The Montefiore Einstein Department of Anesthesiology has successfully completed its first residency program application cycle featuring a dedicated Intensive Research Track for incoming residents for the 2025–2026 academic year. This initiative reflects the department’s commitment to integrating research into the residency curriculum and advancing its educational mission to train the next generation of clinician scientists.

Anesthesiology Residency Program Director Dr. Erik Romanelli, Assistant Residency Program Director Dr. Giselle Jaconia, Department Chair Dr. Matthias Eikermann, Vice Chair of Research and Pediatric Anesthesiology Dr. Olubukola Nafiu, and Chief of Epidemiology and Population Health Research Dr. Ibraheem Karaye collaborated closely to develop the research tracks within the residency program. Together, they interviewed candidates for the incoming academic year and evaluated their qualifications and potential for growth at Montefiore Einstein Anesthesiology.

The research program is designed to cultivate academically focused anesthesiologists who are committed to serving the Bronx community and who possess the skills needed to engage in advanced perioperative research. The department views research as a core driver of clinical innovation and education, ensuring that new knowledge is continually translated into practice.

The Anesthesiology Residency Program currently offers four research tracks for residents: Introductory, Intermediate, Advanced, and Intensive. Each track provides progressively greater amounts of protected research time. During this recruitment cycle, the department received approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to match two additional categorical residents to the Intensive Research Track. As a result, each residency class will expand from 17 to 19 residents moving forward, with the two research track positions maintained on a separate rank list. Faculty interviewed a total of 35 medical students specifically for these positions.

Beginning July 1, 2025, two PGY-1 categorical residents, Drs. Sung Hwa Dong and XuanJia Fan, will join the department on the Intensive Research Track and will have between six and eleven months of dedicated research time throughout their residency. An incoming PGY-2 resident, Dr. Hyundeok Joo, will also join the Intensive Research Track in July. All three incoming residents bring substantial research experience and have published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals.

The department aims for residents’ research efforts to complement their clinical training while strengthening and expanding the work of the Digital Health Lab. This integration supports the department’s broader goals of improving patient outcomes through data-driven perioperative research.

In addition to the increase in class size, the Department of Anesthesiology matched two reserved (“R”) positions for individuals who will join the CA1 class in July 2026. One of these positions applies to Dr. Joo, who is currently completing his transitional year at KPC Health in California and will enter the Intensive Research Track upon beginning residency at Montefiore Einstein.

Faculty evaluated candidates using multiple criteria, including the number and quality of peer-reviewed publications, presentations, and postgraduate research completed during master’s, PhD, or research fellowship training.

The expansion of research opportunities within the residency program equips trainees with the skills needed to ask critical questions that inform anesthesia and perioperative medicine practice. These research-focused training pathways also enhance the department’s academic output and visibility through publications, abstracts, and presentations, while fostering innovation through new perspectives, methods, and technologies.

In accordance with American Board of Anesthesiology guidelines, the department has established a Scholarship Oversight Committee to monitor progress and provide structured feedback to research-focused residents. The committee is composed of Drs. Karuna Wongtangman, Aiman Suleiman, and Omid Azimaraghi, all senior anesthesiology faculty with substantial research experience. Each research-focused resident is paired with a dedicated faculty mentor who is an active clinician scientist, and senior research-track residents also provide peer mentorship to junior trainees.

The department’s current research-focused residents, Drs. Christian Mpody, Dhanesh Binda, and Maira Rudolph, play an important role in mentoring incoming residents. As the cohort of research-focused residents continues to grow, the department anticipates increased participation in research activities across all levels of training.

Dr. Sung Hwa Dong, MD, PhD, one of the incoming PGY-1 categorical residents on the Intensive Research Track, has published 17 peer-reviewed journal articles, including seven as first author. His research includes investigations into molecular alterations in chronic otitis media, studies of peripheral nerve function and regeneration using mouse models, and work focused on endoplasmic reticulum stress and aquaporins. He previously completed an Otolaryngology residency, served as chief resident, completed a fellowship in Otology at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, and practiced as a general otolaryngology consultant and rhinology surgeon.

Dr. XuanJia Fan, the second incoming PGY-1 categorical resident on the Intensive Research Track, earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed an away rotation at Montefiore Einstein. His research experience includes projects related to opioid use in lower extremity arterial disease and evaluation of preoperative aprepitant for elective craniotomies. He is currently a project lead for a Penn State Health TrinetX study examining the relationship between marijuana use and intraoperative propofol dosage.

Dr. Hyundeok Joo, the incoming PGY-2 resident, received his medical degree from Seoul National University and a master’s degree in Advanced Studies in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of California, San Francisco. He has published nearly 20 peer-reviewed articles, including nine as first author, in journals such as Anesthesia & Analgesia, Anaesthesia, and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. His work includes National Institutes of Health–funded studies on delirium risk across common non-cardiac surgeries and the association between cataract surgery and cognitive outcomes in older adults.