Class of 2029

Katherine Aliano Ruiz, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Hello, I’m Kat! I was born and raised in Brazil before moving to New York to study English at Barnard College. While at Barnard, I interned with the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project where I deepened my passion for advocacy and working with marginalized communities and discovered my interest in medicine. After graduating, I moved to Philly and worked at a literacy and K-12 curriculum development company for 2 years before going to Bryn Mawr College to complete their postbaccalaureate premedical program. I went to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for medical school where I fell in love with psychiatry and the potential to make mental health care more accessible. I’m excited to be back in Philly at Penn and to train in such a supportive and warm community! My current clinical interests include child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, community psychiatry, and LGBTQ+ mental health. Outside of work, I love trying new restaurants, cooking, reading, drawing, spending time with family and friends, and getting invested in an array of TV shows.

Yocasta Alvarez-Bagnarol, MD, PhD
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
Research Track

Hi, I’m Yocasta Alvarez-Bagnarol! I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I majored in molecular biology at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where I later joined the MD/PhD program. I performed my PhD work at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), were I studied the neurobiology of opioid use disorder (OUD) using a multidisciplinary approach that combined chemogenetics, anatomical tracing, and behavioral analysis in preclinical models of heroin withdrawal. When I returned to medical school at UPR, I was deeply moved by patients’ journeys toward mental health recovery during my psychiatry clerkship. The complexity of psychiatric illness highlighted for me the urgent need for evidence-based approaches grounded in our growing understanding of neural circuits and neurotransmitter systems. As I continue to grow as a physician-scientist, I’m particularly interested in exploring the use of neuromodulation techniques as therapeutic interventions for OUD, and in integrating neuroimaging to better understand the circuit-based effects of these treatments. Outside of work, I enjoy working out, practicing yoga, reading psychological thrillers, building puzzles and Legos, visiting art museums, spending time with friends and family, and trying to keep my plants alive.

Emma Chaloux-Pinette, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Research Track

I was born and raised in southern Maine. From there, I completed my undergraduate degree in biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I volunteered as and EMT and did research on genetic factors of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorders. After completing my bachelor's degree, I pursued an MD/PhD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  My interest in the brain and behavior led me to spend my PhD studying the role of the amygdala in animal models of opioid use disorder. During my PhD I mentored several undergraduate students interested in medicine and research. Once I returned to medical school, my psychiatry clerkship reaffirmed my passion for psychiatry. Currently, my interests in psychiatry involve addiction and reproductive psychiatry. Outside or work, I love going on adventures with my dog, baking, and exploring the Philly food scene. 

Adaora Ekwonu, MD
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

Hi! My name is Adaora Ekwonu. I was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I went to the University of Chicago for undergrad and for medical school. I was a psychology major in undergrad, and I knew from very early on that I wanted to become a psychiatrist. In medical school I served as a leader of the Psychiatry Interest Group and volunteered at a student-run free psychiatric clinic in a women's shelter on the southside of Chicago. I think psychiatry is the most exciting and interesting field in medicine, because I get to use creative thinking and intuition to gain a deeper understanding of how thought patterns affect behavior. I love that I get to build trust with my patients and take the time to get to know them on an intimate level. I also love that I have the opportunity to care for some of the most vulnerable members of society. My academic interests include psychotherapy, forensics, neuromodulation, community psychiatry, and academic medicine. Outside of work, I enjoy watching movies (my favorite genres are horror and musicals), trying new restaurants, and going to football games. I'll always be a Carolina Panthers fan at heart, but Philly may turn me into an Eagles fan too! I'm so excited to spend the next four years learning everything I can about the human mind and working alongside my amazing co-interns. 

Brendan Ho, MD
Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania

Hi! I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio, where I grew up in the suburbs and went to college. While at the University of Cincinnati, I volunteered as an online crisis counselor during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversations I had laid bare a great need for mental healthcare across all ages and populations and inspired a passion to be able to provide more relief than I could at the time, eventually culminating in an interest in psychiatry. I left the Midwest to attend medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where my interest in psychiatry solidified and I began exploring different facets of the field through narrative medicine, advocacy for asylum seekers, and research using aggregate risk scores to predict the development of substance use disorders and model adolescent suicide attempts. My clinical interests are in psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychiatry, and integrated care models. Outside of medicine, I enjoy trying new recipes, getting a workout in (especially bouldering!), watching video essays, and, on rare occasion, doing a bit of writing.

Peter Lambert, MD, PhD
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Research Track

I grew up in College Station, TX and attended Rice University in Houston, TX for undergrad. There, I worked toward a degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology while studying oxalate metabolism in plants (on the coolest rooftop greenhouse in the Texas Medical Center). I became fascinated by the vast opportunities and complex questions in neuroscience and joined the MD-PhD program at WashU in St Louis, where I studied pharmacology and physiology of GABA-A receptors. Utilizing a variety of electrophysiological methods, much of my thesis work centered on the neurosteroid allopregnanolone and its effects on receptor, cell, and network activity in the brain to better understand its antidepressant effects. After returning to clinical training, my interest in clinical psychiatry was affirmed, I expanded my passion for psychopharmacology, and I uncovered a new curiosity for interventional psychiatry and neuromodulation. Clinically, I am interested in reproductive mental health, LGBTQ+ health, psychosis, and catatonia. I’m excited to join the Penn Psychiatry community and look forward to drawing inspiration from my clinical encounters to guide the next phase of my research training. Outside of work, I enjoy gardening, cooking, knitting, and exploring Philly with my partner Chris.

Nicolas Mandel, MD
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

I was raised in Washington D.C. where I had a chance to be exposed early on to mental health care and research in postpartum depression during summers spent taking short trips up the red line to the NIMH Bethesda Campus. Shortly after, I left home for Brown University where I had a chance to study the way our brains interact with the world and earn my degree in Neuroscience. At Penn I quickly gravitated to psychiatry. During my clerkships and subsequent rotations, I realized that psychiatry was the best platform for me to continue to explore the brain while also attempting to understand the metaphysical mind. I’m excited to continue training at Penn with the amazing mentors I’ve met so far and look forward to continuing to pursue my interests in the intersection of AI and mental health care, geriatric psychiatry, and addition psychiatry. Outside of medicine, I enjoy racquet sports, ice hockey, trying great restaurants, and all the other perks of Philly living.

Jonathan Myers, MD
Emory University School of Medicine

I grew up in Denver, Colorado before moving to the Midwest to play soccer at Washington University in St. Louis. While I was originally drawn to the world of tech and entrepreneurship, I found myself increasingly interested in mental health and clinical care. After graduation, I spent a couple years in New York conducting research on schizophrenia, using AI to analyze language patterns and predict clinical outcomes. I then moved to Atlanta to attend medical school at Emory University. There I continued my research on schizophrenia, this time focusing on the role of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in negative symptoms, while also developing interests in neuromodulation and psychedelic-assisted therapy. I am thrilled to continue exploring my interests in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of medicine, I love sports, camping, skiing, and doing anything that gets me outdoors.

Lucas Occhino-Moede, MD, MPH
Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California

I’m thrilled to be at Penn, and equally thrilled to finally experience real seasons after a lifetime in California. I made my way down the state over the years, eventually landing in San Diego for undergrad at UCSD, where I studied Neuroscience and Computing Arts. I then moved to Los Angeles to obtain my MD/MPH at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. My clinical interests include acute psychiatric care, transitional models, community psychiatry, and neurointerventional treatment modalities. I’m also deeply interested in the political determinants that shape mental health and influence access to psychiatric care. I’m excited to explore Philly’s best bites and wander through its art and music spaces, though more often than not, you’ll find me on the couch with my spouse, unwinding over a solid lineup of reality TV (recommendations always welcome).

Chevonne Parker, MD, MPH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Hi everyone! I grew up right outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. I ventured north to attend Yale University, where I majored in Sociology with a concentration in Health and Society. After graduating, I returned home to North Carolina for medical school. Throughout my medical training, I have dedicated time to working for and with marginalized populations through research, advocacy, and clinical care. During medical school, I pursued a Master of Public Health, focusing my research on the sociopolitical factors that shape access to school-based behavioral health services in the United States.

I fell in love with psychiatry during my clerkships—it offered the unique opportunity to merge my intellectual curiosities and academic interests with a deeply human-centered approach to patient care. I am honored and excited to be part of the Penn Psychiatry family. My clinical interests are broad, but I’m passionate about public and community psychiatry, adolescent mental health, and advancing mental health equity. Outside of work, I enjoy reading, binge-watching Netflix shows, exploring new eateries in Philadelphia, and catching local sports games.

Armaan Singh, MD, MBA
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida and Andover, Massachusetts before heading to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL for college. At Northwestern, I studied neuroscience and economics and found my passion for the intersection of medicine, business, and politics. I deferred medical school for two years, during which I worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Oak Street Health. I then attended the Pritzker School of Medicine at UChicago, where I conducted research on topics such as financial conflicts-of-interests and the role of advanced practice providers in the healthcare setting. I went through most of med school thinking that I would be a surgeon, until I fell in love with psychiatry during my 3rd year rotation and decided to take the plunge! At Penn, I’m excited to take advantage of all the incredible resources across the university system, especially in the topics of business and healthcare services research. In my free time, I enjoy playing golf, working out, and following college sports, the NFL, and Formula 1!

Somachukwu Umeozulu, MD
Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania

Hi everyone! I was born in Nigeria but grew up primarily in Maryland. I attended the University of Maryland, College Park (Go Terps!) where I was a Chemistry major and was in the Gemstone Honors Program. After college, I worked for two years at the NIH in a radiochemistry lab developing radiotracers for PET imaging to detect markers of inflammation in the brain. I then attended Penn for medical school where I grew my interests in community work and medical education. I am excited to stay in Philly for another four years to continue my training in Psychiatry here at Penn! I have many interests in the field, but some main ones are community psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and consult-liaison (CL) psychiatry. In my free time I enjoy exploring the city, trying new restaurants, reading when I can, listening to podcasts, doing jigsaw puzzles, and enjoying performances at the many theatres in the city.