Our Team

Dr. McDonald graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He received his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine. Dr. McDonald remained at NYU after graduating from medical school to complete his internal medicine residency training there. He then completed fellowships in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Presently, Dr. McDonald is a heart failure cardiologist at NYP/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He is interested in all aspects of advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology including caring for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fractions, cardiac amyloid, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy..

Christina Ramasami graduated from Molloy College with her BSN in 2014 and received her Adult/Geriatric Nurse Practitioner certification from Hunter College. Christina has worked as a cardiac specialized nurse for several years, including working as a critical care nurse at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell.

Dr. Kaitlyn Pinkos is a board certified cardiology pharmacist. She attended The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and completed her residency at UChicago Medicine. Dr. Pinkos works at New York Presbyterian as a CTICU Clinical Pharmacy specialist, and supports the HFpEF and Cardiac Amyloidosis Program through working with patients on medication management.

Emily Kim earned a B.S. in Psychology with a focus on Neuroscience from The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College and a minor in Natural Science. Since 2021, she has been involved in cardiology clinical research, focusing on pediatric lymphatic and cardiovascular conditions as well as adult cardiac electrophysiology. Emily joined the Goyal Lab in September 2024, where she coordinates N-of-1 trials for deprescribing beta-blockers in HFpEF patients and supports various other ongoing research studies related to HFpEF and Amyloidosis. Emily looks forward to working with a diverse patient population and gaining more experience in clinical research and medicine through the program.

Princess Osma obtained her B.A. in Biochemistry from Hunter College in 2020 with minors in Psychology and Sociology. She joined the lab as a Research Assistant in July of 2022 where she currently assists various research-related activities on N-of-1 trails for deprescribing beta-blockers for HFpEF and Cardiac Amyloidosis patients to address polypharmacy. Princess looks forward to the continuation of her professional and organizational growth with the program as she hopes to advance into a career in medicine working with diverse groups of patients.

Alexandra Reich graduated from Cornell University in 2023 with a B.S. in Human Biology, Health, and Society (HBHS) with a minor in Education. Alexandra joined the lab in June 2023 where she manages our HFpEF & Cardiac Amyloidosis Registry, and contributes to multiple other ongoing studies related to HFpEF and Cardiac Amyloidosis. Alexandra has a keen interest in a future career in medicine. 

Musarrat Nahid is a Senior Research Data Analyst in the Division of General Internal Medicine at WCM, providing data analytic support to various faculty members including Dr. Goyal. She has an MSc degree in an interdisciplinary field and a BSc degree in engineering, and has a broad range of knowledge and experience in data analysis. Her passion lies in learning new statistical methods and software.

Kristi Chau is a Research Data Analyst for the Division of General Medicine. Utilizing her M.P.H. in Epidemiology and experience in academic and medical research, she supports GIM researchers with data visualization and analysis. Her interests lie in research focusing on chronic disease, aging, and underserved populations.

Dr. Ashkan Hashemi is a Research Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell with a focus on Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) and Cardiac Amyloidosis. With a background in Internal Medicine from Rutgers, New Jersey, he brings experience in caring for underserved communities and a passion for inclusive and holistic care. He is excited to collaborate with Dr. Goyal’s team to improve patient outcomes. His role involves contributing clinical expertise to research design and execution, overseeing the clinical aspects of ongoing trials, implementing risk mitigation strategies, and developing comprehensive patient education materials. By combining clinical knowledge with research, he aims to advance the prevention, diagnosis, and management of HFpEF and Cardiac Amyloidosis. 

Ro-Jay Reid, MD MSc is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) who is dedicated to advancing healthcare equity. Dr. Reid began his academic journey with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Oakwood University and earned his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center. Since joining WCM in 2021, Dr. Reid has completed the Cornell-Hunter Health Equity Research Fellowship, earning a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research. He has remained at WCM as a junior faculty member; and holds the position of Associate Director for Community Mentoring in the Cornell-Hunter Health Equity Research Fellowship Program. Dr. Reid’s research interests are deeply rooted in his humanitarian work in underserved regions, including Haiti and Mozambique. His focus centers on addressing health disparities and promoting healthy aging. He currently serves as the principal investigator on several projects and grants, supported by organizations such as the American Heart Association, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).

Dr. Kate Zarzuela is the Research Program Manager for the Program for the Care and Study of the Aging Heart at Weill Cornell Medicine. She earned her Medical Degree from Universidad Católica Nordestana in the Dominican Republic. Following this, she has held positions to manage clinical trials in both the academic and industry setting. Since 2019, Dr. Zarzuela has leveraged her prior training and experience toward managing multiple clinical research studies in Dr. Parag Goyal’s clinical research lab, including observational cohort studies, prospective registries, and clinical trials. Over the coming years, Dr. Zarzuela seeks to continue to help Dr. Goyal with programmatic growth of a broader Geriatric Cardiology program that includes clinical, research, and educational arms—with the overarching objective of improving outcomes and the wellbeing in older adults with cardiovascular diseases.