People

Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Clancy attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his undergraduate degrees in Chemistry (Biochemistry, Honors and Distinction) and Traditional Mathematics. While there, he worked in the Department of Genetics under Dr. Mark Heise, studying non-coding complementary strand transcription products of alphaviruses and working on validating a methodology of producing sequence independent cDNA libraries from multiple RNA viruses. He then attended the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. While a student, he studied the role of nicotinic signaling in mitochondrial membrane preservation during ischemic preconditioning with Dr. Kaie Ojamaa. He was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha and received the 2018 graduation award from the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Since joining the Yale Integrated Thoracic Surgery program, he has produced numerous outcomes research publications using institutional, national, and international databases. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2024 under the mentorship of Dr. Jordan Pober, the Bayer Professor of Translational Medicine and Vice Chair of Immunobiology. He studied alloreactivity, microRNA-mediated regulation of endothelial cytokine expression, and novel nucleotide-based polymeric nanoparticle modification of endothelial cells and ex vivo perfused organs. He was awarded the 2024 Yale Department of Surgery Surgeon-Scientist Training Program to continue his translational science program, focused on the description and elimination of endothelial co-stimulatory molecules, while completing his clinical training. In both 2025 and 2026, he received the Frank C Detterbeck Resident Teaching Award from the Divisions of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery. He plans to pursue a career in advanced heart failure.

Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, Alan attended Dartmouth College and received undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics. He subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school and is currently a resident in the integrated cardiothoracic residency program. During residency, he spent two years in the labs of Drs. Roland Assi and George Tellides and earned a Masters of Health Science degree. He plans to pursue a career in academic cardiac surgery with a focus on complex aortic surgery.

Irbaz Hameed, MD, PhD, is an integrated cardiothoracic surgery resident at Yale. During his surgical training, he earned a PhD in Investigative Medicine with a focus on neurocardiology from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, conducting his doctoral research in the Sestan Laboratory. Raised and educated across several West African countries, he received his medical degree from China and subsequently completed a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Hameed has presented his work at national and international scientific meetings and has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, in addition to several book chapters. His work has appeared in journals including Nature, The Lancet, JAMA, European Heart Journal, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has received numerous academic and research awards and serves in several editorial capacities, including as a deputy editor, associate editor, and peer reviewer for clinical and basic and translational cardiovascular journals. His translational research focuses on neurocardiology, particularly the heart-brain axis and the recovery of organs following warm ischemia. His work integrates live large-animal models with single-cell and spatial multi-omics technologies to characterize ischemia-reperfusion injury and identify potential strategies for organ recovery and preservation. His clinical research focuses on outcomes in cardiac surgery, randomized clinical trials, observational research, and evidence synthesis. Dr. Hameed currently serves as president of the North American Thoracic Surgery Residents/Fellows Association and holds leadership and committee positions within the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He is also a past president of the Yale Residents’ and Fellows’ Senate.

Dr. Best hails from rural Maine and graduated from Yale University as a member of the Lightweight Crew (Y150) with a BA in Linguistics. During this time, he volunteered in the laboratory of Drs. Christopher Breuer and Toshiharu Shinoka (Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program) where he dedicated his efforts to the development of a tissue-engineered vascular graft. He followed the laboratory to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH to support an FDA-approved clinical trial evaluating the graft as a Fontan conduit in patients with congenital heart disease. He earned a PhD in Biomedical Science from the Ohio State University and co-founded Lyst Therapeutics, LLC which developed novel immunomodulatory therapies to facilitate tissue engineering in the pediatric population. He then graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is honored to return to Yale as a member of the Integrated Cardiothoracic Residency Program and aims toward a career as a surgeon-scientist, continuing the translation of tissue-engineered solutions to the field of congenital heart surgery.

Dustin completed his undergraduate education at the University of Southern California, followed by his medical education at the Keck School of Medicine. He is currently an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale and plans to pursue a career in adult cardiac surgery.

Rahul earned his B.A. in Economics from Vassar College, followed by a post-baccalaureate program at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his medical degree from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine after which he completed two years of general surgery training at Stony Brook University Hospital. He then spent two years at Columbia University Irving Medical Center engaged in dedicated research. At Columbia, he completed a year-long clinical thoracic ECMO fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Philippe Lemaitre. He subsequently joined the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, working under Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic to develop a high-fidelity lung disease model using a novel large-animal cross-circulation platform. Rahul is currently an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale, with plans to pursue a career in mechanical circulatory support and heart and lung transplantation.

Alla completed her undergraduate education at Gonzaga University, followed by her medical education at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is currently an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale and plans to pursue a career in adult thoracic surgery. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and exploring new restaurants.

Mohammad earned his B.S. in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale, followed by his medical education at the University of California San Francisco. He is currently an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale and plans to pursue a career in adult cardiothoracic surgery.

Mason earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Mississippi College, followed by his medical education at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. He is currently an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale and plans to pursue a career in adult cardiac surgery.

Ahmed K. Awad, MD, earned his medical degree from Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine, graduating summa cum laude. He completed an internship in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Ain Shams University Hospitals, followed by two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cardiac Surgery in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He subsequently joined the Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency (I-6) at Yale New Haven Hospital. Dr. Awad is actively engaged in research, education, and mentorship. His scholarly work—spanning manuscripts, abstracts, book chapters, and oral presentations—focuses on valvular heart disease, complex cardiac surgery, and lung transplantation, with significant contributions to multicenter database analyses and meta-analyses. He is committed to advancing surgical education and leadership, serving on the editorial boards of multiple indexed surgical journals and contributing as a speaker, program planner, and mentor within local and national surgical organizations. His long-term goal is to integrate surgical excellence with innovation, education, and leadership to advance the field of cardiac surgery and improve patient outcomes.

Cornell is an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Yale. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Amherst College before completing medical school at the University of Illinois Chicago. His academic interests center on adult cardiac surgery, outcomes research, and advancing quality of care through clinical investigation. He has authored or co-authored 26 peer-reviewed publications spanning topics including mitral valve surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting, regionalization of cardiac surgical care, epilepsy, and digital health. His research career began at the National Institutes of Health and Yale New Haven Hospital, and he later served as a Research Associate in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Yale under the mentorship of Dr. Arnar Geirsson. As an AATS Scanlan Family Summer Scholar—one of only two medical students selected nationwide—he participated in complex cardiac operations while leading patient-centered outcomes research. Beyond research, Cornell is committed to surgical education, mentorship, and developing the next generation of physician-scientists. His long-term goal is to advance the field of cardiothoracic surgery through excellence in patient care, innovation, and clinical research.