Anthony Nwankwo, M.D. (PGY1)
Anthony Nwankwo is a graduate of the University of Virginia, School of Medicine. His undergraduate studies include Neurobiology and Physiology at the University of Maryland and Neuroscience at Baldwin Wallace University.
At the age of 10 Tony relocated to Nigeria where he attended a boarding school, passing the entrance exams allowing him to skip 5th and 6th grade and start at the 7th grade. He spent 6 years in Nigerian boarding schools before returning to the United States and starting college at the age of 16.
Tony went on to establish the American Association for Neurological Surgeons Medical Student Chapter at the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and co-founded the Robotic Surgery Interest Group at the University of Virginia.
Tony has co-authored 12 Peer Reviewed Journal Articles/Abstracts (Other than Published), with 2 Peer Reviewed Journal Articles/Abstracts (Other than Published) and 10 Poster Presentations.
Tony is a self-taught pianist for over 15 years, volunteering at University of Virginia hospital to provide music therapy for patients. Additionally, he is a video content creator as a member of the YouTube Content Creator Program since 2018 with over 11,000 subscribers to his channel!
Shashank Patil, M.D. (PGY2)
Shashank Patil earned three undergraduate degrees in Molecular and Cell Biology: Neurobiology, Integrative Biology: Human Biology & Health Sciences and Psychology at University of California, Berkeley. He received his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine where he was the 2019 Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) Summer Research Fellowship Recipient and 2019 Dr. C.M. Craig Summer Research Fellowship Awardee for his project "Systemic Toxicity and Off-Target Deposition of Magnetic Nanoparticles in a Porcine Kyphoplasty Model." He has presented this work at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Research Forum, and the project is currently under review for publication in PLOS ONE. Additionally, he is a co-inventor and patent co-owner of the "Fenestrated Rod - Method and Device for Delivering Solution to Posterolateral Fusion," which is also under review for publication in PLOS ONE. In 2017, Shashank co-founded the non-profit organization Project SCIFI (The Scientific Coat Initiative for Future Innovators), where he has served as CEO since 2018. This non-profit has grown to over 20 active members, raised over $18,000, and donated 1100 coats to 18 underfunded K-12 science programs across three states. Shashank has been playing the classical Indian hand drums, Tabla, for over 20 years and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Tabla from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya College of Music in New Mumbai, India. Shashank enjoys playing chess, spending time with his mini-dachshund and is newly engaged!
Taylor Burch, M.D. (PGY3)
Taylor Burch received her M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine where she was a Gold Humanism Honor Society Inductee. She spent time doing research, studying the comparative effectiveness of treatment approaches for neurological and spinal pathologies including: neoplastic (primary CNS melanoma, intraoperative MRI for intracranial tumor resection, pituitary adenomas, spinal hemangiomas), traumatic (chronic subdural hematomas and middle meningeal artery embolization, thoracolumbar burst fractures), degenerative (vertebral compression fractures), and infectious pathologies (spinal epidural abscess, COVID-19 neurologic manifestations). She continued into a pre-residency fellowship at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA where she functioned as a junior neurosurgery resident, before joining residency here at UConn. On a personal note, Taylor has been an avid tennis player since the age of 2, competing nationally and spending many years training and teaching. Even today, she enjoys traveling abroad to be a spectator at major tennis competitions around the world.
Anthony Diaz, M.D. (PGY4)
Anthony Diaz grew up in Miami, Florida. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. While in undergrad, Anthony was selected as a Directed Energy Scholar with the Air Force Research Laboratory where he pursued research in high energy lasers. Anthony also completed chemical engineering internships with ExxonMobil Chemical Company prior to pursuing a career in medicine. With a newfound passion for medicine, Anthony completed an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University School of Medicine and was selected to be a Global Health fellow in Panama. He subsequently went on to obtain his medical degree at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine where he was awarded the Research Distinction award for his research in deep brain stimulation and peripheral nerve regeneration. Anthony is interested in all aspects of cranial and spinal surgery and is working to pursue a career in academic neurosurgery. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, grilling, exploring the outdoors, flute performance, and drinking Colada (Cuban coffee)!
Erica Shen, M.D. (PGY4)
Erica Shen, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., is a neurosurgery resident (PGY4) at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Shen received her Ph.D. training from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in neuropharmacology. She subsequently completed two postdoctoral fellowships, one at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing on neuropigenetics, and the other at Duke University focusing on computational and statistical analysis of genomic data. To date, she has published 15 articles and coauthored 14 presentations at international conferences, including 13 first-author articles in journals such as Nature Communications, Journal of Neuroscience, and Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Shen completed her M.D./M.B.A. at SUNY Stony Brook.