Meet the leadership team for the Internal Medicine Residency program.
Michael Parmacek, MD, Chair Department of Medicine
Michael Parmacek, MD performed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan. He performed clinical and research fellowship training in Cardiology at Northwestern. Following fellowship training he performed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the HHMI at the University of Michigan. Dr. Parmacek was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Medicine (Cardiology) at Michigan (1987-92). He then joined the faculty of the University of Chicago serving as Co-Chair of the Cardiology Fellowship training program (1992-1998). Dr. Parmacek was recruited to Penn, where he served as Chief of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division from 1998 until 2014. During his tenure, the Cardiovascular Division ascended to the top tier of academic cardiology divisions in the United States. Dr. Parmacek was appointed founding Director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute in 2005. The Parmacek laboratory is recognized for discoveries influencing understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of congenital heart disease, diseases of the aorta, heart failure and regenerative biology. Dr. Parmacek has been elected to the ASCI, AAP, and he has served on the Advisory Council of the NHLBI.
Ilene Rosen, MD, MSCE, Vice Chair For Education
Ilene Rosen, MD, MSCE is an associate professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is the Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education and the Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Rosen received her BS from Duke University and her MD and MSCE from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She did her post-graduate training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, serving as an Internal Medicine Resident, Chief Medical Resident, Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow, and Sleep Medicine Fellow. After joining the faculty at Penn, she served as the Associate Program Director for the internal medicine residency from 2001-2014 and as Program Director for the ACGME-accredited sleep medicine fellowship from 2006-2019. She has served as the sleep medicine representative to the Residency Review Committee for Internal Medicine and as president of the Board of the Directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Dr. Rosen’s NIH-funded research in the use of novel tools for delivery of sleep medicine education aims to broaden the workforce to improve patient access to sleep medicine clinical care. Her expertise in sleep medicine and medical education further intersect at the interface of house staff sleep deprivation, well-being and professionalism in the clinical learning environment.
Amber Bird, MD, Program Director
Amber Bird, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the division of General Internal Medicine and serves as the Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency program. Her clinical interests are in primary care, as well as educational design and innovation. She directs the ambulatory education and the quality and safety education for the categorical residents and is passionate about finding new ways to engage learners in both traditional and non-traditional methods of learning. Her clinical practice is located at the Edward S. Cooper Internal Medicine practice and she attends on the General Internal Medicine teaching service at PPMC. Her research interests are focused on the use of quality improvement research methods to address inequities in the quality of care delivered in the primary care practices. When she’s not working, you can find Amber running races around Philadelphia or cheering on any of Philly’s home teams.
David Aizenberg, MD, FACP, Associate Program Director
Dave Aizenberg, MD is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in General Internal Medicine. He is an associate program director with an interest in curricular development, educational innovation, clinical reasoning, and resident advocacy. Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in north Jersey. After attending the University of Michigan for undergrad (GO BLUE!), he went on to NYU School of Medicine. In 2007, he came to Philly for his internship at Penn and has stayed ever since. He sees patients and supervises residents in the Penn Internal Medicine University City Practice and attends inpatient at Penn Presbyterian Medicine Center. In his spare time, Dave loves to immerse himself in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. His wife is a bioanthropologist who studies the impact of olfactory communication in primates, something that helps keep dinner conversations lively, especially with 2 young sons.
Judd Flesch, MD, Associate Program Director
Judd Flesch, MD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care. He also serves as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Site Director for the Residency Program at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC). Dr. Flesch’s clinical interests include consultative pulmonology and respiratory failure. He attends on the Primary Pulmonary Service at HUP, the Pulmonary Consultation Service at PPMC, and the Medical Intensive Care Unit at PPMC. He is also an Associate Director of the Penn Medicine Program for LGBTQ Health, and has an interest in the climate for LGBTQ+ medical trainees and educating trainees in the care of LGBTQ+ patients.
Janae Heath, MD, Associate Program Director
Janae Heath, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care. She also serves as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and is a core faculty member for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program. In the Internal Medicine residency, she oversees the Clinical Competency Committee as well as assessments and evaluation for the program. Dr. Heath’s clinical interests include advanced consultative pulmonology, and her clinical practice is based at the Harron Lung Center. She also attends on the inpatient Pulmonary teaching service and the Pulmonary Consultation service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she is lucky to work directly with medical students, residents, and fellows. Her academic interests in medical education include competency assessments of residents, with a particular interest in the overlap of biases within current assessments. When not working, she loves hiking, playing with her dog, listening to podcasts, and checking out the amazing restaurants of Philadelphia.
Peter Klein, MD, PhD, Program Director - Physician-Scientist Pathway
Peter Klein, MD, PhD is the Director of the Physician-Scientist Pathway in Internal Medicine, Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology), and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. He completed his MD and PhD at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He joined the Hematology-Oncology division at Penn in 1995, was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 1995 to 2005, and has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1997. He has mentored 29 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in his lab, teaches medical, graduate, and undergraduate students, and mentors medical residents and clinical fellows as a member of numerous mentorship committees. Dr. Klein attends on the Benign Hematology Service. His research focuses on Wnt signaling in hematopoietic stem cells and early vertebrate development and on mechanisms of the neuropsychiatric medications lithium and valproic acid.
D. Rani Nandiwada, MD, Director - Medical Education and Leadership Track, Program Director - Primary Care Program
D. Rani Nandiwada, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine. She went to medical school at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science, primary care residency at New York University where she did a chief year, and an Academic Clinician Educator Scholar General Internal Medicine Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where she received her Masters in Medical Education. She is the Director of the Medical Education and Leadership track for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and course directs medical student curricula focusing on health system science and outpatient primary care. She is married to Jay, an intensivist ,who is an avid star wars fan and has a 5 has a five year old, Seetha, who has glitter in her blood, an 18 month old who thinks he is a puppy, a new actual poodle puppy named Potato, who also thinks her son is a puppy. She is a self proclaimed carbaterian (a person who eats carbs), loves watching horrible romantic comedies with guaranteed happy endings, and cracking corny jokes that no one else thinks are funny.
Nadim Mahmud, MD MS MPH MSCE, Associate Program Director for Research and Scholarly Development
Nadim Mahmud, MD, MS, MPH, MSCE is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology in the Division of Gastroenterology and the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics. Dr. Mahmud completed his undergraduate studies at Yale University before pursuing medical school at Stanford University. He then returned to the East Coast for his Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania. An avid data enthusiast, Dr. Mahmud’s research focuses on risk prediction modeling for patients with cirrhosis undergoing surgery, as well as the impact of weight loss pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Outside of medicine, he enjoys exploring Philadelphia’s vibrant food scene and traveling internationally.
The Associate Program Director for Research and Scholarly Development is a new position within our program and Dr. Mahmud will be responsible for aligning resident professional development and scholarship with the Department of Medicine educational strategic plan. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the growth and success of our program by fostering a culture of inquiry, research, and scholarly activity among our residents. Dr. Mahmud has been a dedicated mentor to the Internal Medicine residents, being awarded the competitive Department of Medicine Resident Mentorship Award in 2023. I am confident that Dr. Mahmud will excel in this role given his experience and success in mentoring resident scholarship.
Stacey Prenner, MD, Associate Program Director
Stacey Prenner, MD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and also serves as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Her primary role in the residency is focusing on the inpatient experience and optimizing inpatient education for trainees. She completed her undergraduate education at Emory University and her graduate education at Drexel University College of Medicine. She finished her post graduate training at Penn for Internal Medicine and Northwestern for Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology before ultimately settling back in her hometown of Philadelphia. Her clinical interests include autoimmune liver disease and liver transplantation and her clinical practice is based at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine Gastroenterology and Hepatology practice. She also serves as an attending on the dedicated house staff hepatology inpatient service. She is passionate about optimizing resident education for gastroenterology in both the inpatient and outpatient settings and has also served as a pathway mentor for residents interested in a career in gastroenterology. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 children, and dog child, international travel, and exploring the Philadelphia restaurant scene.
Patrick Sayre, MD, MPH, Associate Program Director
Patrick Sayre is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine. Patrick grew up in Columbia, Maryland, which resulted in an early and lifelong obsession with Old Bay seasoning and the Maryland flag. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology and chemistry at the University of Maryland, where he played trumpet in the marching band and walked backward across campus giving tours to prospective students. He then obtained his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. While in medical school, he completed a Master of Public Health and directed the medical student a capella choir, the Note-a-Chords. Patrick completed his residency training in the Penn Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program, after which he stayed on for a chief residency and then joined the faculty. He is a primary care physician at the Edward S. Cooper practice and attends on the general medicine teaching service at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. His academic interests are in curriculum design, telehealth and intervisit care. In his free time, Patrick likes to play board games and explore Philadelphia’s restaurants and beer gardens.
Dava Szalda, MD, Program Director Combined Med-Peds Residency
Dava Szalda, MD is the Program Director of the Med-Peds Program. She grew up in New York and went to SUNY Stony Brook for medical school. She came to Penn-CHOP for her Med-Peds residency and served as the inaugural chief resident for the program. Following her chief year she completed a Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellowship at CHOP, with focused time in cancer survivorship. She completed the Masters in Health Policy Research Program at Penn, allowing her explore health services for adult survivors of childhood cancer and adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology patients. She remained active in medical education becoming an Associate Program Director of the Med-Peds Program prior to becoming Program Director. Dr. Szalda currently works in pediatric oncology and serves as an Internist with an expertise in adult survivors of childhood cancer. Her academic interests are in cancer survivorship and transition from pediatric to adult medical care for all patients with pediatric-onset chronic illness. She is involved in several institutional initiatives to improve care for such patients. She is an educator at heart and enjoys teaching, learning from and advocating for students, residents and Med-Peds as a discipline at all available opportunities. Out of the hospital she enjoys spending time with her husband, three sons, two dogs, and taking advantage of the great restaurants, parks, and community in Philadelphia.
Laura Dingfield, MD, MSEd, Co-Director Medical Education Leadership Track
Laura Dingfield, MD, MSEd is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine specializing in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She also serves as Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship and is the Director of Palliative Care Education at Penn. She grew up in Michigan and attended the University of Michigan Medical School (Go Blue!) before completing residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Penn-CHOP, where she also served as chief resident. She completed fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Penn and obtained her Master’s in Medical Education at the Penn Graduate School of Education. She Co-Directs the Medical Education Leadership Track and also leads the longitudinal communication curriculum for the residency program. Her academic interests are in curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation. Outside of work you can find her on the tennis court, biking, or at a playground or sports field with her husband and three sons.
Rachel Hilburg, MD, Co-Director Medical Education Leadership Track
Rachel Hilburg, MD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine specializing in Nephrology. She also serves as Associate Program Director of the Nephrology Fellowship Program. She grew up in New York and attended Tufts University School of Medicine before completing residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She completed fellowship training in Nephrology at Penn as well as the Measey Medical Education Fellowship. She co-directs the Medical Education Leadership Track as well as the Renal Intern Learning Module for the residency. She participates actively in educational initiatives with the American Society of Nephrology and is co-creator of the educational website, NephSIM.com. Academic interests include mentorship, curriculum development, and free open access medical education (FOAMed) and technology. She loves going to the playground with her daughter, cooking, and fumbling through the daily Wordle and Spelling Bee.
Carol McLaughlin, MD, Director - Global Health Track
Carol McLaughlin, MD is an HIV/Infectious Disease specialist at Penn Presbyterian and is the director of the global health equity residency track. She is also the senior advisor and founding team member at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy housed at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) where she develops guidance for donors seeking maximize the social impact of their philanthropic giving. She is actively involved in teaching and mentoring in global health and she co-directs the global health track in Penn’s MPH program. She is engaged in public health programs surrounding delivery of community based interventions, immigrant health, impact measurement, and HIV prevention and treatment. Dr. McLaughlin holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She received MD and MPH degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine and School of Public Health. After residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics through the Harvard Combined Program, she completed a fellowship in infectious disease at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She received additional training in epidemiology and community-based research through the MSCE degree program at the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Gorgas Memorial Institute in Peru.