UCSD Respiratory
Medicine Fellows

Positions of Former Fellows

1. Kathyn Akong, MD, PhD, 2012. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD.
2. Mindy Ross, MD, MBA, 2013.  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA.
3. Matejka Cernelc-Kohan, MD, 2014. Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD.
4. Taylor Inman, MD, 2016.  Staff pulmonologist, Balboa Naval Medical Hospital, San Diego.
5. Marilynn Chan, MD, 2017.  Pulmonologist, Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA.
6. Divya Chhabra, MD, 2017.  Assistant Professor University of Rochester Medicine.
7. Elizabeth Duong, MD, 2018.  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, with research focus, UCSD.
8. Ruth Siew, MD 2019, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics UCSF.
9. Chelsea Gatcliff, MD 2020, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Texas Houston.
10. Manju Hurvitz, MD 2021, Associate Professor of Pediatrics (pending appointment), UCSD.
11. Richard Wong, DO, 2024, Pulmonologist Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Past Fellowship Research Projects

1. Kathryn Akong, MD, PhD – Host defense and neutrophil nets in pneumonia and cystic fibrosis.
   Mentor: Dr. Victor Nizet.
2. Matejka Cernelc-Kohan, MD – Role of extracellular vesicles in phenotypic alteration in lung fibrosis.
   Mentor: Dr. Jim Hagood.
3. Mindy Ross, MD – Use of bioinformatics to distinguish asthma phenotypes.
   Mentor: Dr. Lucila Ohno-Machado.
4. Taylor Inman, MD – Role of continuous glucose monitoring in cystic fibrosis related diabetes.
   Mentor: Dr. Carla Demeterco.
5. Divya Chhabra, MD - Sex differences in DNA methylation during alveolar development.
   Mentor: Dr. Jim Hagood.
6. Marilynn Chan, MD - Differential methylation patterns in the developing lung.
   Mentor: Dr. Bing Ren.
7. Elizabeth Duong, MD - Single cell analysis of cell types critical to lung development.
   Mentor: Dr. Kun Zhang.
8. Ruth Siew, MD -  The role of bicarbonate in cystic fibrosis pseudomonas lung infections.
   Mentor: Dr. Victor Nizet.
9. Chelsea Gatcliffe, MD - Evaluation of the Respiratory Tract Immune Response in Pediatric Patients with Chronic Aspiration
   Mentor: Dr. David Dimmock 
10. Manju Hurvitz, MD - Improving bipap adherence in neuromuscular disease
    Mentor: Dr. Rakesh Bhattacharjee

Notable Fellow Awards and Grants

1. Pediatric Scientist Development Program – Marilynn Chan, 2014; Elizabeth Duong, 2015.
2. NIH Loan Repayment Program – Elizabeth Duong, 2016; Ruth Siew, 2017.
3. NIH T32 Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology – Ruth Siew, 2017.
4. American Thoracic Society Assembly on Pediatrics Scientific Abstract Award, Divya Chhabra, 2018.  
5. Respiratory Disease Young Investigators’ Forum Poster Award – Elizabeth Duong, 2018