Current Fellows
Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellows
Class of 2024-2027
Tsion Abraham, MD
Medical School: George Washington University
Residency: UCSF
Bio: Tsion was born in Toronto, Ontario. She grew up in Canada until moving to DC to attend medical school at George Washington University. She made the move to the west coast for residency at UCSF and is excited to stay in the Bay Area for fellowship. Her clinical interests include critical care, pulmonary infections and interventional pulmonology. Outside of work, she enjoys running, spin classes and reading sci-fi novels.
Ben Berger, MD
Medical School: University of Utah
Residency: Duke
Bio: Ben grew up in Salt Lake City and went to the University of Utah for college and medical school. He left the mountains for residency at Duke. He is thrilled to return to the west for fellowship. Clinical interests include critical care, point-of-care ultrasound, and COPD. Academic interests include high-value healthcare, advocacy, and implementation science. Outside of work, he enjoys trail running, hiking, breweries, and hanging out with his fiancée and friends.
Chris Calkins, MD
Medical School: Stanford
Residency: Brigham & Women’s
Bio: Chris grew up in New England before making his first journey west for medical school at Stanford. After three years back in Boston for internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Chris is thrilled to be back at Stanford for his fellowship training. Outside of clinical work, Chris is interested in medical education and quality improvement. When not in the hospital, Chris enjoys running, hiking, and exploring all California has to offer. Chris lives in Menlo Park with his wife, Madeline, and their cat, Piper.
Audrey Chai, MD
Medical School: USC/ Los Angeles General Hospital
Residency: USC/ Los Angeles General Hospital
Bio: Audrey was born and raised in Pasadena, California and is a true Southern California lifer. After finishing college at USC, she went on to complete medical school, internal medicine residency, and a chief residency year at USC/ Los Angeles General Hospital. During the PCCM fellowship interview process, she fell in love with the people and program at Stanford and is excited to come up to the Bay Area for this next chapter. In residency, she developed interests in medical education, rapid response and code blue training and lung cancer disparities. She hopes to work as a pulmonary and critical care clinician-educator after fellowship. Outside of medicine she enjoys spending time outdoors in sunny weather, Peloton-ing, and finding the best bakeries and dessert shops.
Sammy Emont, MD, MPH
Medical School: University of Miami
Residency: Columbia
Bio: Sammy was born in New York City and grew up in South Florida. She went to Yale for college but returned home where she attended University of Miami for medical school. She went back to New York to complete her residency at New York Presbyterian - Columbia and then spent a year working there as a hospitalist before making the big trip out to California to start fellowship at Stanford. Sammy is interested in ILD and lung transplant. Outside the hospital, she loves to run and play/watch tennis, hike with her dog, and visit vineyards.
Erica Mascarenhas, MD
Medical School: Tufts
Residency: Tulane
Bio: Erica was born and raised in Pennsylvania before heading to Boston for college and medical school. She left the East Coast and headed to New Orleans for her Internal Medicine residency at Tulane where she stayed on for an additional chief year during which she got to dance/march in several Mardi Gras parades. In the hospital, she's interested in medical education and health equity. Outside the hospital, she loves to run (with a recent interest in hiking now that she's in the mountains!), bake, listen to music and spend time with friends and family.
Arjun Panda, MD
Medical School: George Washington University
Residency: OHSU
Bio: Arjun was born in Cleveland Ohio, but considers the SF Bay Area his home - which is why after years away, he is thrilled to return for PCCM fellowship at Stanford to build a career helping people with respiratory diseases breathe more comfortably. In addition to his clinical work, he is passionate about clinical informatics, medical education in the ICU, and the history of medicine. When he's not in the hospital you can find him biking around town looking for his next oat-milk latte, or headphones in trying to perfect one of his seasonal Spotify playlists.
Abel Triana, MD, MSc
Medical School: Universidad del Norte, Colombia
Residency: University of Miami
Bio: Abel was born in Cartagena, Colombia, and completed medical training in Barranquilla. He gained research experience at a clinical trial center focused on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. He then moved to Glasgow, Scotland, to pursue a master's degree in clinical trials and stratified medicine, with a research focus on sepsis and community-acquired pneumonia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to Colombia to work in the ER and ICU. Prior to joining Stanford, he was in Miami for residency. His professional interests include ILD, sleep medicine, and interventional pulmonology. In my free time, he enjoys traveling with his wife, spending time with friends, and playing soccer.
Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellows
Class of 2023-2026
Mansour Alkhunaizi, MD
Medical School: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Residency: Baylor
Bio: Mansour was born in Denver, Colorado but grew up primarily in Saudi Arabia. He moved to Dublin, Ireland to attend medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). He then made his way back to the United States for internal medicine residency at Baylor, where his interest in PCCM grew. He is thrilled to be moving to the west coast to begin his PCCM fellowship at Stanford. His interests are in critical care, point of care ultrasound and medical education. Outside of medicine, Mansour enjoys hiking, spending time in nature, and traveling with family and friends.
Stephanie Chen, MD
Medical School: Univ of Michigan
Residency: UCSF
Bio: Stephanie was born in Lansing, MI and grew up in the Midwest before making the trek to the West Coast for internal medicine residency at UCSF. She is excited to continue staying in the Bay Area as a PCCM fellow at Stanford and to continue exploring her interests include critical care, clinical education/teaching, quality improvement/ICU outcomes. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys baking (joined the trend of sourdough baking during the pandemic), trying out new restaurants, and playing board games with friends.
Alex Heard, MD
Medical School: Univ of South Dakota
Residency: Yale
Bio: Alex was born and raised in Minnesota and attended undergrad and medical school in South Dakota. During residency at Yale, he developed a passion for medical education and created a POCUS and procedural curriculum. Outside of medicine, he enjoys hiking, backpacking, reading, and gardening.
Cyra Kang, MD
Medical School: Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine
Residency: John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County
Bio: Cyra grew up on Jeju-do, a volcanic island off Korea’s southern coast and first lived in California during high school. She has lived in New Hampshire for undergrad, Korea for medical school, and Chicago for internal medicine residency. She is excited to be living in the Bay Area, which reminds her of the small island where she grew up. Cyra is particularly interested in clinical research on AI-driven prediction models. Outside of medicine, she enjoys playing the violin in chamber music, traveling, hiking, trying out new fitness classes, and going to jazz shows.
Rodrigo Diaz Lankenau, MD
Medical School: Tecnologico de Monterrey
Residency: Univ of Miami
Bio: Rodrigo was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico where he completed his medical school at Tecnologico de Monterrey. He then chose to continue his training in the US and headed to the University of Miami for residency. During his time there he worked on home oxygen research and completed a medical education pathway. His current academic and research interests include mechanical ventilation, ILD, and interventions to improve medical education. Outside of medicine Rodrigo enjoys hiking, reading, working on his baking skills, and trying new coffee places with his wife.
Tracey Liu, MD
Medical School: Mt Sinai
Residency: UCLA
Bio: Having grown up in Fresno, California and spent her college years in the East Bay, Dr. Liu is thrilled to be returning to the California Bay Area to be training at Stanford. She completed medical school at Mount Sinai and internal medicine residency at UCLA. Having taken care of patients when Covid hit during her intern year, she found a passion in navigating complex goals of care discussions, and honoring patient-centered, goal concordant care. This led her to complete a fellowship in palliative care at NYU. She is excited to integrate her unique training with her passion for critical care medicine, potential interests in ILD and PH. Additional interests include medical education, healthcare disparities, and quality improvement. Outside of medicine she enjoys traveling, trying new foods, learning languages, live music, ice skating, and dancing in her studio.
Ahmed Taha, MD
Medical School: University of Khartoum
Residency: Texas Tech
Bio: Ahmed was born in Sudan. He completed his medical school at the University of Khartoum, Faculty of Medicine, and then moved to the US for his Internal Medicine training. Before embarking at Stanford, Ahmed practiced independently as an Academic Hospitalist in affiliation with Indiana University and also received the honorary FACP designation by the American College of Physicians. Ahmed joined Stanford aspiring to become a leading clinician-educator in the field of pulmonary and critical care medicine with career interests encompassing high-value care in critical care settings and ARDS pharmacotherapy. When not working, Ahmed enjoys spending time with his family, watching/attending stand-up comedy shows, and playing soccer. Ahmed also loves traveling and experiencing new cultures; he has been to 15 countries and counting!
Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellows
Class of 2022-2025
Carrie Cao, MD
Medical School: UCSF
Residency: Stanford
Bio: Carrie was born in Nanjing, China, and moved to the US with her family before elementary school. She grew up in San Diego, attended undergrad at Yale then returned to the west (best) coast for medical school at UCSF and internal medicine residency at Stanford. She is thrilled to be staying on as a PCCM fellow and can’t wait to continue exploring her interests in interventional pulm, procedural education, and research. Outside of the hospital, she loves everything outdoors- running, hiking, skiing, paddleboarding, and going on adventures with her rescue pup Callie.
Kevin Correa, MD
Medical School: UCLA/Charles R. Drew
Residency: UCSF
Bio: Kevin was born in Zapopan, Mexico, and after completing 1st grade, his family and he moved to the United States. After a brief stint in Virginia for two years, they settled permanently in Southern California’s Inland Empire. He attended UC Riverside for undergrad followed by med school at the UCLA - Charles R. Drew Program. Realizing, he never wanted to leave California, he pursued Internal Medicine at UCSF. His interests in critical care, clinical education/teaching, and health disparities led him to choosing Stanford to further his training and continue to serve. When he’s not in the hospital, you can usually find Kevin enjoying hobbies including playing/watching sports (soccer/tennis), going to concerts (pop punk/indie/electronic), and Yelp’ing his next meal.
Kyle Fahey, MD
Medical School: Northwestern
Residency: Stanford
Bio: Kyle was born in Maine and moved all over the country until his family settled in Omaha, Nebraska. He returned to the east coast for college at Syracuse University and went back to the Midwest for medical school at Northwestern University. He moved out to the west coast 3 years ago for residency at Stanford and hasn’t looked back. He is excited to stay at Stanford for his PCCM fellowship and is interested in clinical education and ICU outcomes. He enjoys running year-round in the sunny weather and hiking the many trails nearby.
Krystle Leung, MD
Medical School: Harvard
Residency: MGH
Bio: Krystle grew up outside Chicago and has been in Boston for the past decade. She is excited to move to and explore the Bay Area. She is interested in advanced lung disease and patient/family engagement in the ICU. She enjoys spending her free time cooking/baking, experimenting with her espresso machines, making art, and exploring art museums.
Achyut Patil, MD
Medical School: Harvard
Residency: Stanford
Bio: Achyut grew up in Chandler, Arizona before 8 years on the East Coast at Yale for college and Harvard for medical school, then came back out west for residency and chief resident year at Stanford. In PCCM fellowship he hopes to do a lot of learning and teaching - and eventually work as a MICU/pulmonary clinician-educator. His free time is primarily taken up by watching his many sports teams lose in excruciating fashion (he may never get over the Phoenix Suns' loss in the 2021 NBA Finals), but also by exploring the many hikes, breweries, and sports games in the Bay Area.
Joseph Rathkey, MD PhD
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
Residency: Stanford
Bio: Joseph enjoys research (innate immunology and molecular biology), running (generally slowly), reading (articles and books), riding (bikes), and relaxing (with family and friends).
Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellows
T32 Research Fellow
Layla Barkal, MD PhD
Medical School: University of Wisconsin
Residency: Stanford
Bio: Dr. Barkal was born and raised in Iowa before heading east to study biological engineering at MIT. After graduation, she moved back to the Midwest and earned her MD and PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed residency at Stanford as part of the Translational Investigator Program. Her academic and research interests center around host-pathogen interactions in the lungs. Outside the hospital, she enjoys hiking and exploring local farms and farmers markets.
Specialty/Subspecialty Fellows
Class of 2024-2025
Laura Oppegard (PH), MD
Medical School: Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Residency: Oregon Health & Science
PCCM Fellowship: Oregon Health & Science
Ankur Sinha (IP), MD
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Residency: Maimonides Medical Center
PCCM Fellowship: Maimonides Medical Center