Current Fellows

Emily Aaronson grew up in Toronto, Ontario before moving to Washington, DC where she did an undergraduate degree in Art History followed by work in health care consulting, before going to medical school. Since then, she has completed residency at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency program at Brigham & Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a subsequent fellowship in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, and a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. She now practices Emergency Medicine and serves as the hospital’s Associate Chief Quality Officer at MGH. Emily’s academic interest is centered on improving the quality of care for patients with serious illness in the Emergency Department. When not working, Emily enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, and dog hiking around Western Massachusetts.

Angela Rosalia Banks Paulino received her Doctor of Medicine degree from UNIBE School of Medicine in the Dominican Republic. During her medical training, she has led multiple outreaching activities focused on proving medical care to underserved communities. She has also worked with various academic institutions to teach and guide medical students in building up their clinical knowledge, use evidence-based medicine, and prepare for the United States medical licensure examinations. She completed an internal medicine residency at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, New Jersey in 2021. She has a variety of interests that include closing the gap between palliative care and underserved communities, end-of-life and hospice care in the Hispanic population and improving quality of life in chronic medical conditions through palliative care.

Matt Bartek grew up in the Boston area and received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, studying physics and philosophy. He developed a background in health policy working in Senator Ted Kennedy's Health Office and then at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in Washington, DC. He then attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, MA during which he served as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow as a manager for a free clinic. Eager to gain further research training, he took off two years in the middle of medical school and spent a year in Lima, Peru as a T-32 Funded Fogarty Fellow and then obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He completed general surgery residency at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA and spent two years as a T-32 Funded Fellow at the Surgical Outcomes Research Center. He aims to bridge surgery and palliative care to find ways at ensuring that surgical decision-making is performed with patient and family goals at the center of the process. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys road biking, hiking, spending time with his family, and logic puzzles.

Sophia Bellin Warren received her bachelor's degree in English and History from Columbia University. Prior to attending medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, she completed a post-baccalaureate program at Bryn Mawr College. She moved to Boston for internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she discovered her love of palliative care and medical education. Sophia is interested in patient stories - and in the ways in which we listen, respond, and engage with them as caregivers. She hopes to spend her career helping patients with serious illness and improving doctor-patient communication.

Jessica Cruz Whitley, MD

Jessica Cruz Whitley received her bachelor's degree in Physiological Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. In medical school at the University of California, San Diego, she was a part of the Program In Medical Education with a focus on Health Equity (PRIME-HEq). She completed an internal medicine residency in the primary care track at the University of California, Davis, where she participated in the medical admissions process and served as a mentor for the local chapter of the Latinx Medical Student Association (LMSA). She started nephrology fellowship at the BWH/MGH Joint Nephrology Program in 2019, where she received the program's inaugural Humanism in Medicine Award. She is interested in integrating palliative care and nephrology with a focus on advance care planning, shared decision making and supportive care of kidney patients, as well as increasing access to palliative medicine to underserved communities. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys spending time with her husband and dog exploring New England.

Helen Knight graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in English. She attended medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. She subsequently completed internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital, serving as a Chief Resident at the Boston VA during her final year. She is interested in end-of-life care, health services research, and quality improvement.

Jessica (Jessie) Logeman is a proud midwesterner from Grafton, North Dakota. Her love for the Midwest is only rivaled by her strong ties to Duke University where she completed undergrad, medical school, and a master’s degree in clinical research. She moved to Boston for internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital where she dedicated extracurricular time to medical education reform and resident wellness initiatives. Jessie has academic roots in narrative medicine and cultural anthropology and is interested in using qualitative research techniques to better understand and optimize relationships between palliative care consultants and referring clinicians. As a fellow, she aims to use her passion for teaching to incorporate palliative care education throughout the continuum of medical training.

Boris Martinez Recinos was born and raised in rural Guatemala and earned my medical degree from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Before completing medical school, he became a volunteer physician for the Maya Health Alliance, a primary healthcare organization providing services for Maya indigenous communities where he had the opportunity to conduct different projects to improve the care of patients and their families. Boris completed an Internal Medicine residency training at Saint Peter's University Hospital/Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in New Jersey. He has a special interest in implementation sciences, and his goal is to continue to further his medical, clinical and leadership skills to help create and expand Palliative Medicine services for patients and communities in Guatemala.

Hadley Bloomhardt, MD

Hadley grew up in Shelburne, Vermont, where she found her love for all things outdoors. She received her bachelor's degree in human biology from Brown University, followed by a postbaccalaureate research fellowship in translational genetics at the NIH. She then attended medical school at Yale School of Medicine, where her interests in palliative care and in the illness experience of children began, through her research on late effects of pediatric cancer treatment at Yale's Survivorship clinic. She completed residency in pediatrics at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia University Medical Center in 2021. While at Columbia, Hadley led the resident wellness committee and worked to integrate palliative care into various resident curricula. Her academic interests include optimizing care for medically complex patients, medical education about communication, and provider wellness.

Fran grew up in rural Ireland and attended medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. She completed her internship, basic specialist training and higher specialist training in pediatrics through the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland prior to moving to the US. She entered an abbreviated pediatric residency in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before relocating to Boston for a pediatric pulmonary fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her research during her pediatric pulmonary fellowship focused on childhood interstitial lung disease. She was awarded a grant from the National Organization for Rare Disorders to investigate the genetic etiology of Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia, with an ultimate goal of identifying non-invasive diagnostics, allowing pre-natal counseling for subsequent pregnancies and for prognostication. Her future clinical and academic goals lie at the intersection of pediatric pulmonology and palliative care, specifically caring for children with congenital anomalies and medical complexities. In her spare time Fran enjoys travelling, going to music and comedy shows and relaxing with her family and friends.

Sheila grew up in Seattle, WA and moved to New York City to attend Barnard College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Biology. She went on to work as a clinical assistant in a pediatrician’s office and attended New York University for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She spent over five years working as a bedside nurse at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health in the pediatric acute care and pediatric intensive care units. While working as a nurse, Sheila completed her Master of Science in Pediatric Advanced Practice Nursing with a palliative care concentration. Her interests include increasing early patient access to palliative care and supporting staff who care for palliative care patients. In her free time, Sheila enjoys spending time with friends and trying new restaurants, and can’t wait to explore Boston!

Sara D'Arpino, MSN, AGPCNP-BC

Sara D'Arpino is a board-certified Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. She received her bachelor's degree in Behavioral Neuroscience from Connecticut College and was a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Program (CORE) at MGH. It was there where Sara was introduced to the impact of the palliative care and the integral part that nursing plays within the specialty. She then went on to obtain both her BSN and MSN from the University of Pennsylvania. Sara is passionate about giving every patient a choice in their own care. She hopes to enhance geriatric and palliative care education for nurses and nursing students. In her free time, Sara enjoys spending time with family, hiking New Hampshire's 4000 footers, and reading. 

Charmaine Lastimoso, MPH, MSN, NP-C, CARN-AP

Charmaine Lastimoso is a faculty member at the Boston University School of Medicine focused on Addiction Medicine, with her clinical practice focused on transitional care at Faster Paths to Treatment, BMC's substance use disorder (SUD) urgent care center. Charmaine is also a Clinical Educator for the OBAT TTA Program at Boston Medical Center providing SUD education and technical assistance for nurses, providers, recovery coaches and other community health care workers across the state of Massachusetts. She previously worked at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program as a respite care and primary care provider and has been involved in research focused on the needs of underserved populations. Charmaine earned her MPH in Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health and her MSN from Boston College, with a concentration as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She is excited to explore the intersections between palliative care and addiction medicine to broaden the scope of her practice, utilizing the skillsets from both disciplines. 

Sarah Eastland grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned her Master of Social Work from University of California, Berkeley with a concentration in strengthening children, youth, and families. She completed her advanced practicum training at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital supporting patients and families in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. Prior to graduate school, Sarah worked at Family House Inc., a non-profit organization serving patients and their families that are receiving treatment for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses at Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. Her professional interests include supporting families facing complex medical conditions, grief and bereavement work, and empowering families to successfully navigate healthcare settings.

Joseph “Joey” Ricciutti grew up in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. He attended MCPHS University in Boston Massachusetts, where he obtained his PharmD degree. Following graduation, he completed his PGY-1 Residency training at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge Massachusetts. There, he conducted a research project evaluating the use of opioids in the emergency department. He also coupled his passion for teaching and pain management by developing a lecture and continuing education course on the topic of pain management in the setting of opioid use disorder. His professional interests include pain management, palliative care, addiction, and academia.