Current and Past Trainees

Edward Shao

Education

BS - The University of Texas at Austin, Mathematics, 2022

PhD - University of Michigan, Biostatistics, 2027

Research Interests

Edward's research interests are in data integration, online statistical inference, endocrine medication and diabetes. 

Sophia Sinha

Education

BS - Nutritional Sciences, Michigan State University, 2013

MD - Central Michigan University, 2019

Residency in Internal Medicine - Detroit Medical Center, 2022

Fellowship in Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes - University of Michigan, 2024

Clinical Focus

General endocrinology, thyroid disease, thyroid biopsies

Research Interests

Dr. Sinha's research interests include thyroid disease and management.

Catherine Jensen

Education

MS Candidate, Health and Health Care Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (expected 2024)

General Surgery Resident, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (2021-2028)

MD, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI (2021)

BS, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (2016)

Clinical Focus

General surgery, Endocrine surgery, Thyroid cancer, Surgical management of endocrine system diseases

Research Interests

Dr. Jensen’s research interests include understanding how patients and providers make cancer-related decisions, specifically regarding surgical care and management of low-risk thyroid cancers. She is particularly interested in identifying unmet psychosocial needs, enhancing communication, and improving patient-centered outcomes in patients with pre-malignant lesions and cancer. 

Abdul Karim Arida

Education

2021 - 2024 Internal Medicine Residency, McLaren Flint/ Michigan State University, MI, USA 

2019 - 2021 Internal Medicine Residency, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City – Mayo Clinic, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

2013 - 2018 Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE 

Clinical Focus

Internal Medicine, General Endocrinology, Obesity.

Research Interests

I have a strong research interest in endocrinology and its related disorders. My research encompasses various endocrine health aspects, including thyroid cancer as well as thyroid and parathyroid disorders. I like to contribute to the field to enhance our understanding of endocrine disorders and develop innovative approaches for their diagnosis, treatment, and management.   

Gal Hodish

Education

BA, Biomolecular Science, University of Michigan, 2022

Master's in progress, Chronic Disease Epidemiology program, Yale School of Public Health,  Ecpected 2024

Clinical Focus

Gal is a Master's student at the Yale School of Public Health in the Chronic Disease Epidemiology program. After finishing her Bachelor's degree in Biomolecular Science at the University of Michigan, Gal decided to pursue a Public Health degree and intends to attend medical school in the future. 

Research Interests

Gal is working with the ThyCARE team on a project focused on identifying potential biases in the Endocrine publishing world.

Cyndi Gonzalez-Gomez

Education

BS, Biology & History, The City College of New York, 2014

MD Candidate, The University of Michigan Medical School, 2022

Research Interests

Cyndi's interests include health services research, health disparities research and cancer care research.

Brandon Moretti

Education

Residency in Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 2023

MD, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, 2020

BA, Biochemistry, Albion College, 2016

Clinical Focus

General medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and thyroid disease, thyroid cancer

Research Interests

Outpatient thyroid disease management and de-prescribing, inpatient diabetes and insulin management and patient safety/quality improvement

Rachel Livecchi

Education

BS, Bioengineering, The University of Toledo, 2015 

MD, The University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences, 2019

Residency in Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 2022

Clinical Focus

General IM, Primary Care

Research Interests

Health disparities, Medical education, Use of technology & EMR, Medical Documentation 

Nina J. Francis-Levin

Education

BA, Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, 2013

MSW, University of Michigan School of Social Work, 2016

PhD ,Joint PhD Program in Social Work and Social Science (Anthropology), University of Michigan, 2023

Clinical Focus

Psychosocial care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients and survivors; special focus on oncofertility and reproductive health service delivery

Research Interests

My research focuses on psychosocial aspects of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patient reproductive health and fertility preservation (oncofertility) services. A key area of my research attends to queer-identifying patients’ needs and preferences for appropriate and accessible oncofertility service delivery. Additionally, I explore the ways in which infertility as a result of cancer treatment aligns conceptually with discourses of queer reproduction. My primary analytic frameworks draw upon kinship theory, gender and sexuality studies, and medical anthropology. I use qualitative methods, including ethnography, phenomenology, and grounded theory, to better understand patient oncofertility experiences during treatment and throughout survivorship. My current research takes place in the context of the recently established Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at Michigan Medicine. 

Doctoral training

Jackson Levin is a Vivian A. And James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity Research and Training Psycho-Oncology Predoctoral Fellow. She is affiliated with ThyCARE as Dr. Haymart's mentee through the T32 Interdisciplinary Training in Cancer Care Delivery (National Cancer Institute T32-CA-236621). 

Kimi Shah

Education

BS- Bioinformatics, University of Pittsburgh 2017

MD Candidate, The University of Michigan Medical School, 2022

Clinical Focus

Pediatric Hospital Medicine 

Research Interests

Pediatric cancer care and congenital diseases/infections diagnostics and management

Joshua Evron

Education

2009    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Biology, B.S.

2013    Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, M.D.

Clinical Focus

Clinical management of thyroid cancer. Diabetes screening and diagnosis. 

Research Interests

Postdoctoral Training  

2013-2016  Internal Medicine Residency, University of Michigan 

2017-2019 Endocrinology Fellow, University of Michigan

Kevin Kovatch

Education

BS, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 2010

MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2014

Residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, 2020

Clinical Focus

Malignancies of the head and neck, including thyroid cancer, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma

Research Interests

Dr. Kovatch is a current resident in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and completed a T32 research fellowship during his training. He is pursuing advanced training in malignancies of the head and neck, including thyroid cancer, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. With the ThyCARE team, he is studying outcomes following thyroid cancer treatment, including surgical complications and postoperative voice.  

Paulina Podsiadlik

Education

2019 B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan.

Research Interests

I have had the opportunities to work with Dr. Maria Papaleontiou on her study "Effect of Inappropriate Use of Thyroid Hormone Replacement in Older Men" and also Dr. Megan Haymart on her study "Treatment Decision Making in Low-Risk Thyroid Cancer". I am grateful for these experiences to learn more about academic research and how it is conducted.

Merita Seferi

Education

MS student, University of Michigan, School of Information and Public Health, Department of health Informatics, Ann Arbor MI 2016- present.

MS, Texas Women’s University, Molecular Biology, Denton, TX 2012-2015

BA, University of Tirana, Biology, Tirane, Albania 2006-2010.

Research Interests

Merita is currently interested in how can information science improve the quality and safety of care. “Greater access to data can improve healthcare on a larger scale by reducing health care costs and improving outcomes”. As a second-year MHI student, Merita is focusing on data analysis. She plans to work within the clinical data space, taking existing data and making it possible for others to utilize the data for analyses, visualizations, and aggregations. Also, she is interested in how health information can provide insights and opportunities to improve any public health surveillance system. “Working with the Thy-CARE team has been a rewarding experience for me and I love being able to use data to help people live better lives”.

(Grace) Cui Guo

Education

PhD Candidate, University of Michigan, School of Public Heath, Department of Biostatistics, Ann Arbor, MI 2013- 2017

MS, Rice University, Department of Statistics, Houston, TX, 2012

BS, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Department of Statistics, Chengdu, China, 2011

Research Interests

Cui's methodology research focuses on functional regression in neuroimaging data analysis based on Bayesian methods and MCMC. She is also very interested in the application of statistics to biomedical problems. For example, she worked with the Thy-CARE team on the project to quantify the impact of screening tests for thyroid cancer diagnosis. "Collaboration with the Thy-CARE team is the starting point to take what I have learned and apply it to meet practical needs. And the practical applications on biomedical problems and cancer data help me to understand the theoretical methods from different point of views. It is a great experience for me to collaborate with researchers in different fields."

Jaime Wiebel

Education

Endocrinology Fellowship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2015

Internal Medicine Residency, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 2013

MD, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 2010

BS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 2005

Clinical Focus

General Endocrinology. Interest in thyroid disease and thyroid cancer.

Research Interests

Jaime is interested in thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer.  Her research is focused on impact of increased imaging on thyroid cancer diagnosis and outcomes. 

Daniel G. Muenz

Education

PhD student, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Ann Arbor, MI. 2013-2017

MS, University of Michigan, Biostatistics, Ann Arbor, MI 2011-2013

BA, Brandeis University, Mathematics, Waltham, MA 2002-2006

Research Interests

Daniel is currently interested in spatial statistics and its applications to cancer, for example modeling cancer incidence over a geographic region and identifying "hot spots". He is also interested in the construction and evaluation of screening/diagnostic tests for cancer. "Working with the Thy-CARE team has been a greatly rewarding experience for me. Collaborating on research with practicing physicians has allowed me to learn their terminology and understand the way they frame questions about health. I also get to practice translating statistical concepts to a clinical audience. Ultimately this lets me conduct better statistical analyses that are more aligned with our scientific goals."

Joanne Chang

Education

PhD, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Ann Arbor, MI. 2013-2017

MPH, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Ann Arbor, MI. 2010-2012

BS, University of Washington, Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry, Seattle, WA. 2005-2007

Research Interests

Ms. Chang has a strong interest in quantifying cancer burden and health disparities in special populations, cancer risk assessment, and mathematical modeling of chronic disease development. Ms. Chang has also worked on several projects on quantifying thyroid cancer burden and survivals using mathematical and statistical approaches.

Kathryn Schussler

Education

MHSA (Master of Health Services Administration), University of Michigan School of Public Health, '12

B.A. in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame, '07 

Research Interests

"I was fortunate to work closely with Dr. Haymart on a paper that was eventually published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology.  I learned a great deal through the process of analyzing the results of her research, familiarizing myself with the structure of an academic article, writing sections of the content, coordinating with experts in data analysis and statistics, and multiple rounds of edits.  Writing an academic paper challenged me to express the findings in a direct, clear, and concise way, which has made me a better communicator in my roles as an administrative fellow and now project manager at the Cleveland Clinic.  My experience with Thy-CARE also gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of academic research and its importance in fostering better patient care and education of future generations of caregivers.  I am grateful for the opportunity I had to work with Dr. Haymart and the entire Thy-CARE team."