As a future physician-innovator at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, your engineering-infused training will prepare you to be at the forefront of cutting edge medical innovation with the support our Medical Education Facilitators—four world-class educators who will walk hand-in-hand with you during your time at Carle Illinois. As a life-long learner and problem solver, you will be ready to tackle current unknowns in health care head-on.

One facilitator will lead your eight-student cohort providing support as you work through medical cases during your problem-based learning Basic Science integrated with Clinical, Engineering, and Professionalism (BiCEP) sessions. Each facilitator brings a rich background of research, teaching, technology, or medicine. They are committed to training students to become self-learners in the classroom in order to graduate as innovative problem-solvers in medicine. Hear from our Medical Education Facilitators in the video below.

Meet the Medical Education Facilitators

DR. KASHIF AHMAD, Ph.D.

Dr. Kashif Ahmad has taught a variety of medical and life science subjects including physiology, nutrition, biology, pharmacology, pathology and dermatology. With a M.D. and Ph.D., Ahmad has twelve years of international teaching experience in many countries including Singapore, U.K. and ten years in the United States. Ahmad embarked on his fourth degree in medical educational leadership, developing his teaching skills and leadership qualities as an educator. He has delivered formal lectures, led lab sessions, served as a facilitator in problem-based learning groups, and taught medical students and nurses in outpatient clinics. He has published in several scientific and education journals, and he has received several awards including the Memorial Gold Medal for his doctoral work and the Dr. Raymond B. Allen award for teaching.

Advice for students: “Enjoy life. You will have constant pressures of treating patients, and it will always be stressful. Always take a moment or two to make sure you catch enough sleep, exercise, and most importantly, spend time with your family and loved ones.”

OLIVIA COIADO, Ph.D.

Olivia Coiado is passionate about anything that involves education, innovation and technology. She holds a doctorate in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering and did her postdoctoral training from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she developed a new technology for cardiac therapy. She has 10 years of experience in education, mentoring students, and teaching engineering, biomedical engineering and medicine. She has experience at the professional level with ultrasound, health information technology, medical device, biomedical instrumentation, bioacoustics, animal models and cardiology research. She has published journal articles describing a new technology to pace the heart using ultrasonic pulses and presented her work at multiple ultrasound and biomedical conferences.

Advice for students: “Just have fun, and do your best.”

JAYA YODH, Ph.D.

Jaya Yodh has 20 years of professional experience which spans teaching, research, and administrative roles. She holds a doctorate in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University and was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Arizona State University. At Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, she was an Assistant/Associate Professor of Biochemistry and taught students in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician Assistant, and Biomedical Sciences Programs. At the University of Illinois, she has been primarily affiliated with the NSF Physics Frontiers Center for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC) serving dual roles as Research Assistant Professor and CPLC Director of Education and Outreach.  At Illinois, she has taught biochemistry and biophysics lab courses and directed the CPLC’s Physics of Living Cells Summer School. Her research efforts throughout her career have led to multiple publications investigating DNA repair enzymes, G-quadruplex, and chromatin systems using single-molecule biophysics tools.  

Advice for students: “My advice for students is to keep an open mind. Don’t be afraid. This is an innovative curriculum and a transformative curriculum. You are a part of this experience, and I think you should embrace it. Together we can turn you into a physician-innovator and change health care for the world.”

ROBERTO GALVEZ, Ph.D.

Roberto Galvez holds 10 years of teaching experience in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, cognitive neuroscience, molecular biology, behavioral neuroscience and learning and memory.  He holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign specializing in neuroscience, was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and had an active research laboratory for 8 years examining neuronal mechanisms of learning and memory and neurological disorders.  He has been recognized as an excellent educator through the Incomplete List of teachers Ranked as Excellent award at the University of Illinois, presented at multiple lectures and conferences, covering various topics in neuroscience, and has extensive local and national experience mentoring students on various educational and interpersonal issues.

Advice for students: “Enjoy yourself. Take advantage of the opportunities at the University of Illinois. There are so many great things to do in this town. Have fun with it. We very much want to make this an enjoyable experience for you.”