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Radiation Oncology Residency Program – Current Residents

PGY-2
Chaewon Hwang

Chaewon Hwang, MD
Hometown: Township of Washington, New Jersey
Undergraduate: University of Rochester
Medical School: Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Personal Interests: Running, Golf, Music Composition, Acoustic Guitar, Local cafes and independent bookstores

Chaewon Hwang was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea until she was 8 years old, and have lived in Beijing, China, Brookline, MA, and Township of Washington, NJ. She spent her elementary and high school years in Brookline, MA and cherishes her memories built in what she considers her hometown. And she of course became a fierce Boston Sports fan. She is a graduate of the University of Rochester where she majored in Molecular Genetics and minored in Chemistry and Psychology. She received Honors in Research investigating longevity of Eastern Gray Squirrel in Dr. Gorbunova and Seluanov’s anticancer, and aging lab. Upon graduation, she spent a year as a 7th grade math teacher in the vibrant neighborhood that is Washington Heights, NYC. She also co-founded and co-coached the girls’ volleyball team and was ecstatic that her team reached the playoffs in the first year. She then matriculated at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she continued to grow fascination for the head and neck anatomy, and the complexity in treatment, research, and cutting-edge technology that goes into caring for our patients with cancer. She especially enjoyed learning from interdisciplinary tumor boards, where experts from Radiation Oncology, Surgery, Radiology, Medical Oncology, Pathology and more shared their expertise to provide the best treatment plan for our patients. There were many draws to the Tufts Radiation Oncology Program for Chaewon, including the location, which is right in downtown Boston, as well as Providence, RI, diversity in patient population, depth and breadth of world-class learning experience that she will receive in Tufts and Brown, and attentive and caring faculty and program coordinator. She also appreciates carved-out protected time on Fridays for resident didactics, which allows for great flexibility during busy residency years. Chaewon is excited to be back in her hometown of Boston, and be a part of the Tufts community, working with diverse patient population, in the heart of Boston. 

In her downtime, she enjoys taking walks around her neighborhood discovering new cafes and independent bookstores, running by the Charles River, golfing, and spending time with her family and friends. Having run two NYC Marathons during medical school, she hopes to run her hometown race, Boston Marathon, during residency.

Jayne Norah Ntambi

Jayne-Norah Ntambi MD 
Hometown: Fitchburg, Wisconsin 
Undergraduate: University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Personal Interests: Family, Swimming, Hot Yoga, Mentoring 

Jayne-Norah Ntambi (“Norah”) received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with high honors in the field of Neurobiology with a certificate in Global Health. She completed her medical degree at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. Norah became attracted to the field of Radiation Oncology because it fulfills her long-term goal to treat afflicted patients utilizing radiation oncology treatment in cancer care both in the United States and globally. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, swimming competitively, practicing Hot Yoga and mentoring high school and college students.


Matthew Thoonkuzhy

Matthew Thoonkuzhy, MD 
Hometown: Rahway, NJ 
Undergraduate: Lehigh University 
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine 
Personal Interests: Dancing, skiing, writing, theology/meditation and traveling 

Matt Thoonkuzhy was born and raised in New Jersey. He received his undergraduate degree from Lehigh University as a part of the 7-year accelerated program with Drexel's medical school. As a medical student, he participated in research and sang in the acapella group while exploring fields in oncology. He became interested in radiation oncology because of the cutting-edge technology and minimally invasive approach to treating cancer patients. He chose Tufts' residency program because it provided exposure to complex cancer cases while maintaining a family environment throughout training. In his free time, Matt likes to try new restaurants, hang out with family and friends, and go on ski trips.

PGY-4
Tiarrah D. Salvi-Jackson

Tiarrah D. Salvi-Jackson, MD 
Hometown: Edmond, Oklahoma 
Undergraduate: Duke University 
Graduate: University of Oklahoma 
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine  
Internship: Inspira Health Network (Transitional Year), New Jersey

Tiarrah D. Salvi-Jackson was born in raised in Oklahoma. After high school she attended Duke University where she majored in history and chemistry. She followed this with a graduate degree in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma and completed her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. “Tia” discovered her passion for oncology when she was a nurse’s aid in the oncology department of her hometown hospital. Her love for the discipline blossomed as she completed her clinical rotations.  She chose the Radiation Oncology residency training program at Tufts because of the rich culture of the city, the diversity of the people, the opportunity to explore so many historical sites and because the program offered many different opportunities for professional growth. When Dr. Salvi-Jackson is off assignment, she likes to spend time with her two very active children, and her husband. She is extremely fond of “March Madness” and has a love for reading Jane Austen novels and watching period dramas.

PGY-5
Brett H. Diamond

Brett H. Diamond, MD (Co-Chief Resident) 
Hometown: Newington, Connecticut  
Undergraduate: Northeastern University  
Medical School: University of Connecticut School of Medicine  
Internship: Scripps Mercy Hospital

Brett Diamond was born and raised in central Connecticut. He attended college at Northeastern University and studied biology where he initially became involved in cancer research at Dana Farber. He then continued on to medical school at the University of Connecticut where he discovered radiation oncology, which combined his passion for clinical oncology with his fascination with cutting-edge cancer research. He then continued his training with a transitional year internship at Scripps Mercy Hospital. Brett was drawn to Tufts Medical Center for residency because of the close-knit community of residents and broad clinical training he saw while rotating here as a medical student. When he is not working, Brett enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, and staying active. He looks forward to continuing his training back in Boston!


Andrew S. Kopecky

Andrew S. Kopecky, MD, PhD (Co-Chief Resident) 
Hometown: Glen Ridge, New Jersey  
Undergraduate: University of Maryland  
PHD: Rutgers University  
Medical School:  Albany Medical College  
Internship: Albany Medical Center  

Andrew Kopecky grew up in New Jersey, and has lived all over the country including Texas and California. He has two children with whom he spends the majority of his free time. They like to do outdoor activities including camping and hiking. Andrew plays basketball and guitar (although not much lately). He enjoys cooking and eating, especially desserts (he makes a nice cheesecake!).

Dr. Kopecky has worked on many research projects in the past. He completed his Ph.D. at Rutgers University prior to medical school where he studied electron transfer and solar energy. He then completed a post-doc at the University of Houston where he had the opportunity to work a bit with photodynamic therapy. During his medical school days, he investigated disparities of care for proton therapy in pediatric medulloblastoma and most recently has worked on a project investigating utilization of palliative care with palliative radiation for inpatients at Albany Medical Center. 


Abbas Rattani

Abbas Rattani  
Hometown: Hope Mills, North Carolina  
Undergraduate: University of North Carolina  
Medical School:  Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, Chicago Internship: Rush University Medical Center, General Surgery, Chicago

Abbas Rattani was born in New York. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina and attended medical school at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University followed by a general surgery internship at Rush University Medical Center, both in Chicago. Dr. Rattani enjoys cooking, soccer, travel, canyoneering, repairing Japanese cards and film-making. He has a insatiable interest in teaching.

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