PGY1

Danielle Falkenstein grew up in Hamlin, NY, near Rochester, and earned her undergraduate degree in Microbiology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Rochester. During college, she worked as a medical scribe and EMT, experiences that deepened her commitment to clinical care and public health. After graduating in 2020, she spent a gap year continuing emergency medical work in Rochester before starting medical school at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, NY. 

Early in her career, she recognized the important connection between social determinants of health and a patient's overall health and wellbeing. During medical school, she helped develop an Anti-Racism curriculum and later integrated Indigenous Health topics into the first-year curriculum. She also organized a speaker series—featuring members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—focused on Indigenous health and history. Her work explores how historical trauma, racism, and social determinants of health contribute to disease disparities in socially marginalized populations. She is excited to join the Med-Peds community in Worcester, with clinical interests in hospital medicine, rheumatology, health equity, pediatric rheumatic disease, and public health. Danielle enjoys caring for her plants, thrifting, yoga, listening to electronic dance music, watching Survivor, and FaceTiming her three dogs back home. She’s also a proud Buffalo Bills fan (Go Bills!) and a fan of anything mystery! 

Carissa Fowers grew up in a military family as the oldest of 12 siblings, an experience that deeply shaped her sense of responsibility and her lifelong dream of becoming a pediatrician. She began her career in healthcare by earning an undergraduate degree in nursing and working as a nurse for eight years. During that time, she witnessed critical gaps in care that inspired her to return to school and pursue medicine. Carissa attended medical school at the University of New England in Maine, where she not only found her passion reaffirmed but also discovered a true sense of home. She served as class president throughout medical school, leaving a legacy of advocating for mental health support for future physicians. She is particularly passionate about empowering children to make informed, confident decisions—not just about their health, but in all aspects of their lives. While in Maine, Carissa met her partner, Stephen—a Portland native and high school boys’ basketball coach—who shares her love for community involvement. Outside of medicine, Carissa enjoys hiking, painting with watercolors, playing board games, and catching up on sleep. She’s also known for her love of hosting parties and never passing up a good laugh. Carissa is thrilled to be starting this next chapter in Worcester and looks forward to building lasting relationships with the families she’ll serve.

Victoria was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but has called Puerto Rico home since she was five years old — Boricua aunque naciera en la luna. She earned her degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez and went on to study medicine at Ponce Health Sciences University.
Inspired by her educator parents and a lifelong love for working with children, Victoria was drawn to pediatrics. She appreciates how teaching plays a central role in this field and how care must adapt to each child's developmental stage.Though she remains open to all specialties, Victoria has a special interest in the kidneys and is currently leaning toward Pediatric Nephrology but is excited to continue exploring everything the field of pediatrics has to offer.
Outside of medicine, Victoria enjoys cooking, going to the beach, and spending time with her two rescue dogs — Ask her about Max and Mika! She’s also a huge sports fan: gymnastics (Go LSU!), baseball (Go Red Sox!) and soccer (¡Vamos Argentina!) are all close to her heart.

Hope grew up in Florida, spending many summers with family in Massachusetts. She studied comprehensive science and psychology at Villanova University. Throughout college, she conducted research at Massachusetts General Hospital focused on patient and family quality of life during phase 1 clinical trials, amongst other research projects. She returned to Florida for medical school at Florida State University, where she continued her work in palliative care research and founded a student interest group that volunteered with hospice. As wellness chair for her regional campus, she developed a passion for wellness and preventive medicine.
 
During her internal medicine rotation, Hope worked with a Med-Peds physician and was drawn to the continuity of care across the lifespan. She is currently exploring interests in primary care, palliative care, cardiology, oncology, and preventive medicine.
 
Hope is excited to now call Massachusetts home and to be close to her support system. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, walking, cooking, discovering new restaurants and coffee shops, and spending time with family and friends. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), she absolutely loves dogs.  

Christine grew up on Long Island, New York. She attended The Juilliard School, where she studied piano performance. During her time at Juilliard, she discovered her passion for working with children through both teaching and performing. She enjoyed volunteering with Children’s Aid to organize enrichment programs for underserved children in NYC. After college, she moved to Massachusetts to teach music in the Cambridge Public Schools and later worked as a pianist for the Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Program, helping children with developmental disabilities connect with music and movement. Her growing interest in childhood wellness led her to pursue culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu. She went on to teach cooking classes through Cooking Matters across Massachusetts, helping families prepare healthy and affordable meals. Christine’s interest in medicine, health equity, and child development deepened through volunteer work with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, as well as local soup kitchens and food pantries. She then studied physiology at Harvard University before attending medical school at the University of New England. She is thrilled to continue her pediatrics training at UMass! Outside of the hospital, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, baking, biking, and playing chamber music.

Kristen grew up in Bridgewater, MA. She attended Stonehill College, majoring in Biology. After college, Kristen worked in clinical research for four years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She also coached Special Olympics during her time in Boston, which sparked her passion for working with the disability community. Kristen then went on to attend medical school at UMass, where she was involved in the Sidekicks program, Best Buddies, and the Epworth free clinic. After spending time at the Med-Peds clinic as a medical student (and enjoying both her Pediatrics and Internal Medicine rotations), Kristen was drawn to Med-Peds for the breadth of training and flexible career options. She is thrilled to be continuing her training as a resident at UMass! Kristen is interested in complex care, transitions of care for patients with disabilities, hospital medicine, and medical education. Outside of the hospital, Kristen enjoys biking, kayaking, skiing, rock climbing, and spending time with friends and family.

Sarah grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. She stayed in the area for college and attended Tufts University, where she majored in both Biology and French. Her interest in pediatrics began after college while working as a clinical research coordinator in pediatric oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s National Medical Center. While attending PCOM, she was an executive board member for the Pediatrics Club and had a passion for the outdoors, organizing ski excursions in the northeast for the Wilderness Medicine Club. While she enjoyed her time in Philly, she was eager to return home and found residency training at UMass to be a perfect fit. She is interested in acute care, including emergency medicine and neonatology. In her free time, Sarah can be found exploring a mountain trail, reading, baking, or making the perfect cheeseboard. She is happy to be surrounded by Boston sports fans again!

Valeria was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, in a loving family where every celebration was an opportunity to come together over delicious food and strong coffee. Her passion for children began early, inspired by her mother, a kindergarten teacher. Joining her mother at work during the summers sparked Valeria's deep fascination with understanding children's development. She pursued medical school at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, where her love for pediatrics grew even stronger. During her pediatric rotations, she was captivated by the resilience of children, the problem-solving required to care for them, and the collaborative bond between families and healthcare providers. After medical school, Valeria moved to Boston and joined the Pediatric Radiology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research fellow. For the past three years, she has worked on projects aimed at improving imaging quality while reducing radiation and anesthesia use in children. She has represented the hospital at various national conferences and volunteered with the MGH Postdoc Association, where she co-led a mentoring committee for community college students in STEM. Outside of the hospital, Valeria enjoys cooking, gardening, watching movies and series, and spending quality time with friends and family. She is excited to continue her journey at UMass, surrounded by a community that shares her passion for compassionate patient care.

Meghan grew up in Medway, MA. She discovered her love of Worcester while attending Clark University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. In between college and medical school, Meghan worked at McLean Hospital as a clinical research assistant in the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Division of Women’s Mental Health, where she participated in research surrounding gender differences in substance use disorders. She went on to complete a premedical postbaccalaureate program at Harvard Extension School and spent time volunteering at her local hospital, Milford Regional Medical Center. She went on to attend UMass Chan Medical School, where she fell in love with comprehensive, compassionate patient care across the lifespan and the Med-Peds community. In her free time, you can find Meghan getting dinner and a sweet treat at some of her favorite Worcester spots with her mom and friends, working on her next cross-stitch or crochet project, and binge-watching the latest Netflix show with her cats and boyfriend.  

Kirsten grew up in Maryland and Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Virginia where she majored in anthropology and was active within the global health track. Kirsten participated in research, studying the impact of medical advocacy on tuberculosis incidence in Khayelitsha, South Africa. After graduation, she pursued a Master’s in Public Health. Before entering medical school, Kirsten scribed within a pediatric rheumatology clinic and volunteered as a reproductive health educator.  Kirsten attended Pennsylvania State College of Medicine where she fell in love with pediatrics during her clinical rotations. In her free time, Kirsten enjoys hiking with her dog, Finnley, reading, and horseback riding. 

Lori grew up outside of Boston in Waltham MA and attended Brown University where she majored in Biology. Early in her undergraduate years, she had the opportunity to travel to rural Armenia where she worked with children in the foster care system through a global health project. This was a transformative experience for her where she discovered her passion for working with children. Upon graduating college, Lori worked at Boston Children’s Hospital for a year doing clinical research in pediatric cardiology. It was there that she became fascinated with the remarkable physiology in pediatric conditions, particularly as she learned about congenital heart diseases. She then attended UMass Chan Medical School, knowing that she wanted to become a pediatrician. During her time at UMass, she was one of the co-leaders of the pediatric interest group and subsequently co-led an elective course on “Caring for Pediatric Patients with Complex Needs”.  She has also been a volunteer for the Sidekicks program, working closely with a pediatric patient with a chronic condition, providing support both in and out of the hospital. After working with UMass pediatrics faculty on her clinical rotations, she found it hard to leave and is thrilled to continue her training here! In her free time, Lori enjoys baking, yoga, running, keeping up with her many years of ballet training, and spending time with friends and family.  

Luca grew up near Cologne, Germany. After obtaining her French-German high school diploma, she completed a voluntary social year as a nursing assistant in a hospital, which confirmed her suspicion that medicine was the path for her. She went on to study at the University Hospital in Bonn, where everything from a tutoring position in the pediatric department to clinical rotations in pediatrics and her thesis on congenital urinary malformations kept pointing her in one direction—pediatrics. Her curiosity eventually took her across the Atlantic for a research stay at Boston Children’s Hospital. There, she not only fell in love with rare disease research but also with the charm of Boston and New England (Boston’s restaurants may or may not have played a role).
After completing her studies and thesis, she returned to Boston to work as a research fellow in neurology at Boston Children’s, where she was dedicated to improving care for children with rare neurogenetic disorders. Now, she is very excited to join the UMass family for her pediatrics residency.
Outside the hospital, you can find her hiking, running, or playing tennis with more enthusiasm than skill, cooking her way through international cuisines, and spending time with friends and family—ideally all at once.