On July 1, 2019, the Department of Pediatrics welcomed 15 interns and two new chiefs—Kristen Marten, DO, and Helen Waterman, DO—to its residency program.
Each intern brings outstanding accomplishments, a passion for pediatrics and remarkable leadership skills to their residency education.
Two are members of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society; two are members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society; and one is a member of Sigma Xi, the international scientific research honor society. As demonstrated by their many service activities, each intern also embodies a commitment to professionalism, humanism and altruism.
Get to know all of them below!
Luke Addesso, MD
Hometown: Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Dr. Addesso is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society. During medical school, he conducted research in the pediatric emergency department to evaluate the impact of medical scribes on provider efficiency, the results of which were presented as a poster at the 2018 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting and online in Academic Emergency Medicine. In addition, he was a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, the Foster Care Program of Waukesha County and the Partnership for Urban Medical Education; and was the co-president of Dialysis Buddies, a Milwaukee-based support organization for children receiving dialysis.
Julia Blue, DO
Hometown: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Medical School: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
During medical school, Dr. Blue was the treasurer and active member of Homeless Community Outreach, a service organization at her medical that served the homeless population of Des Moines. She also worked as a clinical medicine and osteopathic manual medicine teaching assistant, and led the Des Moines University Choir.
Michelle Brenner, MS, DO
Hometown: Brookfield, Wisconsin
Medical School: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Graduate School: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (MS, Clinical and Translational Science)
Dr. Brenner is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and Sigma Sigma Phi, the national honorary osteopathic service fraternity. During medical school, she was named the Des Moines University Student DO of the Year, and received a Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) Foundation Humanism in Medicine Scholarship. Her research experience in graduate and medical school has resulted in three published peer-reviewed journal articles, eight posters and three oral presentations.
Ellen Bryant, MD
Hometown: Greenfield, Indiana
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Dr. Bryant is a member of the American Medical Women’s Association. She was her medical school’s Second-Year Show Regional Campus Chair and a campus representative for Advocates for Youth, an organization that promotes a culture of consent on the Ball State University campus. Before and during medical school, she was also a substitute special-education teacher, preschool volunteer and YMCA after-school tutor.
Alisha Ching, MD
Hometown: Okemos, Michigan
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Dr. Ching is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and a recipient of her medical school’s Kathleen A. Assiff Scholarship in Human Medicine, which recognizes involvement in community service and interest in primary care specialties. She has volunteered with several public health outreach organizations in Flint, Michigan, including the American Red Cross, the Flint Dental Health Fair, and “Man Up Man Down,” which aims to reduce health disparities between men and women. In partnership with the Flint Area Medical Education Department of Public Health and Voices for Children, she also began a research project to evaluate the benefits of resiliency training for non-offending parents and guardians of abused children.
Paige Condit, MD
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Medical School: Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Dr. Pearcy is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society, and the Phi Delta Epsilon International Medical Fraternity. She is a 2018 recipient of her medical school’s Dr. Leonard Shepard Scholarship, which is awarded for academic excellence, contribution to the University community and medical profession; and is a 2015 and 2016 recipient of a Chicago Medical School Endowment Scholarship for academic excellence. She served as a student advocacy fellow for the Chicago Medical Society, and has conducted research on short-term outcomes in neonates who have suffered perinatal asphyxia.
Brady Hauser, MD
Hometown: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
While in medical school, Dr. Hauser improved medical student education at Chicago’s Norwegian American Hospital by creating a peer-led seminar series, reorganizing medical student orientation and serving as the lead student in the inaugural Medical Student Advisory Council. He is a certified technician in international trauma life support; before entering medical school, he worked as an emergency medical technician and as a lead counselor at camps for children affected by cancer.
Lauren Kacvinsky, MD
Hometown: Altoona, Wisconsin
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Throughout medical school, Dr. Kacvinsky was a student doctor at Milwaukee’s Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured. She was also a researcher on two projects: one that examined rates of follow up among violently injured patients evaluated in a pediatric emergency department (the poster for which she presented at the 2018 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting); and one that reviewed the physical signs and symptoms of child abuse. Before entering medical school, she was a research assistant in Dr. Megan Moreno’s Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team. Dr. Kacvinsky has four published journal articles, five posters and one oral presentation.
Caleb Kitcho, MD
Hometown: Sanborn, New York
Medical School: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo
Dr. Kitcho is a four-year recipient of the Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Chazan Medical Scholarship and a three-year recipient of the Jacobs School of Medicine Dean’s Letter. He has volunteered at a camp for high school students interested in careers in medicine, as an umpire and chief safety officer for a local Little League, at his medical school’s student free clinic and at a facility for abused and homeless women and children.
Preet Matharu, MD
Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine (Bloomington Medical Science Program)
Dr. Matharu received the Margaret Zuchschwerdt Service Award and the McGraw-Hill Education Medical Publishing Lange Student Award for her work as a class representative during medical school. She was also the editor-in-chief of Reflections, her medical school’s student-run creative arts journal, and a research assistant on a study examining the long-term feeding outcomes of premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia discharged on nasogastric feeds.
Camilla Nelson, MD
Hometown: Woodbury, MN
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin (Central Wisconsin Campus)
Dr. Dornfeld is a member of the American Medical Women’s Association. As a student at the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Central Wisconsin Campus, she was a member and treasurer of its Community Service Interest Group, and co-founded its combined Pediatrics and OB/GYN Interest Group. In addition, she was a student researcher and volunteer coordinator for the LENA Start Marathon County Project, which aimed to implement a new early-childhood development program in Marathon County. Before attending medical school, she worked as a Quality Assurance Specialist at Epic Systems.
Danielle Rodgers, MD
Hometown: Middleton, Wisconsin
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
While in medical school, Dr. Rodgers was a co-chair of Families and Non-Traditional Students, a support organization at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. She was also a volunteer intern at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Patient Partnerships. Before entering medical school, she was a special education teacher and case manager at a Denver high school and the winner of a Mile High Teacher Award, which is presented by the City of Denver and Denver Public Schools to honor teachers with a profound impact on their students and schools.
Kiri Sunde, MS, MD
Hometown: Holland, Michigan
Medical School: Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
Dr. Sunde is a member of the Mayo Foundation Chapter of Sigma Xi, the international scientific research honor society. As the thesis project for her master’s degree in clinical and translational sciences, she worked to create a statistically robust, evidence-based tool to improve the biochemical diagnosis of pediatric kidney stones. Before entering medical school, she was a research fellow at the Clinic for Special Children, and an adjunct college mathematics instructor. She has two published peer-reviewed journal articles, two poster presentations and three oral presentations.
Zachary Weber, MS, MD
Hometown: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Medical School: University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (MS, Basic Biomedical Science, Human Genetics, University of South Dakota)
Dr. Weber is a recipient of a Sanford School of Medicine Development Scholarship. As member of his medical school’s Scholarship Pathway Program, he conducted research on a unique approach to investigating uterine carcinosarcoma. He has five published peer-reviewed journal articles, three posters and five oral presentations. Throughout medical school, he also volunteered at Coyote Clinic, his medical school’s student-run free clinic; and was the program coordinator for The Banquet, an organization that provides free meals and health screening for low-income and homeless people in the community.
Samantha Williams, MD
Hometown: Novi, Michigan
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
During medical school, Dr. Williams was a student investigator on two projects: one to evaluate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) screening on psychosocial resource utilization and connection to community resources, and one to assess improvement in lipid screening rates in a local pediatric practice after implementation of a practice-wide lipid screening protocol. An avid runner, she also served as a volunteer mentor for Fit Kids and Girls on the Run, and was on the advisory board for the Gazelle Girl half marathon.