Sareh Rajaee
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 
Class of 2011

Tashera Perry, MD
Resident

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

Matthew Sochat
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 
Class of 2013

Peter Than
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 
Class of 2011

Portia Thurmond, MPH
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Class of 2011

Sareh Rajaee

Sareh attended the University of Rhode Island and graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in biomedical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in German language and literature. She recently finished her medical studies at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and is currently completing a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. She looks forward to starting residency in the integrated Vascular Surgery Residency program at Yale-New Haven Hospital. In her spare time, Sareh enjoys cooking, painting, traveling, and attending concerts.

Andrew Crawford

Andrew grew up in Rhode Island and earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Brown University in 2007.  He took a 2-year hiatus from school and journeyed north to work in a molecular genetics lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston before returning to Brown for medical school, where he is a second-year student.  Andrew’s interests include hiking, running, and playing squash.

Nedim Durakovic

Nedim grew up on the Adriatic coast before finding his new home in Minnesota as a result of the war in his native country, Bosnia. In Minnesota, he acquired proper training in the art of snow shoveling and American football. Nedim took his new skills to the east coast, completing his undergraduate and medical studies at Brown University. Through working with landmine survivors, he has developed an appreciation for the global burden of disability, and this has guided him to pursue training in neuro-otology and head and neck surgery. In his spare time, Nedim enjoys learning new languages, reading, photography, and rowing.

Jenna Kahn

Jenna grew up in Tampa, Fla., before attending Brown University to earn a degree in human biology. She stayed at Brown for medical school and is currently finishing her third year. She intends to take a year off between third and fourth years to pursue an interest in translational research in radiation oncology at the National Institutes of Health. Jenna’s professional interests include translational research, end-of-life care, and oncology.

Linda Paniagua

Linda graduated from Brown University with a degree in community health. She is finishing her third year of medical school at Brown and intends to apply to internal medicine residency programs in Texas. Her professional interests include clinical research, medical education, and international medicine. In her spare time, Linda enjoys running and volunteering in the community. She is currently training to run a marathon this summer to raise money for a clinic in rural Mayan Guatemala.

Nilay Patel

Nilay graduated from Brown University with a degree in economics. He is finishing his third year of medical school at Brown and intends to apply to internal medicine residency programs. Nilay’s professional interests include clinical research, social entrepreneurship, and medical education.

Tashera Perry, MD

Tashera hails from Westfield, N.J. She studied biology at Mary Baldwin College and completed a 2-year postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Fellowship at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute prior to attending the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She is a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. Aside from medicine, Tashera’s interests include art history, mountain biking, and Bikram yoga.

Matthew Sochat

Matthew grew up in New Hampshire and studied biochemistry and the classics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Following his graduation in 2008, he took a year off to work, travel, and apply to medical school. Now a member of the Class of 2013 at Brown, Matthew is about to enter his third year and hopes to find his calling in medicine during that time.

Peter Than

Growing up in Orlando, Fla., Peter spent his youth breakdancing in the court of Mickey Mouse.  He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, a stronger eye-glass prescription, and a penchant for slurpees. He spent some time in New York City researching cytokine responses in various clinical trials. Stimulated by the science, but saddened by the lack of quality slurpees in NYC, Peter enrolled in medical school at Brown, where he is completing his fourth year. Interested in device design and biotechnology, Peter hopes to parlay his residency in general surgery into an opportunity to cultivate new approaches to the care of surgical patients.

Portia Thurmond, MPH

Portia began her journey at Brown a little more than 12 years ago in 1999, when she stepped onto campus as a freshman from Los Angeles. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in community health and a Masters in Public Health, she grew to realize that her true passion lay in medicine. She is currently finishing her fourth year of medical school at (you guessed it) Brown University. Despite her unconditional love for Rhode Island and its inhabitants, Portia is looking forward to trading in her sailboat and coffee milk for a pair of skis and moving to New Hampshire to start a surgical residency at Dartmouth in July.