Current Fellows

Class of 2025-2027

Glen Ivano Abdo, MD, MPH

Medical school: Trinity School of Medicine

Residency program: New York Medical College at Saint Clare’s Denville Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital, NJ

Hobbies: Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Cumbia - Dance Instructor, cooking and baking, creating new dishes, photography, swimming, soccer, gardening, and mentoring/coaching.

Why I Chose Infectious Disease: I choose Infectious Disease because for its intellectual challenge, ability to cure complex illnesses, dynamic ability, broad impact on global health & public health, and the gratifying chance to provide powerful treatments to chronic diseases.

Fadi Barkho, MD

Medical school: St. George's University School of Medicine

Residency program: Saint Peter's University Hospital, NJ

Hobbies: I trade stock market options during my free time, enjoying the strategic analysis it requires. Fitness is a passion that allows me to stay physically and mentally strong. Cooking allows me to explore creativity, while media creation combines my love for technology and design.

Why I Chose Infectious Disease: While serving underrepresented minorities, I learned compassion and empathy. As I gained experience, I took on leadership roles, organizing health fairs to boost community awareness. This teamwork-driven approach inspired me to pursue a fellowship to enhance healthcare access and equity.

Mark Grijalva, DO

Medical school: University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX

Residency program: HMH Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen, NJ

Hobbies: Outside of the hospital and clinic, I enjoy traveling with my wife (and occasionally my two cats), exploring walkable towns looking for local brews (coffee and/or beer), cooking, hiking, lifting weights, and exploring both NJ and NY by public transit

Why I Chose Infectious Disease: I was drawn to Infectious Diseases for the diagnostic challenge and its foundation in microbiology and antimicrobial stewardship. I enjoy working through complex cases that require both clinical reasoning and an understanding of evolving resistance patterns, and I’ve always found ID cases to be among the most interesting and rewarding to learn from. The field’s collaborative and ever-changing nature makes it especially fulfilling.

Amisha Tailor, MD

Medical school: Aureus University School of Medicine

Residency program: New York Medical College at St. Mary's Passaic and St. Clare's Denville/Dover, NJ

Hobbies: Organizing and volunteering in community health fairs, personal training, rock climbing, hiking, knitting for colleagues' children, and reading almost all genres.

Why I Chose Infectious Disease: Being the only physician in my family, I understand the challenges of seeking help in an unfamiliar environment and strive to bring this empathy to patient care.

Class of 2026-2028

Tanzina Akhtar Ela, MD

Medical school: NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine

Residency program: South Brooklyn Health

Hobbies: Reading crime thrillers, sci-fi, photography, and exploring new places.

Why I chose Infectious Diseases: Because I like to play Sherlock Holmes! Infectious Diseases lets me solve complex medical mysteries by piecing together clinical clues, microbiology, and epidemiology to find the right diagnosis and treatment. I love the combination of detective work, lifelong learning, and making a meaningful impact on patients’ lives.

Luis Espinal, MD

Medical school: Rutgers NJMS

Residency program: NJMS Med-Peds

Hobbies: everything plants, cooking, reading, comedy

Career Goals: There's a beautiful and terrifying poetry in our connections to infectious diseases, which shape our history time and time again. Infections are therefore of prime importance to our profession, and this specialty offers fascinating opportunities to work anywhere and collaborate widely. I look forward to always being amazed and finding something new as these interesting organisms live and adapt with us.

Kishan Faldu, MD

Medical school: St. George's University School of Medicine

Residency program: Wellington Regional Medical Center

Hobbies: Hiking, skiing, traveling, coffee

Why I chose Infectious Diseases at NJMS: I chose a career in infectious disease because I am fascinated by the complexity of infections and the way they intersect with nearly every aspect of medicine. Infections prove to be a diagnostic challenge, and it is particularly rewarding to identify the right diagnosis and see patients improve with targeted therapy.

Bryan Nugent, MD

Medical school: St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies

Residency program: Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, NY

Hobbies: I enjoy watching anime with my girlfriend, and I am able to read some Japanese. I bake for special occasions and for the needed sugar rushes. I was previously a ranked USAF fencer so I can hold my own in a sword fight.

Why I chose Infectious Diseases at NJMS: I enjoy the variety of diseases and presentations caused by various bugs. There is often immediate feedback that you're making a difference when you see the patient's fever and leukocytosis disappear.