New Professors Within the Department of Internal Medicine

The Department of Internal Medicine is pleased to announce the following appointments and promotions to Professor of Medicine. Michael P. DiGiovanna, MD, PhD, and Emily Wang, MD, were promoted to Professor of Medicine. Robert Bona, MD, was newly recruited to Yale and appointed Professor of Medicine.

Michael P. DiGiovanna, MD, PhD (Medical Oncology and Pharmacology)

Co-Director, Pre-Clerkship Curriculum
Pharmacology Thread Leader
Co-Leader, Genes & Development Master Course
MD: Yale School of Medicine
PhD: Yale School of Medicine  Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital
Postdoctoral Fellow: Yale School of Medicine
Fellowship: Yale New Haven Hospital

Michael P. DiGiovanna, MD, PhD, attended Yale School of Medicine earning an MD and a PhD in pharmacology. He completed his post-graduate training at Yale, with an internship and residency in internal medicine, a research post-doctoral fellowship, and a clinical fellowship in medical oncology. His clinical specialty is breast cancer oncology; he conducts both clinical and laboratory-based research into the treatment and of breast cancer. He has had a leadership role in medical education in the school, overseeing a large component of the medical student curriculum.

What does your promotion mean to you? The promotion is a much-appreciated acknowledgment from peers that the work one does is valued. 

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor? I shared the good news with family.

What are you proud of most thus far in your career? Being able to contribute substantially in all three areas of the academic medical center mission: patient care, research, and education. 

What is your favorite part of academia? Translating new research results into practice.

Tell us a fun fact about you—something people may find surprising. I'm a highly trained musician. In college I double-majored in biochemistry and music. Also, I play men’s league ice hockey two nights per week (when a pandemic doesn’t result in rink closure).

 

Emily Wang, MD, MAS (General Medicine)

Director, SEICHE Center for Health and Justice
Health Justice Lab research program lead
Co-founder, Transitions Clinic Network
MD: Duke University Medical Center 
Intern: University of California, San Francisco
Residency: University of California, San Francisco
MAS: University of California, San Francisco 

Emily Wang, MD, directs the SEICHE Center for Health and Justice, a collaboration between Yale School of Medicine and Yale Law School. The Center works to stimulate community transformation by identifying the legal, policy, and practice levers that can improve the health of individuals and communities impacted by mass incarceration. She also leads the Health Justice Lab research program that investigates how incarceration influences chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and opioid use disorder. As an internist, she cares for many individuals with a history of incarceration and is co-founder of the Transitions Clinic Network, a consortium of 40 community health centers nationwide employing community health workers with histories of incarceration. Wang recently co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences consensus report on decarcerating correctional facilities during COVID-19.

What does your promotion mean to you? I am hoping that students, residents, people starting out at Yale will see my promotion as a sign that a career grounded in social justice in an academic medical center is possible, rewarding, and joyful. 

What was the first thing you did when you found out you were promoted to professor? I told my family.

What are you proud of most thus far in your career?  am most proud when my team and community thrive: when patients who have been out of prison for a decade are meaningfully employed and reunited with family, when medical students go on to become physician leaders caring for justice-involved patients, when fellows land jobs in academia and the public sector contributing to the science and practice of decarceration, and when my team members succeed in changing the practices, policies, and culture of our institutions to support people impacted by mass incarceration.

What is your favorite part of academia? That I am able to work on something that I care so deeply about. 

Fun fact about you—something people may find surprising. Favorite song to karaoke: Livin’ on a Prayer

Robert Bona, MD (Hematology)

Director, Benign Hematology Program
Medical Director, Hemophilia Treatment Center
MD: SUNY Upstate Medical Center 
Residency: Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University
Fellowship: UConn School of Medicine 

Originally from New York, Robert Bona, MD, and his wife, Georg'Ann, currently live in New Haven and are long-time residents of Connecticut where they raised their three children. Before to coming to Yale, Dr. Bona was a founding faculty member of the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. He previously was Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where he served as the hematology oncology fellowship program director, chief of the division of hematology oncology, and hemophilia treatment center director. He has had a strong interest throughout his career, in medical education and clinical hemostasis and thrombosis.

What does your appointment mean to you? I'm humbled and honored to be appointed at this level at the Yale School of Medicine. 

What was the first thing you did when you found out about your appointment? I told my wife who offered congratulations: “That is really an accomplishment you should be proud of!”

What are you proud of most thus far in your career? I think I have made a difference in the lives of patients and their families either through medical knowledge and application or by being present for them during times of need. 

What is your favorite part of academia? Being a piece of the educational mission of a medical school has been extremely gratifying. I enjoy teaching and learning from students, residents, fellows, nurses, social workers and others involved in the care of patients. Career advising and being able to share some of my experiences with trainees in order for them to make decisions about their careers is also very gratifying. 

Fun fact about you—something people may find surprising. I'm trying to learn to play guitar. I started taking lessons a few years ago, which have been interrupted due to the COVID pandemic. Also, I coached my kids’ baseball/softball teams for almost 20 years--great fun!