Meet Our Med-Peds Residents
Meet our Penn-CHOP Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Program residents.
Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY1)
Denysia Allen, MD
Denysia Allen comes to us from Drexel University College of Medicine, where she enjoyed solving diagnostic mysteries. She spent much of her time mentoring high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. In addition, she is passionate about advocacy, and has worked with the Philadelphia community, most recently educating families of color on the benefits of receiving the COVID vaccine. She currently plans to pursue a combined hematology-oncology fellowship with focus sickle cell disease, but is still considering other specialties. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs, Jade and Joe. One of her favorite past times is exploring the vibrant food scene in Philadelphia and now considers her to be the foodie in the class, always ready to try and new restaurant and offer recommendations to her fellow interns. Originally from Phoenix, she now considers herself a Philly transplant after enjoying it so much and deciding to stay for residency.
Roshni Bhat, MD
Roshni comes from New Jersey. She went to medical school in Philly at Temple. While at Temple, she worked at the student-run clinic and developed an interest in improving access to treatment for substance use disorders. Her academic interests include addiction medicine, primary care, and medical education. When not at the hospital, you can find her trying to convince her friends to play one more round of Codenames or Pandemic.
Okechi Boms, MD
Okechi is originally from Nigeria, but also calls Nashville home. Prior to medical school, he spent a year in Ecuador helping families access health care. At Harvard Medical School, he helped create advocacy initiatives including a youth advocacy program to promote the pursuit of health care careers among minority students. His academic interests include health policy and health system development in underserved communities globally. Outside of the hospital, he is often catching up with friends for a pickup basketball game or sketching designs in his notepad.
Natasha Dass, MD
Natasha is originally from San Rafael, CA outside of San Francisco. Prior to medical school she worked as high school math teacher in San Jose. After teaching she worked in clinical research implementing educational interventions to improve cancer screening. She then went to Dell Medical School in Texas where she was active in mentoring students and in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Her academic interests include humanities in medicine and medical education. Outside the hospital, she loves playing with her dog Max and spending time with her fiancé who is a Penn internal medicine intern.
Erica Onwuegbuchu, MD
Erica is originally from Dallas, TX. Prior to medical school, she spent a few years working as a behavioral technician providing ABA therapy to kids and adults with Autism. She went to medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. While at UTMB, she was active in DEI efforts through mentorship and advocacy in Student National Medical Association (SNMA), Pan-African Student Society (PASS), and Colors in Medicine. Long term, she is passionate about bridging complex care and transitions of care in the Primary Care setting. When not in the hospital, you can find her recruiting co-residents for kickboxing classes, karaoke, and weekend brunch!
Andrea Szabo, MD
Andrea comes from Cleveland, OH where she went to medical school at Case Western Reserve University. While there, she developed a passion for Med-Peds primary care, global health, and public health. When not at work, you can find her checking out a new fitness class or going for a bike ride after hitting up one of the class happy hours (two programs = three times the happy hours).
Post Graduate Year 2 (PGY2)
Brittany Glassberg, MD
Brittany comes from New York and went to medical school at Mt. Sinai where she led their student run free clinic and Med-Peds interest group. Her interests include medical education and transitions of care between childhood and adulthood. When not at the hospital, you can catch Brittany exploring Philly’s restaurant scene (and afterward attempting to burn it off on the Peloton) or taking a quick train trip to NYC to hang with family!
Michelle Munyikwa, MD, PhD
Michelle is our resident Philly expert, after 10 (!) years here at Penn as an MD-PhD student. Michelle has done significant work with the Center for Health Equity and Advancement, focusing on race and medicine. Her medical interests include education (both medical and graduate), infectious diseases and working with young adults. When not at work, you can find Michelle on the beaches in Delaware.
Kaelo Moahi, MD
Kaelo comes from Botswana! He spent medical school in Rhode Island at Brown, where he did work in the refugee community exploring the intersection of medicine and poverty. His academic interests include HIV care, infectious disease and global health. When not at the hospital, you can find Kaelo playing soccer on the fields of Philadelphia and charming co-interns on both sides with his calm demeanor and easygoing style.
Cricket Gullickson, MD, MPH
Cricket comes from Wisconsin and went to medical school in Atlanta at Emory. In between, she went to college at Cornell, where she ran cross country. As a first-generation college student, she has shown her commitment to public health both locally and abroad and has earned an MPH along the way. When not at the hospital, you can find her playing with her cute kitty — ask her to show you his model photo! Fun fact: She is named after a soap opera star!
Post Graduate Year 3 (PGY3)
Madeline Chandra, MD
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH. Go-to Igloo order: Yogorino with a single topping (because she's too cheap for extras). She is the mother of plants and will try to force all fellow residents to be plant parents as well. She can dance, run and do yoga all in one afternoon. She radiates peace and tranquility, especially as a co-intern on the same team.
Kevin Ackerman, MD
Kevin is from mid-state New York and went to medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College before moving a bit down the East Coast to Philly. His interest include medical education and is participating in the Medical Education Leadership Track through the Penn Internal Medicine program, transitions of and continuity of care across the lifespan, and the field of Allergy and Immunology. Kevin loves being active in any way whether that is on long runs of any distance from 3 to 26.2 miles, his daily commute over the Schuylkill River to work on his bike, or walking up the stairs to Founders 14 or 9NW. He looks forward to every Med-Peds hangout at Igloo with his co-residents where the optimal variety in flavor and texture is Greek frozen yogurt with mochi, cookie dough, and peanut butter krocco.
Erin Tully, MD
Hometown: Harrisburg, PA. Go-to Igloo order: variable, but always includes peanut butter cup for Cody, her dog. Lover of dogs (but mostly for Cody). She goes on regular 4 a.m. runs and figure skates in her spare time. She loves cereal and tortilla chips, but not together (but maybe together sometimes?). Her co-interns describe her as the friendliest, most down-to-earth human being.
Swati Goel, MD
Hometown: Dehradun, India. Go-to Igloo order: Yogorino with bananas and peanut-butter crocco. Connoisseur of tea and lives by the motto, “If a problem can't be solved with tea, you know it’s a big problem.” Having grown up in the beautiful foothills of the Himalayas, she has an undying love for mountains and sunsets. She moved to the States for college where she first discovered and fell in love with Michael Bublé's voice, but also importantly with Baltimore City. She stayed in Baltimore for a Masters of Science in Public Health, before completing medical school in Boston. She is passionate about improving healthcare delivery in resource constrained settings and aspires to build a career that combines her interests in global health and pulmonary/critical care.
Post Graduate Year 4 (PGY4)
Lacey English, MD
Lacey comes to us from Knoxville, TN, where she developed her love for biscuits, cornbread and pimento cheese. She attended Clemson (Go Tigers!) and remains an avid football fan. After college, she moved across the ocean to Uganda for two years to help with public health research initiatives that solidified her interest in advocacy and community-based work. She traded in her orange and black for Carolina blue when she attended University of North Carolina for medical school and an MPH. When not advocating for homeless and underserved populations, Lacey moonlights as an artist painting landscapes on canvas and throwing ceramic bowls and vases to hold her many farmers market plants. She has also become a devoted and loving dog mom to Beau, a southern rescue who Lacey adopted on a whim after a long MICU call. While we may never be quite brave enough to audition for the Amazing Race like her, we will always be in awe of Lacey’s fierce and fun attitude and incredibly large heart!
Alexandra Linn, MD
Everything about Alex, from her interests to her laughter, is INFECTIOUS. Hailing from Pittsburgh and the same high school as our recent Med-Peds alumni Emily Watkins and Svetoslava Kerpedjieva, Alex spent her time before medicine as a teacher in Chicago. She is also a world explorer, with her travels taking her from Ecuador all the way to Vietnam. As a true infectious disease fanatic, to this day, she has refused to take the recommended anti-parasitics after her swim in the schisto-filled waters of Lake Malawi in the hopes of doing some good old-fashioned “self-learning.” When she’s not working or running marathons up and down the Schuylkill, you can find her on any one of her friends’ couches watching the Bachelor and munching on her favorite snack of Flamin' Hot Cheetos (a favorite of fellow Med-Peds resident Jennifer Sun as well).
Jennifer Sun, MD, PhD
Jen grew up between L.A. and Chicago, but she spent most of her adult life at the University of Michigan, where she completed both her undergraduate education as well as her MD/PhD degree in Developmental Psychology. While in Ann Arbor, Jen and her husband Sam started a farmer’s market stand selling her exquisitely crafted macarons, scones, and croissants. She is also an accomplished dancer and considered a professional career prior to pursuing medicine. She now graces the Penn Med-Peds program with her moves and her culinary projects, which you can find prominently featured on the Penn-CHOP Med-Peds Instagram page. Jen is passionate about teaching and is currently pursuing the Medical Education track as well as the Ultrasound Advanced Skills track. In her free time, she loves to cuddle with her pet bunny, watch bad romantic comedies, and explore Philly's food scene.
Olivia Delia, MD
“Olly” Duh-Lee-Ah was born and raised on a horse farm in New Jersey. She is a jack of all trades, with a knack for finding the unexpected. After running cross country at Williams College (with several of our co-residents), she moved to France to teach English, while also — and perhaps more importantly — picking up part-time work at a local bakery and winning French nationals with her cross-cultural cross-country team. She came to medical school at Penn, and because it’s so great here, chose to stay for Med-Peds residency. She has a strong leaning towards social justice work and reproductive health and is now actively involved in the anti-racism committee at CHOP to dismantle social and structural barriers to health. When not at work, you can find her buying flowers at Rittenhouse farmers market, running laps downtown, stoop sitting with friends, keeping in touch with family (proud aunt life), and testing out local bakeries. She brings stories, energy and laughter to everything she does.
Chief Resident
Brian Coburn, MD, PhD
Brian Coburn is the Med-Peds Chief for the 2022-23 academic year. He grew up loving the outdoors in the Black Hills of South Dakota and went to college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he quickly became a Husker fan. He went straight to medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center where he developed a passion for clinical epidemiology and student-run free clinics. He enjoys all things Med-Peds, evidence-based medicine, and rheumatology. Next year, he hopes to start an adult rheumatology fellowship with an emphasis on transitioning pediatric patients to adult care. When not spending time with residents at Penn and CHOP, he enjoys playing soccer in the city league, exploring West Philly where he lives, and finding the best new BYOB restaurants in Philly.