PIHPS: The Professionals In Health Podcast Series

Aravind Krishnan is a third-year medical student at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He proudly graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Biophysics in 2015 and spent a gap year working in the Medical Affairs Department of Johns Hopkins Hospital with Dr. Redonda Miller before starting medical school. He will be pursuing residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery upon graduation from medical school, with the hopes of focusing his career on heart and lung transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support. Aravind is passionate about research and education and finds that investigation is one of the most gratifying components of a medical career; thus, he will pursue an academic career path. His current research focuses on clinical outcomes after cardiac and thoracic surgery, as well as the development of novel immunosuppressive regimens for preventing transplant rejection. He is passionate about mentorship, and is always looking for ways to encourage interest and success in medicine.

Ruoxi Yu is a medical student at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she is a member of the Primary Care Leadership Track. She attended Yale University where she received a B.A. in Anthropology. Her previous areas of research focused on the lived experiences of women undergoing fertility treatment, in particular in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. 

Lisa is a medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She previously received her undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Molecular and Cell Biology (Infectious Diseases) from University of California, Berkeley. She is interested in pursuing a career in otolaryngology and is currently actively involved in research in the field. When she’s not training to be a future doctor, she can be found camping in cafes around Baltimore or planning out another food adventure.

Sophia Diaz is a third year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and CBID (Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design) Masters of Engineering candidate for the 2019-2020 school year. Sophia was born and raised in Miami, FL, and graduated from Brown University in 2014 with a Bachelors of Science in Biology with the advanced track in Biotechnology & Physiology. Her research experiences have ranged from studying biochemical pathways in satiety and hunger in animal models and in vitro settings, using stem cell organoid culture to study colitis-associated cancer cells, and using flow cytometry and tissue/blood processing techniques to find predictive biomarkers of drug response in IBD patients, to history of medicine research on over-the-counter DNA-related health and beauty products. Her other passions include participating in leadership and activities within the JHU-SOM chapters of SNMA and LMSA; art, design, music, dance, education and mentorship, women in STEM, and volunteering/advocating for minority youth in STEM.

Tejus Pradeep is a third year medical student at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. He was born in Trivandrum, India and moved to the United States at the age of 7. He is originally from Basking Ridge, NJ and graduated from Rutgers University in 2016 with a double major in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, and Psychiatry. He is currently interested in pursuing a career in the field of ophthalmology, and is interested in research questions about visuospatial memory and tracking eye patterns in various health states. 

Joshua Y.C. Yang, M.Eng. is a MD-PhD student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) in the Department of Bioengineering and an MBA student at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is also a co-founder of KIT Bio, Inc., a biotech startup that has raised $3.8 million to develop noninvasive diagnostics for kidney injury detection. Prior to medical school, he attended UC San Diego on a full-ride through the Jacobs School Scholarship and completed a Masters degree in Translational Medicine jointly offered at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley. With business, medical, and bioengineering backgrounds, he interfaces between these different realms to push the boundaries of how noninvasive, point-of-care technology can change clinical management paradigms and provide access to care to those traditionally underserved.

Lochan Shah is a medical student at Johns Hopkins passionate about the intersection of medicine, technology, and public health, and the potential for technology to improve healthcare delivery as well as patient safety and outcomes. She graduated from UC Berkeley, where she double-majored in Public Health and Molecular & Cellular Biology. At Hopkins, Lochan has led a student health consultant team in using EDCAHPS data to inform operational changes in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Emergency Department. Additionally, she has been engaged with the Martin Research Group in the development of Corrie, a digital health intervention that incorporates an iOS app, Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff, and Apple Watch to guide patients through recovery after acute myocardial infarction with the goal of reducing 30-day readmission rates. Her research interests include understanding how digital health interventions can be used to empower patients, reduce healthcare costs, and improve clinical outcomes, the usability and feasibility of such interventions, and the barriers to bringing them into everyday practice. Ultimately, she hopes to leverage these experiences as well as a career as a future cardiologist to help bridge the gap between clinicians, patients, technology, and the greater healthcare system to improve healthcare.

Joshua Prudent  is a 4th-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who matched into pediatrics at Nationwide Children's Hospital in 2019. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he double-majored in Integrative Biology and Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Before medical school, Josh spent two years working in the production lab of a genetic screening company and TA-ing an Organic Chemistry lab course at UC Berkeley. During his medical school education, he has been involved actively involved in community youth education and mentorship, URM recruitment, peer medical education, interest group leadership, and medical student government, and took a year away from his medical education to do pediatric oncology research. Joshua is pursuing a career as a pediatric oncologist, and hopes to become an exceptional clinician researcher and medical educator at an academic center.

Nicholas Rowan is an otolaryngologist with fellowship training in rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgeries. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University and obtained his medical doctorate from Rutgers: New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Rowan completed residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and then concluded his surgical training at the Medical University of South Carolina in advanced rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgery. Dr. Rowan is an active academic surgeon and an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. In addition to resident and fellow surgical training, Dr. Rowan is actively involved in rhinologic and skull base outcomes research, as well as clinical trial programs for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. He has a special clinical and academic interest in smell and taste function and its role in patient quality of life.

Lauren Claus is a medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Originally from Massachusetts, she received a BA in English from Harvard University, where she co-founded the Medical Humanities Forum. She was a columnist for The Crimson and her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as Briar Cliff Review, Two Hawks Review, and Zone 3. Her research interests include surgeon-family communication, surgical ethics, and dermatological disorders.