Current fellows
Carine Anka, MBChB
PGY6
Medical school: Beirut Arab University
Residency: St. Louis Children’s Hospital/ Washington University School of Medicine
Expected fellowship grad year: 2023
My overall goal as a pediatric endocrinologist is to become an expert clinician specializing in thyroid disorders with a focus on thyroid nodules and cancers. I began the program with a broad interest in endocrinology and diabetes, and became interested in pediatric thyroid disorders when I had the unique opportunity to see patients in a new multidisciplinary thyroid cancer clinic alongside oncologists, geneticists, radiologists and surgeons. As a fellow, I have been able to explore many different aspects of endocrinology: clinical rotations in subspecialty clinics like metabolic bone, transgender care, DSD, neuro-onc, and Turner Syndrome have exposed me to a wide variety of endocrinopathies and my research with Dr. Ana Maria Arbelaez investigates the cardiovascular effects of hypoglycemia in patients with T1DM. Aside from the excellent academic program, the best part of fellowship here is that it truly does feel like a family. My co-fellows and I spend time socially outside of the hospital and we support and encourage each other at work. Through the education I’ve received at Washington University, I have evolved as a physician and caregiver and I feel prepared to become what I always aspired to be: a doctor of the people.
Aisha Ansar, MBBS
PGY1
Medical school: Aga Khan University Medical College, Pakistan
Residency: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Maram Alkhdour, MD
PGY1
Medical school: Jordan University of Science and Technology Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, New York City, NY
Melanie Bryan, MD
PGY5
Medical School: University of Missouri – Columbia
Residency: Washington University
Expected Fellowship Grad Year: 2024
Melanie Bryan has clinical interest in health equity and novel care delivery models for children and adolescents with diabetes. For her fellowship project, she plans to study the impact of improved food access on glycemic control in kids with T1DM affected by food insecurity. As a resident at St. Louis Children’s and now as a fellow, she feels fortunate for the exposure to a wide variety of patients and disease processes and the opportunity to work with and learn from an outstanding Pediatric Endocrinology team. Her co-fellows were a major part of her decision to stay for fellowship training at Washington University and have been a huge support during the transition to fellowship.
Eylem Topaktas, MD
PGY4
Medical school: Hacettepe University Medical School (Ankara, Turkey)
Residency: University of Health Science, Umraniye Research and Training Hospital (Istanbul, Turkey)
Expected fellowship grad year: 2025
Eylem Topaktas’s primary interest in the field of pediatric endocrinology is understanding the cardiac effects of endocrine problems. She chose the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Washington University both because of its excellent research facilities which will help her achieve her future goals and because of the wide variety of clinical cases. The most significant factor in her decision was that she felt like a part of this family from the beginning — even during the interview.
Former fellows — Where are they now?
| Katherine Burgener, MD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Amy Clark, DO | St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Samuel Cortez Granados, MD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jennifer Ikle, MD, PhD | Stanford University, Stanford, California |
| Nadim A. Kanafani, MD | Medical Director, Centene Corporation |
| Rachel K. Lescher, MD | Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage, Alaska |
| Kyle McNerney, MD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Paula Newton, MD | University of Maryland Medical Center, College Park, Maryland |
| John Oberlin, MD | UPMC-Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas |
| Stacie P. Shepherd, MD, PhD | Senior Medical Director, AbbVie, San Francisco, California |
| Pamela Smith, MD | Phoenix Children’s Hospital/University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona |
| Jennifer Sprague, MD, PhD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Stephen Stone, MD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mareen Thomas, MD | University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Lori Wagner, MD | Mission Health, Ashville, North Carolina |
| Arpita Vyas, MD | Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Aurelia Wood, MD | Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
| Nana-Hawa Yayah, MD | University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio |