2024-2025 Chief Medical Residents

Ella Cornell, MD
Ella was born in Los Angeles and grew up spending time in the United States and Italy. She received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine, where her research focus was on disparities in access to post-hospital care, particularly for victims of violence. Prior to medical school, she earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh and went on to complete her post-baccalaureate premedical training at Columbia University. Her interests include access to care for underserved communities, health policy, implementation science, cardiology, and critical care. In residency, she worked on research related to transitions of care for critically ill patients and strategies to communicate about diagnostic uncertainty across these transitions. After chief year, she plans to pursue a career in cardiology and critical care. In her free time, she enjoys traveling to new places, cooking, making wine, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Jordan, and their giant dog, Charlie.

Lauren Phinney, MD
Lauren was born and raised in Sacramento, California. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Human Biology and Society with a minor in Spanish. During her gap year, she cultivated a love for teaching as a chemistry tutor and yoga instructor in Los Angeles before moving to Guatemala to work with a nonprofit organization dedicated to Spanish immersion for medical professionals. She attended medical school at UCSF and loved San Francisco so much she stayed for primary care residency at UCPC-GIM. In residency, she worked on interventions to improve resident wellbeing through the Health Professions Education pathway. She is pursuing a career as a clinician educator within general internal medicine, with academic interests in feedback and evaluation, physician wellbeing and mentorship. Outside of work, Lauren will try literally anything - salsa dance, backpacking in the incredible Northern California mountains, playing volleyball, rock climbing, yoga, biking and skiing in Tahoe for as many weekends as possible every winter.

Karena Puldon, MD
Karena grew up in Northridge, California in an Ecuadorian-Cuban household. She studied Chemistry and Biology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Karena moved to the Bay Area in 2012 where she enjoyed working in the biomedical technology industry for 4 years before attending UCSF School of Medicine. She completed a one-year fellowship as a Training in Research in Integrative Medicine (TRIM) predoctoral fellow and was excited to join the Internal Medicine Residency Program at UCSF in 2021. In residency, Karena was part of the PRIME Clinical Research Pathway and held two leadership positions as co-chair of the Residency Wellbeing Committee and co-chair of the Residency Diversity Committee (RDC). After chief year, Karena aspires to become a Gastroenterologist with academic interests in technology, research, medical education, and leadership development. In her time off, she loves spending time with friends, hiking through tall trees, dancing salsa, cuddling with her tiny dog, Sophie, and cooking/inventing new recipes with her husband, Steven.

Ellena Popova, MD
Leni grew up splitting time between their nuclear family in Bethesda, Maryland and their extended family in Bulgaria. They went to undergrad at MIT, where their work as an EMT made them the go-to person to triage construction projects gone wrong and research queer health questions that were too private to ask of the on-campus doctors. Leni went to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where they volunteered with a street-based harm reduction collective and became involved in advocacy work through the American Medical Association. Inspired by the SFPC mission, they moved to the West Coast for residency, where they continued to develop their clinical interests in med ed, low-barrier & community-integrated primary care, addiction medicine, and trans health. Outside of medicine, Leni loves dancing, karaoke, hanging out with their dog, and getting to know more of the co-op living communities of SF.

Rob Short, MD
Rob grew up in Concord, North Carolina. He’s a first-generation college student and the first in his family to pursue a career in health care. He studied psychology and chemistry at the University of North Carolina and stayed in Chapel Hill for medical school. As a med student, he discovered a passion for teaching by working as a USMLE tutor and co-leading a healthcare pipeline program for students at Title I high schools in Charlotte. At UCSF, he enrolled in the Health Professions Education Pathway and developed a curriculum to help med students transition to clerkships. Rob is a proud graduate of the UCPC program. As a resident, he discovered a love for cardiology. He hopes to blend his interests in medical education research, ambulatory care, and cardiovascular disease as an academic general cardiologist. Outside of work, he can be found at the pottery studio with his partner or at the park with his dog, Fig.

Madison Wilson, MD
Madison was born in Baltimore, Maryland where she attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, focusing on visual arts in high school. She did her undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating with a degree in Urban Studies with minors in Biology and Art. Madison went on to study at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where she served in medical education role as a Pritzker Chief medical student. She ventured further westward for residency at UCSF. While in residency, Madison served as a co-leader of the Resident Diversity Committee and researched health disparities during her time in the PRIME track. After her chief year, Madison plans to pursue a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. Outside of work, Madison loves to try new restaurants, bake (ask her about her *famous* brown butter almond brittle chocolate chip cookies), do yoga, and travel with friends.

Blythe Butler, MD
Blythe grew up in Spokane, Washington. She moved across the country to attend Dartmouth College, where she studied Chemistry and Mathematics. She initially pursued a career in education, moving to San Jose after graduation to work as the chemistry and AP chemistry teacher at KIPP San Jose Collegiate, an area charter school. After 4 years, she decided to switch career paths and attended medical school at UCSF, which included participating in the Peer Teaching Program, a program teaching first year medical students core curricular topics. She was a UCPC resident and participated in the HPE pathway, continuing her interest in medical education. She also participated in a Global Health rotation in Gallup, NM, working with amazing clinician educators at the IHS. Her research interest during residency included residency mentorship models and factors affecting subspecialty career choice for gender and racial minorities. Blythe hopes to pursue a career as a clinician educator in the field of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Outside of medicine, she loves to run through Golden Gate Park, hike in the Marin Headlands and any/all mountains, bake, and explore SF restaurants.

Diana Funk, MD
Diana grew up near Philadelphia, PA and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics. She then headed out west to the Bay Area to Google, where she worked on people operations, communications, and program management teams (and ate all of the free food). She completed her post-bacc at UC Berkeley and then headed back east to Dartmouth for medical school. While at Dartmouth she picked up her MBA at the Tuck School of Business, and did a brief consulting stint with the Boston Consulting Group before heading back west to UCSF for residency. At UCSF she was a Categorical resident and participated in the Health Systems Leadership Pathway, as well as multiple resident-led QI projects. She is interested in hospital medicine, how healthcare systems and teams function, and how technology can make our lives easier. Outside of the hospital you'll find Diana seeking out the sunny parts of the city, exploring a new group exercise class, chasing other people's dogs, and buying more books than she can read.

Chris Gordon, MD
Chris was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. He attended Harvard College, where he studied neurobiology with a minor in global health and health policy. After working in wealth management for a year, he moved to Chicago, where he completed a dual MD-MBA degree at Northwestern University. At UCSF, Chris participated in the Health Systems Leadership (HSL) pathway, and he was involved in a research project evaluating insurance company policies regarding cardiovascular diseases. Ultimately, Chris intends to pursue a career in cardiology with a focus on improving healthcare delivery and high-value care. Outside of the hospital, you can find Chris watching or playing sports, dancing, singing, attending concerts, hiking, or spending time with friends.

Constance Wu, MD
Constance was born and raised in Palo Alto. she attended Pomona College where she studied chemistry. After college, she studied abroad at the University of Cambridge where she studied Biological Science, and then took a gap year before attending Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, Constance studied in the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program and took an additional gap year studying zebrafish in the Leonard Zon lab. At UCSF, she was part of the molecular medicine program during residency and aspires to be a Hematologist/Oncologist. Outside of work, Constance enjoys all sorts of arts and crafts and draws comics about her experiences in medicine. She has enjoyed hosting art nights as part of the Wellbeing Committee during residency.