Fellows Corner
Third Year Research Track Fellow
Dr. Athavi Jeevananthan was a recent third-year fellow (now Duke faculty!) with a strong interest in menopause care. Her research has focused on provider perceptions of menopause care at both Duke and the University of Utah, and she currently has a manuscript under review on this topic. She is actively engaged in two additional projects: one examining endocrinology’s role in managing symptomatic menopause, and another analyzing prescribing practices for symptomatic menopause in primary care.
Dr. Jeevananthan had multiple publications this year. She earned her Menopause Certified Practitioner Certification in 2024. She has since joined the Division of Endocrinology as an assistant professor in July 2025, with the goal of integrating women's health—particularly menopause care—into her general endocrinology practice. She also plans to continue collaborating with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology to develop a multidisciplinary menopause program at Duke. She is thrilled to continue her career at Duke, surrounded by the mentors she deeply respects.
Second Year Clinical Track Fellows
Dr. Randol Kennedy was recently a second-year fellow (now also a Duke faculty member!) who has continued to develop his clinical interest in thyroidology and onco-endocrinology. Under the mentorship of Dr, Afreen Shariff, his most recent scholarly work includes a chapter entry in the 2025 Endocrine Society Meet the Professor series due to be printed this summer. Under the mentorship of Dr. Todd Frieze and Dr. Carley Kelley, Dr Kennedy has become proficient in FNA thyroid biopsies and thyroid ultrasound. He has also undertaken medical education scholarly work and projects through the Society for Early Education Scholars (SEEDS) and Fellows Advocacy Curriculum (FAC). In July 2025, Dr. Kennedy joined the Duke Division of Endocrinology as an assistant professor, and a budding clinical thyroidologist.
Dr. Arya Sharifzadeh was pleased to present his scholarly research project entitled “The Wonders That Never Cease: A History of Duke Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism,” at an endocrine grand rounds program in February 2025, where he shared the culmination of his year’s work in the Duke University Medical Center archives studying the remarkable life and career of our division’s founding director, Dr. Frank Libman Engel. The project shed light on the personal and professional challenges overcome by Dr. Engel on his path to becoming one of the world’s leading medical educators and experimental endocrinologists by the time of his unexpected passing in 1963.
The archival materials presented included troves of never-before-seen letters and correspondence, lecture notes, research papers, newspaper clippings, and photographs sourced from remarkably preserved collections housed at the medical archives. Dr. Sharifzadeh was also delighted to recognize the achievements of several former division chiefs and faculty in attendance, including Drs. Francis Neelon, Warner M. Burch, Kenneth Lyles, John Guyton, and Marc Drezner, among others. Arya was recently one of our stellar second year fellows, and he has since transitioned to endocrinology practice in the Boston area, close to family.
Second Year Research Track Fellow
Having recently finished her second year of endocrinology fellowship, Dr. Neesha Namasingh has mastered the art of asking the right question—and then bracing for the five somewhat conflicting guidelines and articles to answer it. She's very thankful to all of her attendings and co-fellows for being the fun, intelligent, and inspiring humans they are, and for helping her find the best answers to her questions. She is excited for her third year as she is on the T32 research track.
Her primary project is a study related to the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals during pregnancy on development of gestational dysglycemia, gestational diabetes, and the contribution to postpartum weight retention. Neesha was awarded a 2025 Endocrine Fellows Foundation grant to continue to work on this project and presented her preliminary data at the 2025 ENDO conference!
First Year Clinical Track Fellows
Dr. Courtney Dominguez graduated from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at Duke. She served as the 2023-2024 Chief Resident for Quality and Safety at the Durham VA. Courtney has strong interests in diabetes and clinical education, and will continue to explore these scholarly areas during her second year of fellowship. She hopes to participate in the Society for Early Education Scholars (SEEDS) program this coming year!
Dr. Sarah Jacob recently completed her first year of endocrinology fellowship. She is interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine with an emphasis on medical education. Her clinical and research interests center around adrenal and sex hormone disorders. She was drawn to the Duke Endocrine Program for the engaging Tuesday morning case conferences and enjoys leading these discussions as a fellow. Sarah hopes to join Courtney in participating in the Duke SEEDS program, where she will further cultivate her skills in medical education.
First Year Research Track Fellow
Dr. Maria Martinez-Cruz recently completed her first year of endocrinology fellowship in the research track. This year, she remained academically active while enjoying the opportunity to learn from faculty and DMS staff. Under the leadership of Dr. Batch, she contributed to the “What You Have Missed: Endocrinology” series published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (alongside Drs. Neesha Namasingh and Athavi Jeevanathan), and she recently published on health disparities in diabetes care.
Maria was selected for the 2025 Early Career Forum Travel Award from the Endocrine Society and had an abstract accepted to ENDO 2025. She was also accepted, with full funding, to participate in the Santa Fe Fellows Workshop on Metabolic Bone Diseases, hosted by the Osteoporosis Foundation of New Mexico. She is thoroughly enjoying her fellowship and, with the guidance of Duke faculty mentors, has discovered new clinical and research interests including endocrine neoplasia, calcium and vitamin D metabolism, and lipid disorders.