Amal Isaiah
Amal Isaiah, MD, DPhil, MBA
Principal Investigator · Professor of Otorhinolaryngology

Dr. Amal Isaiah is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, with secondary appointments in Pediatrics and Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine. He serves as Innovation Lead at the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing.

Dr. Isaiah graduated from St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, India. Elected a Rhodes Scholar in 2006, he completed a DPhil in Neurophysiology at Oxford University, followed by residency training at the University of Maryland and a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern / Children's Health Dallas. He is board-certified in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Complex Pediatric Otolaryngology. He also completed an executive MBA from the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, where he was named a Poets & Quants Best and Brightest MBA graduate.

With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, 7 book chapters, 5 patents, and NIH R01 funding, the Isaiah Lab investigates brain outcomes of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing. His work has received international attention.

Current Team
Sergio Novi
Sergio Novi, PhD
Research Scientist
Dr. Novi earned his PhD in Science from the University of Campinas and was a postdoctoral researcher at Western University, where he led projects in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). He subsequently worked as Technical Lead at Samsung Research Brazil at the intersection of human metabolism, signal processing, and embedded AI. He is a recipient of the CAPES Thesis Award and a CIHR postdoctoral fellowship. At the Isaiah Lab, he studies cognitive and neural development in children with sleep disorders using fNIRS.
Nithya Navarathna
Nithya Navarathna, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Nithya holds a degree in Bioinformatics with a minor in Computer Science from UMBC. She is interested in the intersection of machine learning and clinical medicine, particularly in ENT, imaging, and pediatric sleep research. She aspires to become a physician-scientist leveraging computational expertise to advance patient care.
Fleesie Hubbard
Fleesie Hubbard, MS
Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Fleesie brings over 20 years of experience in global health and regulatory affairs, including clinical trial implementation and international regulatory compliance. She has led multi-site clinical trials and contributed peer-reviewed publications in oncology, immunology, and public health. She co-founded Maryland Ear, Nose & Throat Abroad (MENTA), a nonprofit focused on global surgical care.
Tuleen
Tuleen Sawaf, MD
Resident, PGY-3
Dr. Sawaf is a third-year resident in the University of Maryland Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. She holds a B.S. in Neurobiology from Georgetown University and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where she conducted research in pediatric hearing loss at the Cleveland Clinic and graduated with honors and distinction in research. She is a recipient of the Arnold–Scitz Pediatric Otolaryngology Summer Research Fellowship and the Northeast Ohio Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Society Scholar award. Prior to residency, she completed a research fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center leading enrollment for a 1,000-patient head and neck cancer registry. Currently, she is developing a language learning model to predict postoperative respiratory adverse events in children undergoing tonsillectomy.
Alumni
Medical Students
  • Charlyn Gomez (2024–2025)
    Residency in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Georgetown University
  • Nicholas Randolph (2024–2025)
    Residency in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Yale University
  • Daniel Fong (2022–)
    MS3, University of Maryland
  • Sabrina Nusraty (2025–)
    MS2, University of Maryland
  • Sarah Yang (2025–)
    MS2, University of Maryland
  • Eric Kim (2025–)
    MS1, MD/MBA Candidate, University of Maryland
  • Ozerk Turan (2024–2025)
    Residency in Diagnostic Radiology, University of Maryland
  • Audrey Zauher (2021–2024)
    Residency in Diagnostic Radiology, UCSF, San Francisco
  • Pragnya Dontu (2021–2022)
    Residency in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia
  • Emily Hamburger (2020–2021)
    Residency in Internal Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
  • Alex Boukhvalova (2019–2020)
    Residency in Pediatrics, Children's National, DC
  • Dylan Bertoni (2017–2019)
    Residency in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia
Residents
  • Kevin Guy, MD, MS (2026)
    PGY3 Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center
  • Wiktoria Gocal, MD (2025)
    PGY3 Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center
  • Sophia Uddin, MD, PhD (2023)
    PGY3, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
    Current Position: PGY5, University of Maryland
  • Sai Gourishetti, MD (2022)
    PGY3, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
    Current Position: Asst Professor of Otolaryngology, Case Western
  • Jerrah Pickle, MD (2022)
    PGY3, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
    Current Position: Private Practice, Miami
  • Taylor Teplitzky, MD (2021)
    PGY3, Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
    Current Position: Attending Pediatric Otolaryngologist, Nemours Children's Hospital