Fellows

Our Current Fellows

First Year Fellows:

• David Holtzman, MD – david.holtzman@uphs.upenn.edu
• Charitha Gowda, MD – charitha.gowda@uphs.upenn.edu
• Dana Mazo, MD – dana.mazo@uphs.upenn.edu
• Matthew Culyba, MD – matthew.culyba2@uphs.upenn.edu

Second Year Fellows

• Cristina E. Brickman, MD – Cristina.GonzalezBrickman@uphs.upenn.edu
• Valerie C. Cluzet, MD – Valerie.Cluzet@uphs.upenn.edu
• Ramin S. Herati, MD – Ramin.Herati@uphs.upenn.edu
• Dana D. Byrne, MD – Dana.byrne@uphs.upenn.edu

Third Year Fellows

• Sara Keller, MD MPH – Residency Johns Hopkins
• Brendan Kelly, MD – Residency Columbia University

Fourth Year Fellows

• Amy Vittor, MD PhD – Residency University of Pennsylvania

Administrative Contact

• Elizabeth Straw – Fellowship Coordinator
  Email: neavesst@mail.med.upenn.edu
  Phone: 215-573-7588

Amy Vittor
I completed my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, and subsequently did my PhD in public health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. My PhD research focused on the effects of deforestation of the tropical rainforest on malaria transmission, and was conducted in the Peruvian Amazon. I then received my MD from Stanford University, and came to the University of Pennsylvania for residency in internal medicine. Now as an ID fellow, I am conducting research on diagnosis of pediatric turberculosis in East Africa, and am pursuing research opportunities in dengue fever diagnostics and therapeutics. My ID interests include vector-borne disease, ecology, novel diagnostics, tropical medicine and global health. In the future, I would like to continue in academic medicine and conduct field research in arboviral disease.

Areas of interest: tropical medicine, vector-borne disease, ecology.
Contact info is amy.vittor@uphs.upenn.edu
Future plans - academic medicine, field research in vector-borne disease.

Patz JA, Graczyk TK, Geller N, Vittor AY. Effects of environmental change on emerging parasitic diseases. Int J Parasitol. 2000 Nov;30(12-13):1395-1405.

Vittor AY, Gilman RH, Tielsch J, Glass G, Shields T, Lozano WS, Pinedo-Cancino V, Patz JA. The effect of deforestation on the human-biting rate of Anopheles darlingi, the primary vector of Falciparum malaria in the Peruvian Amazon. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Jan;74(1):3-11.

Pinedo-Cancino V, Sheen P, Tarazona-Santos E, Oswald WE, Jeri C, Vittor AY, Patz JA, Gilman RH. Limited diversity of Anopheles darlingi in the Peruvian Amazon region of Iquitos. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Aug;75(2):238-45.

Vittor AY, Pan W, Gilman RH, Tielsch J, Glass G, Shields T, Sánchez-Lozano W, Pinedo VV, Salas-Cobos E, Flores S, Patz JA. Linking deforestation to malaria in the Amazon: characterization of the breeding habitat of the principal malaria vector, Anopheles darlingi. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2009 Jul;81(1):5-12.

David Holtzman, MD
David received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Masters of Science in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania-Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia combined program.

His primary clinical interests are HIV care and tropical infectious diseases. His research interests center around improving health systems and the delivery of health care in developing countries with particular focus on HIV and sub-Saharan Africa.

Charitha Gowda, MD
Charitha received her MD from Duke University School of Medicine in 2008. As a Sommers Scholar, she obtained an MPH, with a focus in epidemiology and biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She comes to the University of Pennsylvania from Ann Arbor, where she completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include health services research focused on vaccine utilization and delivery, as well as influenza transmission and prevention.

Matthew Culyba, MD
Matt received his MD from the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in 2010. In 2008, he completed a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interest is in experimental virology.

Brendan Kelly
Brendan Kelly received his MD from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his residency training in internal medicine at New York Presbyterian - Columbia University Medical Center. He is pursuing further training in genetic epidemiology via the University of Pennsylvania's MSCE program, with an interest in the host and viral genetic factors that determine disease progression in HIV and viral hepatitis.

Sara Keller
Contact info: Just email: kellersa@uphs.upenn.edu
Trained: Hopkins
Interests: HIV health services research, healthcare improvement and patient safety, infection control
Future plans: Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety Fellow, Masters of Science in Health Policy. In the future: academic medicine