Though I was born in Newark, New Jersey, my family moved to North Andover, MA when I was three and I consider myself a Massachusetts girl through and through. Born to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Russian was my first language, and I was equally immersed in the culture of the post-Soviet diaspora and of the local North Shore Townies. I stayed in-state to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I obtained dual bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Nutrition. Through happenstance and early exposure, I had a very early interest in gastroenterology and with some high-school research experience I entered my undergraduate years with the intent to pursue MD/PhD training. During my college years, I worked in a lab studying the human gut microbiota, specifically understanding the role of Bifidobacterium strains in promotion of the lifespan and healthspan of C. elegans. I also became highly involved in student advising and recruitment roles for the Department of Biochemistry.
I matriculated to the MD/PhD program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai immediately after college, where my interest in GI and the inflammatory bowel diseases continued to develop. I completed my PhD training in the lab of Judy Cho, MD, studying perianal fistulae in Crohn disease via multimodal single cell -omics, with a focus on disparities between African and European ancestry patients. I remained heavily invested in MD/PhD specific admissions, recruitment, and student leadership throughout the course of my 8 years in the program, as well as teaching in serving as a TA for the first year immunology course. The COVID pandemic struck in the middle of my first PhD year, which gave me the opportunity to 1) contribute to an early review resource of the immunology of COVID-19 and 2) fall in love with an empty New York City and with the art of Getting Out and Doing Stuff. In doing so I joined a recreational dance company called DanceWorks NYC where I continued to enjoy my lifelong love of tap dance and made incredible friendships outside of the MD/PhD bubble. On returning to my M3/M4 years, my commitment to IM and GI as a long-term career solidified and I fell in love with clinical GI. I will often say that everything I know about the practice of medicine I gained from three weeks on a busy (40-50 patient) GI consult service +/- some palliative care and psychiatry throughlines.
In this spirit, when applying to residency I prioritized programs that exhibited a strong ethos of medical education, for and by people who have values and passions that are equally strong inside and outside of the hospital. BIDMC was my number one choice, and I was overjoyed on match day. Since starting residency, each day I am affirmed that I am surrounded by the right co-residents (funny, interesting, supportive, out-of-their-way helpful), the right fellows and attendings (open, thoughtful educators, personable, admirable), and the right patients (the good people of Massachusetts…well, and NH and RI, who are in need of our help.) I have developed so much in just a few months of PGY-1 and can’t wait to see how much more I will grow.
Outside of medicine, in addition to tap dance, my interests are many and varied, and include attending concerts, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, the game theory of reality television competition shows, crosswording, reading contemporary thrillers, going to Trader Joe’s, going to TJ Maxx, and appreciating the particular beauty of my crested gecko, Brûlée, and his silly tiny feet.
