Meet our Faculty
Meet the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency Program Faculty
Davis Yang, MD
Program Director and Department Chair
I’m a Chicago native and have lived near the North Shore of Chicago since I was in first grade. I have always been drawn to health sciences and technology. I studied biomedical engineering at Northwestern in Evanston and medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In 1994, I made the fateful decision to do my residency training at MacNeal Hospital in family medicine.
30 years later, I still love MacNeal and the people here. I have seen this program from many perspectives – as an intern, chief resident, faculty member, Center Director, and as Program Director for the past 14 years. My admiration and affection for MacNeal and its people continues to grow.
I am fortunate to have had many mentors during my time here, including the opportunity to be influenced by each of the four previous program directors of MacNeal, starting with Dr. Ken Kessel who founded the program in 1969. The legacy of the MacNeal program is important to me and I am passionate about maintaining the high caliber and tradition of our program.
I love to learn new things and to share that knowledge. My time at MacNeal has been full of opportunities to learn new knowledge and skills in areas such as informatics, Medical Acupuncture and more recently POCUS and lifestyle medicine. I strive to provide the same encouragement and opportunities for our faculty and residents to constantly grow and pursue their interests and passions.
I am an unapologetic Apple fanboy and some of my outside interests are audiobooks and pretty much anything high-tech or automation related (3d printing, robotics, drones, VR, AI,...)
I still live on the North Shore, in Evanston, with my wife and children. Two of my kids were delivered at MacNeal by MacNeal FM residents.
Yvonne T. Murphy, MD
Associate Program Director
I grew up in Northwest Indiana and then went downstate to Indiana University for my undergraduate degree in biology with a minor in psychology. Subsequently, I headed east to the University of Rochester in upstate New York for medical school, residency, and a two-year fellowship. In medical school, I was taught by George Engel, the physician who wrote the original paper on the biopsychosocial model of care. My residency was community-based at Highland Hospital and my fellowship focused on family therapy and faculty development.
I’ve been part of the MacNeal faculty since 2001. My passions are creating excellent residency education, teaching behavioral medicine & doctor-patient communication skills, and helping residents develop skills in maintaining their own wellbeing. My goal is to teach residents the skills they need to help patients feel better. This includes a mix of both evidence-based medical therapies and interpersonal skills. I have developed an entire curriculum that is used at Family Medicine residency programs throughout the country to teach key communication skills. I also develop and implement curricula in physician wellbeing, patient safety, psychopharmacology, and resident assessment and remediation.
I love working at MacNeal and being part of the residency program. I also love practicing full-spectrum family medicine. I practiced OB for 10 years and still do prenatal care, newborn care, many women’s health and other procedures as well as enjoying my complex geriatric patients and providing end-of-life care. It is my privilege to care for three generations of some families in our practice.
When I’m not at work, I love to walk in the woods, visit family and friends, or relax with my husband who is a retired neurologist and our dog Chewie. I am an avid environmentalist. I drive an electric car powered by wind energy, reuse or recycle everything, and eat a vegetarian (& sometimes vegan) diet. I look forward to sharing my passion for Family Medicine with you.
Bobby Chan, MD
Associate Program Director/FMC Center Director
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where I attended the University of Illinois in Chicago for both my undergraduate and medical degrees. Flames for life! Then I came to MacNeal to complete my family medicine residency training. I was fortunate enough to serve as chief resident alongside Dr. Bhatnagar, and became interested in teaching (and hearing myself talk), paving the way for me to join the faculty upon graduation.
In addition to my usual faculty duties, I oversee the inpatient adult medicine and ICU rotations and I have been serving as the Center Director for the past 4 years. On the hospital side, I have served on the Medical Executive Committee and currently sit on the Family Medicine Quality Assurance Committee.
My special interests include inpatient medicine, diabetes and obesity management. When not lurking under the piles of paper on/under my desk, I enjoy spending time with my family and my wife (we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary together), including: all things Disney, participating in the Girls On The Run program, Chicago Summer Dance, watching all sorts of tv -- my wife accuses me of being willing to watch anything that’s on! My latest interests include self-help/reality series and documentaries like: Hotel Impossible, Bar Rescue, Why Planes Crash, Shark Week, and anything on the Food Network and ESPN.
Despite the traffic and parallel parking, we live in Chicago, but are looking to eventually move back to my roots in the burbs. I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of the MacNeal family for 8 years and look forward to many more.
Nereida Esparza, MD
Associate Program Director/Curriculum Director
I was born in Chicago to immigrant parents from Mexico. My family moved to Berwyn in the latter half of my childhood and I lived in the community for 28 years. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago and stayed on for medical school at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. I decided to return to Berwyn to complete my family medicine training at the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency program as well as a one-year fellowship in women’s health. After my fellowship, I joined the core clinical faculty and continue to enjoy being part of the MacNeal family over the past 12 years.
In my role as core clinical faculty, I enjoy working with residents on a daily basis. I also serve as the Director of Curriculum, I am part of our Scholarly Activity Committee and work on Diversity & Inclusion efforts including community outreach. My clinical interests include women's health, obesity medicine, chronic care management and I participate in our home visit program. I also sit on MacNeal Hospital's Family Medicine Quality Assurance Committee.
Being a bicultural and bilingual provider, I continue to have strong ties to the Berwyn community and love to work with the diverse population of MacNeal's service area. I love this community and continue to enjoy watching the many changes it has undergone in the 20+ years I have either lived or worked here.
Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my husband, our two energetic boys, our pet dog Snoopy and our large extended family. I enjoy traveling as much as possible, watching the Chicago Bears play football, reading a great book, swimming or working on arts and crafts at home. I hope to continue to provide exceptional medical care to the community that helped me become the doctor I am today.
Alina Merrill, DO
Director of Osteopathic Education
After completing a residency in family medicine at Beth Israel in New York City, I worked at an underserved community clinic in Chicago for three years practicing full-spectrum family medicine including obstetrics. I have always enjoyed teaching and tutoring and working with learners and was even a substitute teacher in my hometown of San Diego.
I studied medicine at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and was a chief resident in the family medicine residency program at Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Medicine in New York City. I now hold the position of Director of Osteopathic Education at MacNeal. I love the variety of my job in the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency program. On any given day, you may find me teaching a group of residents on labor and delivery, leading an osteopathic hands-on workshop, or supervising a wide variety of procedures in our clinic from toenail removals to epidermal cyst excisions to IUD placements or endometrial biopsies in our clinic at MacNeal. I also really enjoy learning from the wide cultural diversity of patients and staff that we have at MacNeal. I continue to practice obstetrics and have a passion for reproductive health. I speak both Russian and Spanish.
On days off, if my nose is not buried in a book, you may either find me crossfitting or in Oak Park hanging out with my family swimming, ice skating, bowling or playing tennis. Since growing up in San Diego, I continue to worship the outdoors. On vacation, when I am not sharing a drink and a meal with family and friends, you may find me skiing, snowboarding, hiking, boating, kayaking or convincing others to join me playing a new boardgame.
Edward C. Foley, MD
Faculty Development Fellowship Director
I was born and raised in Chicago where I attended the University of Chicago for both my undergraduate and medical degrees. I completed a residency in family medicine at the Rush-Christ Family Medicine Program where I became interested in teaching and served as chief resident. To pursue this interest in teaching, I completed a two-year fellowship in family medicine faculty development at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh, where I also obtained a MPH degree in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.
Before coming to MacNeal in 2000, I served as faculty at two family medicine residency programs and was the founding program director of the Rush-Copley Family Medicine Residency program in Aurora, IL.
In addition to my usual faculty duties, I oversee the scholarly activity projects of the residents, the geriatric rotation, journal club and the house call program along with Drs. Esparza, Merrill and Ralston. I started and direct the faculty development fellowship here at MacNeal. On the hospital side, I have served on the Medical Executive Committee and currently am the chair of the Family Medicine Quality Assurance Committee. I also am a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee.
My special interests include evidence-based medicine/information mastery, preventive health care, geriatrics, house calls and research.
I live in Wheaton with my wife. I have a daughter, a son-in-law and three grandchildren who live nearby in Winfield and a son and daughter-in-law who live in Naperville. I play handball year round, ride my bike for exercise weather permitting and dabble in stamp collecting, model railroading and sports memorabilia for relaxation.
Aaron Lee, DO
Sports Medicine Fellowship Director
Though I was born north of Chicago, I was raised in the Cleveland area. I grew up playing soccer, and any other sport I could find – all the way through college. After completing a psychology degree at Miami University I spent two years working as a therapist on an adolescent psychiatric unit before pursuing my medical degree.
I completed my medical training at the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where I met my wife. After school we moved to Chicago, where I began my post-graduate training in family medicine at Illinois Masonic Hospital and served as chief resident in my final year. Having been a lifelong athlete, I went on to complete a fellowship in sports medicine at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL.
Upon completion of my training in 2010, I accepted a position with the MacNeal Hospital Family Medicine Residency program as core faculty and as the Associate Program Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship program – advancing to the fellowship's Program Director a year later. Now with over a decade teaching residents at MacNeal, I am in charge of the musculoskeletal curriculum for the residency, and continue to act as the Program Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship. While, I continue to supervise our residents in the family medicine clinic, my primary practice is now a full spectrum primary care sports medicine where you will always find me serving our community surrounded by learners from our various programs.
I was drawn to MacNeal because of its long history of excellence in both family and sports medicine, and because of the quality of the residents that I met here. Since coming here, I have come to truly appreciate the quality of our faculty – their dedication to resident education, and the feeling of family that they foster have made a significant impact on me. I love teaching our residents and they are often the best part of my day.
You’ll find that I am always up for a conversation about anything. It’s a hobby or a vice – I’m not sure which. I am an avid reader, both of books and of current events. Don’t tell my patients, but I love streaming TV and the types of foods we tell our patients not to eat. I pack my lunch every day, but with the healthy stuff (you can tell my patients that). When I am not at work you will usually find me spending time with my family, mostly chasing around my two growing sons, or just trying to relax.
Tamajah Jordan, MD
Core Faculty
I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a BS in Biology and a minor in French. I always knew that I wanted to work with underserved patients in a primary care setting. I explored my interest during my clinical years at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of my rotations were at Grady Memorial, a well-known county hospital. I completed my Family Medicine residency in 2007 at the Ventura County Medical Center in California and served as chief resident during my third year. I embraced the Latino community and worked with my colleagues annually to provide free health screenings at the local farmers' market.
In my effort to serve in a more culturally diverse, urban setting I accepted a position in Oak Park, Illinois as a Maternal Child Health Fellow at the West Suburban Medical Center. I was energized as I shared concepts with the students, residents, and fellows. I served as co-director of the MCH fellowship for five years before accepting the position of medical director at the federally qualified health center where I cared for my patients. I am excited about my role as a core faculty member of our residency program because I teach amazing residents and students while providing obstetrical and medical care to our patients in the Chicagoland area.
My husband, Corey, and I love to travel. We strive to see one new country each year – even if it is via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My insatiable desire for travel and international medical missions keeps me going. I have spent time serving in Haiti and Puerto Rico with my church family. The MacNeal Family Medicine Residency played a major role in how I met Corey because a former resident who he supervised while working as a Pediatric hospitalist introduced us.
When I am not at work I am usually at home cooking, baking, or watching shows like “Whose Line" or pretending to be a contestant on "Cash Cab" or "Family Feud." My DC and Marvel comic IQ has improved as Corey teaches me about characters like Nubia, Ironheart, and Black Lightning. I have been to C2E2 and Wakandacon. I enjoy taking walks in our Oakland neighborhood and playing tennis. I am proud to say that I no longer have two left feet due to my salsero spouse.
Eugene Lee, MD
Core Faculty
I was born and raised in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. I went to Boston University for undergrad and medical school. I missed being in the Midwest though and so made my way back to Chicago but overshot my landing by about 150 miles and landed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for my Family Medicine Residency. After Residency I stayed at UW-Madison for an Academic Integrative Medicine Fellowship. During that time, I had the opportunity to become a certified yoga teacher and certified guided imagery practitioner. I also have taken courses in osteopathy as an allopath and have utilized these skills for my patients. I am also comfortable with herbs and supplements, lifestyle medicine, other systems of healing, and mind-body therapies.
After fellowship, I fixed my GPS and returned home to Chicago and joined the Family Medicine Department at Loyola. While there I became the Assistant Course Director for the Wellness Curriculum and created a narrative medicine elective and a LGBTQ+ medicine elective for the medical students. I also became a Peer Reviewer for the newsletter Integrative Medicine Alert.
I missed resident education and so sought a residency faculty role and I chose MacNeal because of the amazingly talented and diverse faculty and residents at MacNeal. My medical interests include patient and resident education, LGBTQ+ care, adolescent health, integrative medicine, and office procedures. I speak Spanish, food related Mandarin, and basic ASL. I love cooking and baking. Even though I rarely participate, I try my best to stay up to date on the important things in life… You know, like celebrity gossip, online trends, sales, music, t.v. shows, etc. In non-pandemic times I love to travel.
Christopher Gozali, DO
Core Faculty
I was born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. I attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for undergrad with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Loyola University Chicago for graduate school where I earned my M.S. in Physiology. After some time spent working at Hines VA Hospital in clinical research, I attended medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine. It was there I met my wife, Eleanor, and once we finished our time on the East Coast, we decided to return to the Midwest and were fortunate to couples match at MacNeal Family Medicine Residency program, eventually becoming co-chief residents. After the completion of residency, I continued my time here at MacNeal with the Faculty Development Fellowship run by Dr. Foley. After a great fellowship which included the birth of our daughter, I happily accepted a position as core clinical faculty for the MacNeal FMRP to continue working with the amazing faculty and residents.
My professional and clinical interests include preventative care, osteopathic manipulative techniques, medical education and all types of clinic procedures from OMT to shave biopsies. I also oversee our didactic curriculum./p>
Outside of medicine, my interests include comic books, video games, fantasy football, being a fan of Chicago sports (a big source of grief), and enjoying and exploring the wonders of parenthood with our baby daughter Lilah.
Mathew Lo, DO
Core Faculty
I was born and raised in the sunny state of California where I attended the University of California, Merced for my BS in Biological Sciences and met my wonderful wife, Cecilia. I have always felt a strong pull to medicine, but took some time after my undergraduate career to explore other aspects of the medical field. While completing the Pre-Health Professionals Post-Baccalaureate program at California State University, East Bay, I worked at a genetic screening company and later as a behavioral technician for children with autism spectrum disorder. Volunteering at a free clinic in my hometown of Tracy really solidified my role in medicine and wanting to pursue my career as a physician. This is also where my passion for service to the medically underserved first started.
That pursuit and curiosity eventually brought me to Chicagoland, where I attended Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. My passion for working with the underserved continued to flourish while rotating through various clinics and hospitals in Chicagoland. I rotated at MacNeal as a student, albeit not with the Family Medicine Team, but fell in love with the patient population. I loved the opportunity to help the Spanish-speaking community while getting to learn more Spanish along the way. I was fortunate to complete my residency here at MacNeal FMRP and served as one of the Chief Residents during my final year of training. I enjoyed my time at MacNeal Family Medicine and working with the amazing patient population so much that I took the opportunity to continue my career with MacNeal by staying on as clinical faculty.
Medically, I enjoy the full spectrum of Family Medicine including prenatal care, office-based procedures and osteopathic-manipulative medicine. During my training I developed an interest in medical education and training, POCUS, EMR optimization and home visits.
Outside of medicine, my wife and I enjoy traveling and trying all of the foods. Chicago is a top food city and we have made a point to take advantage of it. We have traveled through many parts of Central and South America, with plans to travel overseas to Europe soon. Our favorite country so far has been Mexico, where we seem to keep going back to. I am an avid soccer fan, particularly Arsenal FC and Chicago Fire FC. I also enjoy dabbling in amateur photography. We like to spend time outdoors with our dog, Peanut, who is heavily featured on our camera reels next to all our culinary adventures.
Brian M. Ralston, MD
Clinical Faculty/Sports Medicine
I started at MacNeal in 1994 as a sports medicine fellow, and have been here ever since, serving as both community-based faculty for the residency and lecturer for the sports medicine fellowship.
I am originally from Virginia, received my undergraduate degree from MIT, attended medical school at the University of Virginia, and completed a residency in family practice at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
I have a part-time administrative role at MacNeal as the Chief Medical Information Officer, in which I help optimize our information systems for patient safety, quality of care, and provider efficiency. I was a former President of the MacNeal Medical Staff.
My activities outside MacNeal include charitable work volunteering as teaching faculty at a free medical clinic in Chicago, and also working with a group of physicians who travel annually to Honduras to provide medical care to underserved people. I am co-author of two books for men about pregnancy, and a child’s 1st year of life.
Eliza Pierko, MD
Assistant Program Director of Sports Medicine Fellowship
I was born and raised in a small town in North East region of Poland. Growing up in the heart of the "last untouched wilderness of Europe", the Białowieża National Park, I spent most of my time outdoors, exploring the beauty of my Motherland and developing my lifetime passion – love for sports. Whether it was cross country running, track and field, or playing basketball, I knew from the early days, I wanted to connect my passion with my career.
After graduating from Medical University in Bialystok, Poland, my husband and I, decided to continue our medical education in the United States. I have completed Internal Medicine Residency at Amita St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago I continued my American Dream by joining the oldest Sports Medicine Fellowship Program in Chicagoland area at MacNeal Hospital. It was love from the first sight. Wonderful atmosphere, supporting staff and knowledgeable teachers made my training a pleasure and shaped me into a confident, competent, and passionate Sport Medicine physician.
The opportunity of joining the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Loyola MacNeal arose a couple of years later, and with excitement, I have begun my professional career as a core faculty for the fellowship and now serve as an Associate Program Director for Sports Medicine Fellowship. I am finally in the place, where I can follow three passions of my life - sports, medicine, and teaching new generations of young physicians.
Outside of the office, you can find me either outdoors training for a long distance runs, exploring Midwest campgrounds, travelling through US cheering on my triathlete husband, or…in the kitchen. As an owner of over 50 cookbooks I am always testing new bread or plant based recipes. At the end of the day, a true balm to my soul is time spent with my husband, twin daughters and a good book.
David Levy, MD
Community Faculty
After receiving my medical degree from Temple University, I did residency in Rochester, NY, followed by an academic development fellowship at Jefferson University in Philadelphia. While my wife completed her residency in Philadelphia, I started in clinical practice there before she and I moved to Chicago together in 1990.
Since moving to Chicago over 30 years ago, I have been a community faculty member of this residency program and worked with over 300 residents. Throughout this time, I have maintained a busy out-patient as well as in-patient practice, admitting most of my in-patients to the Family Medicine service. I take great pleasure in working alongside these young doctors as they develop from green interns, anxious about their knowledge and responsibilities, into profoundly capable and skilled physicians. Watching that evolution, precepting and guiding young physicians is a very gratifying experience that I hope to continue for years to come.
While at MacNeal, I served as the President of the medical staff for several years, the Chair of our Family Medicine department for a decade, and a member of countless committees. I have simultaneously managed my own private practice in Chicago, Illinois, for the last 20 years. However, I am most proud and humbled by the teaching awards I have received from our MacNeal residents as well as University of Chicago medical students. When you join this residency, I look forward to sharing this challenging but gratifying career with you as well!
Mithi Janakiram, MD
Community Faculty
I spent a large part of my youth moving to various places across the United States secondary to my father’s job. Finally in middle school, I told my parents that we needed to stay put. This was in the midwest in a small town near Cleveland, Ohio. They listened. There I went on to do my combined degree BS/MD at NEOMED. After completing this program I knew the best place to practice Family Medicine would be the Midwest. I wanted a bigger city though. I participated in the couples match with my husband. We chose the greatest city in the midwest :Chicago! We decided to start our new home here in 2003.
After completing my residency at MacNeal Hospital, I knew that I wanted to stay within the organization. I chose to be an employed doctor through MacNeal in their most southwestern area, Bridgeview, Illinois. I now live very close to this diverse area. I also knew that I loved teaching eager residents. I started working part-time at the residency program one half day week. That was in 2006. I haven’t changed my mind. It’s still such a joy bringing my “real world” experiences back to the residency.
In addition to seeing all ages of patients. I truly enjoy diabetes management, adolescent screenings as well as women’s preventive care. When I am not at work you can find me reading, eating and exercising when I am not with my three wonderful daughters.