Health Professions Advisory Committee 2025-2026
Sesha Alluri
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/salluri
Ellen Garven
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/egarven
Ellen Garven is a Lecturer in the Biomedical Engineering Department. She has experience in academic research where she collaborated with clinicians on novel device designs and as an engineer working in the medical device industry. Dr. Garven enjoys helping students communicate technical ideas clearly and effectively, a vital skill for pre-health students bridging the gap between engineering, science, and patient care.”
Stephanie Hios
https://www.stevens.edu/page-right-nav/meet-the-team
Stephanie Hios is the Student Activities Coordinator in the Office of Undergraduate Student Life here at Stevens Institute of Technology. In this role, she advises a number of student organizations such as the Entertainment Committee, the Commuter Student Union, and the Transfer Student Association, to name a few. She advises all student organizations in their needs of putting on great events on campus. In addition, she is heavily involved in assisting the team with annual campus-wide and large-scale events and traditions. Lastly, Stephanie is the student life liaison to the professional organizations on campus, which includes the Stevens Health Professions Club. Stephanie used to serve as an Institutional Review Board (IRB) Administrator at Rutgers University. Prior to that, she had a career in the non-profit sector, specifically developing group homes and programming for adults with severe developmental and intellectual disabilities at an organization called Children’s Aid and Family Services. This allowed her to work with the Department of Health and Human Services as well as be an active part of the compliance for treatment plans for those individuals in their care.
Choudur Lakshminarayan
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/lchoudur
Jeffrey Lam
Jeffrey Lam is a Senior Academic Advisor and Staff Instructor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Stevens Institute of Technology. He is passionate about holistically advising students' academic plans and career aspirations while sharing his experiences as a former chemistry and pre-medical student himself. Jeffrey is pursuing an EdD at Johns Hopkins University School of Education and holds a MSEd in Higher Education from University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he conducted an independent study on medical school admissions and its effects on underrepresented student populations. Jeffrey applied his graduate research interests to his advising by developing a first-year seminar for chemistry and biology students to explore diverse career pathways and optimize their professional goals, and he is interested in building community partnerships to create new volunteer opportunities to promote access to the health professions for all students.
Donald Lombardi
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/dlombar1
Amy Mattare
My background is in psychology and education, and I’ve spent over 10 years working in higher education as an academic advisor. I currently advise both undergraduate and graduate students in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Stevens, and I’ve had the pleasure of supporting pre-health students for more than five years. I’m passionate about helping students build academic plans that fit both their degree requirements and their long-term goals, especially those pursuing pre-health pathways. I also enjoy discussing meaningful extracurriculars, leadership opportunities, and experiences that encourage personal and professional growth. Above all, I value getting to know students by listening to their goals, supporting their journey, and celebrating their milestones along the way.
Patricia Muisener (co-chair)
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/pmuisene
Samantha Muka
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/smuka
Professor Muka is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program in the school of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science. Her work looks at the history of marine science. Her first book Oceans under Glass: Tank Craft and the Sciences of the Sea (Chicago: 2022) examines the use of aquariums as modeling tools for understanding the submarine environment. Her current work examines the history of coastal infrastructure from 1940-present with an emphasis on waste management in marine spaces.
Dr. Muka has (2) master’s degrees in history of medicine (public health and gender and labor) and teaches courses for the medical humanities minor at Stevens. For HPAC, she enjoys helping students with interview prep and personal statement writing.
Kenneth Nilsen
Sarah Oldham (co-chair)
Sarah Oldham is the Director of Pre-Health Advising at Stevens Institute of Technology. In this role she works one-on-one with students considering the health professions, ensuring they take the correct pre-requisite courses, find the right programs, and have support and guidance through the application process. As co-chair of the Health Professions Advisory Committee, Sarah leads programming for current students and outreach to prospective students considering the pre-health path. Prior to this role, Sarah worked as an academic advisor at Columbia University. Sarah enjoys working with Stevens students from all three schools, helping them to recognize their strengths and serving as a sounding board in times of stress or doubt. Sarah lives in New York City but enjoys learning about all things New Jersey from her colleagues and students.
Lindsay Swindall
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/lswindal#general-information
Hello Pre-Health Students! I'm Dr. Swindall and I teach in HASS. I've been working with HPAC since about 2020 and I really enjoy helping students craft a narrative and find their voice in their personal statements for Health Professions applications. Writing is very dear to me and my writing has been published in many formats: books, different kinds of articles, an edited volume of historical documents, even creative non-fiction short stories. It's such a joy when students come back to me and say that their personal statement helped their application. I was thrilled when I once had a student tell me that the Dean of his medical school complimented his personal statement. This is an exciting part of your intellectual journey and I'd love to collaborate with you on your personal statement. Please feel free to reach out to me: [email protected].
Brunella Taddeo
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/btaddeo
Dr. Brunella Taddeo is a Senior Lecturer in Biology in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Stevens Institute of Technology, within the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering & Science. At Stevens, she teaches foundational and upper-level biology courses, including introductory biology, genetics, and microbiology, with a strong emphasis on active learning and hands-on laboratory experiences.
Dr. Taddeo earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences and her Ph.D. in Microbiology & Epidemiology from La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. She completed postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where her research focused on the role of HIV-1 integrase in viral replication under the mentorship of Drs. William Haseltine and Joseph Sodroski. She subsequently expanded her work in virology at the University of Chicago as part of Prof. Bernard Roizman’s group, investigating how Herpes Simplex Virus-1 shuts down host cellular replication machinery. Her research career resulted in more than 36 peer-reviewed publications.
After relocating to the New York City area in 2012, Dr. Taddeo shifted her professional focus toward education, bringing her research expertise into the classroom. She taught biology and microbiology at several NYC institutions, including Mercy College, New York City College of Technology, and Hostos Community College, before joining Stevens. While she is no longer engaged in active bench research, she actively integrates her scientific background into lab-based and project-driven courses, helping students develop experimental design skills, data analysis competence, and scientific reasoning.
Dr. Taddeo is deeply committed to mentoring pre-health students. She supports them through coursework aligned with professional school expectations, skills-focused laboratory training, academic advising, and writing thoughtful letters of recommendation grounded in sustained classroom and lab interactions. She also contributes to curriculum development and initiatives aimed at improving continuity and rigor across the biology program.
Hongjun Wang
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/hwang2
Kenny Wong
https://www.stevens.edu/profile/kwong2