ABIM Research Pathway - Internal Medicine Residency

The Department of Medicine offers candidates with interest in a career as a physician scientist the opportunity to enter our ABIM Research Pathway. Training leads to certification in internal medicine and a subspecialty plus 2-3 years of research. Special rules apply to each of the subspecialties requiring 6-7 years of training in internal medicine, fellowship and research.

Dr. Terry Watnick oversees the Research Pathway and ensures each resident is successful. Her expertise in mentoring young physicians and conducting her research in the biology of cystic kidney disease ensures our trainees are successful in the Pathway. Our chair, Dr. Stephen Davis, is highly supportive of the Research Pathway as a means to ensure each resident's trajectory as a physician scientist.

Residents and fellows in the Research Pathway are strongly encouraged to complete a PhD for Clinicians program during their research years. This program provides a rigorous, accelerated curriculum in basic or translational research. PhD's are awarded through the Graduate Program in Life Sciences and in Biochemistry, Molecular Medicine, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Neuroscience, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitative Science, Epidemiology, Gerontology and Toxicology. See the PhD Program for Clinicians for more information.

If you are interested in applying to the ABIM Research Pathway, see our Application Process and complete a Supplemental Application to expand on your research interests. Review the ABIM Requirements for this pathway for more information. If you are invited for an interview for the Research Pathway, you will have an extended interview schedule and meet with Drs. Watnick and Wolfsthal, and with other faculty in internal medicine and your chosen subspecialty, thus giving you a comprehensive view of our residency, fellowship and research opportunities. If you have any questions, please email us at umdmed@som.umaryland.edu.

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Andrew Clerman, MD, PhD

BS, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 2006
MD, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2011
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2011-2013
Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland, 2013-2018
PhD, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland, 2018

Andrew completed his two years of Internal Medicine training with us in 2013 and his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He is completed a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology under the mentorship of Dr. Sergei Atamas. His research focused on the sub-cellular localization, proteolytic processing and differential expression of interleukin-33 in the context of lung injury, inflammation and fibrosis. He is currently working as a medical officer at the FDA.

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Anan Said, MD

BS, Neurobiology & Physiology, University of Maryland, College Park, 2006
MD, Howard University School of Medicine, 2011
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2011-2013
Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Maryland, 2013-2017

Anan completed his two years of internal medicine in our residency program in 2013 and fellowship in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2017. His research interests included determining the molecular pathogenesis of gastrointestinal cancers, with particular attention to different signaling pathways in colorectal cancer. He studied how acetylcholine-induced activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) plays a role in colon cancer cell progression and metastasis.

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Fariha Ramay, MD

BS, Biology and Economics (Summa cum laude), Union College, 2009
MBA in Healthcare Management, Union Graduate College, 2010
MD, Albany Medical College, 2013
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2013-2015
Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Maryland, 2015-2019

Fariha earned her medical degree with a Distinction in Bioethics at Albany Medical College in Albany, NY where she was awarded the Albert M. Yunich Prize, for excellence in Gastroenterology. She completed her internal medicine training in July 2015 and is currently a 4th year fellow in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Her prior research examined procedural cost-effectiveness of minimally invasive endovascular revascularization versus surgical bypass revascularization using an amortized cost per day of patency model for patients with femoral-popliteal (FP) occlusive disease. She has also studied the diagnostic sufficiency of 22-gauge (G) Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) and 22G biopsy needles (FNB) for Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling of solid pancreatic masses and abnormal-appearing lymph nodes. Her research interests include clinical research and healthcare resource utilization in gastroenterology, and outcomes research in Advanced Endoscopy. Fariha has accumulated several peer-reviewed publications and presentations at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). She examined the efficacy of endoscopic ablation therapy in the management of Barrett's Esophagus-associated dysplasia and early adenocarcinoma.

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Ameer Abutaleb, MD

BS, University of Maryland College Park, Electrical Engineering, 2009
MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2014-2016
Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Maryland, 2016-2021
Fellowship, Transplant Hepatology, University of Maryland, 2021-present

Ameer received his Medical Degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2021, and is currently a Transplant Hepatology fellow. He has engaged in research with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology for several years receiving the American Gastroenterological Association Eli and Edythe Broad Student Research Fellow award. He was also a Benjamin H. Kean Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellow. His work has included study of the role of acetylcholine induced activation of p38 mitogen activated protein kinase in human colon cancer cells. Ameer has accumulated 27 peer-reviewed articles and 20 abstracts. His current research interests include viral hepatitis and HIV-related liver disease.

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Meagan E. Deming, MD, PhD

BA, Swarthmore College, 2006
PhD, Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 2013
MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 2015
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2015-2017
Fellowship, Infectious Diseases, University of Maryland, 2017-2021
Instructor, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, 2021-preset

Meagan earned her medical degree and PhD from the University of North Carolina where she defended her thesis on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV). She has authored several peer-reviewed papers in major journals (Vaccine, Journal of Virology, Current Opinion in Virology) and presented her research at national and international meetings. Coming to the University of Maryland was an ideal move for her career development. Meagan completed her residency training in Internal Medicine in 2017 and her Infectious Disease fellowship in 2021. Her research is focused on respiratory viruses with the eventual goal of building her lab as a physician scientist studying vaccine development for influenza and coronaviruses. She recently published in the NEJM on Accelerating Development of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines - The Role for Controlled Human Infection Models, and is currently the PI for an IDCRC New Investigator Pilot Award (UM1AI148684) on "Seasonal Coronavirus Immunity and Effects on SARS-CoV-2 Immune Response." She is a co-investigator on the NIH "Mix and Match" COVID-19 vaccine trial, as well as an influenza challenge study and Phase 1 trials of novel influenza vaccines.

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Aaron D. Kaplan, MD, PhD

BS, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University
MS, Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
PhD, Physiology and Biophysics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo, 2017
MD, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo, 2017
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland, 2017-2019
Fellowship, Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Maryland, 2019-present

Aaron received his medical degree and PhD at the University of Buffalo after completing his MS at Columbia.  Aaron has already published extensively with 20 peer-reviewed publications, three published abstracts, 4 poster presentations and three oral presentations. He completed his internal medicine training in 2019 and started the research component of the pathway in 2019. Aaron is currently employing advanced cellular biophysical techniques to better understand heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which represents nearly half of all cases of heart failure and yet has no proven efficacious treatments. He will enter his clinical cardiology training in 2022.

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Christopher B. Gelbmann, MD, PhD

BS, Microbiology, University of Minnesota
PhD, Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 2019
MD, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 2021
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Maryland 2021-2023
Fellowship, Infectious Diseases, University of Maryland, Planned 2023

Chris completed his PhD and MD at the University of Wisconsin, where he investigated viral and host epigenetic control of human cytomegalovirus latency. He published 7 manuscripts and presented multiple posters and oral presentations on his graduate work. He began his residency training at Maryland in 2021 and plans to start his clinical ID fellowship in 2023, pursuing his interests in host-pathogen interactions at the interface of the innate immune system.