The Infectious Diseases Fellows Network (IDFN) is a group of fellows passionate about infectious disease education. Established in 2020, the network started as a Twitter account and expanded into case conferences, board style questions, and a curated evidence compendium. Though it continues to grow and evolve, the goal has been to create content for fellows and by fellows. The IDFN has fellow leads and contributors with faculty review and oversight.
Mission:
- To equip fellows to be future digital medical educators
- To foster the development of FOAM in ID
- To develop a community of ID educators
- To create and share educational content made by ID Fellows, for ID Fellows.
Vision: To be the place where ID Fellows go to succeed, by providing opportunities in education, mentorship, research, and community.
Fellow Editors
Miguel A. Chavez
Miguel is originally from Peru and received his MD from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. He also obtained a Masters in Science (focused on Research and Epidemiology) from the same university. He completed Internal Medicine residency at University of Texas Medical Branch and is currently a second year ID fellow at Barnes Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis. Interested in antimicrobial stewardship, hospital epidemiology, and medical education. Big fan of soccer and latin music.
Nathanial Nolan
Nathanial Nolan, MD/MPH/MHPE is an Instructor of Medicine at the John Cochrane St. Louis Veteran’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, where he specializes in infectious disease care for marginalized populations. He is the lead HIV clinician at the St. Louis VA and maintains a clinic for vulnerable patients at Washington University. He also spends time teaching in the hospital, both on the general medicine and infectious disease consult services. He is a founding member of the Infectious Disease Fellow’s Network. In his spare time he teaches brazilian jiu jitsu.
Sara Winn Dong
Sara Winn Dong, MD is a combined Adult and Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Boston Children’s Hospital. After medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), she completed her Internal Medicine & Pediatrics residency at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, OH). She served as a Med-Peds chief resident while in training, followed by an additional chief resident year for the Nationwide Children’s Pediatric residency program. Her clinical interests include immunocompromised host and transplant ID, digital medical education, and Med-Peds transitions of care. She is the creator, host, and producer of the ID podcast Febrile: A Cultured Podcast. She was also selected for a Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education at Harvard Medical School/BIDMC. Outside of ID, Sara loves pandas, cooking, traveling, and catching up on pop culture.
Website: https://febrilepodcast.com/
Saman Nematollahi
Saman Nematollahi, MD, MEHP is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine specializing in transplant ID. He is the Associate Program Director of the ID fellowship program as well as the Medicine Electives Director for medical students. His interests include curriculum design, diagnostic reasoning, and fungal infections. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with his partner and son playing Transformers.
Jonathan Ryder
Jonathan Ryder, MD is an instructor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE. He completed his internal medicine residency at Indiana University and medical school and ID fellowship at UNMC. His academic interests include medical education, antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention, and infective endocarditis. He enjoys podcasts and #IDTwitter. His hobbies include running, reading historical non-fiction, and Kansas City Chiefs football.
Mitch McClean
Mitch McClean, MD is assistant professor in the Infectious Diseases division at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He completed his IM residency at Indiana University, then he served as chief resident at Eskenazi Hospital prior to starting ID fellowship. He loves learning about ID and his academic interests include improving linkage to care and harm reduction strategies for people with substance use related infections, histoplasmosis, and general ID. He helps to maintain the website for the IDFN. Most of his spare time is spent chasing around his young kids and growing vegetables and oak trees.
Jeremy Walker
Jeremey Walker, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) where he has completed his medical training. His clinical interest is transplant and immune-compromised ID and he is an associate healthcare epidemiologist with focus on preventing infections in these populations. He is passionate about medical education and is involved with the medical school as module director for MS-1 Microbiology course and a faculty mentor through a longitudinal learning communities program. He is particularly interested in gamification & formative question banks which has been cultivated through his role as founder/ game manager of the ID Fellows Cup.
Faculty Editors
Gerome Escota
Gerome Escota, MD is the co-Director of the Infectious Disease Fellowship Program and the Director of the Internal Medicine Clerkship at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. He also serves as Chair of the Teaching and Learning Resources Workgroup of the Infectious Disease Society of America Medical Education Community of Practice (IDSA MedEdCOP). Dr. Escota specializes in clinical infectious disease, with a special focus on medical education, health disparities, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STI). He attends on the General Infectious Disease Consult Service and the Internal Medicine Firm Service teaching fellows, residents, and students. He sees people with HIV in his continuity clinic and also serves as a sexual health provider at the North Central Community Health Center, providing STI screening and treatment as well as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). He is currently mentoring fellows, residents, and students in medical education, LGBTQIA+, and health disparities research among vulnerable populations. He is the creator of @WuidQ, the most popular infectious disease teaching and learning resource on Twitter. Through this innovative platform, he has mentored learners on effective teaching using social media.
Ige George
Faculty contributor
Saira Butt
Saira Butt, MD has been an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Indiana University School of Medicine since 2016 and has served as the Program Director of the Adult Infectious Diseases fellowship-training program since 2018. She trained in Infectious diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical center. In addition to her efforts within the fellowship program, her education interests include curriculum development and the growth and development of learners as teachers. She maintains social media content for the fellowship @iuidfellowship. Her clinical interests are HIV, Hepatitis C, Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria and medical education.
Darcy Wooten
Darcy Wooten MD, MS is a 6th generation Californian and Associate Professor of Medicine in the division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She did her undergraduate studies in Human Virology at Stanford University before completing medical school and Internal Medicine residency training at UCSF. She also earned a Master of Science degree from UC Berkeley doing research on Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. She completed her ID fellowship at Harbor UCLA before joining the faculty at UCSD in 2014. Her clinical interests include HIV Medicine and General Infectious Diseases. She serves as the ID Fellowship Program Director and as a course director for the Clinical Foundations course for first and second-year medical students. She is a self-proclaimed Medical Educationist and Med Ed Enthusiast!