In his dissertation, Benjamin Hayes MD, PhD, explored novel associations between clinical, biological, and genetic markers underlying the pathophysiology of stress-response dysregulation in children subjected to adverse childhood experiences. His clinical interests have considerable overlap with this research, focusing on identifying prodromal features of maladaptive stress responses that place children at increased risk for later development of medical and behavioral health sequelae, along with establishing targeted therapeutic modalities for this vulnerable population. In his spare time, he enjoys playing soccer and exploring the city of Providence (with specific interest in finding the best stuffies in town!)

Jason grew up in Pittsburgh, PA before studying psychology and education studies at Yale. After graduating, he worked in education for three years before attending NYU for medical school. There, they found ways to connect their passion for mental health, education, and service to better appreciate the relationship between communities and healthcare. This understanding directly informed his interest in triple board, a program that would allow him to better understand the myriad interactions between mental and physical health and think about integrated solutions at the system level. Now at Brown, they are specifically interested in the relationship between chronic illness and mental health, functional neurological disorders, integrating mental and physical healthcare, and public mental health. He hopes to integrate these areas after graduating by practicing in novel, ever-evolving treatment settings that increase access to care, such as the public schools.

Beyond medicine, they enjoy learning languages, playing racket sports, doing arts and crafts, trivia, and exploring new public transport systems.

Hannah was born and raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She attended Brown University through the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), where she concentrated in Public Health. As an undergraduate, she got involved with Kesem, a nonprofit that supports children through and beyond a parent’s cancer, which deepened her interest in supporting children and families facing significant stressors. After graduating, Hannah moved to Chicago, where she worked as a Program Director for Kesem National, supporting and overseeing local chapters throughout the Chicagoland region.

She returned to Brown for medical school, where she was honored to be selected for the Gold Humanism Honor Society and AOA. During medical school, she designed and facilitated a summer pathway program that provided early exposure to healthcare careers for high school students historically underrepresented in medicine. She was also involved with the Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic, a student-run clinic that provides pro bono forensic medical and psychological evaluations for individuals seeking asylum. Hannah also completed a Master’s in Healthcare Leadership at Brown, where she deepened her understanding of healthcare systems and policy while developing leadership skills to advocate for and implement meaningful system-level change.

Hannah is absolutely thrilled to continue her training at Brown in the Triple Board program, where she looks forward to exploring her interests at the intersection of pediatrics and psychiatry while continuing to grow roots in the greater Providence community. Outside the hospital, she loves adventuring around Rhode Island with her dog Winston, spending time at the beach, and exploring the many coffee shops and farmers markets in and around Providence! 

Margarita was born and raised in Melbourne, Florida. She attended Brown University through the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), a combined eight-year program where she earned her degree in Health and Human Biology. As a first-generation Latina medical student, she is passionate about equity in care and mental health access for underserved communities.

At Brown, Margarita was deeply involved in community-engaged research and public health outreach. She worked with Poder en Salud, a CDC-funded initiative, to address COVID-19 disparities in Central Falls’ Latinx population. She also conducted research on intimate partner violence education in medical training, refugee health, and trauma disclosure. Margarita used her role in the Latinx Medical Student Association to promote mentorship and expand access to health education by creating bilingual materials tailored to community needs.

Outside of medicine, Margarita enjoys dancing, cooking, serving as a youth leader in her church and spending sunny days at the beach.

Katie is from Buffalo, NY and has spent most of her life calling Western New York her home. She has always felt called to advocate for others and for societal change, and has been incredibly fortunate in her adult life to be able to hone this passion. In undergrad at Canisius University, she studied Political Science, where she learned about how policy has the potential to directly cause or alleviate disparities. She was also a member - and then co-captain - of the women’s rowing team. After undergrad, she moved to Philadelphia, where she served in AmeriCorps at the Nationalities Service Center, connecting newly arrived refugees and other humanitarian immigrants with healthcare in the United States. Then, she worked at Maternity Care Coalition, a nonprofit which works with families impacted by social inequalities. These three formative years between undergrad and medical school deepened her appreciation for the concept of unconditional positive regard: that most people are good, and are doing the best they can given their life circumstances. She started medical school at the University at Buffalo, where she quickly became involved with the Buffalo Human Rights Initiative, a student-run organization which conducts forensic medical, psychological, and gynecologic evaluations for survivors of torture seeking asylum in the United States. She is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and was a recipient of the 2025 Merck Academic Excellence Award.

Katie has many career interests, including refugee health, family therapy, and forensic psychiatry and pediatrics. She is looking forward to seeing where her 5 years of residency lead her! In her free time, Katie loves reconnecting with her inner child through team sports like dodgeball, kickball, and basketball. She enjoys any activities that have to do with water (liquid or frozen!), and plans on spending many of her weekends by the beach or skiing. She also loves attending rallies and volunteering for political campaigns.

Candida was born and raised in Alabama. Candida attended nursing school in Nashville, TN, at Belmont University where she graduated with her RN, BSN. Her experiences throughout nursing school provided her with the exposure needed to realize that she wanted to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Candida then moved to New York City, where she completed her postbaccalaureate studies at Columbia University. She then received her M.D. at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she was selected for the Gold Humanism Honors Society, and received the 2024 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Student Award and Psychiatry Academic Award. She is beyond excited to continue her training at Brown University in the Triple Board program. She is committed to providing compassionate and comprehensive care to vulnerable children and their families who have endured significant abuse and neglect. Outside of work, Candida enjoys singing and playing the piano, traveling, and spending time with loved ones.

Jess grew up in Verona, NJ, as the daughter of an oncology nurse who first inspired her to pursue medicine. She attended Cornell University for undergrad, where she majored in Human Development and minored in Biological Sciences. While there, Jess spent most of her time with Cornell Outdoor Education, teaching backpacking courses, overseeing student-run pre-orientation trips, and training as a wilderness EMT. After graduating in 2019, she spent one year working with the afterschool program at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, a private elementary school in the Bronx. Jess then returned to New Jersey to attend Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She dedicated her time to student wellbeing initiatives such as Mind-Body Medicine and pre-clinical psychiatry curriculum development. Her work focused primarily on intentional language choice and the importance of self-compassion. Outside of the hospital, Jess has worked longitudinally with an organization called Hearts of Hope to develop an art therapy program for children in the hospital. In medical school, Jess was awarded the 2024 Award for Academic Excellence in Psychiatry as well as the AMWA Glasgow-Rubin Certificate of Academic Achievement for graduating in the top 10% of her class.

Jess is thrilled to be joining the Brown Triple Board community where she hopes to grow as a compassionate care provider and psychotherapist. She ultimately hopes to use her combined training to work as a child psychiatrist with children and families experiencing medical challenges. Outside of medicine, Jess is frequently found outdoors as she finds joy doing activities such as hiking, skiing, and paddle-boarding. She enjoys caring for all of her many plants and one very tiny orange cat. In fact, she’s probably running away from one of her bites right now!

Perpetual Essence Adachukwu Chiamaka Taylor was born in Framingham, MA and raised in Cromwell, CT. She very proud of her Nigerian (Igbo) heritage. Most people call her “Perp”, “Pep”, or “Pepsi”. As a Christian, she has always believed in taking care of those who cannot care for themselves- this value has guided her throughout her life. Perpetual has been interested in becoming a physician since she was a little girl and her experiences witnessing her youngest brother, Jayden, suffer from congenital heart disease as an infant inspired her to pursue pediatrics. She attended Sport and Medical Sciences Academy for high school, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Chemistry minor. Shortly thereafter, she became a behavior technician and cared for a young boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder using Applied Behavioral Analysis to teach him new skills; this experience was the first of many to entice her toward pursuing child psychiatry. Matriculating into the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in August 2020, Perpetual made it a point to become involved in extracurricular activities including but not limited to becoming the Mentorship Chair of the Student National Medical Association, President of the Christian Medical Dental Association, student representative for the Admissions Committee and Clinical Skills Program, and volunteering at Hands on Hartford and South Park homeless shelters. Upon medical school graduation, she was selected as Commencement Speaker for the graduate ceremony. She was given an award for Excellence In a Specific Discipline-Psychiatry. Perpetual’s ultimate dream is to work in a pediatric emergency room, stabilizing children with medical and/or psychiatric crises and treating every patient and their family member with compassion, dignity, and humility. She attributes her success to God, her family members, close friends, and mentors without whom she would not be in the position that she is in today. 

Emily (she/her) was born and raised in the suburbs of Orlando, FL. As an undergraduate nursing student, she researched mental health interventions for migrant workers in rural Florida. She worked for six years as a nurse in adult and pediatric cardiovascular ICUs. She was awarded the 2016 Exemplary Professional Practice Award for her work in Pediatric Cardiac ICU. During this time she volunteered for the Victim Service Center of Central Florida and conducted medical relief work in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. In medical school, Emily worked at UF's Equal Access Clinic, a homeless medical outreach program, and the Healthy Kids Medical Legal Partnership. She also provided tutoring and mentorship to first- and second-year medical students. She was selected by her peers for membership in the Golden Humanism Honor Society where she was co-editor of the Chapman Arts and Literary Magazine, a publication highlighting artwork by medical providers that reflects their experiences in medicine. She graduated medical school with an Award of Distinction in Mind-Body-Medicine for her work exploring resilience levels and coping strategies utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic by graduate health students.

In her career, she hopes to provide integrated healthcare for medically complex patients and their families. Emily enjoys scrapbooking, reading, hiking, curling up with her three cats, and trying out new recipes. She cannot wait to experience full seasons in Rhode Island, and is so happy to call Providence her new home, and Brown Triple Board her team.

Shauna grew up in Guilford, CT before attending college at UCLA where she majored in Neuroscience with a minor in Spanish. Her involvement in Camp Kesem, a camp that supports children through and beyond a parent’s cancer, sparked her interest in mental healthcare for the pediatric and young adult population. Shauna received her MD in 2023 from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where she was the recipient of the Robert F. Miller Community Service Award for her work as one of the directors of Vanderbilt’s student-run free clinic, Shade Tree, which provides free holistic healthcare to uninsured patients in Nashville. Shauna’s interest in caring for pediatric patients in marginalized communities drove her to start a specialized clinic within Shade Tree to meet the medical and psychiatric needs of the uninsured, immigrant pediatric patient population.  She is overjoyed to be joining the Triple Board program at Brown, where she found a caring, family-like community with top-notch training at clinical sites dedicated to each of her areas of interest. In her free time, Shauna enjoys playing music, reading, spin classes, and hiking the National Parks (she thinks the Badlands in South Dakota is the most underrated). She is especially excited to be back in New England nearby family and friends!

Raphaela (she/her) was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She attended Brown University through the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) and received her B.A. in English with a focus on nonfiction writing. During her undergraduate studies she was involved with student theater and peer mentorship endeavors throughout campus. Before returning to Brown for medical school Raphaela spent time in Brooklyn, NY as a nanny. She then moved to San Francisco to help build a speakeasy magic theater. Raphaela received her M.D. from Brown University with a scholarly concentration in Medical humanities & Ethics where she was selected for the Gold Humanism Honors Society and the 2023 recipient of the Christopher Benedick Child Psychiatry Award. Raphaela has been involved with sexual health education initiatives, medical storytelling podcasts, and implementing reflective practice in the medical school curriculum. As a triple board resident she hopes to grow as a physician and work to integrate mental health care into everyday primary care for kids and teens. She is very passionate about medical education and hopes to become a clinician-educator. Outside of the hospital you can find her sewing, knitting, gardening, dreaming about dogs, or eating ice cream.

Nicole (she/her) was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx, New York. She completed her undergraduate studies at Amherst College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Languages and Civilizations, and completed a post-baccalaureate program. She received her MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she was selected for a Dean's Recognition Award, Distinction in Research, and the Maurice Greenhill Award in Psychiatry. At Einstein, she was part of the ECHO Board, a student-run Saturday clinic providing free healthcare to uninsured patients. She is excited to join the Triple Board team and she is passionate about caring for the physical and mental health of children and their families. She has many interests including integrated primary and psychiatric care, emergency psychiatry, eating disorders, mood disorders, and Perinatal and Infant Psychiatry. She likes spending time with her husband Matt and her dog Stitch, dancing, and exploring new restaurants and coffee shops in Providence.

Michael Hoggard was born in California but was raised between Utah and Finland. He studied economics for his bachelor's degree before completing a master's of public health in Finland, during which he focused on refugee health and health economics. He spent 5 of the 7 years before medical school living, studying, or conducting research on 3 continents.

Niralee is the daughter of first-generation immigrants and grew up in western MA. She studied Mathematics and Arabic at Williams College. After college, she taught math and co-curricular yoga at an international high school in Jordan, then moved to Palestine where she joined a tech startup and co-developed a mini-MBA program for youth entrepreneurs. She was then director of Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, a nonprofit community center in Nablus, Palestine supporting the education, health, and psychosocial well-being of families living in the area’s refugee camps and underserved urban neighborhoods. Working there compelled her to retrain in medicine to better understand and address the impact of early life and intergenerational trauma on the mind and body. After a premedical post-bacc, Niralee moved to Rhode Island and earned her M.D.-M.Sc. in Brown’s Primary Care-Population Medicine program, where she grew her love for teaching and interest in improving access to mental health care. She is a member of the Gold Humanism Honors Society and received the 2022 Christopher Benedick, MD, Child Psychiatry Award. As a resident, Niralee aspires to provide care that centers the strengths and stories of her patients and their communities. Outside of work, Niralee enjoys dancing, rock climbing, biking along the RI coast, and gathering the people she loves around food.