Family Medicine: First Year Residents

Weaam was born and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts - a densely populated city just north of Boston. As a young woman of Yemeni and Somali descent, raised alongside other children of immigrants, she was surrounded by a vibrant mix of cultures from an early age. This upbringing has inspired her to look beyond local and national boundaries, recognizing that our shared experiences and identities are part of a broader global narrative.

She pursued her undergraduate studies in public health, where she found a strong sense of community in a close-knit group of friends, a bond that has lasted over a decade. After undergrad, Weaam worked at Massachusetts General Hospital conducting disparities research and addressed maternal and child nutrition with UNICEF in Sudan.

She pursued her undergraduate studies in public health, where she found a strong sense of community in a close-knit group of friends, a bond that has lasted over a decade. After undergrad, Weaam worked at Massachusetts General Hospital conducting disparities research and addressed maternal and child nutrition with UNICEF in Sudan.

Outside of her medical career, Weaam enjoys making Yemeni chai for her family, deepening her understanding of Islamic teachings at her local mosque, and exploring new coffee shops with
friends.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Daniel grew up in New Jersey. He attended Northeastern University, where he received his undergraduate and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. He was motivated to pursue medicine after learning about health disparities and inequities.

Jennifer grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and completed her undergraduate degree at Tufts University, where she studied Philosophy and Biology. After graduating, she worked in a research lab studying the regenerative abilities of certain organisms. She attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts, where she focused much of her work on medical education and advocacy, particularly surrounding LGBTQ+ populations. During her time in medical school she worked on the campaign to bring comprehensive sex education to public schools in her city, mentored local queer and trans youth, worked with the MA department of public health to study vaccine equity in the state’s rural communities, and developed a class on the care of trans and gender-diverse patients which is being integrated into her medical school’s curriculum.

Jennifer believes that developing deep relationships with your patients and local community is at the heart of family medicine and is excited to work together to understand and achieve your healthcare goals!

She could not be happier to bring her passion for patient-centered care, health equity, and advocacy to Tufts CHA and the greater Malden community. Her medical interests include LGBTQ+ care, reproductive health, addiction medicine, and public health. In her free time, Jennifer is usually testing out new recipes, baking for friends and family, or searching for new coffee shops. She also enjoys getting outside and exploring new places with her partner.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Berit Lindell was born in Minnesota but grew up in the rainy Pacific Northwest just outside Seattle, Washington. Berit moved to Boston to start her undergraduate training at Northeastern University where she majored in Sociology and Biology. In addition to studying health from a cellular to social level, she was a strong advocate for her campus and community, heavily involved in campus and local initiatives through Planned Parenthood and creating administrative change to better respond to the needs of sexual assault victims.

Berit stayed in Boston to complete her medical training at Boston University School of Medicine. There, she fully immersed herself in the study of medicine and of Boston health systems. As a student, she helped lead a COVID resource call center, responding to the social determinants of health that affected Bostonians in quarantine. She also deeply appreciated learning from patients at her local syringe exchange, helping patients through a harm-reduction focus. It was during these experiences, along with her clerkships, that she saw the value and reward of long-term physician-patient relationships and the importance of family medicine in providing patients with full-spectrum care across the lifespan.

Now, Berit is excited to join the Tufts-CHA community where she can expand her knowledge of primary care, addiction medicine, and quality improvement with the ultimate goal of helping her patients meet their health goals on their own terms. In her free time, she enjoys puzzles, sewing quilts and clothes of all types, and eating delicious food.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Alex was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts but spent most of his childhood in Westwood, MA. He grew up spending a lot of time in his parents’ Boston Chinatown community. He attended Brown University for college where he majored in Biomedical Engineering. At Brown, he used his degree to work on prosthetic devices, including a low-cost prosthetic leg and a neural implant for paralyzed patients. Upon graduating, Alex accepted a software engineering position in Chicago with a dream of pursuing graduate degrees in design.

Being away from medicine, Alex realized that his passion for engineering was in designing interventions for patients that consider their barriers to care, community, and environment. He left engineering to pursue his medical degree at UMass Chan Medical School. While at UMass Chan, Alex realized his passion for community health and health equity. He was a co-leader for the Urban Health Scholars program and worked on two Social Determinants of Health quality improvement projects. He was also on the Admissions Committee, on which he emphasized the importance of lived experience in shaping a diverse student body.

Alex is ecstatic to join Tufts FMR at CHA and be able to work with other residents and faculty who are also passionate about health equity. Tufts FMR stood out to Alex because the culture of caring for each other and the community was evident throughout the residency application process. He is looking forward to learning about new ways to engage the community in care, to address systemic barriers to healthcare, and to build skills in reproductive health, addiction medicine, and sports medicine. Outside of the clinic, Alex enjoys hiking with his dogs Charlie and Fritz, playing volleyball, and competing in powerlifting meets

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Daniel grew up in rural Central Illinois before attending Indiana Wesleyan University where he studied Athletic Training. After graduating, Daniel rose to become Head Athletic Trainer at Central Indiana Orthopedics. For seven years he took a multidisciplinary approach to orthopedic and musculoskeletal care, but it was the primary care sports medicine physicians who sparked his interest in additional training. He enjoyed getting to know patients in the clinic and athletes on the sidelines, as well as coordinating care and helping patients navigate a complex healthcare system.

After some soul-searching and with some encouragement from his peers and mentors, Daniel decided to apply to medical school. While completing prerequisite courses, Daniel juggled additional odd jobs in Indianapolis as an athletic trainer from covering middle school football games, to club swim meets, and NCAA women’s soccer. He even found some hours on nights and weekends to work in the beer garden at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

While attending Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) he wanted to explore every aspect of medicine. Daniel co-founded the Food As Medicine student interest group after connecting with his classmates over his love for food and cooking. He joined departmental research on the effect of sex and gender inclusive language in anatomy education. Daniel completed additional training in the Medical Humanities which culminated in a project that explored how art can inform medical practice. He participated in multiple orthopedic surgery rotations to better understand outcomes for his future patients, even dabbling in hip dislocation and thumb arthritis research. These experiences have motivated Daniel to take a holistic approach as a family medicine physician rather than treating a single body part

Daniel and his wife, Jeanette, are thrilled to join the community at Cambridge Health Alliance! In his free time, Daniel enjoys biking, baking, gardening, and growing his houseplant collection. You will find him most early mornings drinking coffee with his cat curled up on his lap; watching sports highlights, an architecture documentary, or the latest sci-fi/fantasy series.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Philippe was born and raised in the North shore of Massachusetts. Growing up in New England, he had the opportunity to enjoy the four seasons, to celebrate several championship victories for Boston professional sports teams, and to develop a passion for the great field of medicine. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Bowdoin College and a Master of Science degree in Medical Sciences from Boston University. Philippe would then head to the Great Lakes region to earn his Doctor of Medicine degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. As a medical student, Philippe joined the Student National Medical Association and participated in outreach efforts to inspire younger generations of students to pursue careers in medicine and life sciences. He would seek opportunities to teach others, and he devoted one summer to teaching high school students about anatomy and physiology. In his free time, Philippe enjoys spending time with his family, exploring new places, and playing golf.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Alejandra grew up in Westchester, New York and Geneva, Switzerland. She also spent much of her childhood in Mexico, where her parents are from.

Alejandra attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, where she received her undergraduate degree. Between college and medical school, she worked in primary care pediatrics and developed a love for high-quality, community-centered care. She also attended medical school in Baltimore at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In medical school, she served as President of the Women’s Health Interest Group.

Throughout her time in Baltimore, Alejandra volunteered at the Esperanza Center Health Services Clinic providing free medical services to uninsured immigrants. She has completed projects in New York and Maryland focused on leveraging available community resources to address social determinants of health. She is passionate about mental health in underserved communities and has been involved in research on maternal mental health.

Alejandra is extremely excited to continue her training at Tufts/Cambridge Health Alliance! Shev is thrilled to be part of a program that shares her values regarding personal and professional development, patient care, and community membership. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her two cats, her fiancé, and her friends. She also likes discovering new restaurants, going on walks, and dancing.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Caleb grew up in Cambridge, MA. He attended Johns Hopkins University, where he double majored in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Philosophy. While living in Baltimore, he worked at nonprofits focused on urban revitalization and promoting job readiness. He also taught whitewater canoeing as a university instructor and completed Wilderness Medicine First Responder training.

After college, Caleb received the Meg Walsh Leadership Award, which supported a year in Nepal, India, and Indonesia studying end-of-life care. He lived in hospices, volunteered in hospitals, and attended funerals and burial practices to learn how different cultural contexts and religious traditions can help medical practitioners in the US reimagine America’s broken end-of-life system. This experience deepened his commitment to meeting patients and families where they are—emotionally, spiritually, and culturally—especially during life’s most vulnerable moments.

He later returned to Boston to work at One Brave Idea, a cardiovascular research initiative focused on coronary artery disease. Caleb earned his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he co-founded an accredited Women’s Health elective focusing on under-taught areas beyond reproduction.

Motivated by a desire to address rising healthcare costs, chronic disease, and systemic inefficiencies and inequities, Caleb pursued an MBA at Harvard Business School. During his MBA, he worked at stickK, a behavioral economics company helping empower users to change habits, and developed an interest in applying large language models to scale primary care interventions.

In his free time, Caleb enjoys hosting dinners with his partner, kiteboarding on the beaches of Nahant, Mass., and running along the Charles River.

Pronouns: He/Him/His