Photo: Colleen Locke
Twenty-eight UMass Chan Medical School faculty members graduated from the Junior Faculty Development Program in a ceremony on Thursday, May 22.
The Junior Faculty Development Program, the longest-running professional development program at UMass Chan, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Nearly 300 junior faculty members representing nearly every academic department have participated in the program since its launch at UMass Chan in 2010.
The 12-month program comprises a comprehensive curriculum on research, education and career development; and an individual project completed under the guidance of a senior faculty member.
In her introductory remarks, Jennifer Reidy, MD, associate professor of family medicine & community health, and director of the Junior Faculty Development Program, highlighted the program’s success since its inception, noting that program participants have a higher promotion and retention rate at UMass Chan than their peers.
“With this program, our goal is to empower junior faculty to identify and take action on their mission in life and equip them with knowledge and skills to advance their work making health care and our world a better place,” Reidy said. “This program is a forum where you can find mentors and sponsors to help showcase your work as rising leaders.”
Past program graduates Daryl Bosco, PhD, the Paul J. DiMare Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease and professor of neurology; Amanda Cornine, PhD’21, RN, CNE, assistant professor of nursing; and Jennifer LaFemina, MD, associate professor of surgery, also delivered remarks.
Dr. LaFemina expressed gratitude for the transformative experience of participating in the Junior Faculty Development Program in 2015, which she said provided foundational tools for her career.
“The JFDP is a perfect example of why I came here and why I’ve stayed here: it’s the investment of this university in its people,” LaFemina said.
The event concluded with Reidy and Pranoti Mandrekar, PhD, professor of medicine and co-director of the program, presenting graduates with their certificates, and closing remarks from Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine.
Photo: Colleen Locke
2025 Junior Faculty Development Program graduates
Elizabeth Aherne, DO, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Margret Chang, MD, assistant professor of medicine)
Corey Costanzo, DO, MPH, assistant professor of family medicine & community health (mentor: Jennifer Carey, MD, associate professor of medicine)
Jennifer Coukos, MD’16, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Christine MacGinnis, DO, associate professor of medicine)
Jason Crowther, MD, PhD, assistant professor of anesthesiology & perioperative medicine (mentor: Kimberly Fisher, MD, associate professor of medicine)
Annie Ferris, MD, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: Jerry Gurwitz, MD, the Dr. John Meyers Professor in Primary Care Medicine and professor of medicine)
Isha Gujrathi, MD, assistant professor of radiology (mentor: Sarah Cutrona, MD, MPH, professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Shruti Hegde, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: M. Diane McKee, MD, MS, the UMass Memorial Ledwith Chair in Family and Community Medicine, and chair and professor of medicine)
Lourah Kelly, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences (mentor: Edwin Boudreaux, PhD, professor of emergency medicine)
Judith Kempfle, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology (mentor: Jung Ae Lee, PhD, assistant professor of population & quantitative health sciences)
Shrinkhala Khanna, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Alok Kapoor, MD, professor of medicine)
Ashwini Kulkarni, MD, DNB, assistant professor of radiology (mentor: Anne Larkin, MD, FACS, associate professor of surgery and vice provost and senior associate dean for educational affairs)
Rocky Lai, PhD, instructor in microbiology (mentor: Neal Silverman, PhD, professor of medicine)
Robert Le, MD, MBA, MS, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Philip Day, PhD, assistant professor of family medicine & community health)
Ningcheng (Peter) Li, MD, assistant professor of radiology (mentor: Kevin Donahue, MD, the David J. and Barbara D. Milliken Professor in Preventive Cardiology and professor of medicine)
Thin Malatesta, PhD’21, RN, assistant professor of nursing (mentor: Lynn Hernandez, PhD, assistant vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion)
Mario Meza-Segura, PhD, instructor in microbiology (mentor: Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, professor of medicine)
Sarah Palmer, MD’18, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences (mentor: Suzanne Mitchell, MD, associate professor of family medicine & community health)
Veronica Peschansky, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology (mentor: Chinmay Trivedi, MD, PhD, professor of medicine)
Matthew Petersile, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Karim Alavi, MD, associate professor of surgery)
Heidi Putney, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences (mentor: Daniel Mullin, PsyD, MPH, professor of family medicine & community health)
Dheera Reddy, MD, assistant professor of surgery (mentor: J. Aaron Scott, DO, associate professor of anesthesiology & perioperative medicine)
Erich Renner, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics (mentor: Josephine Fowler, MD, professor of family medicine & community health)
Brian Smiley, MD, assistant professor of radiology (mentor: Paul Rava, MD, associate professor of radiation oncology)
Deepika Sundararaj, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences (mentor: Marlina Duncan, EdD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion)
Sudipta Tripathi, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Ann Rothstein, PhD, professor of medicine)
William White, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd, professor of medicine, associate vice provost for interprofessional and instructional innovation)
Emily Wu, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology (mentor: Kriti Mittal, MD, assistant professor of medicine)
Abena Yankah, MD, assistant professor of medicine (mentor: Vandana Nagpal, MD, associate professor of medicine)
