Meet our Residents and Fellows
Message from Our Chief Residents
Welcome to the Anesthesiology Residency Program at Montefiore Medical Center! We are thrilled that you are considering joining us in one of the most vibrant and diverse communities within New York City. The Bronx is not only home to the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Zoo, New York Yankees, and Arthur Ave (the "real Little Italy"), but is also one of the birthplaces of hip-hop – with cultural influence across the globe. Despite these significant landmarks and contributions, many communities within the Bronx encounter significant socioeconomic challenges, which have major impacts on the borough’s population health. As the only major academic institution in the Bronx, Montefiore offers a unique opportunity to serve and learn from this community.
Our anesthesiology program recruits 17 residents per year from across the country and around the world. As a resident here, you will benefit from a thoughtfully curated clinical experience with exposure to routine and cutting-edge procedures in all major surgical subspecialties. Our department is composed of specialists in adult cardiothoracic anesthesia, critical care medicine, obstetric anesthesia, pediatric anesthesia, regional and acute pain, neuroanesthesia, transplant anesthesia and advanced airway. Residents work with faculty who are subject matter experts in each of these fields and receive comprehensive didactic and intraoperative instruction.
Residents care for patients at four major clinical locations including Moses, Weiler, Wakefield, and the Hutchinson campus. At the Moses and Weiler campuses, residents experience a more typical academic environment, with high-acuity patients undergoing complex procedures. The Wakefield and Hutch campuses offer the opportunity to work in ambulatory surgery and higher turnover settings. Our residents graduate as well-rounded anesthesiologists who excel in their attending positions or continue their training in competitive fellowships.
We pride ourselves on having a tight-knit resident community. The Residency Program hosts a variety of regular social events throughout the year both within and beyond the city. We also have several department-wide events that provide opportunities for residents, attendings, and staff members to interact outside the operating room.
For applicants interested in developing their skills as clinician scientists, our department has a robust research program led by our Department Chair, Dr. Matthias Eikermann. In addition to the Anesthesiology Digital Health Lab’s many projects, numerous faculty members have received prestigious research grants. Our department’s work has been published in high-impact factor journals including the British Journal of Anaesthesia (BJA) and Anesthesia & Analgesia. Our faculty members are always excited to welcome and mentor future clinician scientists who share a passion for research.
Thank you for visiting our website! We hope our brief introduction has been helpful. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us via email (anes.request@gmail.com) if you have any questions about the program.
Sincerely,
Christine, Doug, and Kirk
2024-2025 Chief Residents
Residents
PGY 1 Interns
Dhanesh Binda, MD
Medical School: Boston University School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Yash Bisen, MD
Medical School: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Aimee Capellan, MD
Medical School: Albany Medical College
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Willa Gutfreund, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Yunmin (Annie) Lee, MD
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Christian Mpody, MD, PhD
Medical School: Universite de Lome Au Togo
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Joseph Paladino, MD
Medical School: Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Simran Patel, MD
Medical School: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Peter Principe, MD
Medical School: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Maira Rudolph, MD
Medical School: Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitaet
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Wenzin Zhu, MD
Medical School: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
CA1 Residents
Justin Absher, MD
Medical School: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: jabsher@montefiore.org
Mark Berkowitz, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: mberkowitz@montefiore.org
Audrey Crane, MD
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: aucrane@montefiore.org
Ashwinn John, MD
Medical School: Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Advanced/Internship: Piedmont Medical Center, Healthcare
Tyler Kim, MD
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: tykim@montefiore.org
Robert Lis, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: olis@montefiore.org
Troy Lovett, MD
Medical School: Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: tlovett@montefiore.org
Hannah Penny, MD
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: hpenny@montefiore.org
Daran Schiller, MD
Medical School: Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Advanced/Internship: NYU Langone Health
Dimpie Shah, MD
Medical School: Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: dimshah@montefiore.org
Nathan Taber, MD
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: ntaber@montefiore.org
Leon Yang, MD
Medical School: Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: leyang@montefiore.org
Esther Yoo, MD
Medical School: SMY Downstate Medical Center
Advanced/Internship: Mount Sinai
Nina Zhu, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: nzhu@montefiore.org
CA2 Residents
Alexander Casler, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: acasler@montefiore.org
Yitzchak Dayan, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Internship: Staten Island University Hospital
Email: ydayan@montefiore.org
Neil Desai, MD
Medical School: Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: nedesai@montefiore.org
Steven Flamer, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Advanced/Internship: Lincoln Hospital
Email: flamer@montefiore.org
Elizabeth Hanna, MD
Medical School: Florida International University
Advanced/Internship: Lincoln Hospital
Email: elhanna@montefiore.org
Rishabh Kodia, MD
Medical School: Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Advanced/Internship: USF Morsani
Email: rkodia@montefiore.org
Kevin Lu, MD
Medical School: The Medical College of Georgia
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: klu@montefiore.org
Shaun Medina, MD
Medical School: Ohio State College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: shamedina@montefiore.org
Yair Miller, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: ymiller@montefiore.org
Danielle Nogoy, MD
Medical School: Rutgers School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine
Email: dnogoy@montefiore.org
Derek Nie, MD
Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: dnie@monteiore.org
Seung (Lucy) Oh, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: seoh@montefiore.org
Robert Palacios, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: rpalacio@montefiore.org
Michelle Perez Roman, MD
Medical School: Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine
Advanced/Internship: Mount Sinai South Nassau
Email: mperezroma@montefiore.org
Neal Sethi, MD
Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: neasethi@montefiore.org
Phillip Sgobba, MD
Medical School: USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
Advanced/Internship: Jersey Shore Medical Center
Email: psgobba@montefiore.org
Priyanka Wadgaonkar, MD
Medical School: SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: pwadgaonka@montefiore.org
CA3 Residents
Kirk Benack, MD
Medical School: Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: kbenack@montefiore.org
Douglas Choe, MD
Medical School: University of Massachussettts Medical School
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: dchoe@montefiore.org
Galila Flatow, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: gshapiro@montefiore.org
Abhinav Gangasani, MD
Medical School: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: agangasani@montefiore.org
Merlyn George, MD
Medical School: SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: mergeorge@montefiore.org
Youxin Guan, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Internship: SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Christine Ha, MD
Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Internship: Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center
Email: cha@montefiore.org
Jiajun Li, MD
Medical School: FLU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Internship: USF Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point
Email: jli5@montefiore.org
May Li, MD
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine
Internship: Abington – Jefferson Health
Email: nicpatel@montefiore.org
Shawn Han Ling, MD
Medical School: University of Texas School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: hling@montefiore.org
Christina McGrath, MD
Medical School: Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Internship: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Email: chmcgrath@montefiore.org
Sandra Mikhael, MD
Medical School: Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: smikhael@montefiore.org
Nickhil Patel, MD
Medical School: University of Virginia
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: nicpatel@montefiore.org
Ahmad Sadique, MD
Medical School: Drexel University School of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: ahsadique@montefiore.org
Maged Soliman, MD
Medical School: University of Cairo, Faculty of Medicine
Categorical: MMC/Internal Medicine/Anesthesia
Email: masoliman@montefiore.org
Jordan Thompson, MD
Medical School: University of Florida College of Medicine
Internship: Zucker School of Medicine
Email: jordthomps@montefiore.org
Michael Xu, MD
Medical School: SUNY – Downstate College of Medicine
Internship: Lenox Hill Hospital
Email: mixu@montefiore.org
Fellows
Adult Cardiothoracic
Gaetano Florio, MD
Medical School: Universita degli Studi di Bari Also Moro Facolta di Medicina
Shaopeng Huang, MD
Medical School:
Residency: Metropolitan Hospital
Anjan Saha, MD
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: SUNY Upstate Medical University
Imran Sharaf, MD
Medical School: Rawalpindi Medical College
Residency: Government Gordon College
Pediatric
Shilpan Chokshi, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: Saint Joseph’s University Medical Center
Jenny Mar Rojas, MD
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Residency: NYU
Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine
Zachary Adler, MD
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
Categorical: MMC / Medicine
Residency: Montefiore Medical Center
Angelica Bialczak, DO
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic
Residency: Medstar Georgetown University
Ilana Schoenbrun, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: Saint Joseph’s University Medical Center
Preet Korani, DO
Medical School: Touro Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Stony Brook
Dominque Chang, MD
Medical School: University of West Indies
Residency: University of West Indies, St. Augustine
Obstetrical
Rishabh Jindal, MD
Medical School: Christian Medical College
Residency: Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
Adult Critical Care Medicine
Sowmyashree Karanth, MD
Medical School: K.S. Hedge Medical Academy
Airway
Hazim Babikir, MD
Medical School: Saint Petersburg State University
Residency: Saint Peters Academy of postgraduate studies
Neuroanesthesia
Ayse Okur, MD
Medical School: Ardeniz Universitesi Tip Fakultesi
Residency: Istanbul Medeniyet University
