Fellows
Fellows
Meet our current and past Texas A&M College of Medicine Academy of Physician Scientists/Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow Awardees. These distinguished Fellows are residents or fellows in the Texas A&M-affiliated GME programs at Houston Methodist. The Fellows complete two years dedicated to a mentored research project combined with graduate school curriculum on Foundations of Clinical and Translational Research, and then continue as a Fellow while they complete their residency or fellowship.
2024-2026
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Hematology/Oncology Fellow, PGY-4, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2023-Present Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University ‘20 BS, Molecular Biology, University of Central Florida ‘16 Career Specialty Goals: Hematology/Oncology Research Project: Decoding STING-Pathway Expression in Chemo-resistant Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients |
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Orthopedic Surgery Resident, PGY-4, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2026-Present MD, Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin ‘21 MBA, University of Texas at Austin ‘21 BS, Mechanical Engineering, Rice University ‘17 Career Specialty Goals: Orthopedic Surgery Sports Medicine Research Project: Does the Presence or Absence of ‘Placebo Genes’ Impact Patient Outcomes After Hip Arthroscopy? |
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Neurological Surgery Resident, PGY-5, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2021-Present MD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences '20 BS, Biology, University of Central Arkansas ‘16 Career Specialty Goals: Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery Research Project: Development of Electrokinetic Convection-enhanced Delivery (ECED) as a Novel and Viable Approach for Gene Therapy to the Brain |
2023-2025
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STEVEN M. ELZEIN, MD General Surgery Resident, PGY-3, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, The Ohio State University College of Medicine '20 BS, Honors Biology and Arabic, The Ohio State University ‘16 Career Specialty Goals: Transplant Surgery and Transplant Immunology Research Project: Investigating Differential CD4-independent CD8+ T Cell-mediated Rejection of Skin and Heart Allografts—Phenotypic, Mechanistic, and Restorative Considerations |
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ANDREW GEORGE, MD Orthopedic Surgery Resident, PGY-4, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, '20 BA, Psychology, Northwestern University ‘16 Career Specialty Goals: Orthopedic Surgery Sports Medicine Research Project: The Effect of Treprostinil on Patellar Tendon Repair in a Rabbit Model |
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HALA HASSANAIN, MD Internal Medicine Resident, PGY-2, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2022-Present MBBS, Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia, '19 Career Specialty Goals: Academic Hematology/Oncology and Translational Research Research Project: Molecular Profiling of Colonic Polyps as a Novel Approach for Cancer Risk Stratification and Clinical Decision Making for Early Cancer Detection and Treatment Through NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing) |
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SIBI RAJENDRAN, MD Neurosurgery Resident, PGY-5, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, University of Kentucky College of Medicine ‘19 BS, Biology, University of Kentucky ‘15 Career Specialty Goals: Academic Functional Neurosurgery; Focus: modern deep brain stimulation and epilepsy techniques Research Projects: Local Field Potentials (LFP) as a Basis for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Optimization |
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ZHIHAO ZHU, MD Cardiovascular Disease Fellow, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 2024 Internal Medicine Resident, PGY-4, Chief Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2023-Present MD, UTMB Galveston, '20 BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, ‘16 Career Specialty Goals: Academic Cardiology; Possible focus: adult congenital heart disease Research Project: Towards Autonomous Central Vascular Access |
2022-2024
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JAIME GUERRERO, MD Spine Surgery Fellow, Cleveland Clinic, 2025-2026 Neurosurgery Resident, PGY-56, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, University of Texas Health at San Antonio ‘18 BS, Neurobiology, University of Texas ‘14 Career Specialty Goals: Minimally Invasive and Complex Spine Surgery Research Projects: Novel Applications of Mechanomyography in Peripheral Nerve and Spine Surgery Enhancing Functional Recovery in Spinal Cord Injury Patients Using Peripheral Stimulation |
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ANDREA M. MEINDERS, MD General Surgery Resident, PGY-3, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center '19 BS, Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln ‘15 Career Specialty Goals: Abdominal Transplant Surgery Research Project: Modifiable Factors Affecting Living Kidney Donation |
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BRIAN M. PHELPS, MD Orthopedic Surgery Resident, PGY-5, Houston Methodist Hospital MD, Eastern Virginia Medical School, '19 MS, Biomedical Science, Eastern Virginia Medical School ‘15 BS, Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State ‘10 Career Specialty Goals: Orthopedic Spine and Tumor Surgery Research Project: Machine Learning and Predictive Modeling in Orthopedic Spine and Oncology Surgery |
2021-2023
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FARSHAD AMIRKHOSRAVI, MD, MPH MPH, Epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2023 General Surgery Resident, PGY-3, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2022-Present Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2021-2023 MD, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, ‘19 BA, Biochemistry, Lamar University, ‘13 Career Specialty Goals: Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Project: Mechanism of Development Bicuspid Aortic Valve in Patients with Turner Syndrome |
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ABDULMUNAIM (ABDUL) M. EID, MD Movement Disorders Center Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis, 2023-Present Neurology Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2021-2023 MBBCh, University of Cairo Faculty of Medicine, Egypt, '15 Career Specialty Goals: Movement Disorders and Cognitive Neurology Research Project: Investigating the Status of Regulatory T cells in Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia and Determine the Effect of Ex-vivo Expansion on Their Immunophenotype and Suppressive Activity |
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NAJAH ALI KHAN, MD Cardiovascular Disease Fellow, Scripps Clinic, 2023-Present MS Candidate in Bioinformatics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2024 Internal Medicine Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2021-2023 MD, Texas A&M University School of Medicine, '19 BS, Biology; Minor, Chemistry, University of Houston, ‘15 Career Specialty Goals: Preventative Cardiology Research Project: Investigating Determinants of Cardiovascular (CV) Disease and Tailoring CV Diagnostics and Therapeutics using Machine Learning Algorithms |
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JONATHAN J. LEE, MD Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist, 2024 Minimally Invasive and Complex Spine Fellow, Barrow Brain and Spine Institute, 2023 Neurosurgery Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2021-2023 MD, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, ‘16 MEdT, University of Hawai’I at Manoa, ‘12 BA, Biology, University of Pennsylvania, ‘10 Career Specialty Goals: Minimally Invasive and Complex Spine Surgery Research Project: Ventral Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury & Implementing Augmented Reality (AR) in the Operating Room |
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KAI SUN, MD Instructor, Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center, 8/2022-Present Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2021-2023 MD MS, Medical College of Qingdao University, China, ‘15 Career Specialty Goals: Academic Breast Oncology Research Project: Role of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and its Relationship with Obesity in Triple Negative Breast Cancer |
2020-2022
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RYAN (R.J.) AUSTERMAN, MD, MS Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery Fellow, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2023 Neurosurgery Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2020-2022 MD, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, '16 MS, Global Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, '10 BS, Biology, Arizona State University, '09 Career Specialty Goals: Functional Neurosurgery and Epilepsy Research Project: Development of a portable, deployable device utilizing artificial intelligence for diagnosis and management of stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and traumatic brain injury |
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TAKASHI HIRASE, MD, MPH Oncology Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2024 Spine Surgery Fellow, New York Hospital for Specialty Surgery, 2023 Orthopedic Surgery Resident, Houston Methodist Hospital Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2020-2022 MD, Texas A&M University School of Medicine, ‘18 MPH, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, ‘14 BS, Molecular Cell Developmental Biology, UCLA, ‘13 Career Specialty Goals: Orthopedic Spine Surgery Research Project: Vancomycin-loaded biomimetic trizonal membrane for reduction of surgical site infection in a rabbit spine fusion model. |
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YOON KYUNG 'KADY' LEE, MD MS Candidate, Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2024 General Surgery Resident, PGY-4, Houston Methodist Hospital, 2022-Present Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow 2020-2022 MD, University of California-Irvine, ‘18 BS, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, ‘13 Career Specialty Goals: General Surgery, Endocrine Surgery Project Title: Effect of osteocalcin and metformin on human islets |
