Meet Our Fellows

Sarah M. Heston, MD, is a third-year fellow. She graduated from Davidson College and obtained her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine. She then went on to complete her pediatrics residency training at the University of Tennessee, where she is currently serving as a chief resident. Sarah has prior research experience in pneumococcal infections and participated in a number of quality improvement projects and volunteer experiences during her residency training. For her fellowship research, she is studying how the microbiome influences the risk of infections after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Her work is funded by the United Program for Therapeutics in Children (UPTiC) T32 grant, and The Duke Center for Applied Genomic and Precision Medicine T32 grant in Genomic Medicine. During fellowship, she is completing a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research. Outside of the hospital, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, cooking, and gardening.

Sanya Thomas, MD, is a third-year fellow. She attended McMaster University in Ontario, obtained her medical degree from Jagiellonian University Medical College in Poland, and completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Kansas – Wichita. During her undergraduate career, Sanya was involved in a number of outreach experiences including a medical rotation in Chennai, India, and continued her volunteering endeavors during her medical training at JUMC LOVES--an organization that helps children in Krakow, Poland develop conversational English through fun activities. Sanya’s fellowship research focuses on risk factors and outcomes for adenovirus infections in solid organ transplant recipients. Her work is funded by the Children’s Miracle Network. She is also working to improve our Transplant Infectious Diseases curriculum in conjunction with our dedicated Transplant ID faculty and is completing the Duke Clinical Research Training Certificate Program (CRTP) during her fellowship. When not working, Sanya enjoys hiking, cooking, poetry, and traveling.

Areej Bukhari, MD, is a second-year fellow. She graduated from Florida International University (FIU) and obtained her medical degree from FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She then completed residency in Pediatrics at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. During residency, Areej was involved in clinical research investigating the epidemiology of urinary tract infections caused by ESBL bacteria in children, and a Quality Improvement project to improve vaccination rates among NICU patients. Her fellowship research focuses on understanding the incidence, management and outcomes of neonates with Staphylococcus aureus meningitis in the NICU. Her interests outside of work include hiking, traveling, baking, astronomy, and cats.

Ganga S. Moorthy, MD, is a first-year fellow. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma and obtained her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She completed her pediatrics residency training at Duke University where she also served as a chief resident. During residency, her research focused on outcomes for pediatric infectious diseases and health disparities. She has led QI work focused on appropriate antibiotic management of community-acquired pneumonia. During fellowship, Ganga plans to pursue the Global Health Pathway and Master of Science in Global Health through the Duke Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health. Her fellowship research will focus on global antimicrobial stewardship. When she isn’t working, Ganga enjoys being outside (especially hiking and gardening), traveling, eating ice cream, and OU football.  

Angelique Boutzoukas, MD, is a first-year fellow. She graduated from the University of Florida and obtained her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency at Nationwide Children's Hospital at The Ohio State University. Her research during residency focused on La Crosse virus encephalitis in children, identifying predictors of disease severity and evaluating long-term neurological and behavioral outcomes. She held an active role in QI efforts to reduce duration of antibiotics for acute otitis media in the urgent care systems. She also developed an antimicrobial stewardship curriculum for medical students on their pediatric rotation. Her research interests include identifying predictors of outcomes in children, informing best management of common infections, and stewardship efforts. Outside of the hospital she loves spending time with her family, her dog, cooking, traveling, and hiking. 

Name:  Mehreen Arshad, MBBS
​Fellowship Years:  2011 - 2015
NIH Career Development (K) Award: K08
Current Position:  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics / Northwestern University