New Professors in the Department of Internal Medicine (August 2026)

Fellowship: Mount Sinai Medical Center
Residency: Mount Sinai Medical Center
MD: Brown University
MS: Stanford University

What does your promotion mean to you?

Since joining Yale as a junior faculty member in 2007, I've been given an opportunity to organically evolve and mature professionally in multiple dimensions: as a clinician in the ICU, educator for residents and fellows, and now in a leadership role within the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. Promotion was not the 'end goal' that fueled my internal motivation, but it is nonetheless really gratifying to be recognized in this way. I owe my successes to my family who have supported me, as well as colleagues and mentors who have cheered me on!

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor?

The intensivist in me wanted to make sure the great news was 'real' before I believed it. I waited for additional confirmation before telling my husband.

What are you proud of most thus far in your career?

The 18-year-old 'me' who came to the United States for college would not have imagined that I would one day become a successful physician and a full professor at Yale. In fact, being a physician was not on my radar at all, and once I developed an interest in medicine, I thought that medical school was beyond my reach.

There were so many people along the way who helped me in big and little ways. On that note, being able to 'pay it forward' now by helping junior faculty and trainees with their career development is the thing I am most proud of.

What is your favorite part of academia?

Academic medicine is a team sport! Collaborations with colleagues in education, patient care, and research pursuits are by far the best part of academia.

Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising.

I was in a rock band with my friends throughout high school as a vocalist! I haven't pursued music in a while, but I'm hoping to learn to play the guitar soon.

Fellowship: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Residency: Brigham and Women’s Hospital
MD: University of Miami School of Medicine
MPH: Harvard School of Public Health

What does your promotion mean to you?

It is an honor to be promoted to professor of medicine at Yale University. This is an important milestone that reflects not only my work but the contributions of so many colleagues, mentors, family, patients, trainees, research staff, and community partners who shape my career and make the work possible.

For me, promotion is also a reminder of the responsibility I have to apply my experience and knowledge to mentor trainees and learners. Supporting young scientists and clinicians is one of the most rewarding aspects of my career, and I look forward to continuing to build an inclusive research community where innovative ideas and meaningful partnerships thrive.

Senior faculty are uniquely positioned to push on systems and structures to make our work more inclusive, more diverse, more accessible, and – thus – more impactful. I look forward to working with people and systems to address ongoing barriers that make it harder for underrepresented groups in medicine and science to lead and succeed.

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor?

First, I told my mom. My parents invested blood, sweat, tears, and resources into my academic trajectory. Then, I told my husband and kids. It is hard on families to have an academic global health researcher in the family, and their support means everything. I thanked my mentors who trained me and believed in me, and I celebrated with the friends and colleagues who cheer me on and help me over the rough spots. It is so important to celebrate the wins in our work!

What are you proud of most thus far in your career?

I am proud of the progress my teams and I have made in optimizing HIV prevention for women planning for, with, and post-pregnancy. We carried this work from qualitative research with individual patients and their partners in urban South Africa and rural Uganda, all the way to formal guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which inform clinical care here in the U.S. and globally. I’m thrilled with the progress we are making in our implementation science work to optimize HIV testing, linkage to care, and prevention for vulnerable populations in the US Southeast. And I am ever-inspired by the successes of the trainees I have worked with who now lead their own projects and programs to optimize health for populations in the U.S., East and Southern Africa, and beyond.

What is your favorite part of academia?

I love working with learners and trainees in research and clinical settings. I thrive in interdisciplinary collaborations and love having a job in which I learn new things almost every day.

Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising.

While I have never been a Yale student or trainee, I spent two formative summers as an undergraduate research assistant in the labs of Yale faculty at Mount Desert Island in Maine, where I worked with the late Dr. John N. Forrest and his team. Running gels by day, swimming in phosphorescent bays by night, learning with and from a lot of science friends, and hiking and biking through Acadia National Park on weekends was educational, inspiring, and fun. It was my first exposure to a physician-scientist lab and contributed to my own path to becoming a physician-scientist.

Fellowship: Yale University School of Medicine
Residency/Chief Residency: Hospital of St. Raphael
Fellowship: Pavlov First State Medical University of St. Petersburg
PhD: Pavlov First State Medical University of St. Petersburg
Residency: Pavlov First State Medical University of St. Petersburg
MD: Pavlov First State Medical University of St. Petersburg

What does your promotion mean to you?

Becoming a professor at Yale is an incredible honor and a meaningful milestone in my career. It reflects not only my own work but also the support, mentorship, and collaboration I have received from family, colleagues, trainees, and patients over many years. More than a recognition of past accomplishments, I see it as a responsibility to continue advancing patient care, mentoring the next generation of hematologists, and contributing to research that improves outcomes for patients with hematological malignancies.

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor?

The first thing I did was share the news with my family. They have been with me through every stage of this journey, and their support has made this achievement possible. After that, I reached out to a few mentors, close colleagues, and friends who have had a profound impact on my professional development to thank them.

What are you proud of most thus far in your career?

What makes me most proud is seeing the impact of mentoring trainees. Watching residents and fellows grow into outstanding hematologists, physician-investigators, and educators, and knowing that I played a small role in their journey is incredibly rewarding. I am also proud that my career has allowed me to combine clinical care, research, and education, with each area strengthening the others to ultimately benefit patients.

What is your favorite part of academia?

I appreciate the variety. No two days are the same. I enjoy caring for patients with complex hematologic diseases, participating in clinical research that helps bring new therapies to patients, and teaching trainees who continually ask thoughtful questions and challenge me to keep learning. Academia provides a unique environment where patient care, discovery, and education come together with a shared purpose.

Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising.

I completed both my MD and PhD, as well as clinical training in internal medicine and hematology in Russia, before coming to the United States, where I repeated my internal medicine residency, subspecialty training, and rebuilt my academic career from the beginning. Looking back, that journey taught me resilience, adaptability, and the importance of lifelong learning, qualities that continue to shape how I care for patients and mentor trainees today.

Chief Residency: Hospital of Saint Raphael
Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital
MD: Cornell University Medical College

What does your promotion mean to you?

So much of our work happens quietly—one careful clinical decision, one late-night revision to a curriculum, one difficult conversation with a learner who’s struggling. Promotion feels like a rare moment when those small, private acts are seen in aggregate. It’s a departure from the “slow regard of silent things” (with apologies to the author, Patrick Rothfuss): a reminder that the work mattered not just to me, but to colleagues I respect. More than validation, it’s an invitation—permission, really—to take on bigger problems and to help create the kind of culture where fewer people feel they have to do meaningful work alone.

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor?

I made an embarrassingly joyful sound—one that, in a different context, might have suggested a small child had wandered into the room. I was with colleagues at a meeting, so I tried to convert it quickly into “quiet composure.” Then I stepped away for a minute, mostly to call my family and to sit with a simple thought: this wasn’t one accomplishment, but years of showing up, especially on days when nothing felt particularly promotable.

What are you proud of most thus far in your career?

I’m proudest of two kinds of work: building systems and building people.

Through organized medicine and physician education, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with colleagues across the country to turn shared concerns into real advocacy—moving from “this is a problem” to “this is what we’re going to do about it.” This is particularly true for my work on safe opioid prescribing.

I’m also proud of the learners I’ve mentored, especially the ones who started out unsure of their voice and now lead teams, teach others, and advocate with confidence. Helping someone become the kind of physician who lifts others is the kind of impact that compounds over time.

What is your favorite part of academia?

My favorite part of academia is that it treats uncertainty as a starting point rather than a failure. In clinical medicine, we’re trained—appropriately—to make decisions under time pressure; in academia, we’re also allowed to slow down and ask, “What would have to be true for this to be wrong?” I love working in a place where questioning assumptions isn’t a detour—it’s the work. I’m continually humbled by how often learners and colleagues sharpen my thinking with a single good question.

Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising.

As a teenager and young adult, I earned a black belt in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate and competed in the Junior Olympic Games. I’m not capable of those physical feats anymore, but the training stayed with me. The most lasting lesson wasn’t toughness—it was feedback. You learn quickly that you can’t debate a bad stance; you have to adjust it, repeatedly, in public, with humility. That cycle—practice, fail, refine—ended up being excellent preparation for medicine, teaching, and leadership.

The Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine is among the nation's premier departments, bringing together an elite cadre of clinicians, investigators, educators, and staff in one of the world's top medical schools. To learn more, visit Internal Medicine.