Graduate Medical Education Meet the Fellows

Claire Bethel, MD
Hometown: Winter Park, FL
College: Wake Forest University 
Med School: University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
Residency: University of North Carolina Hospitals (UNC)
ID Interests: Immunocompromised hosts, fungal diseases
Why Boston Children’s?: The division is incredibly kind and intellectually curious, which made it a really appealing place to train. I was excited to join a larger program, and the collaboration across hospitals opens up more mentors, projects, and a strong network to learn and grow.
Favorite Microbe: Rickettsia rickettsii
Favorite Food: Tacos + guacamole

Sung Hwan Choi, MD
Hometown: Danyang, Republic of Korea
College: Sungkyunkwan University
Med School: Seoul National University College of Medicine
Residency: University of Hawaii
ID Interests: Immunocompromised host infections
Why Boston Children’s?: I have such warm memories of my elective rotation at Boston Children's. The welcoming environment, breadth of clinical experiences, and diverse group of intellectually curious people all drew me to the program. And I really like winter!
Favorite Microbe: Streptococcus pneumoniae (for its graceful green hue on an agar plate)
Favorite Food: Korean barbeque with naengmyeon (cold noodles)

Jordan Cox, MD (Medicine-Pediatrics ID Fellow)
Hometown: Bartlett, IL
College: Purdue University
Med School: Indiana University
Residency: Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Indiana University
ID Interests: Longitudinal HIV care, infectious diseases in vulnerable populations, diagnostic stewardship
Why Boston Children’s?: Following my interview day I was confident that at Boston Children's (and BIDMC) I would be exposed to everything I need to see as a fellow to become a competent infectious diseases physician. I loved the fellows and faculty and was confident in the program's ability to train me as a combined med/peds ID fellow given all of the previous combined fellows they have trained. 
Favorite Microbe: Staphylococcus aureus 
Favorite Food: Currently any spicy Thai dish, especially Pad Kee Mao 

Austin Moore, MD, PhD
Hometown: Austin, TX
College: The University of Texas at Austin
Med School: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center 
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
ID Interests: Host-pathogen interactions
Why Boston Children’s?: I loved my time in Boston during residency, and I found the Infectious Diseases division to be one of the most welcoming, intellectually curious, and fun groups to work with.
Favorite Microbe: Staph aureus
Favorite Food: Any Southern comfort food—BBQ, mac and cheese, potato salad, you name it

Laura Schwartz, MD (Medicine-Pediatrics ID Fellow)
Hometown: Framingham, MA
College: George Washington University
Med School: University of Massachusetts
Residency: Brown Med-Peds
ID Interests: General ID for adults and kids, HIV primary care for adults, multigenerational infections (e.g. HIV, TB), HIV and breastfeeding
Why Boston Children’s?: I did an away elective at Children’s during residency and was blown away by the depth and breadth of the clinical experience, combined with the welcoming culture, commitment to fellow education, and academic rigor. I was also looking for a program with other current Med-Peds ID fellows, which I am so excited to have found!
Favorite Microbe: Babesia microti! New England’s homegrown version of malaria. As a native New Englander who trained in MA and RI, I’ve seen my share of tickborne illnesses, but something about babesiosis is particularly elegant to me.
Favorite Food: I’ll do ridiculously inconvenient things if necessary to get my hands on local fruit – especially summer berries

Eleanor Semmes, MD, PhD
Hometown: South Portland, Maine
College: Tulane University
Med School: Duke University School of Medicine
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Children’s Hospital/Boston Medical Center
ID Interests: Global Health, Vaccines
Why Boston Children’s?: Kind and intellectually curious people, breath of clinical and research training opportunities.
Favorite Microbe: Cytomegalovirus 
Favorite Food: Mediterranean food (for savory), coffee ice cream (for sweet)

Alaric W. D’Souza, MD, PhD
Hometown: Anaheim, CA
College: Yale University
Med/Grad School: Washington University in St. Louis
Residency: Boston Children’s Hospital
ID Interests: Antibiotic resistance
Why Boston Children’s?: The significant intellectual horsepower and research curiosity of BCH healthcare professionals is matched by deep kindness and compassion for patients and families. 
Favorite Microbe:
Bacteria – Acinetobacter baumannii
Parasite – Plasmodium falciparum
Fungi – Candida auris
Virus – Adenovirus
Favorite Food: Muscadine (as sour as possible)

Kate McAleese, MD
Hometown: Kensington, NH
College: Stonehill College
Med School: Georgetown School of Medicine
Residency: Combined internal medicine/pediatrics at Georgetown 
ID Interests: Screening, prevention and treatment of neglected tropical diseases in immigrant/at risk-populations, especially during pregnancy and childhood
Why Boston Children’s?: BCH has amazing people who are leaders in their field and who are spearheading efforts to improve both community engagement and also healthcare access to those who need it most. 
Favorite Microbe: Trypanosoma cruzi (although it’s difficult naming something a favorite when you want to see it eliminated…). A close second and a little easier to actually call a favorite would be Lactobacillus spp. since I love all things fermented
Favorite Food: Cheese!

Maria Valenzuela Almada, MD
Hometown: Mexico City
Med School: Universidad Panamericana (Mexico City)
Residency: Children’s National Hospital (Washington, DC)
ID Interests: Antimicrobial stewardship and Immunocompromised ID
Why Boston Children’s?: I wanted to train with a welcoming and diverse group of faculty and fellows with different research interests, while also getting a breadth of clinical experiences and exceptional educational opportunities. 
Favorite Microbe: I love all fungi! Aspergillus flavus in particular because of the beautiful green/yellow colonies it forms!
Favorite Food: chilaquiles and sushi!

Ashwini Joshi, MD (Medicine-Pediatrics ID Fellow)
Hometown: Memphis, TN
College: Vanderbilt University
Med School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC)
Residency: Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at UTHSC
ID Interests: Med/Peds ID, HIV in adolescents and young adults, HIV primary care, STI prevention and management, and opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts 
Why Boston Children’s? Breadth of clinical training and research resources, supportive community of faculty and fellows, prior experience training Med-Peds ID fellows.
Favorite Microbe: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Favorite Food: Chaat (Indian street food)

Alexandra (Alex) Linn, MD (Medicine-Pediatrics ID Fellow)
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
College: Brown University
Med School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Residency: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Program
ID Interests: Medical education, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Global Health & Tropical Medicine
Why Boston Children’s?: Experience training combined Med-Peds ID fellows, supportive and welcoming ID community, research and continuing education opportunities for fellows.
Favorite Microbe: Bartonella henselae 
Favorite Food: Cookies and cream ice cream (with rainbow sprinkles!)