TARA DEJESUS, MD // Faculty ▼

Undergraduate: Columbia University

Medical School: Rush Medical College

Residency: Cook County Hospital

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Dr. deJesus is a pediatrician who supervises residents on both their inpatient and outpatient pediatric rotations. She also serves as the faculty director for the resident advisor program, and as the faculty advisor of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion resident workgroup.

Dr. deJesus graduated from Rush Medical College in 1999 and completed her pediatrics residency at Cook County Hospital in 2003. She sees patients at LCHC clinics in East Garfield and North Lawndale, as well as newborns and inpatient pediatric patients at Mount Sinai and Saint Anthony Hospitals. Her clinical interests include general pediatrics, newborn visits, pediatric obesity, and anticipatory guidance.

Having grown up in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Florida, Dr. deJesus is fluent in spoken and written Spanish. Dr deJesus lives in Garfield Park, where she and her family also enjoy Broadway musicals, board games, puzzles and karaoke. She is also a faithful participant in the Let’s Move, Lawndale! weekly walking group and the LCFit Staff Wellness Book Club.

Wayne Detmer, MD // Faculty ▼

Undergraduate: Yale University

Medical School: University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine

Residency: University of Cincinnati

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Dr. Detmer has worked at Lawndale Christian Health Center since 1999 and was promoted to Chief Clinical Officer of Operations in 2001. Dr. Detmer has been a coach and advisor to hundreds of interns and medical students, working with our residents in their Chief Rotation during PGY3. He has a particular interest and wisdom when it comes to exploring how faith should inform our practice of medicine.

Dr. “D” lives in South Lawndale with his wife, Gina, who is a pediatrician at LCHC. They have four incredible children.

Erick Skaff, MD // Faculty ▼

Undergraduate: Hope College

Medical School: Rush Medical College

Residency: West Suburban Hospital

Fellowship: Perinatal Child Health, PCC Community Wellness

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Dr. Skaff supervises the OB rotation, teaches Wednesday didactics, and precepts residents in continuity clinic. His journey with LCHC began as a medical student, when he was assigned continuity clinic with Dr. Benjamin Preyss as part of his medical school's family medicine leadership program.

He is passionate about full spectrum family medicine and completed a specialized fellowship training in high-risk obstetrics, including Cesarean sections.

Dr. Skaff was honored with the Edward J. Eckenfels Award in Social and Community Medicine during medical school and was awarded the Resident Teacher of the Year by both faculty and peers during his residency.

A native of Flint, Michigan, Dr. Skaff married a Chicagoan who was a patient at LCHC during her childhood. When not immersed in medicine, he can be found exploring Chicago's diverse culinary scene and teaching his one-year-old daughter how to swim.

Jasmine Tzeggai, MD // Faculty ▼

Undergraduate: Northwestern University

Medical School: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

Residency: University of Michigan

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Dr. Tzeggai works with residents as a preceptor in continuity clinic, leads the integration of Community Health and Equity into the program's curriculum, and provides full spectrum family medicine outpatient care. She learned about LCHC while visiting as a medical student and returned to this community after completing her residency, eager to pursue her interests in community medicine, health equity, women’s health, and preventative care, alongside others who share her passions. She is also humbled and excited by the opportunity to help trainees grow and find joy in their work.

Dr. Tzeggai loves spending time with her family and friends, and will find any excuse to get together over a good meal. When she’s not exploring the city’s food scene, you’ll probably find her singing along to gospel music or enjoying a local concert.

MICHELLE YOO, MD // Faculty ▼

Undergraduate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Medical School: University of Illinois at Chicago

Residency: Loyola University/MacNeal Hospital

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Dr. Yoo precepts residents in continuity and OB migrant clinic, including morning teaching and case-based discussions in clinic. Dr. Yoo enjoys procedures and broad-spectrum family medicine, and has a particular interest in women’s health/OB and global health.

In medical school, Dr. Yoo was a scholar in the Global Medicine Program, which provided supplemental curriculum in global health. She was involved in overseas medical mission work/research during this time and was also a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Dr. Yoo stumbled across LCHC's Green Tomato Cafe during medical school while in search of a place to study. After witnessing two strangers interlocking hands and fervently praying together, she later found out about LCHC and its mission. Since then, she has found LCHC to be a perfect fit for her.

Outside of medicine, she loves traveling and exploring new cultures and foods. She also enjoys hiking and music (playing guitar, piano, leading worship at church) and spending time with her husband, newborn baby, and German shepherd puppy.

Joyce Idehen, MD // PGY-3 ▼

Born in Nigeria, Joyce was raised in Houston, and graduated from Prairie View A&M with her Bachelors in Nursing. After working for two years as an RN, she completed her medical degree at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine. She is the Social Media Manager for the non-profit organization Black Girl White Coat, helping to mentor and motivate underrepresented minorities in medicine.

“I’m so ecstatic to have matched at LCHC! My passions within medicine include preventative care, mental health, women's health, and research on racial disparities. I get to fulfill my dreams here by caring for the underserved, providing primary care, researching, and understanding the complexities of racial health disparities, and learning what it means to express my faith in the field of medicine. I get to empower my patients and focus on the marginalized people the medical system often neglects.”

Courtney Hatcher, MD // PGY-3 ▼

Courtney is a native of Chicago’s South Side. Her college career began at Grand Valley State University, before continuing on to the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. She has been a pianist since childhood, and enjoys playing classical and contemporary gospel music.

“During residency, I envision a trusting, respectful relationship with my colleagues at LCHC. This connection will allow me to grow, learn, and creatively energize the community through faithbased medical care for the underserved. I am eager to embark on the next chapter of my life and hope to positively impact my newly adopted Lawndale family.”

Edward Akinyemi, MD // PGY-3 ▼

Edward comes to us from the great state of Texas, where he was student body president for West Texas A&M, and where he earned his BS and MS in Biology, along with an MBA. He went on to graduate from the Saint James School of Medicine. His prior experience in Chicago includes volunteering with the Breakthrough Men’s Center, a partner organization of Lawndale Christian. Outside of school and work, Edward enjoys playing his trumpet and playing basketball.

“I am so excited to be a part of the Inaugural Class of the Lawndale FMR! My hope is that I am able to meet people where they are at with the love of Jesus. I truly believe that Jesus is the hope for humanity and I am glad that through this residency, I can demonstrate His compassion with every person who walks through the doors of Lawndale Christian Health Center.”

Daniel Tzou, MD // PGY-3 ▼

Daniel grew up in Michigan, studied Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University, and then graduated from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

He originally became connected to Lawndale Christian through his involvement with the Princeton Manna Christian Fellowship. Daniel has enjoyed playing his violin in the hospital for patients and their families, as well as with the Jefferson Chamber Orchestra.

“I am so excited to be a member of the inaugural Lawndale FMR class. My greatest passion in medicine is to give selflessly to serve my patients, to join them in their stories and help meet them where they are. I hope to continue growing and cultivating my passion for pediatric care, psychiatry, and behavioral health. I see no better place to do so than in the loving Lawndale community.”

Nils Eastburg, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Originally from Michigan, Nils has been in the Chicago area for the last decade, first completing a degree in Economics at Wheaton College, where he was a captain of the track and field team, and had an agricultural development internship in the Congo.

Of his time in Africa, “The injustice of poverty often places people at a further disadvantage due to poor access to quality healthcare… Health gives people the power to fight injustice. It allows them to reach for more than survival. When people know they will be well, they can find new ways of bringing change to their lives.”

Nils continued on to medical school at Rush University Medical Center, where he served as a peer advisor and on the Student Curriculum Advisor Committee. Nils and his wife are active in their church, Soul City, and enjoy exploring new restaurants around Chicago.

Alicia Ross, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Alicia hails from Tennessee, where she studied Biology at the University of Memphis before completing medical school at Ross University. Alicia brings a variety of experiences in preparation to become a physician, including work as a patient care technician, school teacher, and working with adults with mental and physical disabilities.

More recently, Alicia co-founded The Black Impact, an organization that assists underserved communities through service, promoting diversity in medicine, and providing access to adequate healthcare regardless of race, finances, or socioeconomic status. “My passion is to provide excellent healthcare for minorities by helping them manage their chronic diseases and give information and treatment to others to avoid preventable conditions and complications.”

Alexandra Pryor, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Alexandra (Ali) has always called California home, completing both her undergraduate studies and medical school at the University of California, San Diego.

During her years in San Diego, Ali was active in a number of volunteer efforts, from her clinic work just over the border in Tijuana, Mexico and on the Rincon Reservation, where she completed an experience in rural and reservation health in partnership with the Indian Health Council, to supporting her fellow students as a leader in the UCSD Christian Medical Fellowship.

Of her desire to become a family medicine physician, “I am enthusiastic to learn how to better use my faith to care for my patients and inform my training. I desire to be trained not only on how to practice excellent medicine but also on how to engage with the community.”

Rafael Torres, MD // PGY-2 ▼

As the son of immigrants, Rafael grew up in Florida only thinking he might accomplish his parents wishes of having a “better life”, but this all changed on a trip to the Dominican Republic with a church group, where he saw the impact doctors were able to have in some villages there. “I saw firsthand how a doctor could make an impact on people’s lives. What fascinated me was how familiar these doctors were with the people of this community and their various ailments. It took nearly a year of reflecting on this trip to begin to understand what that “better life” that my parents always spoke about was; not something tangible, rather, it was opportunity.”

After completing his undergraduate degree in Biology at Florida International University, Rafael completed medical school at Ross University, where he was involved with the Catholic Student Association and Latino Medical Student Association.

Benjamin Watt, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Ben is from western Pennsylvania, where he studied mathematics at Saint Vincent College before completing his medical degree at Penn State College of Medicine.

While in medical school, Ben served as a leader for the campus Christian Medical Society, a rural health fair outreach, and the 2023 edition of the Wild Onions humanities journal. He found rich community through church and with other adults living at the Paxton Ministries personal care home in Harrisburg, and he looks forward to growing in community in his new home.

Of his aspirations for residency, “I hope to grow as a whole person, cultivating hospitality, compassion, camaraderie, wisdom, and integrity, rooted in the life- and practice-changing love of Jesus. In my career, I will strive to serve patients no matter who they are, especially those living with barriers to medical care such as poverty, disabilities, or geography.”

Jenny Zheyuan Xu, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Jenny’s home has been California. She studied Molecular Environmental Biology at the University of California, Berkleley, and then attended the Sackler School of Medicine.

Jenny has used her fluency in Mandarin both in a volunteer capacity with the Migrant Workers Hotline to help Chinese workers with limited healthcare access, as well as a paid medical translator. She has also volunteered with clinics and hospitals in Israel and Mongolia, which exposed her to medicine in resource-poor countries and seeded her passion for global medicine. “God has been exceedingly gracious to me and have taken me to places I could never dream of. He has also given me Christian physicians as mentors and role models. I wish to respond to God’s love by following His example of loving people and bringing healing to the sick, since He is truly the Great Physician.”

Leira Lew, MD // PGY-2 ▼

Leira joined Lawndale FMR as a PGY-2 after completing her intern year in Arizona. She attended Calvin University as an undergraduate and then completed medical school at Michigan State University. Leira participated in a variety of volunteer activities to serve her community during college and medical school, including work with refugees, a mass vaccination clinic, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, distributing surplus baked goods, youth outreach work and supporting humanitarian medical work in the Philippines. Leira plays the drums, has a third Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo, and her research on the effectiveness of mental health interventions on refugees and immigrants was given an award at a global health conference in 2022.

Of her desires for residency, Leira writes “I want to keep learning about the historical context of my city and patients, engage in crucial conversations, and provide holistic and preventative healthcare to underserved communities – both in my neighborhood and abroad. I am passionate about family medicine because of its long-term relationships from cradle to grave, wide breadth of organ systems, and care for the whole person in the context of their community.”

Similolu Akintorin, MD // PGY-1 ▼

Simi grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, before completing her undergraduate degree in Economics at Harvard University and attending the USC Keck School of Medicine on a full-tuition merit scholarship. During medical school Simi volunteered teaching health topics to elementary school students, was involved in numerous research projects, and was the co-president of the Christian Student Fellowship.

Comparing an experience volunteering as an interpreter in Senegal with a summer internship here at Lawndale, Simi writes “I realized that much like my patients in Senegal, these people who lived less than 20 miles away from where I grew up were excluded from proper healthcare access merely due to their zip code. I decided then and there that I would use my medical career to benefit people's health no matter where they came from.” Simi has the proud distinction of being the first second-generation physician at Lawndale Christian Health Center, as her mother served as a pediatrician with our health center over twenty years ago.

Hope Chen, MD // PGY-1 ▼

Originally from San Diego, Hope studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate at MIT, and went on to medical school here in Chicago at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Before beginning medical school, Hope was a Fulbright Scholar, for which she served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State in Taiwan, where she also taught English. She has volunteered with multiple hospice programs over several years, including one established specifically to provide spiritual, physical, and medical care for homeless men with AIDS.

Reflecting on her attraction to family medicine, Hope writes “Just as the body is a complex organism to be nurtured and maintained, the family medicine physician's job is that of a gardener, tending the soil, providing water, and allowing adequate sunlight for life to thrive. And just as every plant requires different conditions to grow, each patient requires their own unique medical care to flourish.” Hope is also known for sneaking into our health center group photo at conferences before matching with the Lawndale FMR, in the hopes that it would ensure the inevitability of her joining our program.

Gabriela Cossyleon, MD // PGY-1 ▼

Originally from the southeast side of Chicago, Gaby attended Dominican University in the Chicago suburbs where she studied biochemistry, before going on to medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine. Gaby has worked as a barber and a supervising chemist with hazardous waste at a processing center. Among her extracurricular experiences, Gaby volunteered for several years with a prison ministry for women inmates at Cook County Jail, where she valued the opportunity to build trust and rapport with women who had grown up in some of the same neighborhoods where Gaby had her roots.

Seeing that “there is no place like Lawndale” as Gaby shared in some early correspondence with the Lawndale FMR, Gaby shared her own heart for “building deeper roots within the community and with the Love of Christ.”

Rachel Maibach, DO // PGY-1 ▼

Rachel studied neurobiology and physiology at Purdue University in her home state of Indiana, and then was off to Missouri for medical school at A.T. Still University, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Rachel served for three years as an executive board member of the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents, a national body that includes the student government of every College of Osteopathic Medicine. She was also the Vice President and President of the Student Government Association at her medical school, and has worked with junior high girls as a weekend church camp counselor for many years.

Rachel shares that such leadership experience “has helped focus my passion for justice into concrete skills in advocacy and policy development at the state and national level. I'm committed to honing these skills throughout my career and to advocating for my patients both within the clinic setting and more broadly within healthcare policy.”

Haakon Nelson, MD // PGY-1 ▼

Haakon completed his undergraduate degree at Liberty University in Virginia before returning to his home state of Ohio to enroll at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. During medical school, Haakon was a representative for the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, earned a graduate certificate in human nutrition, and participated in a longitudinal geriatric medicine track.

Reflecting on his student rotation at Lawndale, Haakon writes, “It was there that my calling was reaffirmed to holistically serve the marginalized, and despite the challenges inherent in this work, I am convinced there is immense joy in being there for our patients who are most vulnerable to falling through the cracks of the system.”

Tiffany Pariva, MD // PGY-1 ▼

Tiffany studied microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics as an undergraduate at UCLA, and then went to the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, before leaving her home state of California to join us here in Chicago. While volunteering with a street medicine program, Tiffany was involved in developing a program to provide eye care and eyeglasses to the homeless population in San Bernardino. She also volunteered with a group from her church at a homeless shelter in Riverside, worked with pregnant teens as San Bernadino high schools, and with a community health center in Los Angeles.

These and other experiences drove Tiffany to research physician management of adverse childhood experiences and social determinants of health to improve screening methods to identify high risk populations. She writes “this research and my clinical experiences have shown me the power of social risk factors in determining a patients' overall health and has taught me the role of advocacy a physician has, especially for those most vulnerable in a society. In the future I hope to advocate for my patient's health through further research and education.”