Our Fellows
Our Fellows
Class of 2025–2027
Miranda Acosta Prieto, M.D., IBCLC
Miranda is mom of a girl born in 2014. She has a Medical Degree by the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara and is a general practitioner. She obtained the IBCLC certification since 2018, and has a Certification in Orofacial Motor Treatment with Rego-Torró method. She also a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM). She has several Formations in Sleep Childcare, Perinatal Mental Health, and an Advanced Formation in Care During Childbirth. At the moment, she is Head of the Lactation service at Leon General Hospital and Technical Secretary of their Breastfeeding Committee. She is also a teacher at the Breastfeeding Online Diplomat of the Universidad Anahuac del Mayab and a Profesor invited of Universidad de Guanajuato, Faculty of Medicine. In her free time she likes to read, exercise and being with her family. Miranda lives in Leon, Guanajuato; Mexico, where she practices lactation medicine in the private and institutional settings.
Jennifer Callaway, D.O.
Jennifer Callaway, DO, is a family medicine physician practicing as part of a Women's Health Clinic of the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her practice is predominantly prenatal and postnatal care, incorporating breastfeeding medicine. As a physician with the Cherokee Nation, she provides services to any Native citizen residing within the Nation's boundaries and beyond, resulting in a patient population homogeneous in ethnicity but wildly diverse in many other characteristics. Her most important roles are wife and mother. She spends her spare time holding endless loads of laundry for her three small children while watching cheesy romance movies.
Miranda Chacon, M.D.
Miranda performed her undergraduate studies in Exercise Science at the University of Pittsburgh and her medical studies at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She subsequently completed two years of General Surgery Residency training and two years of research fellowship in the Department of Pediatric Surgery before matriculating into the Preventive Medicine program at the University of Rochester where she has focused on preventive care and public health. Miranda is very passionate about medical education, lifestyle management, and the social determinants of health, specifically in maternal and pediatric populations. She serves on the Resident and Fellow Council for Graduate Medical Education as well as on their Policy subcommittee to make meaningful change for her fellow learners. She is also involved in the Rochester Regional Breastfeeding Coalition and has worked toward several breastfeeding-friendly initiatives in New York State, creating educational materials for business owners and others who may be interested in creating more welcoming spaces for those who choose to and are able to breastfeed. Outside of medicine, Miranda loves spending time with fellow toddler-moms, exploring new places in nature, and cooking up new recipes with her 2-year-old son.
Petagaye English, D.O.
As a physician mother of two, I understand the importance of breastfeeding from a personal as well as professional standpoint. Unfortunately, I have come to realize that physicians have not had the best training in lactation or breastfeeding medicine. In turn, medical trainees and patients are exposed to misinformation or bad advice. I have both given and received bad information regarding lactation. It is my goal to gain knowledge but to impart what I learn to those under my care. Additionally, I hope to share this passion with others!
Ariana Komaroff, D.N.P., IBCLC
Ariana Komaroff is a doctoral prepared family nurse practitioner working in primary pediatric care at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics (TCFAP) in southern CT. She is a board-certified family nurse practitioner, international board-certified lactation consultant and holds a perinatal mental health 
certification. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing from Columbia University School of Nursing and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She is the Clinical Director of the Breastfeeding and Lactation Program at TCFAP. In her current clinic role, she works with patients and their families providing general pediatric primary care, breastfeeding support to new mothers and parents, and medical management of lactation disorders. Ariana recently opened a private lactation practice in Westchester, NY providing fourth trimester care for new parents and infants. She accepts insurance and hopes to grow her new practice partnering with local pediatricians and obstetricians to expand access for community-based lactation services. Ariana is committed to family-centered care, honoring the cultures, traditions, and expertise that families bring to the provider-patient relationship. She has participated in several research and quality improvement initiatives surrounding infant growth, development, nutrition, and breastfeeding. Ariana is also an Assistant Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing teaching graduate nursing students in the family, pediatric, midwifery, and women’s health programs. She is passionate about nursing education and has a long history of mentoring students in the clinical setting. She is known for her clinical innovation and dissemination of best clinical practices through her knowledge of evidence-based practice.
Angelique Lahoz, M.D., DPPS
Ange is a general pediatrician from the Philippines who completed training at the largest government tertiary hospital in the country, Philippine General Hospital. She practiced general pediatrics for a year in her local community before deciding to pursue subspecialty training. Currently, she’s one of the two fellows from The Medical City Hospital’s pioneer Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine program in her country.
Giovana Mosci Pinheiro, M.D.
Dr. Pinheiro is a resident physician at the Duke Family Medicine Residency Program, and she will be completing the program's Breastfeeding & Lactation Medicine immersion track under mentorship of 
NABBLM certified breastfeeding medicine specialist, Dr. Annie Dotson. During her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, Dr. Pinheiro joined the Rasmussen Lab, led by Dr. Kathleen Rasmussen, an esteemed lactation researcher, where she and her team studied the topic of informal human milk sharing practices. She earned her medical degree at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where she became passionate about patient education and the development of health education curricula to empower individuals to take charge of their health and make informed health decisions. She hopes to apply these skills to expand on the role of prenatal breastfeeding education. Dr. Pinheiro hopes to grow in her clinical knowledge during her time as a LILAC fellow, with the goal of becoming a board certified breastfeeding and lactation medicine specialist soon after residency graduation. She is a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking along local trails and national parks, reading a good book, and acrylic painting.
Bryan Presno, M.D., DPPS
Dr. Bryan Presno graduated from the University of the Philippines under the prestigious Intarmed Program. He gained medical experience at the Philippine General Hospital and completed his Pediatric residency at the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center where he served as Chief Resident. Currently, Dr. Bryan is part of the pioneering fellowship program for Lactation Medicine at The Medical City which is one of the leading tertiary hospitals in the Philippines.
Katie Wolter, M.D., IBCLC
Katie Wolter is a wife, mother of 7, general pediatrician, IBCLC, and founder of the Nourish Foundation and Nourish Wellness, which is a nonprofit pediatric breastfeeding and lifestyle medicine clinic for the prevention and treatment of obesity and other lifestyle illnesses. This service includes the provision of fresh produce to families experiencing food insecurity to increase access to healthy foods in our patients. She also is the Discipline Chair of Pediatrics at VCOM Auburn and the founder of Nourish Blooms, a regenerative cut flower farm. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family out in nature.
Class of 2024–2026
Suzanne Bradshaw, M.D., IBCLC
Suzanne Bradshaw earned her BS in Biochemistry at the University of California San Diego. She attended Vanderbilt Medical School and completed her Pediatric Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2002. She worked as an inpatient and outpatient pediatrician as well as a lactation consultant in Upstate New York from 2002-2016. She relocated to the Boston area in 2016 where she has worked in community health, largely serving a Spanish speaking immigrant population. She was certified as a CLC in 2010 and earned her IBCLC certification in 2014. She currently works as a primary care pediatrician and lactation consultant at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. She is also the Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinator for the Massachusetts AAP chapter. She is a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and a FAAP. Suzanne is the proud mother of 3 adult children. She enjoys swimming, traveling, reading novels, and hiking with her family and dogs.
Carla Brown, M.D., FAAP
Carla is a Newborn and NICU Hospitalist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. This is also where she completed medical school and her pediatric residency training. She is a native Arkansan and have a passion for improving healthcare outcomes for the children of Arkansas with interests in healthcare disparities, breastfeeding medicine, and educating and training the next generation of physicians who will care for them! Currently, she serves as the Director of Medical Student Education in Pediatrics and the Director of Pediatric Residency DEI. Outside of work, She absolutely loves traveling the world with her 15 year old daughter and spending time with her family and friends. Carla is very excited to begin this journey of training in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
Maria R. Fisher, C.N.M., M.S.N., M.P.H., IBCLC
Maria has been employed at Stony Brook Medicine in Stony Brook, NY since 2009 as a certified nurse-midwife. In 2014, she started an outpatient breastfeeding service which has grown from 4 hours per week to 16 hours per week of dedicated clinical time for lactation/breastfeeding medicine services. Maria has trained 2 other midwives to work along side her and is now training a third with students and residents that rotate through their service. Prior to her employment at Stony Brook, she had a private practice conducting home visits for lactation while she was on maternity leave (and breastfeeding). She also practiced midwifery for 10 years in Brooklyn before retreating to the suburbs. In Brooklyn, she cared for a large orthodox Jewish community with high breastfeeding rates. Breastfeeding was definitely the cultural norm. Maria's research experience with regard to lactation began in graduate school at University of Pennsylvania, where she conducted a study of breastfeeding initiation and duration of 100 postpartum women that she followed for a 6-month period. Her work was published as a poster presentation with the support of her professor and mentor Dr. Diane Spatz. Most recently she has worked on a project for the National Perinatal Association developing "best practices" for infant feeding. This three-part series is awaiting publication in the Journal of Perinatology.
Emily Trambert Kylstra, M.D., M.P.H., DABFM
Emily is a graduate of the UNC Chapel Hill Family Medicine Residency, with a love of helping patients in their reproductive health and parenting journeys. During residency, she served predominantly Spanish-speaking patients in a rural federally qualified health center. Her passion for breastfeeding medicine and lactation was born of her own rewarding (and sometimes challenging) experiences navigating breastfeeding her daughter. Ultimately, she aims to provide Breastfeeding & Lactation Medicine services to uninsured patients at local federally qualified health centers, who may not otherwise have access. In addition to more holistically supporting her patients, she is also committed to sharing the knowledge she gains with other providers given her love for teaching. After finishing the LILAC fellowship, she hopes to attain a position as an academic faculty member at a local family medicine residency so she can empower trainees in their breastfeeding counseling.
Ana Lucia Ruiz Cabrera, M.D., IBCLC
Ana is a Colombian mother of 3, OBGYN and IBCLC. She became interested in breastfeeding during her pregnancies, and before her third pregnancy she found out breastfeeding medicine was a blooming specialty. She studied and became an IBCLC while breastfeeding her youngest child. She is the only OBGYN certified lactation consultant in her country and hopes to expand to make other doctors notice breastfeeding medicine as a new and necessary specialty. She is very happy to join the LILAC group!
Dr. Kavita Thanakrishnan, MBBS, BCHAO, FRACP, DCH, BArts
Dr. Kavita has been a doctor for more than 16 years. She loves all facets of medicine but has a specialized interest in children and women's health. She loves helping parents navigate the labyrinth of Perinatal medicine in those first 2 years. Before becoming a GP, she worked for 6 years in Paediatrics at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network including Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) at the RHW and attained a Diploma of Paediatrics from UNSW/SCH. She developed a special interest and focus in Breastfeeding Medicine after finding that many of the problems and distress faced by patients was preventable. She is also a Lactation Consultant and member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. She is experienced in the model of Neuroprotective Developmental Care and a Possums NDC Practitioner. She is also certified in the Thompson Breastfeeding method. She is passionate about improving breastfeeding support and education. Outside of medicine, she has a strong interest in nature, martial arts and social justice. Before Medicine she did a Bachelor of Arts—majoring in Classics—Greek and Roman Literature and Political science.
Janet Wasylyshen-Velasco, M.D., M.P.H., IBCLC
Dr. Wasylyshen-Velasco is an Internal Medicine-Pediatric trained physician at Dayton Children's Hospital in Dayton Ohio. She completed medical school and public health training at Loma Linda University in California and her Med-Peds residency through Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton Ohio. She has provided care in hospital medicine for patients from birth -106 years of age since completing residency in 2003. Her perspective on the impact of breastfeeding on health outcomes has been a progression, formed by her personal experiences and those of her patients, particularly through the onset and progression of disease over time. Opportunities for building systemic fundamentals to support breastfeeding within hospital systems are unique; care tends to separate dyads as the norm and provision of care for illness exacerbated by lack of breastfeeding as a root cause contributor is often unrecognized. She is excited about teaching the next generations of providers, and advocacy and support for women through their pregnancy and postpartum journey. Outside of work, she loves spending time with her husband and two daughters, their canine, feline and equine interests, anything outdoors and travel whenever possible.