Our residents
PGY3
Trisha Arora, MD
Hometown: Cheshire, CT
Undergrad: University of Rochester
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine
Trisha grew up in Connecticut but grew to love upstate New York during her time in Rochester, New York, where she graduated with a BS in Neuroscience and her MD. In between college and medical school, she worked in a lab developing educational video games for adolescents that promoted health education. While in medical school, she completed the Medical Humanities Pathway, where she developed her interest in narrative medicine and helped organize the annual SNMA Pre-Medical conference, to encourage students in under-represented minorities in medicine to pursue the field. Her career interests within primary care are focused on women's health, the prevention of metabolic disease, and palliative care. In her free time, she likes to read, spend time outside, and spend time with her friends and family.
Joseph Daniel, DO
Hometown: Longmeadow, MA
Undergrad: UMass Amherst
Medical School: University of New England
Joe grew up in Massachusetts and attended UMass Amherst for undergraduate education and the University of New England for medical school. Professionally, he wants to pursue preventive cardiology after residency, and after fellowship, he hopes to work at an academic institution so that he can have the opportunity to teach students and residents on top of practicing clinically. Another one of his professional interests is working on quality improvement projects, as he helped develop several projects while he was a student and continued this work during residency. Personally, some of his hobbies include attending concerts, live sporting events, trying new craft beers, and being a huge foodie as well. Joe has been selected as an Internal Medicine Chief Resident for academic year 2025-26.
Kanav Gupta, MD
Hometown: Acton, MA
Undergrad: Saint Louis University
Medical School: Saint Louis University
Kanav was born in Jammu, India where he spent half of his childhood and the remainder half in Acton, MA. During his education at Saint Louis University, Kanav took part in multiple service organizations for local communities and teaching roles for undergraduate students. After graduation, he took a gap year which consisted of doing an internship at New England Biolabs and becoming a medical scribe at an outpatient clinic in Burlington, MA. As a scribe, Kanav witnessed the importance and diversity of primary care, fueling his desire to pursue internal medicine as a specialty in medical school. During medical school, he continued his passions for teaching and community service. He was consistently involved in leadership roles throughout medical school and taking opportunities to lead small group sessions for second year medical students. Ultimately, Kanav hopes to pursue a career in academic internal medicine, rotating through clinic and inpatient services. In his spare time, Kanav likes to cook Southeast Asian cuisine, read Japanese manga, watch Formula 1, and play video games such as Overwatch.
Hillary Meeker, DO
Hometown: Potomac, MD
Undergrad: University of Virginia
Medical School: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus
Hillary is excited to be a part of the UMass Internal Medicine Residency program. She hopes to pursue a career in hematology-oncology. In her spare time, Hillary enjoys being outdoors, playing sports, and spending time with her friends and family. She spent the summer out west, hiking through Olympic National Park and making her way down the Oregon coast.
Jacob Paulson, MD
Hometown: Lexington, MA
Undergrad:University of Rochester
Medical School: UMass Chan Medical School
Jacob is a Massachusetts native. He went to Medical School at UMass where he worked on projects examining therapies for Seasonal Affective Disorder and medical cannabis in Parkinson’s Disease populations. He is interested in health policy and improving healthcare disparities, as well as medical technology. Jacob spends his time outside of the hospital making furniture for his small woodworking business and playing piano and trombone. He’s trying to learn Spanish this year.
PGY2
Michael Falcone, DO
Hometown: Hudson, NH
Undergrad: Keene State College
Medical School: University of New England
Michael is originally from southern New Hampshire and graduated from Keene State College with a BS in athletic training. He worked as an associate business development executive at a medical staffing company before attending the University of Vermont to complete a postbaccalaureate pre-medical program. There, he worked on sports medicine research to further our understanding of rehabilitation techniques post-ACL reconstruction. For medical school, he attended the University of New England. Professionally, he hopes to practice Internal Medicine and/or Sports Medicine. In his free time, Michael likes to fly fishing, hiking, traveling, and finding new places to eat.
Rima Patel, DO, MEd
Hometown: Lowell, MA
Undergrad: Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
Medical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Rima is a Massachusetts native who was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, and then later moved to Burlington, Massachusetts. She went to medical school at LECOM, where she discovered her passion for academic medicine and received her master's in medical education. She has a keen interest in addiction medicine and is aspiring to gain more experience during residency. She hopes to ultimately pursue a career in primary care. During her free time, Rima enjoys traveling, skiing, spending time with her family and friends, cooking, and trying new restaurants.
Ryan Sullivan, MD
Hometown: Coventry, CT
Undergrad: University of Connecticut
Medical School: University of Connecticut
Ryan grew up in Coventry, CT, and went to UConn for undergrad, where he majored in Molecular and Cell Biology. After graduating, he worked as an EMT for three years and joined the Peace Corps, serving as a Public Health Volunteer in Guinea. He then went back to UConn for medical school, and is excited to join UMass! In his free time, he likes to play video games, especially Legend of Zelda, spend time outside with his dog Pyro, and visit local breweries!
Sherry Yan, DO
Hometown: North Attleboro, MA
Undergrad: Boston University
Medical School: University of New England
Sherry is a native of southeastern Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Boston University. During college, she volunteered in a clinical biomechanics lab that developed non-operative therapies for young adults with hip impingement. She continued her research there after graduation while also working as its lab manager before attending medical school at the University of New England. Sherry firmly believes in a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to healthcare and patient education about disease prevention. In her spare time, she enjoys staying active, discovering new music, and sampling local cuisines with friends.
PGY1
Diana Liu, DO
Hometown: Woodbury, MN
Undergrad: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Medical School: University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Diana grew up in Woodbury, Minnesota, and has always been passionate about science and medicine. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in Biochemistry and Microbiology. During her gap year, she gained valuable clinical experience working as a medical scribe and ophthalmic technician. She pursued her medical education at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM), where she also contributed as an anatomy lab teaching assistant and committee member of Sigma Sigma Phi.
Outside of her professional life, Diana enjoys exploring new restaurants and recreating dishes at home. When she's not cooking up a storm, you can find her hitting the trails, soaking up nature through hiking. Travel is her other big passion; she is always looking for new adventures to dive into.
Maria Elena Navedo, MD
Hometown: Foxboro, MA
Undergrad: Michigan State University
Medical School: University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Elena spent most of her childhood in Foxboro, Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in Music and Spanish education at Michigan State University. After college, she taught Spanish and private music lessons in addition to leading her own jazz quartet. She became interested in a career in medicine after witnessing loved ones experience injury and illness. She completed her pre-requisites for medical school at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo where she met her husband, Jovany. She was accepted to medical school at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine where she discovered her passion for advocacy and became a leader in the Latino Medical Student Association. Her professional interests include diversity, equity and inclusion, medical education, and palliative care. When she is not at the hospital, Elena can be found with her husband, her daughter, Gianna, and their dog walking around the neighborhood, visiting their local library, or out trying new restaurants.
Mina Zhang, MD
Hometown: Framingham, MA
Undergrad: Tufts University
Medical School: UMass Chan Medical School
Mina was born in Framingham, MA, and has been a Massachusetts resident her whole life. She earned her BA in Biology from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. After college, she worked as a research assistant for the Mass General Brigham Biobank helping to build a DNA database that has now been used in over 550 studies. During medical school at UMass Chan Medical School, she focused on social equity research and advocacy work with a particular interest in the LGBTQ+ population and helped to co-develop a curriculum on transgender care.
Professionally, Mina plans to continue her work in health care equity and to be an active advocate for her primary care patients. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, reading manga, learning electronics repair, and keeping up to date on the latest tech news.
Renee Zhao, MD
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Undergrad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Renee is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Biology at MIT. Following her undergraduate studies, she worked with Professor Sangeeta Bhatia at MIT designing a urinary paper test for early cancer detection. While at MIT, Renee began competing in taekwondo and became a member of the U.S. National Team. Inspired by her involvement in sports, she studied sports injury prevention in taekwondo and developed various injury and concussion prevention initiatives. Her interests in medicine include ultrasound and sports. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new restaurants, drinking boba, and practicing taekwondo.