Translate 2015 Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellows
Daniel Benedetti, MD
Residency: University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital
Career Interests: Dan is interested in ethics, with a combination of research and clinical care.
Dan graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and with honors from the University of Washington School of Medicine. He received several honors and awards while in medical school, he was elected to AOA, served as President of the Medical Student Association, and chair of the student committee for the university’s major LCME review. Dan completed his residency training at the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital Residency Program. He was accepted into the University of Washington’s Clinical Bioethics Fellowship, which resulted in a Masters in Bioethics, and will provide training for focused scholarship in pediatric oncology.
Agnieszka Czechowicz, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Career Interests: Agnieszka is interested in biology of stem cell transplantation for nonmalignant diseases.
Agnieszka received her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with Honors from Stanford University. She received her MD/PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine. Agnieszka joined the Integrated Research Pathway of the Boston Combined Residency in Pediatrics in 2012. She has been working in Derrick Rossi’s laboratory at the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Adam, Durbin, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research Interests: Adam would like to continue his research by enhancing hematologic and oncologic clinical care through translation of basic science research and to improve patient comfort and outcomes while reducing immediate and long-term toxicities of therapy.
Adam graduated summa cum laude in Biology from York University. He continued his education at the University of Toronto where he received his MD/PhD in medicine and medical biophysics. Adam did his PhD in Oncology and Medical Biophysics with David Malkin on integrin-linked kinase, which he showed functions as both an oncogene and a tumor suppressor in human rhabdomyosarcoma. He received the Outstanding Trainee Award for his research, which resulted in several first-author papers, publications, and a book chapter. He completed his pediatric training in the Boston Combined Residency Program on the ABP Pediatrics Integrated Research Pathway.
Elissa Furutani, MD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research Interests: Elissa would like to pursue an academic research career and continue in outcomes research.
Elissa studied History of Science at Princeton University before attending Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She added an extra year to her medical training to do research at the NHBLI on an HHMI scholarship. The aim of her research was to enhance the anti-tumor immune response of natural killer cells by targeting the surface expression of the inhibitory receptor NKG2A using siRNA technology. This work led to several publications and a presentation at ASH. She also received multiple honors while at Dartmouth, including membership to AOA. Elissa completed her residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program.
Maya Ilowite, MD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research Interests: Maya would like to continue her research in health literacy.
Maya is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a major in Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology. During her undergraduate years, Maya worked as a laboratory research assistant and as a volunteer at a University Health Center in Costa Rica. After college, she entered the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She assisted in a research project in health literacy pertaining to childhood obesity and her work was selected for presentation at the Pediatric Academic Society meeting. Her outstanding academic performance was highlighted by her selection into AOA. Maya completed her residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program.
Alyssa Kennedy, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research Interests: Alyssa would like to focus on translating the wealth of genomic and epigenetic information currently transforming cancer research to less toxic therapeutics.
Alyssa graduated with a BS in Biology from Haverford College where she completed a research thesis focused on the characterization of membrane-bound brevican and was awarded the Martin Foss Award. She received her MD/PhD training at Drexel University College of Medicine where she completed her PhD studies in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Adama at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Her PhD thesis was published in Molecular Cell and received the Lustbader Award for Best Graduate Student Talk. She also received several accolades as a medical student, including membership in AOA and Dr. Winston Silver Award for Excellence in Pediatrics. Alyssa trained in the Boston Combined Residency Program Integrated Research Pathway.
Hojun Li, MD, PhD
Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program
Research Interests: Hojun plans to continue his research by focusing on basic hematopoietic stem cell biology and development of genetic correction of hematopoietic stem cells for translation into genetic therapy through autologous bone marrow transplantation.
Hojun graduated with honors and elected Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland with a BS in Biochemistry. He received his medical and graduate school training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the MD/PhD program. Hojun obtained his PhD at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia under the supervision of Dr. Katherine High. Hojun’s thesis work on an animal model of hemophilia was the first-ever demonstration that genome editing can be achieved in vivo with sufficient efficiency to correct an animal model of disease. His work resulted in several first author publications along with several awards including one from ASH. Hojun completed his residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program.