KL2 Scholars

2026 – 2027

Milla Arabadjian, PhD, Assistant Professor, Foundations of Medicine, NYULISOM

Mentor: Tanya Spruill, PhD

Project: Identifying Strategies to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk Among Mothers of Young Children

Alexander R. Azan, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Population Health, Epidemiology, NYUGSOM

Mentors: Anna Bershteyn, PhD and Leora Horwitz, MD

Project: Heat-Related Acute Healthcare Utilization in Urban-Dwelling Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Large-Scale Electronic Health Record Analysis Children

Karan R. Chhabra, MD, Assistant Professor, Surgery and Population Health, NYUGSOM

Mentors: Dorry Segev, MD, PhD and Babak Orandi, MD, PhD

Project: Real-World Effectiveness of Obesity Treatment Options

Jose Gabriel Garcia Duran, PhD, Instructor, Medicine, Cardiology, NYUGSOM

Mentor: Kathryn J. Moore, PhD

Project: Deconvoluting Inflammation Resolution in Atherosclerosis

Luis Gonzalez Corro, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Infectious Diseases, NYUGSOM

Mentors: Mathew Akiyama, MD, MS, and Aaron Fox, MD, MS

Project: Improving Hepatitis C Care for Criminal Legal System-Involved Individuals Through Point-of-Care Testing and Community-Based Support

Carine E. Hamo, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Cardiology, NYUGSOM

Mentor: Jeffrey Berger, MD

Project: Cardiometabolic Comorbidity Burden and Vascular Health in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Daniel B. Hewitt, MD, Assistant Professor, Surgery, NYUGSOM

Mentors: Dorry Segev, MD, PhD, and Eric Oermann, MD

Project: Advancing Surgical Precision: AI-Driven Assessment of Technical Skills in Robotic Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Kirsty Hillier, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Hematology Oncology, NYUGSOM

Mentor: Sergei Koralov, PhD

Project: Elucidating the Role of Autoreactive Extrafollicular B Cells in Pediatric Immune Thrombocytopenia

Rachel Kenney, MD, Assistant Professor, Neurology and Population Health, NYUGSOM

Mentors: ALaura Balcer, MD, Vivek Srinivasan, PhD, and Sumit Chopra, MD

Project: Bridging Science and Care with AI and Novel Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging in MS Research

Sophie Morgani, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Orthopedic Surgery, NYUGSOM

Mentor: Philipp Leucht, MD, PhD

Project: Defining and Rejuvenating Skeletal Stem Cells to Restore Bone Regeneration in Aging and Disease

Sandra Wittleder, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, NYUGSOM

Mentor: Melanie Jay, MD

Project: Combining Sleep and Craving Regulation to Improve Obesity Outcomes

2025 – 2026

Karan Chhabra, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Population Health

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentors: Dorry Segev, MD, PhD (Primary), Babak Orandi, MD, PhD (Secondary)

Project: Real-World Effectiveness of Obesity Treatment Options

Carine Hamo, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Jeffrey Berger, MD

Project: Cardiometabolic Comorbidity Burden and Vascular Health in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Kelvin Quinones-Laracuente, MD, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Robert Froemke, PhD

Project: Neural Circuitry of Social Awareness

2023 – 2024

Nicholas Abreu, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Heidi Schambra, MD

Project: Development of a Tool Harnessing Single-View Video for Computational Gait Analysis in Toddlers

Natasha Gupta, MD, MSCI, Research Assistant Professor of Urology

and Population Health NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Stacy Loeb, MD

Project: A Behavioral Intervention to Improve the Sexual Quality of Life of Older Female Partners of Prostate Cancer

Sophia Kwon, MPH, DO, Clinical Instructor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Anna Nolan, MD

Project: RAGE On: Metabolic Syndrome and Particulate Matter Exposure in COVID-19 Severity and Mortality

Giulio Quarta, MD, Gastroenterologist, Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey

Mentor: Evgeny Nudler, PhD

Project: Small Molecules Targeting RNA are Candidates for Novel Biological Insights and Therapeutics in Helicobacter Pylori

Kelvin Quinones-Laracuente, MD, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Robert Froemke, PhD

Project: Neural Circuitry of Social Awareness

CTSI Scholars

Rebecca Blank, MD, PhD, Instructor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Jose Scher, MD

Project: Modifying the Gut Microbiome and Systemic Immune Response to Enhance Methotrexate Efficacy in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Shivani Singh, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Leopoldo Segal, MD

Project: The Th17/ Neutrophilic Pathway and Lower Airway Dysbiosis in Bronchiectasis/ Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease (NTM-LD): Is the Short Chain Fatty Acid the Missing Link?

2021 – 2022

Carol Duh-Leong, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: H. Shona Yin, MD

Project: The Role of Neighborhood Risk Factors and Social Support in Rapid Infant Weight Gain

Benjamin Wu, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Leopoldo Segal, MD

Project: Lower Airway Dysbiotic Signatures resulting in Lung Immune Exhaustion and Pathogen Susceptibility

CTSI Scholars

Matteo Malgaroli, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Naomi Simon, MD

Project: Automated Detection and Monitoring of Grief-related Psychopathology

Claude Steriade, MD, CM, Assistant Professor of Neurology

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Jacqueline French, MD

Project: The Development of a Clinical Predictive Tool for Autoimmune Epilepsy

2019 – 2020

Ashira Blazer, MD,Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Mentor: Jill P Buyon, MD

Project: Elevated SLE Cytokines, Autophagy Levels, and APOL1 Transcription in Endothelium (ESCALATE)

Alexander Glick, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: H. Shonna Yin, MD

Project: Ensuring Safe Pediatric Transitions from Hospital to Home: A Health Literacy-Informed, Technology-Based Approach

Himali Weerahandi, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of California San Francisco

Mentor: Leora Horwitz, MD

Project: Transitions After Post-Acute Care

Nathaniel Smilowitz, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Harmony R. Reynolds, MD

Project: Mechanisms of Coronary Microvascular Disease

2017 – 2018

Benjamin Han, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of California San Diego

Mentor: Scott Sherman, MD, MPH

Project: Geriatric Conditions and Functional Status in Middle-Aged and Older Adults with Opioid Dependence

Sean Heffron, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Edward Fisher, MD

Project: Effects of Bariatric Surgery On HDL Function in Cholesterol Efflux and Platelet Activity

Ye Yi, MS, PhD, Associate Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

NYU College of Dentistry

Mentor: Brad Aouizerat, PhD

Project: From Bench to Bedside and Back: The NGF Story

Veronica Ades, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Francine Hughes, MD

Project: Telomere length and epigenetic changes as biomarkers of individual and transgenerational stress in survivors of sexual violence and their children

2014 – 2015

Saul Blecker, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Population Health

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Stuart Katz, MD

Project: Comparative effectiveness of treatments for heart failure and diabetes

Binita Shah, MD, Associate Director of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Steven P. Sedlis, MD

Project: The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Coronary Artery Disease

Lucas Sjulson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Neuroscience

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Mentor: Gordon Fishell, PhD

Project: Reverse Pharmacogenetic Strategies for the Treatment of Addiction

2012 – 2013

Marie Boltz, RN, PhD, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Innovation; Elouise Ross Eberly and Robert Eberly Endowed Chair; Professor

Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing

Mentor: James Galvin, MD

Project: Testing a Family-Nurse Partnership for Care of Hospitalized Persons with Dementia

Ilseung Cho, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief Quality Officer

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Martin Blaser, MD

Project: Understanding Alcoholic Liver Disease: The Role of Gut Microbiome and Metabolites in Pathogenesis

Jose Scher, MD, Steere Abramson Associate Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Steven B. Abramson, MD

Project: Role of Oral and Intestinal Microbiome in Monozygotic Twins with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Possible Cause beyond the Host Gen

Leopoldo Segal, MD, William Rom and David Kamelhar Associate Professor of Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Michael D. Weiden, MD

Project: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Microbiome and Cytokine Study

2010 – 2011

Jessica Donington, MD, Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Thoracic Surgery

The University of Chicago

Mentor: Harvey Pass, MD

Project: Functional Heterogeneity of Osteopontin Isoforms in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Jennifer McNeely, MD, Associate Professor of Population Health and Medicine

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Mentor: Marc Gourevitch, MD

Project: Enhancing Substance Use Screening in Primary Healthcare Settings