First Year Fellows

Dr. Fuentes was originally born in Arequipa, Peru, but immigrated to California with her family at a young age. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Loyola Marymount University, where she also played division I tennis. During this time, she developed a research interest in amyloid, and studied the effects of protein (IAPP) aggregation in diabetes.  She then moved to the East Coast to complete her medical school education. During her time in New Jersey, she pursued research focusing on the signaling pathways involved in severe asthma. She then came back to the best coast to complete her internal medicine residency at UC San Diego. It was there that she discovered her passion for pulmonary and critical care and became involved in research within the field. She was a winner at the UCSD Research Symposium for her work involving neutrophil extracellular trap formation in patients with COVID-19 and was invited to present at the internal medicine grand rounds. In her free time, Ana Lucia enjoys running, hiking, backpacking, and traveling. 

Stephanie was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She then moved to Upstate New York where she graduated summa cum laude from St. Lawrence University. After commissioning in the U.S. Army in 2015, Stephanie returned to New York for medical school at the University of Rochester. She moved to Texas to complete Emergency Medicine residency at San Antonio Military Medical Center where she received multiple Army Achievement Medals for academics. Her clinical interests include point-of-care ultrasound, palliative and end-of-life care, austere and tactical medicine, and the multidisciplinary care team approach in healthcare.  In her free time, Stephanie enjoys reading, hiking, being outdoors, and spending time with her dog.

Michael grew up on an apple orchard in Maryland and was an avid soccer player before starting undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Chicago. During college, he worked in a lab and also began participating in clinical research. After college, he helped start and manage a COPD readmission reduction program in Chicago. He then moved back to charming Maryland for medical school at the University of Maryland. While there he worked on various point-of-care ultrasound projects and ML trauma investigations. He started shifting West for internal medicine residency at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. While there he hit the bench investigating the role of mitochondrial proteins in cellular senescence driving the development of IPF. He is thrilled to be joining a group of smart and friendly clinicians and investigators at UCSD for pulmonary and critical care fellowship. As a new West Coaster, he enjoys wearing ugly sun hats to walk his goldendoodle puppy, Scooter, and enjoys all the delicious cuisine that San Diego’s various neighborhoods have to offer.

Danielle was born and raised in the Bay Area, completing her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley. She first made the trek from sunny Northern California to sunnier San Diego for medical school in 2012. She graduated from UCSD School of Medicine with academic honors including AMWA’s Glasgow-Rubin Academic Achievement Award. Danielle stayed at UCSD to complete her combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency and was awarded the Excellence in Leadership award by her graduating Internal Medicine class. Danielle was then selected to serve as one of the Internal Medicine Chief residents where she led the Advancing Women in Medicine curriculum and Resident Wellness Program. Danielle is now pursuing a combined Adult-Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship at UCSD/Rady Children’s. Prior to transitioning to her adult pulmonary years, Danielle completed a year of pediatric pulmonary fellowship where she was voted “Fellow of the Year” by the pediatric residents. Her career interests include transitions of care from pediatric to adult health-care systems, medical education, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary embryology/development. Outside of the hospital she enjoys running along the beach, hiking, and playing beach games.

Janna is a born Midwesterner from Kalamazoo, Michigan. She completed her undergraduate studies at University of Michigan where she was a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member. She then set off for Canada to attend her dream medical school, McGill University. While in Montreal she learned French and by the end of her four years could speak to patients and watch the Avengers in la belle langue française. She moved to beautiful San Diego for residency where she began clinical research on suspected obesity hypoventilation syndrome in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.  She also pursued the Residents As Clinical Educators track at UCSD and developed her passion for physical exam and other bedside teaching. She hopes to develop a critical care core curriculum for resident learners. In regards to future research, she is thrilled to have been selected as a 2022-23 ATS ASPIRE fellow and will continue to pursue clinical research in the areas of sleep medicine and pulmonary disease in obesity.

Megan was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. She attended University of Southern California, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and minored in Public Health and East Asian Languages & Cultures. She then moved across town to attend medical school at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Megan stayed at UCLA to complete her residency training in internal medicine and received the Excellence in Teaching with Humanism Residents and Fellows Award. She went on to serve an additional year as a Chief Resident and completed a Medical Education Fellowship, where she helped establish a longitudinal point-of-care ultrasound curriculum for the internal medicine residency program. Some of her general career interests include pulmonary hypertension and post-ICU recovery. Outside of the hospital, Megan enjoys staying active and spending time outdoors, including running, playing Spikeball, and stand-up paddleboarding.