Tova Gardin, MD, MPP

I grew up in California and have lived around the country - on the West Coast, in the Midwest and in the Northeast. My motivation for applying to medical school was my interest in studying the human brain and in helping those suffering from diseases of the central nervous system. I plan to utilize the tools of medicine, science, and policy to study diseases at the intersection of Neurology and Psychiatry, to provide compassionate and comprehensive care to my patients, and to optimize healthcare systems to provide support to those patients who so often fall through the cracks. As a physician scientist, I have begun to use the tools of immunology and neuroimaging to study diseases at the intersection of Neurology and Psychiatry. Prior to medical school, my work focused on the use of diffusion tensor imaging and cognitive assessment to characterize the course of mild traumatic brain injury and to develop imaging biomarkers. I continued my neuroimaging work in medical school, studying structural imaging changes to the hippocampus in psychotic disorders. Upon publication and defense of my thesis on this topic in 2017, I graduated from Harvard Medical School with honors in research. I joined Yale for its warmth, its dynamic research environment, and its collaborative nature. I completed my preliminary year in Internal Medicine in 2018 and graduated from the Yale Neurology Residency program in Spring 2021. As a neurology resident, I received the Louis Levy Award in recognition of excellence in clinical care, professional integrity, and scholarship, was awarded an NIH R25 grant to study neuroimmunologic mechanisms of disease, and served as Clinical Chief Resident. Currently as a member of the immunology lab of David Hafler, I study alterations in immune checkpoint regulation and development of autoimmunity. I am excited to join the NRTP track, to train as a dual Psychiatrist and Neurologist, and to continue the study of immunologic mechanisms of diseases such as autoimmune encephalitis, which bridge the fields of Neurology and Psychiatry. I also maintain an active interest in public policy and in developing systems to provide access and to optimize care for our patients. Having received a Masters in Public Policy from Princeton University, I have worked as a graduate consultant for TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, and continue my clinical care optimization work as a member of the Neurosciences Care Signature Council. In my free time, I enjoy running, hiking, baking breads and pastries, strolling through open-air markets, and doing just about anything outdoors.