Graduating Residents and Fellows Honored
By Lynn McCain | June 19Four years ago, a group of eight bright-eyed, newly minted, doctors crossed the threshold of the Department of Pathology to begin their residency training. On Sunday, June 8th, these now well-trained pathology residents, along with the year’s graduating team of fellows and advanced clinical trainees, were celebrated at the annual Residents and Fellows Farewell Celebration held at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor.
Attendees were welcomed by our Assistant Chair of Education, Dr. Kamran Mirza, and Chair of Pathology, Dr. Charles Parkos, who addressed the group and congratulated them on all their achievements. Mirza then recognized the hard work and commitment of our graduating Residents, Fellows, and Advanced Clinical Trainees. The fellowship directors then introduced each of the graduating Fellows and Advanced Clinical Trainees and presented their training certificates of completion. The names of all our graduating trainees are listed below. Shih-Hon Li, MD, PhD, pathology residency program director, and Kristine Konopka, MD, pathology residency program past director, honored the senior residents and presented them with their certificates. Li then inducted them and the graduating Fellows into the U-M Pathology Alumni Society.
Dr. Lee Schroeder, MD, PhD, interim director of Clinical Pathology, then came forward to announce the John Batsakis & Ronald Nishiyama Outstanding CP Resident Award, which was presented to Michael Olp, MD, PhD, an AP/CP resident, who stated, "I'm honored to receive this award and appreciate the support of my mentors and colleagues throughout my training." Olp plans to remain at Michigan Medicine to complete fellowships in Molecular and Genetic Pathology and in Pathology Informatics.
Dr. Priya Kunju, MD, director of Anatomic Pathology, announced the winner of the Murray R. Abell Outstanding AP Resident Award, which went to Mark Rudolf, MD, PhD, a PSTP/Anatomic Pathology resident, who commented, “It's an
honor to be recognized, especially considering how much I admire the past awardees and my co-residents, who are a constant source of help and encouragement. Training at Michigan is about being part of a team, and I'm grateful for everyone in the gross room, lab, morgue, sign-out rooms, and offices who show us residents the ropes so we can contribute to getting answers for patients and their families,” said Rudolf.
The final formal award of the night was the Residents Teaching Award, given to the teacher the residents felt made the greatest teaching contribution to their careers. Andrew Valesano, MD, PhD, assistant chief resident for 2025-2026, announced Kamran Mirza, MBBS, PhD, as the award winner to loud applause. “To know that I’ve made even a small impact on their journey means more than I can say. Teaching is a privilege, and I learn just as much from our residents as they might from me. I’m deeply grateful,” said Mirza.
The residents also had a bit of fun with awards. “We created ‘The Chiefees’ as a fun and informal way to recognize the unique contributions each resident made to our program. The chief residents collaborated to select individualized awards for every resident, highlighting moments of support, memorable events from the year, or standout personal qualities. We celebrated with a small gathering supported by the Trainee Wellness Committee and hosted by Dr. Mirza,” explained Valesano.
This year’s assistant chief residents, Sarah Farran, MD, and Isabella Holmes, DO, then recognized Dr. Ashley Brent for her service as the chief resident for the past academic year, recounting the amazing work she did and what a fantastic role model she is to follow as they ascend to this year’s co-chief resident positions.
The evening was filled with laughter and great food, yet it was a happy/sad time as friends and colleagues bid one another farewell as they launched into the next phases of their careers. Yet several will be staying with us as either fellows, advanced clinical trainees, or faculty. We are delighted to continue the journey with them and wish our departing trainees the greatest success and joy in their careers going forward.
Graduating Fellows and Advanced Clinical Trainees:
- Mayyada Al-Nuaimi, MD – Breast Pathology
- Juanita Ferreira, MD – Cytopathology
- Jesse Kinner, DO – Cytopathology
- Daniel Cole, MD – Dermatopathology
- Taylor Novice, MD – Dermatopathology
- Thomas Herb, MD – Forensic Pathology
- Nicole Tomm, MD – Gastrointestinal Pathology
- Robert Humble, MD – Genitourinary Pathology
- Kelsey Hummel, DO – Gynecologic Pathology
- Geoffrey Halling, MD – Head & Neck Pathology
- Haley Amoth, MD – Hematopathology
- Corey Post, MD – Hematopathology
- Vincent Laufer, MD, PhD – Informatics
- Xiaoming (Mindy) Wang, PhD – Laboratory Genetics and Genomics
- Julianne Szczepanski, MD – Molecular Genetic Pathology
- Nicole Becker, MD – Neuropathology
- Ryan Landvater, MD – Neuropathology
- Alexander Gross, MD – Surgical Pathology
- Nathan McCammon, MD – Surgical Pathology
- Michael Mertz, DO – Surgical Pathology
- Fysal Shennib, MD – Surgical Pathology
Graduating Residents:
- Ashley Brent, MD – AP/CP, Chief Resident
- Ryan Cecchi, MD – AP/CP
- Amber Holtz, MD – AP/CP
- Elaina Daniels, MD – AP/CP
- Elizabeth Williams, MD, PhD – AP/CP
- Michael Olp, MD, PhD – AP/CP
- Mark Rudolf, MD, PhD – PSTP/AP
- Katharina Wiedemeyer, MD - AP
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