Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence

John Budrow, MD
VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow (July 2025 - current), Baltimore, MD

Dr. Budrow is from Wilbraham, MA. He attended New York Medical College and completed neurology residency at Columiba University.

Avinash (Avi) Kolli, MD
VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow (July 2025 - current), Portland, OR

Avi is originally from Peoria, Illinois. He completed his undergraduate studies at University of Iowa and medical school at Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He completed neurology residency at University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He chose a MS/Neuroimmunology fellowship as he wanted to be in a field that closely intermixes inpatient/outpatient care. He also loves the longitudinal relationships you develop taking care of people living with MS and am interested in the rapidly expanding field of autoimmune encephalitis. During fellowship he hopes to gain more experience with the acute and chronic management of autoimmune and paraneoplastic encephalitis, work in medical and resident education, and participate in research studies related to new radiographic or ancillary testing used in aiding the diagnosis of demyelinating conditions as well as studies involved in how diet/exercise impacts MS. Outside of work he loves the outdoors, basketball, his dog Buddy, and exploring new food!

Hunter Mitchell, MD
VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow (July 2024 - current), Baltimore, MD

Dr. Mitchell is a graduate University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) - Memphis, College of Medicine (2019) and UTHSC - Memphis Adult Neurology Residency (2023). She became interested in both imaging and neuroimmunology during residency. Prior to coming to the VA Maryland HCS for a MS/Neuroimmunology Clinical Research fellowship, she completed a fellowship in Neuroimaging at Dent Neurologic Institute in Buffalo, NY (2024). She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). 

Michelle Tsai, MD
VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow (July 2025 - current), Portland, OR

Michelle grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and attended medical school at University of Texas Southwestern. She completed Neurology residency at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. Her interest in MS and Neuroimmunology began in residency after seeing the significant improvement in quality of life that can come from accurate diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. During fellowship, she aims to gain further experience with nuances associated with treating patients with these conditions, as well as participation in clinical trials. Outside of medicine, her interests include Pilates and reading a mix of fiction and nonfiction. 

Graduated Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence Fellows

2024 - 2025, Richa Thakkar, DO (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2024 - 2025, Benjamin Bird, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2023 - 2025, Yesenia Enriquez-Gonzalez, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2023 - 2025, Jacob Perlman, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2023 - 2025, Erin Mistretta, PhD (National MS Society Fellow) Seattle, WA
2022 - 2024, Carolina Garcia Garcia, DO, MS (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2022 - 2024, Cole Crowson, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2022 - 2023, W. Dan Chapman, DO, PharmD (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2021 - 2023, Vicky Chen, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2021 - 2023, Kayla Martin, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2021 - 2023, Tamar Harel, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2021 - 2023, Yohance Allette, MD, PhD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2021 - 2022, Derek McFaul, DO (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2020 - 2021, X. Maria Xiang, MD (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2019 - 2022, Lindsey Knowles, PhD (National MS Society Fellow) Seattle, WA
2019 - 2022, Christopher Hollen, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2019 - 2021, Tyrell Simkins, DO, PhD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2019 - 2021, Mark Leekoff, MD, MPH (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2018 - 2021, Jessica Rice, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2018 - 2020, Ryan Mitzell, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2017 - 2020, Elizabeth Silbermann, MD (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2017 - 2020, Lindsey Wooliscroft, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2017 - 2018, Wei Zheng, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2016 - 2019, Anne Arewasikporn, PhD (National MS Society Fellow) Seattle, WA
2016 - 2018, Michael Lane, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2016 - 2017, Shannon Seals, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2016 - 2017, Samer Saleh, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2015 - 2017, Frank Bittner, DO (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2015 - 2017, Meena Kannan, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2015 - 2017, Meredith Frederick, MD (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2014 - 2016, Ghadah Altowaijri, MD (Oregon Health & Science University Fellow) Portland, OR
2014 - 2016, Abbey Hughes, PhD (National MS Society Fellow) Seattle, WA
2014 - 2015, Edward Gettings, DO (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2013 - 2015, Lucas McCarthy, MD, MSc (University of Washington Fellow, Biomedical Informatics) Seattle, WA
2013 - 2014, Narineh Hartoonian, PhD (National MS Society Fellow) Seattle, WA
2013 - 2014, Amanda Farag, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2013 - 2014, Aruna Ganesh Geeta, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2012 - 2013, Aram Zabeti, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2011 - 2012, Sean Burke, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2011 - 2013, Shannon Overs, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2010 - 2012, Diana Vargas, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2009 - 2011, Andrew Solomon, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2009 - 2011, Troy Desai, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2009 - 2010, Christina Hughes, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Seattle, WA
2009 - 2010, Rebecca Spain, MD, MSPH (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2008 - 2009, Michelle Cameron, MD, PT, MCR (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2007 - 2008, Olukemi Ajayi, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2006 - 2009, Edward Kim, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2006 - 2007, Oh Sangjin, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Baltimore, MD
2005 - 2007, Maureen Carney, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Seattle, WA
2004 - 2006, Laura Schaben, MD (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2003 - 2007, Jesus Lovera, MD, MsPH (VA Office of Academic Affiliations Fellow) Portland, OR
2001 - 2004, Vijayshree Yadav, MD, MCR (VA Research Enhancement Award Fellow) Portland, OR
2001 - 2003, Lynne Shinto, ND (National MS Society Fellow) Portland, OR
2001 - 2003, Bridget Bagert, MD, MPH (VA Research Enhancement Award Fellow) Portland, OR