The STS Looking to the Future Scholarship program is a best-in-class education and workforce development program that helps general surgery residents and medical students pursue careers in cardiothoracic surgery. STS works directly with the country’s most talented residents and students from diverse backgrounds and provides education and mentorship to help them navigate this exciting and complex surgical specialty. 

The primary goal of the scholarship is to provide mentorship and exposure for medical students and general surgery residents interested in pursuing careers in cardiothoracic surgery.

Since 2006, 845 aspiring cardiothoracic surgeons have received LTTF scholarships.

2025 LTTF Medical Student Recipients

Neel Aligave, McGovern Medical School at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)

DivineMercy Bakare, University of Minnesota Medical School

Mamadou Balde, Dell Medical School

Kamilla Beisenova, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Lindsey Brinkley, University of Florida College of Medicine

Kianna Brown, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba

Julianna Buchwald, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Troy Coaston, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles

Jad Elharake, The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Sonia Asonganyi Eyong, University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences

Shubham Gulati, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Alan Gutierrez, Yale School of Medicine

Samuel Mitchell Hoenig, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Heather Holman, Medical University of South Carolina

Grace Howell, University of Mississippi Medical Center

Cameran Jones, University of Missouri - Kansas City

Sangmin Kim, Medical College of Georgia - Augusta

Tyler Lackland, Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Crystal Li, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Bahar Masoudian, Touro University California

Jasmine McLeish, University of Rochester School of Medicine

Danika Meldrum, University of Michigan Medical School 

Andrew Morse, McGovern Medical School at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)

Mayowa Oturoko, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Shubh Patel, University of Toronto

Gurnoordeep Pawar, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine - East Lansing

Alyssa Powers, East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine

Estefania Rivera, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Sujay Shankar, Texas A&M College of Medicine - ENMED Program

David Richard Woodson, Morehouse School of Medicine

2025 LTTF General Surgery Resident Recipients

Mohamed Abdulrahim, MD, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Elizabeth Bashian, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University

Mark Broadwin, MD, Lehigh Valley Health Network

Jinman Cai, MD, Carilion Clinic, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Celestino Castanon, MD, Louisiana State University Health Science Center–LSU New Orleans

Alexander Cong, MD, University of Hawaii

Paige DeBlieux, MD, UT Southwestern Dallas

Carlos Diaz-Rivera, MD, University of Puerto Rico

Mohamad El Moheb, MD, University of Virginia

Lukman Faniyi, MD, Cleveland Clinic Akron General

Lee Fuentes, MD, MBA, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

Rohin Gawdi, MD, Zucker SOM at Hofstra/Northwell–Harvard Medical School

Mayen Gonzalez, DO, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore

Arnar Ingason, MD, PhD, University of Vermont Medical Center

Andrew Keogan, MD, Creighton University, Phoenix

Stephany Kim, MD, Medical University of South Carolina

Vikram Krishna, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

John Kucera, MD, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Phoebe Miller, MD, MS, University of California San Francisco

Nicole Mott, MD, MSCR, University of Colorado

Vernon Obiakor, MD, Advocate Health Care

Jennifer Pan, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Christopher Pritting, MD, Bayhealth Medical Center

Kyle Prochno, MD, Houston Methodist Hospital

Kyla Rakoczy, MD, Johns Hopkins

Zena Saleh, MD, Cooper University Hospital

Sadia Tasnim, MD, MS, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Seth Wolf, MD, Duke University Medical Center / East Carolina University Medical Center

Kanhua Yin, MD, MPH, University of Missouri, Kansas City

Lindsey Young, MD, Mayo Clinic Rochester

2025 STS LTTF Scholarship Benefits

  • Complimentary registration for the 2025 STS Annual Meeting, January 24-26, 2025, in Los Angeles, CA
    • Scholars will be expected to arrive at the hotel on Thursday, January 23 by 5 p.m. PT and depart the meeting no earlier than 12 p.m. PT Sunday, January 26.
    • General Surgery residents: If you are selected for a scholarship, there will be no exceptions made to accommodate the ABSITE exam. Scholarship recipients are expected to make arrangements with their institutions to take the exam before/after attending the STS Annual Meeting.
  • A 3-night stay at an STS-designated hotel (check-in January 23, check-out January 26).
  • Participation in exclusive events. 
  • Reimbursement of up to $700 in related travel expenses. 
    • Scholars will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements (i.e., flights).
    • Expenses will be reimbursed after the meeting, which could take up to two months.
       

Eligibility

  • Medical students training at an institution in the United States or Canada
  • Clinical PGY1, PGY2, or PGY3 general surgery residents training at an institution in the United States or Canada
  • General surgery residents on dedicated research time who have not started their PGY4 clinical year training at an institution in the United States or Canada 

Priority is given to applicants who have not attended a national cardiothoracic surgery meeting or received another CT surgery meeting scholarship. Please do not apply if you have received any of the following scholarships: AATS Member for a Day or Medical Student Diversity Scholarships, STSA Brooks Scholarship, or WTS Carpenter, Thistlethwaite, or Annual Meeting Scholarships. 

Applications for the 2026 LTTF Scholarship will open in August 2025.

Questions?
Email Maureen Ewing.