Message from Program Director
Welcome to the Westchester Medical Center Pathology Residency Program
It is my great pleasure and honor to serve as the Program Director of the Pathology Residency program. Westchester Medical Center is a 415-bed academic hospital in Valhalla, NY, serving as the regional hub of tertiary and quaternary care and providing the highest quality care for more than 2.4 million people in the Hudson Valley. Our team is committed to promoting excellence and diversity in our quality of care and patient services. Our program aims at providing a strong educational foundation that prepares our residents for an academic- or community-based career path in pathology.
Our integrated training in various areas of AP and CP include rotations in Surgical Pathology, Cytopathology, Autopsy, Transplant Pathology, Hematopathology, Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology, Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine, Cytogenetics, Molecular Pathology, Laboratory Management, Informatics, and HLA among others. Residents can use elective time to further explore an area of interest or for research. All our residents participate in yearly research projects, QA & QI projects, and journal clubs. Often their projects lead to poster or platform presentations at national conferences, which they are strongly encouraged to attend.
I hope the information on this website is helpful and gives you an overview of our training program. You will take advantage of every opportunity and make good use of all the facilities we have here at Westchester Medical Center. Our board-certified faculty are subspecialty trained and eager to provide daily educational didactics and at-the-scope training to our residents. Our wonderful supporting staff are there to guide you along the way, and the faculty interests and expertise are vast and varied, in order to be as inclusive as possible to accommodate pathology residents from any and all backgrounds and experience.
Thank you for your interest in the Westchester Medical Center Pathology Residency Program.
Sincerely,
Humayun K. Islam, MD, PhD
Program Director, Pathology Residency Program
Clinical Professor & Chairman, Department of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, New York Medical College
Chief, Anatomic Pathology
Director, Hematopathology
Residency in Pathology - Anatomic & Clinical Pathology
Programs Offered
The Pathology Residency at WMC was accredited in 1951 by the ACGME. Our program is accredited for 12 training positions in the combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology (4 year AP/CP Track), Anatomic Pathology (3 year AP Only Track) or Clinical Pathology (3 year CP Only Track). The combined training track integrates both anatomical and clinical pathologic training throughout all four years. Anatomic pathology training includes surgical pathology, autopsy pathology, hematopathology, renal pathology, neuropathology, cytopathology, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and forensic pathology. Clinical pathology encompasses clinical chemistry, hematology, transfusion medicine, transplant immunology, flow cytometry, medical microbiology, immunology, serology, laboratory management and informatics.
All pathology residents participate in yearly research projects. The projects often lead to poster and platform presentations at national conferences, which residents are encouraged to attend. Expenses related to such conferences are reimbursed. For residents who wish to gain additional experience in pathology research, the Valhalla campus and the Cancer Research Institute offer the opportunity to participate in a number of ongoing projects under the direction of a departmental faculty member. The residents have full access to the library facilities of New York Medical College and its online subscriptions. They attend monthly meetings of New York Pathological Society and Westchester Pathology Society in addition to daily departmental conferences and certain clinical conferences. The chief residents and qualified senior residents may receive appointments as Instructors in the Medical College and participate in the education of sophomore medical students.
Types and Numbers of Appointments
Twelve positions are available at the Valhalla Campus: generally three PGY-1 openings are offered each July. Residents are assigned full time to Westchester Medical Center Hospital (WMC) of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network. All elective and required rotations including forensic pathology and cytogenetics are offered within the campus. One month is allocated for an outside rotation of the resident’s choosing in the third year of training.
Research
The opportunities for research at both WMC and NYMC are vast. We currently have projects focused on multiple different areas including; conventional histology, immunohistochemistry, cancer genomics, microbiology and informatics. Residents are able to access a wide array of resources to allow for participation in clinical studies as well as bench work.
Of note are the two Illumina MiSeq next generation sequencers, one at the college and the other at the medical center, and our Phillips whole slide scanner that are available for resident projects. Currently multiple studies engaging these are allowing us to access the forefront of medicine. Regardless of your interest, multiple projects can be undertaken and are encouraged.
Current and Past Residents
Class of 2025
Priti Chamdal, MD
Medical School: Medical University of Lublin, Poland
Priti received her medical degree from Medical University of Lublin in Poland. In her free time, she enjoys reading, and painting, and traveling the world.
Mohamed Elnagdy, MBBCh
Medical School: University of Cairo, Faculty of Medicine, Egypt
Mohamed graduated from University of Cairo in Egypt. After medical school, He joined Pharmacology and Toxicology department at University of Louisville, Kentucky as a graduate teaching assistant and MS/PhD student where he studied PDE4 inhibitors in prevention/treatment of liver fibrosis. He enjoys medical education. He took courses for certificate of Health Professional Education at University of Louisville. Away from medicine, he enjoys family time, tennis, Arabic music and movies.
Nao Odajima Hara, MD, PhD
Medical School: Asahikawa Medical University
Nao graduated from Asahikawa Medical University and obtained PhD degree from Hokkaido University School of Medicine in Japan. She worked as pulmonologist at Hokkaido University and then as postdoctoral research fellow at University of North Carolina. She enjoys skiing, watching movies, and spending time with family.
Class of 2024
Sravanthi Lavu, MBBS
Medical School: Andhra Medical College, India
Sravanthi graduated from Andhra Medical College, India. After medical school, she went to Mayo Clinic as a research trainee in Hepatobiliary Cancer Laboratory working on multicenter clinical trials. She continued there as a postdoctoral research fellow conducting clinical research on myeloproliferative diseases and genotype-phenotype correlation studies in polycystic kidney diseases. Dr. Lavu’s interests include Molecular Pathology. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading books and calligraphy.
Gautam Vanga, MBBS
Medical School: Narayana Medical College, Nellore, AP, India
Gautam graduated from Narayana Medical College, India. After medical school, he worked in critical care medicine and joined as a research trainee at SUNY Upstate Medical University working on research studies related to surfactant protein expression, regulation and function, as well as acute lung injury and ARDS before joining as a pathology resident at Westchester Medical Center in 2020. He enjoys reading books, travelling and spending quality time with family and friends.
Lakshmisree Akhila Vemulakonda, MBBS
Medical School: Katuri Medical College, Guntur, India
Akhila graduated medical school from NTR University of Health Sciences in India. After graduate school, she spent time working as a medical officer in India for three years. Later she spent time conducting clinical research on NASH pathogenesis and new HCV treatment regimens. She started her pathology residency at Westchester Medical Center in 2020. She can converse fluently in English, Telugu and Hindi. She enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Class of 2023
Soumya Mikkilineni, MBBS
Medical School: Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, India
Soumya graduated medical school from India and obtained a Master’s degree in public health from New York Medical College in New York. After graduate school, she spent time conducting clinical research in patient-derived xenografts and cancer immunotherapy. She can converse fluently in English, Hindi and French. She enjoys traveling and yoga during her free time.
Mozibur Rahman, MBBS
Medical School: Dhaka Medical College
Mozibur graduated with a Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from Dhaka Medical College and a Master’s degree in public health and PhD degree in Neuroendocrinology from Umeå University, Sweden. He had been working as a post-doctoral fellow in Calgary University and McMaster University, Canada. During his research career, he published more than 15 papers in the peer-reviewed journals including a book chapter and poster presentations. He is also a registered physician of Medical Council of Canada. Moreover, Dr. Rahman achieved a diploma in Applied Clinical Research. His interests include, camping, hiking and long drives.
Helena Tomac Pavosevic, MD
Chief Resident, 2021-2022
Medical School: University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia
Sidra Zaheer, MBBS
Chief Resident, 2021-2022
Medical School: Dow Medical College, Pakistan
Sidra came to Westchester Medical Center from Karachi, Pakistan. Outside pathology, she loves to cook, bake and spend time with her family and friends.
Class of 2022
Marcelo Cassini, MD, PhD - Chief Resident
Chief Resident, 2020-2021
Medical School: Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Marcelo graduated medical school from Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He obtained his Master and PhD degrees in surgery from University of Sao Paulo (USP). In 2014, he went to Yale University as a postdoctoral associate for basic and translational research in polycystic kidney disease. In 2017, he joined New York University (NYU) as a research fellow in oncology trying to elucidate the molecular (PD1-PDL1) signaling between lymphocytes and pancreatic malignant cells. In 2018, he started the residency in Pathology at WMC/NYMC. Marcelo enjoys an enthusiastic conversation, appreciates a nice cup of coffee and a good bottle of wine. He likes to travel and spend time with family and friends.
Haiyan Li, MD
Medical School: Peking University Health Science Center, China
Alumni
Class of 2021
Qiqi Ye, MD
Chief Resident 2020-2021
Medical School: Fudan University, China
Fellowship: Breast Pathology, MD Anderson, Houston, TX
Qiqi graduated from Fudan University in China with an M.D. After medical school, she joined a Ph.D. program at University of Toledo, Ohio, where she studied signaling function of Na/K-ATPase. She enjoys family time, music, movies, and sleep.
Kemin Xu, MD, PhD
Medical School: Jiangxi Medical College JiangXi, China
Fellowship: Hematopathology, New York University (NYU)
After medical school, Kemin went to Shantou University Medical College Guangdong, China and received M.Phil. in Microbiology and Immunology. He then went to The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China and received his Ph.D. in Microbiology. Kemin’s interests include gardening, running, table tennis, badminton, and playing Chess.
Rugved Pattarkine, MD
Chief Resident 2019-2020
Medical School: Smolensk state medical academy, Smolensk, Russia
Fellowship: Transfusion Medicine, David Geffen School of medicine at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles)
Rugved graduated from Smolensk State Medical Academy in Smolensk, Russia. He enjoys playing cricket, swimming, tennis, reading, traveling, painting and cooking.
Class of 2020
Sarwat Gilani, MD
Chief Resident 2019-2020
Foundation University Medical College (FUMC)
Dana Marie Razzano, MD
St. George's University School of Medicine
Shamima Sultana, MD, PhD
Dhaka National Medical College & Hospital
Class of 2019
Alexandra Budhai, MD
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Christian Salib, MD
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Sina Zomorrodian, DO
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Class of 2018
Taliya Farooq, MBBS
Medical School: Allama Iqbal Medical College
Faisal Saeed, MBBS
Medical School: King Edward Medical University
Class of 2017
Galam Khan, MD
Medical School: Sher-E-Bangla Medical College
Eric Vail, MD
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Esther Yoon, MD
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Fellowship: Women’s Pathology, NYU Langone Health
Class of 2016
Sabina Hajiyeva
Medical School: Azerbaijan State Medical University
Faisal Huq Ronny, MD
Medical School: Dhaka Medical College
Fellowship: Hematopathology, NYU Langone Health
Pallavi Khattar, MD
Medical School: Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune
Fellowship: Hematopathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Surgical Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Class of 2015
Maheen Hossain, MD
Medical School: University of Dhaka
Fellowship: Surgical Pathology - Long Island Jewish Medical Center (2015)
Boaz Kurtis, MD
Medical School: Sackler School of Medicine
Fellowship: Molecular Genetic Pathology - Columbia University (2015)
Dermatopathology - Cockerell University (2016)
Kashan Khalid, MD
Medical School: Khyber Medical College
Fellowship: Surgical Pathology - Staten Island University (2015)
Xiaoyong Zheng, MD
Medical School: Third Military Medical University
Faculty
Humayun Kamal Islam, MD, PhD
Residency Program Director
Clinical Professor & Chairman, Department of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology
Vice Director of Pathology
Chief of Anatomic Pathology
Medical School: Dhaka Medical School
Residency: New York Medical College
Fellowship: Hematopathology - New York University Medical Center
Priyanka Patil, MD
Associate Program Director
Attending Pathologist
Medical School: R.C.S.M. Government Medical College, India
Residency: Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Gastrointestinal & Liver Pathology Fellowship: Brown University, Providence, RI
Neeru Chopra, MBBS, MD
Chief of Clinical Pathology
Medical School: Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India
Residency: Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Fellowship: Transfusion Medicine-University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Chitra Kumar, B.Sc., B.Ed., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Director, Cytogenetics Laboratory
Assistant Professor of Pathology
Graduate School: Patna University, India
Fellowships: Patna University, India
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY
Utsav Pandey, BS, PhD
Director, Microbiology
Graduate School: The Pennsylvania State University
Fellowship: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles/University of Southern California
Aaron Yancoskie, DDS
Attending Pathologist
Dental School: New York University
Residency: North Shore University Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Sadiqa Karim, MD
Chief of Transfusion Medicine
Medical School: Sindh Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan
Residency: Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA
Fellowship: Blood Banking / Transfusion Medicine – Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA
Hao Wu, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics
Pediatric Pathology
Medical School: Xi’an Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Residency: Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA and Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY
Fellowship: Cytopathology – Boston Medical Center; Pediatric Pathology – Boston Children’s Hospital
Xiaotong Wang, MD
Attending Pathologist
Medical School: China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, PR China
Residency: Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Washington Hospital Center, Washington D.C
Fellowship: Renal Pathology, University of Washington; Oncologic Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Fouzia A. Shakil, MD, PhD
Surgical Pathology and Hematopathology
Medical School: Sir Salimullah Medical College, Bangladesh
Residency: Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
Fellowship: Surgical Pathology – Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; Hematopathology – Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Liying Han, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Cytopathology and Gynecological Pathology
Medical School: Fourth Military Medical University
Residency: North Shore University Hospital
Fellowship: Cytopathology – Wayne State University
George M. Kleinman, MD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Medicine
Neuropathology
Director of Autopsy
Medical School: State University of New York at Buffalo
Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital
Fellowship: New England Medical Center
Patrick A. Lento, MD
Professor of Pathology and Medicine
Vice Chair for Education (Dept. of Pathology)
Director, Pathology-Pathophysiology Courses (NYMC)
Medical School: Georgetown University School of Medicine
Residency and Fellowship: Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York