2026 LFDP Conference - Day 1 (May 6)
Faculty Fellows' and Dean's Postdoc Fellow's Presentations, Luncheon Keynote Address by Judith Steinberg, and Panel Discussion on Access to Care
Following an introductory evening of alumni fellows celebrating 30 years of the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, the first day of the 2026 Leadership and Faculty Development Program (LFDP) Conference opened with presentations from the most recent cohort of Harvard Medical School Faculty Fellows and the Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow.
The HMS Faculty Fellowship is a two-year, non-degree program for Harvard Medical School (HMS) junior faculty that enables fellows to pursue activities that enhance their development as researchers and clinicians/teachers, leading to their advancement within the Harvard system.
“Exploring the Serious Illness Communication Needs and Experiences of Hospitalized Spanish-speaking Patients, Care Partners, and their Clinicians”
Carine Davila, MD, MPH
Faculty Fellow; Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
“Surgical Capacity Building for Open Fracture Management in Rwanda: Development and Evaluation of a Novel Hybrid Training Model”
Kiran Agarwal-Harding, MD
Faculty Fellow; Instructor, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
“Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms of Whole-Body Hyperthermia for Major Depressive Disorder”
Simmie Foster, MD, PhD
Faculty Fellow; Instructor in Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
“From Signals to Spatial Intelligence: Interpreting Infectious Disease Risk in Unsewered Sanitation
Systems”
Demetrice “Dee” Jordan, PhD, MPH, MA
Faculty Fellow; Instructor, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
“Microbial Metabolites and Their Therapeutic Capabilities”
Maribel Okiye, MS, PhD
Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School
“Chemoactivation of Orexin Neurons Improves the Ventilatory Response to Hypercapnia in a Mouse Model of Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome”
Brenda Milla, PhD
Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School
After the presentations, Judith Steinberg, Former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services and Associate at Integrated Primary Care, led a lunchtime talk on “Improving Access to Care: Start with Primary Care.”
The first day of the conference ended with a panel discussion on “Access to Care,” led by moderator Alden Landry, Assistant Dean for Culture and Community Engagement at OCCE and Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Access to timely, high-quality health care is a cornerstone of health equity, yet significant gaps persist in Boston and across the nation. The Boston Public Health Commission’s Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) revealed critical limitations in primary care, specialty care, and dental services—barriers that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and contribute to persistent health disparities. This panel examined these challenges and explored innovative, community-driven strategies to ensure equitable access to care for all patients, fostering a system that meets the needs of every individual.
Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Massachusetts General Hospital
Marshala Lee-McCall, MD, MPH
Harrington Trust Medical Director, Christiana Care;
Family Medicine Residency Clinical Faculty, Christiana Care;
Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University
Shelly Taylor Soetan, DMD, MPH
Dental Director, The Institute for Family Health
Advisor & Clinical Subject Matter Expert for CareQuest Institute for Oral Health