Fellows

Ahmed Elshazly, M.D. | 1st Year Fellow
Dr. Elshazly is originally from Egypt and completed his internal medicine residency in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following residency, he worked as a hospitalist in Rhode Island. His academic interests include translational research in infectious diseases, with a focus on bacteriophage therapy and oncolytic virotherapy. Outside of medicine, he enjoys surfing, tennis, rock climbing, and snowboarding. I also enjoy hiking and have visited nine national parks across the United States.
Nuzhat Islam, M.D. | 1st Year Fellow
Nuzhat Islam, M.D. is from Fullerton, CA. She graduated from the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and completed Internal Medicine Residency at UC San Diego. Her professional interests lie in OneHealth, healthcare sustainability, and medical education. In particular, she is interested in the impact of climate and environment on disease pathology and antimicrobial resistance. Her hobbies include art, archery, and visiting museums.
Kevin Kurator, M.D. | 1st Year Fellow
Kevin Kurator, MD grew up near Temecula in Southern California. He worked for several years in HIV healthcare and advocacy prior to medical school, then attended UC San Diego School of Medicine. He completed residency at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center with an additional year as Chief Resident, during which he focused on medical education and developed a dedicated resident track in HIV medicine. He is committed to health equity and education, and his professional interests include HIV, tropical diseases, LGBTQ health, border health, and the intersections of migration and infectious disease management.
Demetrios Papademetriou, M.D. | 1st Year Fellow

Demetrios Papademetriou, is from Europe. He graduated from Slovakia then moved to the USA where he had the opportunity do a year long fellowship in vaccine research at the NIH. He then completed the internal residency program at the Westchester Medical Center in New York. His research intersts include HIV PrEP and PEP, clinical trials and vaccine research."
Renato Bobadilla-Leon, M.D. | 2nd Year Fellow
Renato Bobadilla-Leon, M.D. was born and raised in Trujilo, Peru, where he attended medical school at Universidad Nacional de Trujillo. He participated as coinvestigator with the HIV Vaccine Trials in Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, NY. Prior to coming to UCSD, Renato was working as a hospitalitst and core faculty for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Guthrie Robery Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. His career interests include HIV medicine, HIV-Associated Comorbidities and HIV Prevention.
Thomas Smith, D.O. | 2nd Year Fellow
Thomas Smith was born in Provo, Utah and graduated in the inaugural class of Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in New Mexico. He completed a residency with Samaritan Health Services in Oregon and spent an additional chief year focused on medical education. A fluent Spanish speaker, he has lived taught on three continents. His professional interests include the design and delivery of education, both domestically and internationally, health equity and access, and tropical diseases. Outside of medicine he enjoys literature, landscape photography, and spending time with his family and two dogs.
Edward Hill, M.D. | 3rd Year Fellow

Edward Hill, M.D. is from Oakland, CA. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and completed a residency at University of California, San Diego. His career interests include HIV, hepatitis viruses, herpes viruses, H. pylori, and mycobacteria. Edward's hobbies are running, backpacking and hiking, ultimate Frisbee, disc golf, tennis, podcasts, mindful meditation, and spending time with his brother, Nate.
Sara Brenner, M.D. | 3rd Year Med/Peds Fellow
Sara Brenner, M.D. is originally from San Diego area. She graduated from University of California San Diego School of Medicine and completed a Med/Peds residency at University of Massachussets- Baystate Campus. Her infectious disease interests include OneHealth, emerging infections, and global health. Sara is in the combined adult/pediatric ID Fellowship.
Adriana Giuliani, M.D. | 3rd Year Med/Peds Fellow

Adriana Giuliani, MD is from West Lafayette, IN. She graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed a Med/Peds residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is doing research within Dr. Pia Pannaraj's group regarding T cell responses in adults and pediatrics with COVID. She plans to eventually work for an NGO. Adriana enjoys participating in community advocacy, being yelled at by fitness instructors, hiking, learning languages, and caring for her unusually high number of cats.
Lily Ostrer, M.D. | 3rd Year Med/Peds Fellow

Lily Ostrer, M.D. is from New York City, NY. She graduated from the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and completed a residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital at the University of Miami. Her career interests include HIV medicine, injection-related infections, pediatric ID, epidemiology, and health equity. Lily's hobbies include bike riding, spending time in nature and community organizing. Lily is a combined adult/pediatric ID Fellow.
Benjamin Redpath, M.D. | 3rd Year Med/PedsFellow
Benjamin, Redpath, M.D. is a combined adult and pediatric infectious disease fellow. Ben plans to work with bacteriophages, a burgeoning field in infectious disease, spurred by increasing antibiotic resistance worldwide. He enjoys living in San Diego for the food, weather and opportunities for exploring nature.

After completing fellowship, our fellows have pursued both academic, private and community-based infectious diseases positions around the country and locally. Our fellowship has a strong track record of fellows obtaining academic faculty positions at UC San Diego. Below are the past 6 years of graduating fellows and their current positions.

2025–2026 Infectious Disease Fellows

Alumni

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

People