Class of 2025

Ajjya Acharya, MD (he/him)
University of Arizona College of Medicine
Post Pediatric Portal Program

Hello there! I grew up most of my life in the blazing heat of Phoenix, Arizona where I learned two supreme truths: (1) air conditioning and swimming pools are the greatest of humankind’s innovation, and (2) a dry heat is by far more tolerable than humidity. I attended Arizona State University for Biochemistry and Biological Science and then the University of Arizona College of Medicine where I quickly fell in love with the pediatric population. This led me to pack my bags from my home state and make the lengthy trek to Sacramento, California for pediatric residency at UC Davis, however, I knew my training would not stop there. I was always fascinated with how one comes to make a choice -- how the amalgamation of their life experiences, past and present, lead a person to do the things they do, and so naturally I found myself gravitating toward the spheres of mental health. Now, as a post pediatric portal child psych fellow with UPenn and CHOP, I look forward to diving (swimming-pool-pun intended) into this passionate curiosity to find a marriage between the practices of pediatrics and adult/child psychiatry, both clinically and within the wilds of research and academia. Armed with my brilliant partner and our three adorable pups, I am excited to see what the next three years has in store.

Stephanie Bi, MD (she/her)
University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences the Pritzker School of Medicine

I grew up in a small suburban town in New Jersey. After high school, I moved to my second home, Chicago, for college at the University of Chicago, where I studied Biology and English. My majors reflect my longstanding interest in medical humanities, particularly narrative medicine. Before medical school, I worked in health administration at a public safety net hospital in Chicago. From there, I returned to the University of Chicago for medical school, where I developed a love for psychiatry with particular interest in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. Throughout medical school, I’ve become passionate about student-run free clinics, LGBTQ health research, and medical education – I hope to continue work in these areas (and discover many new ones) as a Penn resident! I am so excited to return to the northeast and to such a vibrant city as Philadelphia. Outside of medicine, I enjoy biking, dance, and being the best cat mom I can be. 

Calvin Chan, MD, PhD (he/him)
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Research Track

Hi all! I was born and raised in Northern Virginia just outside of DC. After graduating from the University of Mary Washington with a major in biology, my passion for scientific discovery led me to pursue a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the NIH. At the NIH I fostered a long-lasting interest to integrate novel findings in basic sciences with clinical medicine. This led me to join the MD/PhD program at the University of Cincinnati wherein my PhD studies in the immunology program uncovered a complex interface between the immune system and adipose tissue function in obesity. Over my clinical years, I fell in love with Psychiatry due to the ability to dive deeply into unique patient stories which in turn directly impacted individualized patient care. For me, Penn was the ideal place to blend top notch and diverse clinical training in Psychiatry with unparalleled opportunities to pursue research rooted in the inter-relationship between inflammation and metabolism in modifying behavioral health. Despite the virtual format of this past year, the genuine warmth and camaraderie I experienced at Penn was absolutely incredible and makes me extremely excited to continue my journey at Penn! When I am not in the hospital or the lab, I love exploring the city and parks with my wife and son and cooking and eating diverse cuisines. 

Leilani Chirino, MD, PhD (she/her)
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

I grew up in Miami, FL. I graduated from Florida International University in 2009, and after graduation, I moved to Boston to work as a research technician at MIT. I came to Penn in 2012 where I received an MD and PhD. During my time at Penn, I worked at Puentes de Salud where I became interested in the mental health concerns of underserved communities. I am interested in community mental health, cultural psychiatry, and trauma. 

Jessica Dubin, MD (she/her)
Perelman School of Medicine at the Universiity of Pennsylvania

I was born and raised outside of Philadelphia, moved to NYC for my undergraduate degree at NYU, and majored in psychology where I realized I might want to be a psychiatrist one day. After graduating, I spent three years teaching high school chemistry at a Brooklyn public school while getting a masters in teaching, and enjoyed the challenge of making science fun. While I loved teaching, I found myself missing medicine and decided to come home to Philly for medical school at Penn. I fell in love with psychiatry during my clinical rotations and am thrilled to be staying here for residency. Within psychiatry, I am interested in community psychiatry and addiction, as well as consult-liaison psychiatry. I spend my free time baking, climbing, weightlifting, spending time with my cat, Nugget, and exploring the city!

Fikayo Falodun, MD (she/her)
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Hello Everyone! I was born in Nigeria and my family moved to the US when I was young. I grew up predominately in Prince George’s County, Maryland. For undergrad, I went to Penn where I studied the Biological Basis of Behavior, a major that explored the intersection of life experience, neurological processes, and psychiatric manifestations. I took a gap year before going to Columbia University for medical school. As a first-generation American, a major aspect of my desire to pursue psychiatry is the perceptions of mental illness within minority and immigrant populations. I am excited to be back at Penn, where I can not only work with a diverse patient population but know that I will be supported in my growth as a psychiatrist. Outside of the hospital, I enjoy painting, home gardening (21 plants and counting), dancing, and exploring new restaurants. 

Joshua Franklin, MD, PhD (he/him)
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Research Track

I grew up in New Jersey, and attended Princeton University, where I majored in Anthropology with a Certificate in Portuguese Language and Culture. I spent a year conducting ethnographic research on transgender activism and the right to health in Porto Alegre, Brazil as a Fulbright fellow before joining the MD/PhD program in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. My dissertation, titled "Following the Child's Lead," focused on the experiences of transgender young people and their families. I have been fascinated by psychiatry since I was an undergraduate, and I am particularly interested in the intersections of culture, identity and experience. Outside of work, I enjoy running and I can't wait for in-person racing to start again. You can find me on the Schuylkill River Trail or exploring the city with my wife and daughter.  

Teddy Goetz, MD (he/they)
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Research Track

I use he/him or they/them pronouns, and I grew up in Tucson, AZ and then Evanston, IL. At Yale, I studied biochemistry and gender studies, conducting research on a wide spectrum of biologically- and socially-determined aspects of gender-based health disparities, and earned my M.S. developing the first animal model of gender-affirming hormone therapy. I also ravenously wrote and engaged in feminist and LGBTQ activism, which continued during medical school at Columbia in New York City--both within my medical school and nationally as Co-Director of Research and Analytics for the Medical Student Pride Alliance (national LGBTQ medical student organization). My current focuses include mixed-methods research on LGBTQ mental health, as well as narrative medicine and physician advocacy. My goal is to have a dual clinical and research career, developing evidence-based therapeutic interventions for transgender, non-binary, and/or gender diverse individuals. Outside of medicine, I enjoy writing, photography, athletics, spending time with my wife and extended family, and cooking without recipes (especially while listening to a queer/feminist podcast about Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Feel free to check my research and artistic work out at teddygoetz.com. 

Angela Lee, MD, PhD (she/her)
Yale School of Medicine
Research Track

I was born and raised in Maryland, and went to the University of Maryland, College Park, for undergrad. I majored in Psychology and Neurophysiology and loved learning about human behavior and the underlying neurobiology. I caught the research bug working as an undergraduate research assistant in social psychology, cellular neurobiology, and bioengineering labs. After spending a year in Amsterdam investigating risk-taking behavior as a Fulbright scholar, I landed in New Haven, CT to do my MD-PhD at Yale. There, I studied sex differences in nicotine addiction and developed my passion for clinical psychiatry. I’m so excited to continue my training at Penn, where I hope to continue research in substance use disorders while learning more about all areas of psychiatry, but especially addiction psychiatry and women’s mental health. In my free time, you’ll likely find me napping, crafting, or hanging with my fiance and our dog.

Helen Liljenwall, MD (she/her)
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Hello! I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. In high school, I worked in a free clinic which is where I developed a passion for medicine and addressing health care disparities. I attended Duke University with these interests in mind where I majored in Psychology and minored in Biology. During my summer breaks in college, I worked in adult and child psychiatry clinics back in San Antonio where fell in love with the field of psychiatry. I decided to explore another new part of the country by moving to the Midwest for medical school at Washington University in St. Louis where I was able to experience the field of psychiatry at a new level and work with local efforts of community engagement. Through research opportunities at WashU, I was able to work with a team exploring parental and psychosocial risk factors for childhood psychopathology in children born very preterm. Following my trend of going to different parts of the country, I truly cannot wait to begin my training at Penn to keep moving with the thread of learning that began, for me, in high school. Within this ever-expanding field, I am particularly interested in perinatal mental health and child mental health, and the intersection between these areas. When I'm not in the hospital or studying, I love playing tennis, baking (especially cookies and my great grandmother's special sourdough bread recipe), and going running to explore the seasons in the new city I'm lucky enough to call home.

Gary Liu, MD, PhD (he/him)
Baylor College of Medicine
Research Track

I was born in Xi An, China and grew up in Bay Area, California. There, I witnessed my mom start off as a waitress who didn’t know English to becoming a programmer with a Master’s in computer science. While pursuing a MD/PhD at Baylor College of Medicine, I was fortunate enough to have married Dr. Julia Wang, a brilliant genetics researcher, fruit fly biologist, and currently a clinical pathology resident at Penn. My research career included studying heart development with Dr. Takashi Mikawa, interneuron function with Dr. Benjamin Arenkiel, and OCD with Dr. Eric Storch. One day, I dream of seeing my work and research directly improving patient care. My guilty pleasures include spontaneously adopting animals and making Julia watch old movies from my childhood.

Olubukola “Buki”Okafor MD,FAAP (she/her)
College Of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Post Pediatric Portal Program

I was born in and grew up on the campus of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. I had the privilege of growing up in such an academically rich environment which helped illuminate my career path. I attended Medical School and completed a Pediatric residency at the College of Medicine University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital, Ibadan. I relocated to the US and completed a Pediatric residency at the Brody School of Medicine in Greenville NC. I have worked in ambulatory Pediatrics, Pediatric Urgent Care, and the newborn nursery in Southwest Washington with Northwest Permanente in the last 10 years. I have had varied clinical interests: volunteering with orphanages, a master’s in clinical Dermatology, serving as guardian ad litem while in residency in Greenville NC, pediatric obesity and eating disorders in teenagers. My passion for psychiatry evolved while managing my panel of over 1500 patients with more than half of them being teenagers. I quickly learned some basic skills in adolescent psychiatry with the help of my Adolescent psychiatry colleagues who allowed me to curb side consult innumerable times. As a fellow in the Post Pediatric Portal Program here at CHOP and Penn, I expect to be excellently trained. My clinical interests include Child/Adolescent Psychiatry and eating disorders. When off work, self-care looks like Zumba, cooking, reading historical novels, choral singing, musicals.

Smrithi Prem, MD, PhD (she/her)
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Research Track

I was born in the beautiful state of Kerala in India but came to the US around 18 months of age. I lived in several states all over the US until my family settled in New Jersey. My growing fascination with biology and human behavior led me to pursue a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Lehigh University. At Lehigh, I threw myself into research- one of my greatest passions but soon discovered and fell in love with psychiatry. Thus, upon graduating, I pursued a combined MD/PhD degree at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson with the intent of becoming a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist. For my thesis work, I studied the developmental and molecular underpinnings of autism using patient derived neural stem cells. Between my thesis work and clinical rotations, I fell further in love with psychiatry and became fascinated with understanding the developmental underpinnings of psychiatric diseases. I am thrilled to be joining Penn Psychiatry where I can blend my interests in psychiatry and neurodevelopment and continue to grow as a physician-scientist. Outside of work, I love cooking, trying new restaurants, reading, and playing video and board games.

Rheaya Willis, MD (she/they)
Duke University School of Medicine

I was raised in Durham, North Carolina, and then moved to Connecticut to attend undergrad at Yale University. There I majored in psychology and I volunteered in a case management agency for homeless and unemployed individuals, which sparked my interest in the social determinants of mental health. After college I returned to my hometown to work in clinical research at Duke University, and later matriculated there for medical school. During my time as a medical student I contributed to the social determinants of health curriculum and led the LGBTQIA+ medical student association, both of which helped cultivate my passions for health equity and medical education. I fell in love with psychiatry during my clerkships, and I am excited to be a part of the Penn Psychiatry family. In my free time I enjoy cooking, making jewelry, doing yoga, and attending drag shows & concerts (once it’s safe to do so!).