraduate: University of Missouri-Kansas City
Medical School: University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Trauma/Critical Care, Thoracic Surgery, Global Surgery
Personal Interests: Traveling, Rock Climbing, Football, Spending time with family/friends

Benjamin Khechen, MD

Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Undergraduate: Binghampton University
Medical School: SUNY Upstate Medical University College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Plastics and Reconstruction
Personal Interests: Tae Kwon-do, Golfing, Yoga, Hiking, Proud member of Bills mafia, Chicken wing connoisseur

Casey Silver, MD

Hometown: Wheelwright, MA
Undergraduate: Amherst College
Medical School: University of Rochester
Professional Interests: Trauma and Critical Care, Health Services Research
Personal Interests: traveling, reading, crossword puzzles, pitweilers

PGY-5 Residents

Caressa Chen, MD

Hometown: Seneca Falls, NY
Undergraduate: University of Rochester
Medical School: University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Professional Interests: Surgical Technology, MIS, Vascular Surgery
Personal Interests: Baking, hiking, traveling, NYT crosswords 
Future Training: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship - University of Wisconsin 

Matthew Cheung, MD

Hometown: Williamstown, MA
Undergraduate: University of Chicago
Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Trauma Surgery, Machine Learning
Personal Interests: Formula 1, Architecture, Natural Language Processing, Horology
Future Training: Surgical Critical Care Fellowship – Louisiana State University

Brittany Hedgepeth, MD

Hometown: Miami, FL
Undergraduate: University of Florida
Medical School: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Global medicine, General Surgery, and Breast Surgery
Personal Interests: Arts and craft, painting, sewing, pottery and trying different restaurants
Future Training: Surgical Critical Care, Loyola University Medical Center

Gregory Klazura, MD

Hometown: Rockford, Illinois
Undergraduate: University of Notre Dame
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Global Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Pediatric Surgery
Personal Interests: Spending time with friends and family
Future Training: Pediatric Surgery Fellowship - University of California Irvine 

MacKenzie Lee, MD

Hometown: Akron, OH
Undergraduate: John Carroll University
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Emergency General Surgery, critical care, mentoring, research
Personal Interests: Baking, cats, reading, Starbucks 
Future Training: Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowship – University of Cincinnati

Alexandra Mathews, MD

Hometown: Birmingham, MI
Undergraduate: University of Michigan
Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Breast Surgery, General Surgery, Colorectal Surgery
Personal Interests: Traveling, Running, Ice Cream
Future Training: Breast Surgery Fellowship - NorthShore University Health System
 

Celsa Tonelli, DO

Hometown: Belmont, CA
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York
Undergraduate: University of Oregon
Professional Interests: Colorectal Surgery, Thoracic Surgery
Personal Interests: Cross-stitch and embroidery, travel, hosting dinner parties, running, forcing my co-residents to look at pictures of my adorable nephew
Future Training: Colorectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic – Arizona

Kelley Chan, MD, MS

Hometown: New York, NY
Medical School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Surgical oncology, quality improvement, health disparities, evidence-based standards of care
Personal Interests: College football, hiking, running
Research Location: American College of Surgeons
Research Focus: Surgical oncology

Ashley Dodd, MD

Hometown: Moscow, TN
Medical School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicinee
Professional Interests: Pediatric Surgery, Global Surgery, Clinical research, Medical education and mentorship
Personal Interests: Spending time with my two dogs, exploring new places to brunch, SEC football (go vols!) and traveling to new places/countries
Research Location: Lurie Children's Hospital 
Research Focus: Pediatric Surgery Outcomes Research

Ryan Johnson, MD

Hometown: Richmond, VA
Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: Global Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Critical Care, mentoring, research
Personal Interests: Exercise, outdoors, piano, food/restaurants
Research Location: Loyola University of Chicago
Research Focus: Research Associate in the department Burn and Shock Trauma Reserach
 

Ashley Peters, MD

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, CA
Undergraduate: UCLA
Medical School: Boston University School of Medicine
Professional Interests: General surgery, mentoring, research
Personal Interests: Running, snowboarding, cats, wine, film
Research Location: Loyola University Chicago
Research Focus: Vascular Surgery Research Associate in the Department of Surgery

Sarah Remer, MD

Hometown: Lake Orion, MI
Undergraduate: University of Michigan
Medical School: Case Western
Professional Interests: Pediatric surgery and colorectal surgery
Personal Interests: Running, Michigan football and exploring new restaurants/bars
Research Location: American College of Surgeons
Research Focus:ACS Clinical Scholar

Rachyl Shanker, MD

Hometown: Buffalo Grove, IL
Undergraduate: Loyola University Chicago
Medical School: Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Professional Interests: Surgical oncology, basic and translational research in tumor biology, surgical education and mentorship
Personal Interests: Reading, art, poetry, my dogs, sushi
Research Location: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute
Research Focus: Surgical Oncology, Liver Cancer Immunology

Post Graduate Positions

Class of 2024

Class of 2023

• Sarah Jochum, MD - Cleveland Clinic, Colorectal Surgery Fellowship
• Joseph Minalt, MD - Northwestern University, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
• Hiroko Nakahama, MD – Ohio State University, Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship
• M. Diya Sabbagh, MD – Brown University, Plastic Surgery Program
• Giacomo Waller, MD – Mt. Sinai Hospital New York, Surg Onc Fellowship
• Xuanji Wang, MD – Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Breast Surgery Fellowship

Class of 2022

• Emanuel Eugia MD – Memorial Sloan Kettering, Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Brittany Hasty MD – University of Calgary, Pediatric Surgery Fellowship
• Daniel Hubbs MD – Weill Cornell, Endocrine Surgery Fellowship
• Christina Link, MD – Franciscan Health/Indiana University, Colorectal Surgery Fellowship
• Patrick Sweigert, MD – Ohio State University, MIS/Bariatric Surgery Fellowship
• Brendan Ringhouse, MD – Washington University, Trauma Surgery Fellowship

Class of 2021

• Dr. Adrienne Cobb, MD – Anderson, Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Favin Babu – University of Chicago, Cardiothoracic Surgical Fellowship
• Dr. Thomas Smith – Northwestern University, Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Sarah Foyil – Texas Heart, Cardiothoracic Surgical Fellowship
• Dr. Daniel deLahunta – Henry Ford, Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Tong Qu – University of Pittsburgh, Surgical Oncology Fellowship

Class of 2020

• Dr. John Andre – University of California Davis, Burn Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Fadi Bakhos – Cleveland Clinic Florida, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Kristen Ban – Washington University in St. Louis/Barnes Jewish Hospital, Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Sean Nassoly – John Wayne Cancer Institute at Santa Monica Complex, General Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Stephanie Peters – Swedish Medical Center (Seattle, WA), Colorectal Surgery Fellowship

Class of 2019

• Dr. Elizabeth Berger – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center- Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Jacqueline Brosius – John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County-Trauma/Surgery Critical Care Fellowship
• Dr. Johanna Fox – General Surgery Attending in Minneapolis, MN
• Dr. Ann Hwalek – The Ohio State University, Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Anai Kothari, MD – Anderson Cancer Center, Complex General Surgery Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Elizabeth Wood – Henry Ford, Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship

Class of 2018

• Dr. Justin Dvorak – Cook County Hospital, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
• Dr. Casey Holmes – Cleveland Clinic Florida, Plastic Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Alaina Lasinski – UT Southwestern, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
• Dr. Sungho Lim – Cleveland Clinic, Vascular Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Yuda Liu – Jackson Health Miami, Thoracic Surgery Fellowship
• Dr. Eileen O' Halloran – Fox Chase Cancer Center, Surgical Oncology Fellowship
• Dr. Geoff Vana – University of Cincinnati, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Research Overview

The Department of Surgery's Division of Surgical Research is unique in many ways. Unlike a lot of research and clinical programs that operate independently of one another, there is a close coordination between the basic science and clinical programs allowing researchers and physicians to work closely together to investigate and attempt to solve clinical problems. Additionally, residents interested in basic and clinical research are given the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of science, from digesting the literature to designing experiments in an environment in which they are mentored on a one-on-one basis. Once applicants are accepted into the research program, they have the opportunity to choose from a set of departmental investigators to mentor them throughout their training. Most residents take academic time after second year of surgical training.

In collaboration with the Burn Shock Trauma Institute and the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center Oncology Research Institute, the Department has developed active research programs in burn, shock and trauma injury, health services research, inflammation, oncology, and vascular biology. Research funding is derived from a variety of sources including the NIH. The Department bears the distinction as one of the few surgery departments in the country with two T32 NIH- training grants.

Research Investigators

• Mashkoor A. Choudhry
• Michael Nishimura
• Wei Qiu
• Qun Sophia Zang
• John Kubasiak
• Marshall Baker
• Frederick Luchette
• Vivian Gahtan
• Luis Fernandez

Labs & Centers

• Clinical Data Analytics and Applied Medical Informatics Research
• Burn and Shock Trauma Research Institute
• Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center

Resources

• Loyola Health Sciences Library
• Center For Health Outcomes and Informatics Research
• Clinical Research Office
• Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Funding

• Loyola's Research Funding Committee
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Center for Health Outcomes Funding
• Chief Resident in Quality and Safety at the VA

Conference Schedule

• Surgical Conferences

Division Research Meetings and Ongoing Projects

• Meeting time and ongoing projects

Recent Publications

• Link to PubMed
• National Center for Biotechnology Information