Anthony Wells Agard, MD
Cuny School of Medicine
During his years at the Cuny School of Medicine, Anthony was able to develop his passion and curiosity in social medicine, and in personal wellness. During his rotations, he helped set up and run a telehealth liaison service for Saint Barnabas hospital in the Bronx during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak. Providing a much-needed service, not just for his fellow colleagues and the physicians at the hospital, but also for the countless family members and patients that need assistance. Anthony also started a financial literacy course for his program at the Cuny School of medicine in response to the dismay and worries that the student body had about the basics of finance. Anthony appreciates art, new experiences, entrepreneurial opportunities, academic leadership opportunities, fashion, food, scuba diving with sharks, and much more.
Taimur Ahmad, MD
New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Taimur comes to us from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. Born and raised in the multi-cultural neighborhoods of Queens and later moving to Long Island, he became passionate about the influence of society on an individual’s accessibility and quality of healthcare. After earning his B.S. in Neurobiology and minor in Writing and Rhetoric from SUNY Stony Brook University, Taimur pursued a masters in Anatomy, solidifying his love for medicine as well as teaching. During medical school, Taimur pursued events that served the underserved, including regularly volunteering at his school’s local free clinic and global mission trips to Peru and Pakistan. These experiences have affirmed his commitment to serving the underserved and inspired him to learn fullspectrum medicine through Family Medicine.
Taimur is excited to serve the Bronx community alongside his co-residents and faculty. He looks forward to establishing long-term patient relationships as well as educating and learning from his patients. He is interested in quality-focused outpatient medicine, health literacy, ultrasound, global medicine, and adolescent medicine. In his spare time, he enjoys biking, swimming, and spending time with his family.
Roshan Nebhrajani Bransden, MD
Florida International University’s College of Medicine
Roshan graduated from Florida International University’s College of Medicine, where she learned of the important role that primary care physicians have in promoting health equity. While born and bred among Miami’s mangroves and palm trees, she is very excited to now train in the Bronx. Roshan earned her B.S. in Journalism and International Studies at Northwestern University. While working as a reporter for a Miami-based media startup and reporting on health disparities, she discovered a passion for building local communities through advocacy and service. She is interested in providing care for the underserved, improving health communications, and exploring innovations in digital health. Outside of the clinic, Roshan is making plans to visit every national park in the US, learning to use a sewing machine, and finally opening all the books that she impulse bought throughout med school.
Cara Coren, MD
Tulane University
Cara (she/her/hers) comes to us from Tulane University, where she completed a dual MD/MPH. Before medical school, she studied sociology and anthropology, and her experience working at the Minnesota AIDS Project inspired her to become a physician. She continued her HIV work in medical school, running a student-led HIV and Hepatitis C testing clinic at a local shelter, continuing on to join the executive board of the testing program. She is passionate about LBGTQ+ health and especially gender affirming care. As a medical student, Cara fought to improve state medical society policy to improve access to reproductive health care. She served as a leader of Tulane's Medical Students for Choice chapter and later as an Experienced Student Leader for the Southern region. Cara is also a photographer and loves spending time outdoors.
Bianca Lambert, MD
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Bianca comes to us as one of our very own from the Montefiore family. After graduating from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, she completed a General Surgery Preliminary Residency here at Montefiore. During her time at Geisinger she continued to pursue her interest in working with the underserved and vulnerable communities to improve access to healthcare. As the treasurer of the local Student National Medical Association whose mission is to address the needs of underserved communities she worked with local schools and clinics to increase awareness of medical care offered in the area, and to create a mentoring program for local children to become exposed to the medical field. Her focus on health equity and overcoming health disparities is evident not only through her research but also through her volunteer initiatives. Prior to medical school Bianca facilitated access to care by organizing free convenient clinics and home health and vision screenings in the Philadelphia and Harlem communities. Bianca has a passion for travel and immersing herself in other cultures including, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and Guatemala most recently. She has a love hate relationship with running after recently completing her 6th half marathon, and recently moved to Queens, New York with her husband and small Yorkie - Jamie.
Funke Laseinde, MD
Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine
Funke studied at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. While at Northwestern Funke developed and taught a health science curriculum at a Chicago high school, and continued to be involved in medical student mentorship and teaching. Previous experiences in low resource settings drives her continuing interest in health equity, with a particular focus in women’s health access and outcomes. Outside of medicine she enjoys traveling, reading, walking her dog, and piano.
Olutimilehin "Tim" Oyeniran, MD
St. George's University School of Medicine
Olutimilehin comes to us from St. George's University School of Medicine. During hissecond year at SGU, he was a part of a research project looking at Second Generation Nigerian Americans And Their Access To Mental Healthcare. The project helped him understand the relation of mental health and chronic illness and the cultural, social, and economic barriers to healthcare that this group and many underserved groups faced. He also was part of a research project looking at Sickle Cell Disease and Depression while as an undergrad at Rutgers University and the need for advocacy for mental health consults for this group. He was also the President of Black Men's Collective at Rutgers University to address the low attrition rates of black men at the university, the founder of the Parson's Elementary Big Brother Program, a program to mentor at-risk fifth graders in North Brunswick, NJ. He was a Teaching Fellow for the EOF Program at the university. Tim is an avid fan of the Brooklyn Nets, enjoys playing basketball, and enjoys weightlifting.
Michele Said, MD
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Michele comes to us from Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. During her medical education, she worked closely with Buffalo’s refugee and immigrant populations through various city clinics and sought out additional training in urban health, patient education, and cultural barriers. She hopes to practice full-spectrum family medicine with an emphasis on community involvement and patient advocacy. In her free time, she enjoys reading, brunching and spending time with family and friends.
Phillip Samayoa, MD
New York Medical College School of Medicine
Phillip is a first-generation Salvadorian that comes to us from New York Medical College School of Medicine. A native New Yorker born in New York City and raised on Long Island. He spent four years in Chicago and majored in Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago. There, he volunteered with Students Teaching at Ray Elementary School-- a mentorship program for ESL elementary students in the South Side of Chicago. It became the spark for empowering communities that mirror his own.
After college, he returned to New York and volunteered with Big Brother Big Sisters in Yonkers, NY, and developed a meaningful relationship with his “little”. He also worked as a maintenance worker at a horse farm where Spanish-speaking co-workers shared their challenges related to language and immigration status. These experiences reaffirmed his desire to become a physician in order to enhance the quality of care for marginalized and underrepresented communities.
He then gained clinical experience as a medical assistant and also completed a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at New York Medical College before starting medical school. During medical school, he was awarded the National Health Service Corps Scholarship and became passionate and committed to the field of Family Medicine. He served as President of the Family Medicine Interest Group at NYMC and was a student representative to the New York State Academy of Family Physicians. Phil discovered his passion for Homeless Medicine early in medical school through a summer internship and second-year preceptorship with Janian Medical Care/Breaking Ground doing Street Medicine in NYC.
Phil is unbelievably excited and proud to train at a residency program that has a long history of training socially-minded and humanistic Family Medicine physicians. In his spare time, he enjoys trail running/hiking with his coonhound named Scout, playing soccer, and going to concerts.
Gabriel Tissian, MD
The Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine
Gabriel comes to Montefiore from The Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine. Working with underserved communities is Gabriel’s passion. Drawing on his experiences growing up in a struggling neighborhood in north Philadelphia, Gabriel has worked as a mentor for at-risk and incarcerated youth and volunteered for multiple organizations fighting for police reform and social justice. As a medical student, Gabriel started CHOICES for Youth in Detention, a discussion-based health education program for incarcerated youths run by medical students. Gabriel’s passion for public health inspired him to earn a Master’s degree in Population Health Sciences (MPHS) during medical school from Washington University in St Louis’s Institute of Public Health. Gabriel’s public health research for his MPHS degree focused on training healthcare navigators in the city of Saint Louis to help poor and underserved patients connect to primary care doctors and obtain affordable health insurance. Gabriel is excited to be training at Montefiore for a career as an inner city family medicine physician and public health advocate. A published playwright and former high school science teacher, Gabriel enjoys going to the theater, reading and writing fiction, and watching classic films (he particularly enjoys film noirs from the 1940s and New Hollywood classics like The Godfather).