Residents
UH MacDonald Women's Hospital is an integral part of the system of care at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. MacDonald Women's Hospital is one of only eleven freestanding women's hospitals in the United States, and, excluding electives, our residency program is based entirely within this hospital.
We have a proud history of a strong annual fellowship match and successful alumni of our program.
Current Residents
- Class of 2025
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Preethi Chidambaram, MD 
Nicolas Johnson, MD 
Emily Marra, MD, MS 
Lauren McKenzie, MD - Class of 2026
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Celena Fussell, MD 
Latyra (Tyra) Gibbs, MD 
Emily Hoffberg, MD 
Peyton Johnston, MD - Class of 2027
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Elif Baglam, MD 
Hometown: Trabzon/ TurkeySchool/Degrees: Marmara University School of Medicine/ MD
Career/Research Interests: I want to be a generalist and I am very interested in serving underserved communities and advocating to reduce disparities in healthcare
Personal Interests: Cooking, reading sociology
Movie: The Green Mile
Books: When Breath Becomes Air
Coffee or Tea: Love them both, can’t choose
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Istanbul Mediterranean Grill
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Hiking in different Cleveland Metroparks locations
Languages: English, Turkish
Sonali Patel, MD 
Hometown: Cary, NCSchool/Degrees: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Career/Research Interests: Probably general OBGYN or family planning! And definitely want to incorporate medical education.
Personal Interests: Baking, dancing, exploring new restaurants and bars
Movie: The Proposal
Books: Song of Achilles, Colleen Hoover books
Coffee or Tea: Coffee!!
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Cloak and Dagger
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Catch a sunset at the solstice steps!
Vivian Roan, MD 
Hometown: Saratoga, CASchool/Degrees:
BA - UC Berkeley
MD - Case Western Reserve University School of MedicineCareer/Research Interests: health disparities, LGBTQ+ health, undecided on subspecialty
Personal Interests: Photography, guitar, trying new restaurants, dog watching
Movie: Good Will Hunting, Mean Girls
Books: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Coffee or Tea: tea (matcha)
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Zhug, Vero, Rood
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Watch the sunset at the Solstice steps or Edgewater park
Languages: Mandarin (conversationally)
Adrienne Simmons, MD 
Hometown: Mason, OHSchool/Degrees: Case Western Reserve University (BA Cognitive Science, MA Bioethics, MD). Clearly, I love Cleveland.
Career/Research Interests: I'm leaning towards being a generalist right now. I'm interested in ethical considerations in OBGYN practice & racial disparities in Women's health
Personal Interests: Salsa dancing, weight lifting, cooking
Movie: Bring it On
Books: Little Fires Everywhere, Black Girls Must Die Exhausted
Coffee or Tea: Coffee!
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Soho
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: All of the summer festivals!
Languages: English
Breauna Sanders, MD 
Hometown: Sumter, South CarolinaSchool/Degrees: Emory University: Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a Minor in Spanish, The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville: Doctor of Medicine
Career/Research Interests: Racial disparities, advocacy, reproductive education among adolescents
Personal Interests: Baking, perusing YouTube, playing volleyball, exercising, and being a doting dog mom to my dog, Jasper.
Movie: Bird Box
Books: Pretty sure the last book I read cover to cover was First Aid!
Coffee or Tea: Tea but coffee has become a necessity!
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Cheesecake Factory
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: There’s so much to do here, it’s hard to choose just one! I really like going to orchestra performances and other cultural events, visiting Cedar Point, and watching the sunset with my dog at Edgewater Park.
Languages: English, Spanish
Emily Villarreal, MD 
Hometown: Benicia, CASchool/Degrees:
Undergraduate – UC Davis
Medical School – Medical College of Wisconsin MilwaukeeCareer/Research Interests: Obesity and nutrition within OB/GYN and advocacy work!
Personal Interests: Propagating and keeping up with my houseplants, and trying out new breweries with friends!
Movie: Legally Blonde, duh
Books: Mix of fiction and non-fiction
Coffee or Tea: Both, but mostly coffee ;)
Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Vero in Cleveland Heights
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Exploring new restaurants!
Languages: English
- Class of 2028
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Rebecca Barnett, MD, MPH 
Hometown: New YorkSchool/Degrees: Cornell University, BA (Spanish Major); University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (MD/MPH)
Career/Research Interests: gender-affirming care, sexual medicine, gynecologic surgery
Personal Interests: podcasts, cookbooks, hiking, RuPaul's Drag Race, live music, watching videos of other people's doggos and manatees
Movie: The Princess Diaries
Books: A few favorites are Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, In Love by Amy Bloom, Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison, and anything by Jasmine Guillory
Coffee or Tea: Coffee all the way! What's tea?
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: TBD! It will likely involve coffee and/or tacos.
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: TBD!
Languages: English and Spanish
Franci Douglass, MD 
Hometown: Shaker Heights, OHSchool/Degrees: CWRU undergrad and The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Career/Research Interests: Medical education and general OBGYN! DEI research specifically looking at access to care for patients and the experiences of those with low English proficiency
Personal Interests: Knitting, yoga, and dogs!
Movie: Ratatouille
Books: Anxious People and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman; We Are All Perfectly Fine by Jillian Horton
Coffee or Tea: Both but tea if I had to pick!
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: The Original Pancake House and Melt:)
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: the dog pack walk at Horseshoe lake and kayaking on the river!
Languages: English and Spanish
Lahari Nandikanti, MD 
Hometown: Farmington Hills, MISchool/Degrees: University of Michigan, BS (Public Health) and MD
Career/Research Interests: I am interested in being a generalist with a focus on racial disparities and underserved communities
Personal Interests: Dancing, painting, baking
Movie: The Pink Panther
Books: I recently got into the “romantasy” genre
Coffee or Tea: Coffee but I also love bubble tea!
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: Zhug, Townhall, Mitchell’s
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Exploring new restaurants/bars and the lakefront area
Languages: English, Telugu (conversationally)
Grace Noel, MD 
Hometown: Latrobe, PASchool/Degrees: Saint Vincent College, Bioinformatics BS. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, MD
Career/Research Interests: Likely generalist but open-minded. Interested in intimate partner violence research.
Personal Interests: I like to cook and crochet and also read books of all different genres.
Movie: Past Lives
Books: Tana French novels, Pachinko (Min Jin Lee), East of Eden
Coffee or Tea: Tea always!
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: Slowly trying different ones, enjoyed Barroco on Larchmere so far!
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Hiking the Metroparks and perusing the art museum.
Languages: English
Denean Taylor, MD 
Hometown: Valdosta, GASchool/Degrees:
- Undergrad: Mercer University
- Medical School: Medical College of GA
Career/Research Interests: I love love the OR and the gynecologic side of the specialty but I’m open to whatever route residency takes me!
Personal Interests: Fitness, walking, traveling
Movie: Django Unchained - Jamie Foxx did his thing in this movie! Unhinged. Performance - top tier. Argue with me.
Books: Anything Crime/Mystery
Coffee or Tea: I LOVE tea. Any and all tea. I drink it!
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: I don’t even know. I just got here. I need all the recommendations I can get lol!
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: The lakeside parks are amazing (Edgewater, Solstice Steps, Lakefront off Lakeshore Blvd, etc). They are great for walking or just sitting and decompressing after a long day.
Languages: English
Sarah Zimmerman, MD 
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MISchool/Degrees: Pitzer College, BA in Spanish and Global Public Health, Goucher College, Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program, University of Michigan Medical School
Career/Research Interests: I am interested in being a generalist or complex family planning. I was a doula and childbirth educator for adolescent mothers in my former life. I am interested in community health program development and evaluation, health disparities research, advocacy work, contraceptive/abortion care, and working with adolescent populations.
Personal Interests: Hanging out with my 1 year old son, Michigan sports, baking/cooking, working out
Movie: Stick It
Books: A Tale for the Time Being
Coffee or Tea: Tea (I don't like coffee...)
Favorite Restaurant in Cleveland: Brassica for takeout, Amba for sit down
Favorite Thing to do in Cleveland: Walk to Van Aken on a Friday or Saturday evening for music and food
Languages: English, Spanish
