Dr. Cano-Guerra completed his pediatric residency at Tufts Medical Center. He received his medical degree from the University of the Oriente School of Medicine in Venezuela, and then he completed his pediatric residency at the J.M. de Los Rios Children’s Hospital in Caracas, Venezuela, prior to obtaining his post-doctoral degree from the Central University of Venezuela. As a resident he worked on a quality improvement project to reduce unplanned extubations in the NICU. Dr. Cano-Guerra also examined the rates of maternal breast milk usage with an opt-out donor milk consent process. He presented a preliminary status of his work in the 2024 PAS Annual Meeting. He is interested in pursuing quality improvement research during fellowship focused on cost-effectiveness and resource use in the NICU.
Team: Neonatal Class of 2027
Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Training Program 2027 Graduates
Caitlin Duncan, MD
Dr. Duncan completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She received her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Duke University and her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She originally entered residency in the child neurology track and, accordingly, for her residency research she investigated the differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes between male and female neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. She is interested in pursuing clinical research in neuroprotection and neurodevelopmental outcomes during her fellowship.
Kimberley Banfield, MBBS
Dr. Banfield completed her pediatric residency at the University of Miami. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Virginia and her medical degree from the University of the West Indies, Barbados. During residency, she investigated the antenatal administration of mesenchymal stem cell derived extracellular vesicles and their impact on placental and fetal lung senescence in experimental pre-eclampsia. She presented her work at the 2023 PAS Annual meeting. She has also been researching human cardiac organoids to determine if hyperoxia accelerates cardiac myocyte senescence. As a fellow, she hopes to gain more experience in neonatal palliative care and continue researching stem cell-based approaches to the treatment of neonatal diseases, particularly BPD.
Dana Apkon, MD
Dr. Apkon completed her pediatric residency training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, and her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. During residency, Dr. Apkon led a project focused on digital content development for the hospital’s Reach Out and Read program. She was a member of the Resident and Fellow Quality Improvement Council and helped implement a new longitudinal QI curriculum. During fellowship, Dr. Apkon hopes to continue her QI research focusing on developmental outcomes.
Haritha Aribindi, MD
Dr. Aribindi completed her pediatric residency training at the Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP). She received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Cornell University and her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. During residency, she was on the Leadership in Equity and Advocacy Track, and for her research project she developed an electronic vaccination campaign where local community pediatricians educated patients and families about the COVID-19 vaccine. Her residency research involved analyzing developmental and behavioral outcomes of infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome using mother-infant dyad datasets. She presented the results of her research at the 2023 PAS Annual Meeting as an oral abstract. Dr. Aribindi is interested in pursuing health equity and neonatal longitudinal outcome research during fellowship.
Rawan Al-Rawi, MBBS
Dr. Al-Rawi is joining us from the pediatric residency program at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She completed her medical degree at Jordan University of Science and Technology. During residency, she completed a clinical research project evaluating Non-Invasive Neurally-Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) treatment of premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and ongoing respiratory failure. She presented her research as first author at the 2023 PAS Annual Meeting. She was also involved in research on cardiovascular physiology of neonates and was listed as middle author on two additional abstracts presented at the 2023 PAS Annual Meeting. She hopes to research neonatal cardiopulmonary diseases during fellowship.
Tanima Arora, MD, MHS
Dr. Arora completed her pediatric residency training at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She received her medical degree from the Government Medical College Chandigarh, India, followed by a master’s of health sciences degree from the Yale School of Medicine. During residency, she researched the use of AI and machine learning techniques to determine BPD endotypes. She received the House Officer Research Award from the Society of Pediatric Research at the 2023 PAS Annual Meeting for her presentation titled: A genomic analysis to create bronchopulmonary dysplasia endotypes. She hopes to continue her research on neonatal lung disease and applications for AI and machine learning.