Pediatric TinyTalks Teachers

Kathryn Brigham, MD

Dr. Brigham is an attending in the division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at MGfC.  She attended Harvard Medical School and completed her pediatric residency at MGH.  After her chief year in pediatrics, she then went to Boston Children’s Hospital for her fellowship in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and returned to MGfC in 2011 as an attending. She has been the Associated Medical Director of MGfC Pediatric Population Health Management since 2020 and the Medical and Educational Director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine since 2021.  Her clinical interests include care of patients with eating disorder, menstrual disorders, contraception, mental health, and primary care.  In her spare time, she enjoys baking with her two kids and going on vacations to visit family and explore new places. 

Lyra Burch, MD

Dr. Burch grew up in New Hampshire, attended Georgetown for undergrad, and returned to New England for medical school at Boston University and residency at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital. She worked for 10 years as a neonatal hospitalist at Cambridge Hospital and Beth Israel before joining the newborn team at MGH. Her primary clinical interests are in quality improvement and high value care. Outside of work she loves hiking, running and cross-country skiing with her always enthusiastic dog and sometimes enthusiastic daughters. 

Tracey DaFonte, MD

Dr. DaFonte is an attending in the division of Pediatric Gastroenterolgy. She grew up in Massachusetts and earned her medical degree from the University of Vermont. She then completed pediatric residency at UMass Memorial Medical Center and pediatric gastroenterolgy fellowship at MGH. She has happily stayed on at MGH as a pediatric gastroenterologist and sees general GI patients with a focus on autoimmune disease in GI, such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. She likes to travel, cook, try new foods, and spend time doing outdoor activities with her husband.

Kate Davidoff, MD

Dr. Davidoff is an attending physician with the Pediatric Supportive and Palliative Care Team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She earned her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA. After a chief resident year at UMass, she went on to receive her fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine with the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship, based primarily at Boston Children's Hospital. Kate has a passion for medical education and enjoys opportunities to teach residents about core palliative care topics such as communication skills and symptom management. In her free time, she enjoys any opportunity to get outside running, hiking or skiing.

Chadi El Saleeby, MD

Dr. El Saleeby is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at Mass General for Children (MGfC) and Harvard medical school in Boston, MA. He completed his residency at MGfC and fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and LeBonheur Children Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. During his fellowship, he also received a Masters degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Tennessee. Currently, he is a full time faculty member at MGfC and shares his clinical time between pediatric infectious diseases and pediatric hospital medicine. His research interests include Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) where he examines novel therapeutics, innovative approaches to disease pathogenesis, and the contribution of viral dynamics to the clinical phenotype of illness. He is also involved in researching the virtual delivery of care and in medical education, specifically resident teaching and communication within heath care teams.

He can be reached at: celsaleeby@mgh.harvard.edu.

Paul Fadakar, MD

Maggie Fallon, MD

Dr. Fallon grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts. She graduated from Harvard College where she studied chemical and physical biology. She taught high school chemistry in Phoenix, Arizona and received her Master’s in Education from Arizona State University before attending Harvard Medical School. During medical school, she developed a group visit curriculum for high-risk pediatric patients with asthma. Maggie completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children where she also served as a chief resident. During residency and chief residency, Maggie worked on multiple initiatives for resident education and became a certified lactation counselor. In 2018, she received the MGfC Teaching Award chosen by Harvard Medical students. Maggie loves to run, spin, and spend time outside - especially at the beach - with her husband, two young sons, and mini-labradoodle.

Ariel Frey-Vogel, MD, MAT

Ariel is a med-peds attending at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. She completed medical school at Yale University School of Medicine and her residency in combined internal medicine and pediatrics at MGH. She is the Director of the Pediatric Education, Innovation, and Research Center for the MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and in that role she conducts medical education research and mentors and supports faculty and trainees in doing the same. Her research interests include curriculum design and assessment, the role of residents as educators, and the use of simulation in medical education. She also serves as an Associate Program Director for the MGHfC Pediatric Residency Program. She works clinically as the Director of Child and Adolescent Services at the MGH Transgender Health Program. She lives in a suburb of Boston with her husband and two little ones.

Krista Gallagher, RN

Krista has been a nurse at MGH for the past 20 years. She initially started her career on an adult medical surgical unit and transitioned to the PICU while attending graduate school. She has remained in the PICU for the past 15 years. Krista has since transitioned from staff nurse in the PICU to the Nursing Practice Specialist. She enjoys teaching and supporting her nursing colleagues. Krista’s clinical areas of interest are skin, wound and burn care.

Anna Handorf, MD

Director of TinyTalks

Anna is the Director of TinyTalks and Associate Program Director of the Pediatric Education, Innovation and Research Center at Mass General for Children. Additionally, she is one of the Associate Program Directors for the MGH Pediatrics Residency Program. She works clinically as a pediatric hospital medicine physician at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She completed her pediatric residency at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children and a fellowship in medical simulation and medical education in the Massachusetts General Hospital Learning Laboratory. Anna is interested in leveraging technology to augment medical education by providing high-yield resources that can be used flexibly. She believes that strengthening the educational experiences of trainees and faculty, alike, can help them to navigate complexities of medical education training.

Emily Herzberg, MD

Dr. Herzberg is a Neonatologist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Mass General for Children. She is originally from Chicago, IL and completed her B.S. in human science and medical degree at Georgetown University (GO HOYAS!). MGfC is near and dear to her heart, as she was a pediatric resident in the program and Chief Resident. She completed her Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at Harvard/Boston Children's Hospital, where she also served as Chief Fellow. She serves as the Neonatal Director for the Fetal-Care Program, the Chief of Neonatology at Salem Hospital, and her research area of interest is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and all things baby brains. She enjoys time spent with her husband and goldendoodles, trying new restaurants, a good almond milk latte, and lots and lots of Pure Barre!

Romal Jassar, MD, MBBS

Dr. Jassar is a neonatologist in the Division of Newborn Medicine. She earned her medical degree from DMC&H, India and completed pediatrics and chief residency in Philadelphia followed by neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. She joined MGfC after being an attending neonatologist at Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in DE and Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She is also a certified healthcare simulation educator (CHSE). She takes care of wide spectrum of neonatal issues in both preterm and term infants admitted to the Neonatal ICU. She enjoys teaching on various neonatal topics esp. cardio-respiratory neonatal issues and integrating physiology into bedside management.  Her specific interests include: neonatal simulation for medical education, process improvement and simulation based research. She joined MGH Neonatology as co-director of education and also director of telemedicine for newborn services. Outside of work she can be found experimenting with new dessert making techniques and likes spending time outdoors; either playing cricket with her kids or biking or visiting national parks. 

Anna Klouda, MD

Dr. Klouda graduated from the MGfC Pediatrics Residency in 2023 and completed her chief resident year at MGfC in 2024 where she worked as an attending hospital medicine physician. She is a proud graduate of University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has a strong interest in medical education and is thrilled to be involved with Tiny Talks and making the wisdom and knowledge of the wonderful MGfC faculty more accessible to trainees. Outside of work she enjoys reading, running and is on an endless search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

David Lyczkowski, MD

Dr. Lyczkowski is a med-peds hospitalist based at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He trained at Tufts Medical School and completed residency at MGH. His interests focus primarily on systems of care: value in healthcare, managing healthcare utilization, the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare, and innovative ways of providing acute care. He lives in Concord with his wife, Dr. Winterkorn, three teenaged children, and a menagerie that includes a dog, two cats, and several chickens.

Iman Moawad, PharmD

Iman Moawad is the clinical coordinator for the pediatric pharmacy team at MGHfC. She received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a pharmacy practice residency at MGH. Iman is passionate about medication safety and quality improvement, particularly with the challenges of having a pediatric hospital within an adult hospital. She has worked extensively with the Epic team to standardize and make medication ordering safer for the pediatric residents.

Daniel Pomerantz, MD

Dr. Pomerantz is pediatric medical biochemical geneticist currently pursuing a post-doctoral research fellowship at the National Center for Functional Glycomics and Boston Children’s Hospital under Richard Cummings and Seth Rakoff-Nahoum exploring the role of host glycosylation and glycotransport in gut microbial glycsosylation and population dynamics in inborn errors of metabolism. Dr. Pomerantz completed his undergraduate studies in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.  He completed residency training through the Combined Pediatrics-Medical Genetics Residency Program at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and the Michigan State Newborn Screening Referral Center. Dr. Pomerantz obtained a medical biochemical genetics fellowship through the Boston Children's Hospital/ Harvard Medical Genetics Training Program, under the leadership of Dr. Gerard T. Berry. Dr. Pomerantz has long term aspirations to be a physician scientist and medical educator within the field of clinical metabolism with an emphasis on elucidating the role of the gut microbiome in inborn errors of metabolism.

Michael Salt, DO

Dr. Salt is an attending physician in the pediatric intensive care unit at Mass General for Children. He attended medical school at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed his residency at Goryeb Children’s Hospital, and PICU fellowship here at MGfC. Mike is the director of point of care ultrasound in the PICU and is dedicated to teaching hands on skills that will improve clinical practice. He has a passion for medical education and enjoys teaching residents and fellows in any setting. In his spare time, Mike enjoys being outside, preferably near the water, cooking, trying new restaurants, and exploring with his wife and dog Cooper.

Shannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD

Dr. Scott-Vernaglia is a primary care pediatrician and the Associate Chief for Clinical Faculty at MassGeneral for Children. She teaches in the outpatient setting as a preceptor for residents, medical and nurse practitioner students as well as in the classroom and simulation center. Her areas of interest include simulation, humanizing medical errors, using family voices in teaching, narrative medicine, and physician mental health. She is a senior pediatrics editor for NEJM’s Knowledge+ and Resident360 educational projects. She co-created a longitudinal simulation program for pediatric residents that began in 2011 and continues to this day, training and assessing all pediatric residents as MGfC in core pediatric knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 

Theresa Shanahan, MD

Dr. Shanahan is pediatric hospitalist based at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  She earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her pediatric residency at Boston Floating Hospital for Children. Dr. Shanahan has a passion for medical education and enjoys teaching residents and students using a newly developed passport for the newborn exam and curriculum. In 2023, she received the MGB Locke Teaching Award for Excellence in House staff and Student Education. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, climbing, and exploring with her husband and three kids.

Jessica Shui, MD

Dr. Shui is a neonatologist-scientist in the division of Newborn Medicine at Mass General for Children. She earned her medical degree from New York Medical College and trained at University of Connecticut Health/ Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for her pediatric residency. She completed her Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, where she also served as Chief Fellow. Her research focus integrates technology to pioneer personalized neonatal respiratory care. In addition, she enjoys contributing to projects related to medical education. In her free time, Dr. Shui enjoys traveling, Broadway musicals, and quality family time with her daughter and husband.

Weizhen Tan, MD

Weizhen “Wei” is a pediatric nephrology attending at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Originally from Massachusetts, he completed his residency in pediatrics at Yale New Haven Hospital and nephrology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He enjoys teaching residents and medical students and all things nephrology. He has an interest in alternative educational methods such as podcasts, online self-directed learning, and champions unique renal education in the form of NephJC or NephMadness. When not busy on the clinical service or in academic medicine, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 4 kids in Newton, MA.

Amanda Winkler, MD

Dr. Winkler is a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow at the Harvard Combined Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. She attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her residency training in pediatrics at MassGeneral for Children. While her primary research interest is in neonatal medical device development and translational research, Amanda has a passion for medical education and simulation. She is a certified Neonatal Resuscitation Program instructor and has received multiple awards for her work in medical education including the 2021 MGfC Education Development Award, the 2021 MGH Senior Teaching Award and the 2023 Boston Combined Residency Program Fellow Teaching Honor Roll. In her free time, Amanda loves to row, play board games, and spend time with her husband, young son and mini-newfiedoodle.  

Elisabeth Winterkorn, MD

Dr. Winterkorn is a primary care pediatrician working in North Andover, MA. She trained at Cornell Med School and then completed residency at MGHfC. She did a one year clinical fellowship at the Herscot Center for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex before heading into primary care. She loves coming to give lectures on developmental and behavioral pediatrics to the MGHfC residents. She is married to Dr. Lyczkowski and they live in Concord, MA. Outside of medicine, she is often found wrangling teenagers, chickens, cats, and a dog at home,. In her free time she likes to knit, sew costumes, and take pictures. 

Phoebe Yager, MD

Dr. Yager is an attending physician in the pediatric intensive care unit at Mass General for Children.  She is a lifer at MGH, having completed her pediatric residency and PICU fellowship there following medical school just north at Dartmouth.  In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Yager enjoys teaching residents and fellows the important teamwork skills needed to successfully respond to pediatric emergencies. Her passion for teaching extends to the global health arena, where she works with local healthcare teams in low-resource settings to hone their teamwork skills as they care for critically ill pediatric patients.  In her free time, Dr. Yager enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and 2 sons running, skiing and looking after their backyard barn animals.