Associate & Assistant Program Directors
Associate Program Directors
Ted Braun, MD, PhD
Associate Program Director for Research
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology/Oncology, OHSU
Dr. Braun is a physician-scientist whose clinical and research programs are dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with myeloid malignancies. His laboratory focuses on investigating the fundamental oncogenic mechanisms underlying these diseases, with particular emphasis on cancer epigenetics and the development of novel therapeutic strategies. His work has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications, substantial research funding, and the successful translation of laboratory discoveries into early-phase clinical trials, including the FRIDA trial. He collaborates closely with computational biology teams to develop new tools for analyzing genomic data, deepening the field’s understanding of drug resistance and early oncogenic events such as ASXL1 mutations.
In addition to his research, Dr. Braun provides specialized clinical care for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and MDS/MPN overlap syndromes and is recognized as a regional expert in these conditions. He has demonstrated a strong commitment to teaching and mentorship, having supported the development of numerous trainees across a variety of roles and career stages. His service activities include journal and grant peer review, participation on institutional committees, and outreach efforts with community and philanthropic partners.
Dr. Braun is an avid cyclist and enjoys the outdoors.
- MD: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR. (Highest Honors, ranked first in class Alpha Omega Alpha)
- Ph.D.: Cell Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
- Fellowship: Hematology & Medical Oncology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
- Residency: University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA
- Cancer Epigenetics
- Myeloid Malignancies
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology
- Drug Development for Myeloid Malignancies
Sima S. Desai, MD, MACP, FRCP
Associate Program Director
Professor of Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Sima Desai is Professor and Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Medicine, Assistant Dean for Accreditation for Graduate Medical Education (GME) and Harry J. Masenhimer Jr Term Professor of Internal Medicine. She graduated from the University of New Mexico (UNM) receiving her BS and BA in Biology and Chemistry respectively. She then graduated from UNM School of Medicine followed by Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at Oregon Health & Science University. She was recruited along with her co-chiefs to start the hospitalist program at OHSU and has since enjoyed a long career caring for patients and teaching residents and students.
Her career path has afforded her opportunities for leadership in various aspects of hospital medicine, patient care and education. Dr. Desai recently stepped down from her role as program director after 14 years and will be an associate program director. She is a past member and Chair of the ACGME Internal Medicine Review Committee. Dr. Desai has had the joy of being awarded the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage To Teach Award and more recently Mastership in the American College of Physician and fellowship with the Royal College of Physicians. Her scholarly interests include residency and medical student education, diagnostic reasoning/cognitive bias and resiliency and well-being. Sima finds joy being with her family and friends, being outside, bike commuting and learning new things.
- MD: University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, 1994
- BA: University of New Mexico, Chemistry, Albuquerque, NM, 1990
- BS: University of New Mexico, Biology (With Distinction), Albuquerque, NM, 1989
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, OR, 1998
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 1997
- Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 1995
Research Interests
- Medical Education
- Diagnostic Reasoning
- Cognitive Bias
Clinical Interests
- Hospital Medicine
- Communication
- Palliative Care
Anand D. Jagannath, MD, MS
Associate Program Director for Medicine Education
Associate Professor of Medicine
Portland VA Medical Center
Anand Jagannath is a teaching hospitalist at the Portland VA and Associate Professor of Medicine at OHSU, where he also serves as the Undergraduate Medical Education Site Director. He earned his MD from Tufts University and completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He began his career at UC San Diego before he was recruited to OHSU and has built his career with a consistent focus on education and mentorship in internal medicine.
A nationally recognized leader in clinical reasoning education, Anand has developed and led curricula focused on diagnostic and management reasoning for medical students and residents. His innovations span case-based workshops, integration with EBM, and the use of OSCE for assessment. He has delivered invited lectures and grand rounds at major academic centers across the country, appeared on the Clinical Problem Solvers and Curbsiders podcasts, and serves in editorial roles for clinical problem-solving series with the Journal of General Internal Medicine and Journal of Hospital Medicine. His scholarship emphasizes improving how reasoning is taught, practiced, and assessed.
Anand’s contributions have been recognized at the institutional and national level, including the CDIM Early Career Medical Student Educator Award, multiple teaching awards at OHSU and UCSD. His mentorship has supported trainees across a range of academic and clinical career paths, and hopes to continues to shaping the future of medical education through thoughtful innovation and a deep commitment to the development of thoughtful, skilled physicians.
When he’s not practicing, teaching, or thinking about medicine, Anand enjoys being a dad, cooking, baking bread and pizza, getting outside, playing the violin, and spending time with friends and family.
- MD: Tufts University School of Medicine, 2014
- MS: Northwestern University (Biomedical Engineering)
- Chief Residency: Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 2018
- Residency: Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 2017
Research & Clinical Interests
- Clinical reasoning education & assessment
- Medical education
- Career mentorship
Maureen Lyons, MD
Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Medicine & Primary Care
Associate Professor of Medicine
General Internal Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Maureen Lyons is an academic internist, primary care physician, and clinician-educator serving as Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Medicine and Primary Care.
Dr. Maureen Lyons completed her medical training at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and continued on at University of Chicago for Internal Medicine residency and chief residency. During her chief resident year, she completed the Medical Education Research, Innovation, Teaching, and Scholarship (MERITS) program, a fellowship with emphasis on innovative curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation.
She moved to St. Louis in 2016 where she joined faculty at St. Louis University Hospital, where she served for nearly four years as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and with the medical school as the Ambulatory Internal Medicine Clerkship Director.
She was recruited to join faculty at Washington University in St. Louis in January 2020, where she developed and implemented a Leadership Pathway for the Internal Medicine residency program. She continued her work in undergraduate medical education as the Ambulatory Team Lead for the Immersions, an innovative curriculum of early clinical rotations designed to immerse students in a variety of clinical settings and focus on professional identity formation and learning how to learn in a clinical setting. Alongside these roles, she was the founding medical director of Washington University’s Long COVID clinic, a generalist-based multidisciplinary clinic.
Dr. Lyons loves being outdoors, reading novels, and enjoying delicious food and conversation with friends and family. You’re highly likely to find the Lyons family exploring new parks and playgrounds while enjoying the ever-evolving dynamics of three young kids.
- MD: University of Chicago - Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 2012
- BS: Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, 2007
- Chief Residency: University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 2016
- Residency: University of Chicago Medicine Center, Chicago, IL, 2015
Research Interests
- Trainee leadership development
- Curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation
- Outpatient medicine education
Clinical Interests
- Preventive health
- Patient centered care
- Mood disorders
- Long COVID
Joel Burnett, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director for Health Equity and Community Engagement
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, OHSU
Dr. Joel Burnett, MD, FACP is an Assistant Professor in the OHSU Department of Medicine. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at OHSU. In 2021, he joined the OHSU Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics as a general internist and primary care physician. His prior leadership roles in the OHSU Internal Medicine Residency program include serving as core faculty member, co-director of the Social Medicine rotation, and co-founder and co-director of the residency program’s advocacy curriculum. In addition to his roles in the Department of Medicine, he serves as Faculty at the OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center, where he collaborators with a multidisciplinary team of educators, researchers, and public health practitioners to reduce firearm injury and death in Oregon.
Dr. Burnett’s strong personal commitment to social justice and health equity drives much of his work as an advocate, educator, leader, and scholar. Through his advocacy and leadership with the Oregon Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP), he built coalitions between advocacy groups, community organizations, and state medical associations to advocate for evidence-based violence prevention policies in Oregon. Nationally, he served on ACP’s Ethics, Professionalism, and Human Rights Committee and he was the recipient of ACP’s Advocate for Internal Medicine Award, recognizing advocacy on behalf of patients and the profession. His publications on advocacy, ethics, equity, and firearm injury prevention have appeared in Academic Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Health Advocacy, a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal which aims to achieve a just, equitable, and healthy society by disseminating health advocacy research and activities. Outside of work, Dr. Burnett enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching Trail Blazers basketball, and exploring both the Oregon outdoors and the Portland dining scene.
- MD: University of Kansas School of Medicine
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2021
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2020
Research Interests
- Physician advocacy
- Firearm injury prevention
- Health equity
- Ethics & professionalism
- Medical education
Clinical Interests
- Preventive health
- Firearm injury prevention
- Chronic disease management
Alan J. Hunter, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director for Scholarship
Professor of Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Hunter has been an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program since 1995. His current portfolio consists of serving as the Portfolio Director, for the Scholarship focus of the residency program. In that role, he is responsible for building, measuring and expanding the residency program's scholarly resources, mentoring relationships and scholarship productivity. Dr. Hunter is also the program liaison to the University MICU rotation, and responsible for oversight of the overall clinical and curriculum experiences offered to the medicine residents. Additionally, Dr. Hunter has a history of leadership in the Department, and served as founder and the prior long-standing Division Head, for the Division of Hospital Medicine. Finally, he has a long history of serving on, and chairing both the Department of Medicine and School of Medicine's Promotion & Tenure Committees.
- MD - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 1991
- BA - Economics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1982
- Chief Resident: Internal Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 1995
- Residency: Internal Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 1994
- Internship: Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 1992
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Research Interests
- Residency education
- Student education
- Mentorship/Faculty development
- Medical history
Clinical Interests
- Hospital based medicine
- Infectious disease
- Bedside clinical exam
- Academic advancement
Kyle Kent, MD
Associate Program Director for Curriculum and Evaluation
Associate Professor of Medicine
Portland VA Medical Center
Dr. Kyle Kent graduated from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and was thrilled to stay at OHSU to complete his residency and Chief Residency. Dr. Kent joined the VA Portland Health Care System faculty in 2014, has served as the Site Director for the inpatient ward rotation, and prior to his current role was an Assistant Program Director focusing on curriculum and evaluation. In addition, he has recently been selected as the new Section Chief of Hospital Medicine at the VA.
Over the past decade, Dr. Kent has been a member of the residency program's Core Faculty, a coach for medical students through the College Portfolio Coaching Program, and has served on several planning committees for local and regional CME. As the co-founder of the Residency Curriculum Committee he has led continuous improvement efforts across rotations, directed the revamp of the noon conference curriculum, and spearheaded innovations in rotation evaluations. He has been recognized by medical students, residents, chief residents, and faculty for his humanism, mentorship, and teaching. His publications and presentations range from transitions of care and heart failure readmissions to curriculum design and evidence based medicine. Outside of work, he enjoys time outdoors and home cooked meals with his wife and three children.
- MD: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2010
- BA: University of San Diego, Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry, San Diego, CA, 2006
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2014
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2013
- Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2011
- Ward attending best practices
- Effective feedback
- Mentorship
- Curriculum design and assessment
- Evidence based medicine
- Transitions of care
Assistant Program Directors
Afaf Sharen Azar, MD
Assistant Program Director for Ambulatory Medicine & Primary Care
Assistant Professor of Medicine
General Internal Medicine, OHSU and Old Town Clinic
Sharen graduated from the OHSU School of Medicine and then went on to complete her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin. After completing her primary care chief year, she returned to Portland where she initially worked at both the OHSU Internal Medicine Clinic as well as the Old Town Clinic, a federally qualified health center in downtown Portland. While Sharen's clinical practice is now solely at Old Town Clinic, she takes tremendous joy in working alongside all residents in the ambulatory setting, promoting wellness, and sharing her enthusiasm for incremental care.
- MD: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2012
- BS: University of Portland, Biology & Psychology, Portland, OR, 2007
- Chief Residency: Internal Medicine, Primary Care, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI
- Internship & Residency: Internal Medicine, Primary Care Track, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI
- Social determinants of health
- Management of substance use disorders
- Trauma informed care
- Curriculum development
- Promotion of resident wellness
- Evaluations and feedback
Robin Stiller, MD
Assistant Program Director for Subspecialty Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
OHSU
Dr. Stiller grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her medical degree from The George Washington University. She completed internal medicine residency, chief residency, and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Washington. Her clinical and academic interests include general pulmonary and critical care medicine, as well as medical education, mentorship and professional development.
- MD: The George Washington University, 2016
- BS: Northwestern University, 2012
- Fellowship: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Clinician Educator Track, University of Washington, 2023
- Chief Residency: Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA, 2020
- Residency: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2019
- Mentorship
- Professional identity information
- Medical education