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Meet The Faculty

Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, is a comprehensive medical facility providing advanced programs in education and research that support the highest quality patient care.

Our campus includes the Mayo Clinic Hospital, patient care buildings including the Davis, Mayo, Mangurian, and Cannaday buildings, the Birdsall and Griffin Research Buildings, the Stabile education building, and the Discovery and Innovation building.

Mary Ann S. Hedges, M.D.From the program director

We are a highly selective, collegial residency program that combines supportive mentorship and unique individualized training pathways, all within the vast support and incredible structure of the Mayo Clinic enterprise. Our program champions excellence in all endeavors.

We have a diverse, accomplished, committed, and team-oriented group of trainees. Excellent resident camaraderie, morale, and junior-senior teaching have been critical to our success. In our program, you will develop successful mentor-mentee relationships with world-renowned experts in their field. Our learning environment maximizes opportunities for personal achievement in a superb yet intimate academically focused environment.

Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida is truly a special training opportunity. Our facilities are state-of-the-art and teaching opportunities abound. We are committed to your professional growth and personal well-being.  We believe there is joy in serving others, driving innovation, and developing leaders for the future of medicine.

Mary Ann Hedges, M.D.
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
Associate Chair for Education, Department of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Consultant, Division of Community Internal Medicine
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Program faculty

One of the greatest advantages to training at Mayo Clinic is the approachability, accessibility, and collegiality of the faculty in our Department of Medicine.

In addition to caring for patients in clinical practice, Mayo Clinic's faculty is committed to teaching and facilitating the growth of medical knowledge. Many of our faculty members have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields.

You work closely with these individuals throughout your training in the Internal Medicine Residency.

Razvan Chirila, M.D.

Razvan Chirila, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, Consultative & Diagnostic Medicine

Dr. Chirila is a core faculty member and has a special interest in medical education, systems-based practice, and health care administration, with emphasis on resource utilization and clinical documentation. He oversees the outpatient rotations in general internal medicine.

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Lauren Cornell, M.D.

Lauren Cornell, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, Division of Hematology Oncology

Dr. Cornell is a core faculty member with a focus on breast medicine. Her career interests include individualized management of women at elevated risk for breast cancer, hereditary breast cancer syndromes, and breast cancer survivorship. She serves as the Director of Medical Grand Rounds and serves on the Community Engagement Committee at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

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J. Colt Cowdell, M.D., M.B.A.

J. Colt Cowdell, M.D., M.B.A.
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine

Dr. Cowdell is an associate program director with a focus on curriculum development, quality improvement, and hospital medicine. His career interests include quality improvement and healthcare administration. He is gold certified in the Mayo Clinic Quality Academy, is the quality director for advanced care at home (ACH), and serves on the Mayo Clinic enterprise quality review board.

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Nancy Dawson, M.D.

Nancy Dawson, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine

Dr. Dawson is an associate program director for faculty development and serves as chair of the Clinical Competency Committee for the residency. She is gold certified in the Mayo Clinic Quality Academy and has career interests in patient safety and quality, anticoagulation safety and management, and patient handovers.

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Daniel Dudenkov, M.D.

Daniel Dudenkov, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, General Internal Medicine

Dr. Dudenkov is a core faculty member and has a special interest in medical education, faculty development, and POTS.

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Abdallah El Sabbagh, M.D.

Abdallah El Sabbagh, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Cardiovascular Diseases

Dr. El Sabbagh is an associate program director with a focus on innovation. He is an interventional cardiologist with a career interest in percutaneous therapies in valvular and structural heart disease.

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Michael Gharacholou, M.D., M.S.

S. Michael Gharacholou, M.D., MSc
Core Faculty
Consultant, Department of Cardiovascular Disease

Dr. Gharacholou is a core faculty member with a focus on general cardiology didactics. His career interests include the management of coronary and peripheral artery disease. He is an interventional cardiologist and is vice chair of research for the Department of Cardiovascular Disease, faculty for the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and scientific reviewer for the Mayo Clinic IRB.

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Anna Gorelik, M.D.

Anna Gorelik, M.D.
Core Faculty
Senior Associate Consultant, Community Internal Medicine

Dr. Gorelik is a primary care physician and board-certified geriatrician. She is a core faculty member with a special interest in geriatric medicine, curriculum development, and medical education.

Ebone Hill, M.D.

Ebone Hill, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine

Dr. Hill is a core faculty member and serves as the vice chair of our Clinical Competency Committee. She has a special interest in diversity, equity and inclusion, recruitment and retention, milestones evaluations, and faculty development.

Brian Lacy, M.D., Ph.D.

Brian Lacy, Ph.D., M.D., FACG
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Gastroenterology

Dr. Lacy is an associate program director with a focus on research and scholarly activities. His career interests include functional and motility disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. He is proud to have formerly served as Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology for six years and is honored to be on the board of directors of the Rome Foundation, a global organization that focuses on research and clinical care for patients with functional bowel disorders. Dr. Lacy has more than 215 PubMed peer-reviewed articles published to date.

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Melissa Lyle, M.D.

Melissa Lyle, M.D.
Core Faculty
Senior Associate Consultant, Cardiovascular Diseases

Dr. Lyle is a core faculty member with a focus on cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure and transplantation. She has a special interest in amyloidosis and heart transplantation for patients with cardiac amyloidosis, and is the cardiology lead for the Multidisciplinary Amyloid Clinic.

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Edson Mwakyanjala, M.D.

Edson Mwakyanjala, M.D.
Core Faculty
Senior Associate Consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine

Dr. Mwakyanjala is a core faculty member with a focus on Resident as Teachers, morbidity and mortality, and community engagement within the Internal Medicine Residency. His interests include patient safety and patient education.  He additionally serves as a member of the Mayo Clinic Florida Community Engagement Committee.

Ivan Porter, II, M.D.

Ivan Porter, II, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Nephrology

Dr. Porter is an associate program director with a focus on learning environment and diversity, equity and inclusion. He is also the assistant dean for MCSGME enterprise for Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Career interests include community engagement, appointment access, health care disparities, and social media use in medical education.

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Cara Prier, M.D.

Cara Prier, M.D.
Core Faculty
Senior Associate Consultant – Community Internal Medicine

Dr. Prier is a core faculty member with a special interest in well-being. Her career interests include primary care, medical education, and improving well-being among healthcare professionals. She is serving in an expanded role in CIM clinic leadership and the new collaborative Sulzbacher initiative with Mayo Clinic. She also serves as a Trained Peer Supporter for the HELP Program (Healing Emotional Lives of Peers). She is silver certified in the Mayo Clinic Quality Academy.

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Michael Smerina, M.D.

Michael Smerina, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, Hospital Internal Medicine

Dr. Smerina is a core faculty member with a special interest in health care administration, obesity, and ethics. He serves as a physician adviser and is a member of the hospital medicine division.

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Taryn Smith, M.D.

Taryn Smith, M.D.
Core Faculty
Senior Associate Consultant, General Internal Medicine, Women’s Health

Dr. Smith is a core faculty member with a focus on community engagement and women's health. Her career interests include menopause, female sexual health, and complex contraception. She is a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Certified Menopause Practitioner and serves as a board member of the Mission House.

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Christopher Trautman, M.D.

Christopher Trautman, M.D.
Core Faculty
Consultant, Nephrology and Hypertension

Dr. Trautman is a core faculty member with a focus in medical education, quality improvement, and digital innovation. His career interests include acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and glomerulonephritis. He serves as the internal medicine residency board review director. 

Jose Valery, M.D.

Jose Valery, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Consultant, Community Internal Medicine

Dr. Valery is an associate program director and oversees the outpatient rotations for internal medicine residents. He is a primary care physician in Community Internal Medicine. Career interests include preventive health, research ethics, and medical education.

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