’60s

David L. Sharp (MD ’67) spent his career of 55 years caring for “fussy babies.” He still vividly recalls his early days as a family physician and can rattle off details of what he says in retrospect were humorous moments in his practice. The lessons he learned relying on his Pitt medical education and curiosity turned into a career-long research interest in infant colic, a subject about which he has written two books. Sharp was inspired to go to medical school by his uncle, Fred Zaidan (MD ’45), and considers the challenge he was given at Pitt Med to be a lifelong learner to be one of the greatest lessons in his life.

’80s

Nancy Breslin (MD ’83) has built an expansive portfolio in pinhole photography, a rare artform where a camera or light-tight box with a small hole in it—rather than a lens—captures a scene through a long exposure. Burned out, Breslin stopped practicing psychiatry at 40 and turned to the arts, earning an MFA from the University of Delaware and eventually teaching there for a couple of years as an adjunct professor. “I bought a pinhole camera on an impulse and ended up loving it,” she says. She is producing “Velo Love,” a stop-motion short film that tells the story of two bicycles that fall in love when they keep seeing each other at the café their riders visit every day.

To help cover expenses from nursing school at Duquesne University, Maryanne Hugo (MD ’88, Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident ’92) joined the U.S. Navy. One tour of duty took her to Vietnam in 1970, where she worked aboard a 500-bed hospital ship off the coast, providing care for sick and injured soldiers. She spent time on Midway Atoll, among other places. After leaving Midway, and the Navy, Hugo earned a master’s degree and became a certified midwife. She estimates she delivered 2,000 babies during a six-year period she spent living in California. The desire to become a doctor brought her back to Pittsburgh. She earned her MD 20 years after her nursing degree and delivered a few thousand more babies at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital before her retirement. Recently, a group of friends Hugo made on board the hospital ship in Vietnam spent a week with her and her husband in Pittsburgh. Those friends, she says, have taken turns in recent years enjoying a week’s vacation at their respective homes, in Maine, California and places in between.

’00s

Siren Chudgar (Family Medicine Resident ’03) says the opportunity to work with inpatient case managers at UPMC St. Margaret sparked a career-driving interest in how managed care can improve health care delivery. Now at WellMed and Optum of UnitedHealth Group, Chudgar has been promoted to Florida regional medical director. Among other things, he provides clinical insights to improve health outcomes for Medicare Advantage members in the most cost-effective manner. Living in Florida but nostalgic for Pittsburgh, Chudgar still cheers on the Steelers with the First Coast Black and Gold, a Jacksonville-based fan club.

’10s

A few really good things came out of Nicole Aaronson’s (Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellow ’17) time at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh—increased skill and confidence as a physician, a network of colleagues and also “Porcupine Hugs.” Aaronson published the children’s book in summer 2023 that tells the story of Pru, a lost porcupine who tries to make friends during her journey to find her family. But Pru struggles because the other animals fear her quills. Aaronson started to write “Porcupine Hugs” during her fellowship and penned it with kids in mind who feel like they’re on the outside because they might look different, sound different or just feel different.

Peter Kang (MD ’12) has become the program director of the neurology residency training program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “We have a large residency of 11 residents per program year—44 total,” he says. “They come to train at our program from all over the country and enter into a wide range of careers within neurology.” Kang, an assistant professor of neurology, teaches and sees patients with the residents, develops curricula and wellness initiatives, conducts clinical and translational research and is currently recruiting for next year’s resident class.

Marginalized patients in need of genital reconstructive surgery, gender-affirming surgery, hormone therapy or other forms of primary care are seeking out UCSF Medical Center physician Gaetan Pettigrew (MD ’12), an obstetrician/gynecologist who has built a practice that treats patients from well beyond the Bay Area. “We’re building a practice that’s taking care of people who traditionally don’t have a lot of access to care,” he says. Those patients include people of color and from gender-diverse communities, many of them traveling from towns across the Pacific Northwest and even internationally. Pettigrew is an assistant professor of gynecology and gynecologic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He’s the son of Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew (MD ’94, Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident ’98), professor and academic chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University, and Chenits Pettigrew Jr., an EdD and Pitt Med associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion and for student affairs, as well as assistant dean for faculty affairs.

“People can feel like they’re on an island,” says Rickquel Tripp (Emergency Medicine Fellow ’17), Pitt associate professor of emergency medicine and vice chair of diversity, inclusion and health equity, Department of Emergency Medicine. She wants to create a village. “One of my personal goals is striving to cultivate change by controlling what things I can control and developing and interconnecting people so we can collaborate.” Tripp received a YWCA Equity Award in November 2023 for being a bridge builder—for her commitment to overcoming racial injustice and creating systemic change.

’20s

Rachel O. Alade (Pediatrics Resident ’23) has joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Working with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, she’s evaluating the effectiveness of health surveillance systems in collecting data on birth defect incidence and prevalence. While her work is based in Atlanta, Alade is travel-ready to address national needs and public health emergencies as they arise. She likes to reflect on her residency, saying, “A lot of the people that I met and worked with in Pittsburgh I now consider like family and friends, so it will always be a very nostalgic place for me.”

Read more from the Winter 2024 issue.