Current Infectious Diseases Fellows

Lily Victoria Bonadonna, MD
Medical School: Wayne State University SOM
Residency: Emory University SOM

Born in Michigan, I grew up in a multicultural city, in Ontario, Canada, across the border from Detroit with my Peruvian mother and Italian father. I have always loved learning about people’s passions and immigration stories. This led me to study anthropology and creative writing at the University of Michigan for undergrad. I spent three years afterward researching tuberculosis diagnostic and treatment barriers in Lima, Peru. When I finally decided to pursue medical school, I had the chance to go back to Detroit, Michigan, and there I really started learning about the HIV epidemic, and innovative care strategies to reach people lost to follow up. Residency at Emory opened the path for fantastic mentorship in implementation science, and I continued to learn more and more about HIV prevention strategies for women and Spanish-speaking individuals. Clinically, HIV medicine and transplant ID have really fascinated me and I am working on finding a research blend of all these interests.

At home, I live with my lovely long-time partner. She and I have many plant children (and hopefully a fur-child soon!), and really enjoy spending time with our friends and in the LGBTQ+ community. I dabble in carpentry and home-improvement projects, delight in exploring new restaurants, walks, and movies in the city!

Abby London, MD
Medical School: Penn State College of Medicine
Residency: Brown University

I was born in York, Pennsylvania where I started life growing up on a farm. I spent my childhood playing tennis with my sister and brother (who somehow always beat me), riding horses with my mom, and helping my dad in his veterinary clinic. It was through my dad that I developed a passion for infectious diseases. He taught me how to make slides and use a microscope, how to do a physical exam (though it's a little different when the patient is a dog), and the importance of compassion and empathy in medicine.

 After high school, I went to Penn State and studied immunology and infectious disease with a minor in global health. Following graduation, I moved to Washington DC where I worked for the Naval Medical Research Center in a bacteriophage lab and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in a malaria immunology lab. These experiences inspired me to pursue a career in medicine, leading me to Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, where I had the added bonus of living right across from the Reese’s peanut butter cup factory.  While in medical school, I also earned a Master of Legal Studies to better understand the intersection of law and medicine, especially in public health. I then travelled north to Rhode Island for IM residency where I’ve met incredible people and solidified my interest in infectious diseases. I am so excited to start my ID fellowship at Emory!

 In my free time, I enjoy playing tennis (I think I can beat my siblings now), kayaking, and trying to find the best cup of coffee.

Meghna Nagam, MD, MPH
Medical School: University of Illinois at Chicago
Residency: Cleveland Clinic

A lifelong Midwesterner, I was born and raised in Naperville, Illinois. Bravely, I moved an entire hour away for undergrad and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where I studied Biology and Spanish. I spent a gap year earning my Master’s in Public Health and as a part of my cumulative research project, I developed and implemented a sexual health education course for teens living in Bolivia. It was a challenge, but it sparked my enthusiasm for global health and education. I continued to explore these areas in medical school at UIC as a part of the Global Health Track. For my capstone project, I interviewed female sex workers living with HIV in Hyderabad, India to learn about their self-identified factors that were impacting their adherence to antiretroviral therapy. It was this experience that made me grow more interested in infectious diseases and HIV specifically. Residency brought me to Cleveland, Ohio where my rotations in general and transplant infectious diseases solidified my decision to pursue this fellowship. My research as a resident focused on outcomes of kidney transplantation and barriers to accessing care for people living with HIV. While I’ll miss the Midwest (including the snow!) I am excited to continue my journey and explore all my passions within the field of infectious diseases at Emory!

 When I’m not at the hospital, I enjoy playing board games, dancing, knitting, and traveling. I also love spending time with family and featured above is a picture of my little sister and me from our recent trip to India!

Milee Nelson, MD
Medical School: Emory University SOM
Residency: Emory University SOM

Hi everyone! My name is Milee. I’m originally from Champaign, Illinois, but I also consider Colorado Springs my second home. As the child of an OB-GYN and a priest-turned-organic chemist, I quickly discovered my love for caring for others (and inherited their passion for nerdy pursuits). Drs. Phadke and Spicer turned antibiotics and microbiology into everyone’s favorite courses at Emory Medical School, but it was during residency that I found my love for clinical Infectious Disease. I am deeply passionate about improving equity and access to clinical care in rural settings and aspire to extend Infectious Disease expertise beyond the boundaries of big cities. I am particularly interested in telemedicine and antibiotic stewardship as tools to bridge gaps in care and promote responsible treatment practices.

Outside of medicine, you’ll find me hiking, biking, skiing, swimming, or walking. I’m also an avid reader across all genres and love to cook and bake. I feel incredibly fortunate to continue my training in Infectious Disease at Emory and to care for the wonderful patients of Atlanta.

James Pennoyer, MD
Medical School: Medical College of Georgia
Residency: Emory Univeristy SOM

I was born in East Providence, Rhode Island where I lived until I was 10—at that point my family moved to Augusta, GA and has been there ever since. I went north to the University of Notre Dame for my undergraduate education and had an amazing time studying biology and history but found the cold to be a little too much and decided to come back home for medical school and residency. In my second year of IM residency, I had the opportunity to rotate on both Transplant Infectious Disease at Emory and the Specialized Immunology Service at Grady Memorial Hospital, which exposed me to the incredible breadth and depth of infectious disease and convinced me to pursue a career in this field. I spent the last year as a chief resident in the Emory IM program, and in my spare time have found myself drawn to QI projects that blend my love of ID and my goal to help patients in any way I can. In my spare time I love to read, walk on the Beltline, and eat at some of Atlanta’s amazing restaurants.

Yokabed Ermias, MD, MPH
Medical School: University of California SOM, San Diego
Residency: Emory University SOM

I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to two physicians but my family immigrated to Atlanta when I was only 2 years old after my father was offered a job as a public health practitioner. My childhood memories were filled with my parent’s stories of working in remote towns in Ethiopia and my father’s travels around the world working in public health. From a young age, my interests in medicine and public health were shaped by these stories. After graduating high school, I attended UGA where I completed a combined BS/MPH and personalized my interest in public health. After college, I had the opportunity to work at the CDC where I saw public health in action both during global pandemics and when developing national family planning guidelines. These experiences further fueled my passion for public health but left me wondering about individual healthcare. This led me to attend medical school and IM residency where I continued to participate in research and global health work in Ethiopia while discovering my clinical interest in infectious diseases. ID is ever evolving and was the perfect field for me to blend my clinical curiosity, global health interest, and public health work. Looking to the future, the Emory ID/EIS program is an ideal opportunity to help train me further in both ID and applied global public health. I am very excited to be continuing my training with the Emory ID family!

 Outside of work, you’ll find me spending time with my husband and 2 cats, exploring the Atlanta food scene, and running/biking the Atlanta beltline and nearby trails.

Nora Loughry, MD
Medical School: University of Maryland SOM
Residency: Emory University SOM

I was born and raised in New Jersey, and studied Psychology and Dance at Connecticut College. After an incredibly formative experience with AmeriCorps (National Health Corps) working at a federally qualified health center in Philadelphia, I went to University of Maryland for medical school. I learned arguably equally as much both in and out of the classroom while volunteering with the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, focusing on community education and advocacy around the opioid epidemic and overdose response. Ultimately, I came to Emory for combined residency training in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, with the goal of learning how to provide comprehensive care to patients with both infectious diseases and co-morbid psychiatric illness. I am particularly interested in the intersection of HIV, IV drug-related infectious complications, substance use disorders, and harm reduction. I absolutely loved working with the Infectious Diseases department during residency through various rotations, including the HIV Medicine distinction track, and I feel so grateful to be staying at Emory for ID fellowship. In my free time, I enjoy dance, poetry, comedy shows, and I am determined to make Atlanta a walkable city.

Becky Muenich, MD, MPH
Medical School: University of Texas Health Science Center SOM, San Antonio
Residency:University of Texas Health Science Center SOM, San Antonio

I grew up in central Texas, where I developed an appreciation for breakfast tacos, margaritas, and tubing the river during our hot Texas summers. My love for working with people led me to study nursing during my undergraduate education, and I worked as an acute care nurse for the next nine years. During my nursing career, I had opportunities to volunteer as a nurse among vulnerable communities, both locally and in rural Nigeria. These experiences, and the connections I witnessed between social determinants of health and disease, birthed an interest in the field of infectious diseases and ultimately led me to pursue a career in medicine and public health. I completed both my medical and public health degrees at the University of Texas in San Antonio. As part of my MPH, I worked in Zimbabwe, studying the impact of community empowerment and health promotion through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs in rural villages. I then decided to remain at UT San Antonio for residency, where my interest in infectious diseases continued to develop through training in an HIV Medicine track, where I provided primary care to patients living with HIV, and through a Health Equity track, where I worked alongside organizations providing healthcare to unsheltered individuals and other marginalized populations in San Antonio. I am thrilled for the chance to train in Infectious Diseases, particularly HIV Medicine, at Emory due to the program’s commitment to compassion and patient care, the outstanding faculty, and the amazing clinical and research opportunities. In my free time, I love camping and hiking, reading, creative writing, running, and spending time with my wonderful husband and our two boys.

Emily Muller, MD
Medical School: University of Washington SOM
Residency:University of California San Francisco

I am originally from Olympia, Washington and spent my childhood exploring the woods around my house and playing soccer in the rainy weather. I wanted to get a little sunshine and went to undergrad at Scripps College in Southern California where I studied biology. I worked in a lab that studied wasps and thought for a while I wanted to pursue a research career but my time volunteering at the local hospital helped me realize I wanted more human connection. I went to the University of Washington for Medical School where I first got exposed to Infectious Disease and caring for people living with HIV. ID was the last rotation of my 4th year of medical school and the amazing providers and patients stuck with me as I started my residency in San Francisco at UCSF. I was in the primary care track at UCSF that focused on the care of marginalized and underserved patients. One of my clinic sites was at the Ward 86 Urgent Care, a clinic that is devoted to caring for patients living with HIV. During residency I realized that ID was the right fit for me. In my free time I enjoy trying new restaurants, reading fantasy novels, and cuddling with my kitty cats.

Margaret To, MD, MPH
Medical School: Emory University SOM
Residency:Emory University SOM

Born to Vietnamese refugees seeking a better life in the US, I grew up in Marlboro, NJ and attended the University of Pittsburgh, where I completed degrees in Biology and the History and Philosophy of Science. After graduating, I spent a year working as a Patient Care Technician at UPMC St. Margaret before matriculating at Emory, where I completed both my MD and an MPH in Global Epidemiology. My interest in global health started when I volunteered with the non-profit organization, Amigos de las Americas in Chiguiri Abajo, a rural community in Panama, and deepened with subsequent volunteer work in Faridabad, India and the Dominican Republic. Through funding from the ASTMH-sponsored Ben Kean Fellowship and the Emory Global Health Institute, I returned to my cultural roots and spent time in Vietnam investigating access to mental healthcare with investigators at the Center for Research and Training on AIDS at Hanoi Medical University. I continued my medical training at Emory, completing combined training in Internal Medicine & Psychiatry, and hope to leverage my training as an Infectious Disease doctor to bridge gaps in access to care among persons at high risk of and living with HIV/AIDs. It was during residency that my interests naturally shifted from global health to domestic work focused on ending the HIV Epidemic in the Southeastern United States. My research interests include HIV and mental healthcare integration, improving access along the HIV continuum of care, and other intersections of infectious disease with mental health, including long-COVID. I find great meaning working with the metro Atlanta community and especially in the care of patients at Grady. Outside of medicine, I enjoy photography, bullet journaling, and spending time with my husband & two dogs, Oreo and Biscuit.

Mariam Assi, MD, MPH
Medical School: American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center

I was born in Lebanon, grew up in different parts of Canada and the United Arab Emirates, and then returned to Lebanon for college and medical school. I then moved to Richmond, Virginia for residency where I developed an interest in infectious diseases, particularly in antibiotic-resistant infections. During my time working with vulnerable and marginalized populations in Richmond, as a resident and later as a hospitalist, I developed a deep passion for addressing health inequities that are built within the fabric of infectious diseases. This is why I chose Emory for my infectious disease training, knowing I’ll have ample opportunity to develop a career at the intersection of antibiotic resistance, health disparities, public health and health policy. Outside of medicine, I like spending time with my family, trying out new restaurants, hiking, painting and reading nonfiction books.

Emily Evans, MD
Medical School: Emory University SOM
Residency: University of Pittsburg Medical Center

I grew up in Beverly Hills, Michigan doing all the typical Michigan things- swimming, euchre and ice hockey. I moved to warmer weather for college at UVa where I was initially interested in Material Science Engineering and briefly worked with automotive HVACs; however, I ended up switching careers to focus on diagnostic technology while studying Biomedical Engineering and African Studies. After graduation I moved to Uganda as a clinical trial site coordinator evaluating experimental therapies for cryptococcal meningitis among patients with HIV. I was struck by the effect that HIV infection had on the risk, diagnosis and prognosis of neurological infections and became interested in the culture and policies surrounding HIV transmission and control of infection. I first came to ATL for medical school at Emory which only deepened my interest in public health, advocacy, and HIV/tuberculosis infections. My interest in global public health was well established when I moved to Pittsburgh for residency at UPMC where I was able to participate in a collaboration in Malawi. I am excited to be back at Emory to pursue a career in infectious diseases specifically related to TB and CNS infections in people living with HIV, health policy and global health research. In my free time I enjoy standup comedy, pottery, and creative cooking.

Jonathan Huang, MD
Medical School: University of Maryland SOM
Residency: Emory University SOM

Born and raised in Maryland, I went to University of Maryland for both college and medical school. I had the opportunity to travel outside the East Coast when I came down to Emory for my internal medicine training. Throughout residency, I had opportunities to participate in various medical education, HIV, and stewardship projects. My residency experience culminated in my chief year at Emory Midtown where I continued to build my leadership skills and passions for resident advocacy and medical education. During fellowship, I have explored various career paths in infectious diseases and developed a passion for transplant infectious diseases, antimicrobial stewardship, and caring for immunocompromised hosts. Participating in the Transplant Infectious Disease Track has given me ample inpatient and outpatient experiences with the transplant ID faculty. My scholarly work has focused on protocol implementation and stewardship projects focused on provider education. I have also participated in multidisciplinary organ selection meetings to build strong relationships with the transplant teams. I continue to develop my medical education portfolio by working closely with residents, other fellowship programs, and transplant services.

In my free time, you can find me exploring restaurants/breweries, playing volleyball, enjoying movies/TV, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Sam Parks, MD, MSPH
Medical School: Emory University SOM
Residency: Emory University SOM

I was born and raised in Marietta Georgia by a doctor and a nurse giving me the coveted local area code and some ideas about wanting to help people. I went to college at GW in Washington DC thinking youthful thoughts of making the world a better place through politics only to learn after working in the US Senate that certainly was easier said than done! I ultimately slid from policy to public health and ended up back in Georgia to work on an MPH at Emory and work at CDC at which point my interest in ID crystallized through projects like MDR TB tracking and investigating infections as first triggers for psychosis. Ultimately, I felt that my work in epidemiology was not quite "human" enough for me and so I went to medical school at Emory and haven't looked back as the bedside is where I'm meant to be. I feel passionately about helping Atlanta and Emory to grow and improve as these truly are my places after so many years, so much so that this will be my 4th phase of education here! Outside of the hospital I love walking with my fluffy puppy, nerding out on the newest sci-fi or fantasy book or video game, and building and painting models. 

Alex Warr, MD
Medical School: University of Washington SOM
Residency: Baylor College of Medicine

As a Washingtonian through and through, I spent as much time in the outdoors as possible growing up. I wanted a change of culture after high school, so I headed to North Carolina for undergrad at Wake Forest. It was during undergrad that I first spent time doing global health work and felt the call to be an infectious disease doctor. I spent a few years working back home and abroad in Haiti with an NGO in the health sector. Afterwards, I went to medical school at the University of Washington where I caught the research bug and worked for two years studying tuberculosis in a Kenyan pediatric cohort. I headed south again and completed residency in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. I’m excited to be at Emory for the opportunities to work in the Atlanta community and continue my research in tuberculosis.