Meet our Faculty
Meet the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency Program Faculty
Nereida Esparza, MD
Program Director
I was born in Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents. My family moved to Berwyn in the latter half of my childhood, and I lived in this community for 28 years. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago and stayed on for medical school at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. I decided to return to Berwyn to complete my Family Medicine training at the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency Program as well as a one-year Women’s Health Fellowship. After my fellowship, I joined the core clinical faculty and have enjoyed being part of the MacNeal family since 2010.
My career at MacNeal has evolved and always with the primary focus of working with residents. During the first part of my journey, I focused on curriculum, recruitment, and community outreach. For many years, I served as Director of Curriculum. I was also co-director of recruitment and our residency’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, Advocacy and Inclusion (JEDAI) Committee. My clinical interests include women's health, obesity medicine, and chronic care management. I am also the medical consultant of our clinic's Reach Out and Read program. In July of 2025, I accepted the responsibility of being Program Director. I look forward to continuing my career in this leadership role in the place I have called home for so many years.
Being a bicultural and bilingual provider, I continue to have strong ties to the Berwyn community and love to work with the diverse population of MacNeal's service area. I currently reside in the southwest suburbs with my husband, our two energetic boys and our pet dog Snoopy. I love this community and continue to enjoy watching the many changes it has undergone in the 30+ years I have lived and worked here. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my large extended family, traveling as much as possible, watching the Chicago Bears play football, reading a great book, swimming, or working on arts and crafts at home. I hope to continue to provide exceptional medical care to the community in which I grew up and lead future generations of excellent family medicine physicians.
Bobby Chan, MD
Associate Program Director/FMC Center Director
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where I attended the University of Illinois in Chicago for both my undergraduate and medical degrees. Flames for life! Then I came to MacNeal to complete my family medicine residency training. I was fortunate enough to serve as one of the chief residents and became interested in teaching (and hearing myself talk), paving the way for me to join the faculty upon graduation.
In addition to my usual faculty duties, I oversee the inpatient adult medicine, ICU and pediatric ER rotations. I have also held the role of residency clinic Medical Director for the past decade. Over the years, on the hospital side, I have served on the Medical Executive, Family Medicine Quality Assurance and Graduate Medical Education Committees.
My personal interests include hospital medicine, diabetes and obesity management. When not lurking under the piles of paper on/under my desk or sending reminders about outstanding open charts, most of my time is spent with my family and being Daddy to my 2 little boys (current ages 3 & 5 years old). I'm enjoying reliving all my favorite Disney movies thru my kids. When not juggling their schedules and trying to keep them occupied, I will still watch everything and anything else I can find streaming. Latest interest has been Mayday: Air Disaster (aka Air Crash Investigations), given the parallels between aviation and medical safety.
After living in Chicago for the past 20 years, I finally moved back to my roots in the burbs. No more parallel parking! I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of the MacNeal family for 19 years and look forward to many more.
Eugene Lee, MD
Associate Program Director
I was born and raised in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. I went to Boston University for undergrad and medical school. Attempting to make my way back to Midwest, led me to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for my Family Medicine Residency, where I stayed for an Academic Integrative Medicine Fellowship. During fellowship, I became a certified yoga teacher and certified guided imagery practitioner. As an allopath I have taken CME in osteopathy and have utilized these skills for my patients. My integrative background makes me comfortable with herbs and supplements, lifestyle medicine, other systems of healing, and mind-body therapies.
After fellowship, I returned home to Chicago and joined the Family Medicine Department at Loyola. At the Stritch SOM, I worked on the wellness curriculum, created electives in narrative medicine and LGBTQ+ medicine, taught integrative medicine, and mentored medical students. I missed resident education though, and so I joined the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency. I chose MacNeal because of the amazingly talented and diverse faculty and residents. At the residency I help to coordinate reflection groups / self care / help the resident social chairs, lead the resident research and quality projects, and help residents on their practice management and population health rotation.
My medical interests include LGBTQ+ care, adolescent health, integrative medicine, office procedures, and resident education (having presented at conferences on the use of herbal escape rooms, table top role playing games, and multimedia in medical education). I speak Spanish, food related Mandarin, and basic ASL, Japanese, French, and Italian. I live with my partner in the suburbs and commute to work, so often finish at least 1 audiobook a week. I'm excited to meet you and help you accomplish your career and life goals!
Christopher Gozali, DO
Associate Program Director/ Director of Curriculum
I was born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. I attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for undergrad with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Loyola University Chicago for graduate school where I earned my M.S. in Physiology. After some time spent working at Hines VA Hospital in clinical research, I attended medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine. It was there I met my wife, Eleanor, and once we finished our time on the East Coast, we decided to return to the Midwest and were fortunate to couples match at MacNeal Family Medicine Residency program, eventually becoming co-chief residents. After the completion of residency, I continued my time here at MacNeal with the Faculty Development Fellowship run by Dr. Foley. After a great fellowship which included the birth of our daughter, I happily accepted a position as core clinical faculty for the MacNeal FMRP to continue working with the amazing faculty and residents.
My professional and clinical interests include preventative care, osteopathic manipulative techniques, medical education and all types of clinic procedures from OMT to shave biopsies. I also oversee our didactic curriculum.
Outside of medicine, my interests include comic books, video games, fantasy football, being a fan of Chicago sports (a big source of grief), and enjoying and exploring the wonders of parenthood with our baby daughter Lilah.
Yvonne T. Murphy, MD
Department Chair/ Chair of GMEC
I grew up in Northwest Indiana and then went downstate to Indiana University for my undergraduate degree in biology with a minor in psychology. Subsequently, I headed east to the University of Rochester in upstate New York for medical school, residency, and a two-year fellowship. In medical school, I was taught by George Engel, the physician who wrote the original paper on the biopsychosocial model of care. My residency was community-based at Highland Hospital and my fellowship focused on family therapy and faculty development.
I’ve been part of the MacNeal faculty since 2001. My passions are creating excellent residency education, teaching behavioral medicine & doctor-patient communication skills, and helping residents develop skills in maintaining their own wellbeing. My goal is to teach residents the skills they need to help patients feel better. This includes a mix of both evidence-based medical therapies and interpersonal skills. I have developed an entire curriculum that is used at Family Medicine residency programs throughout the country to teach key communication skills. I also develop and implement curricula in physician wellbeing, patient safety, psychopharmacology, and resident assessment and remediation.
I love working at MacNeal and being part of the residency program. I also love practicing full-spectrum family medicine. I practiced OB for 10 years and still do prenatal care, newborn care, many women’s health and other procedures as well as enjoying my complex geriatric patients and providing end-of-life care. It is my privilege to care for three generations of some families in our practice.
When I’m not at work, I love to walk in the woods, visit family and friends, or relax with my husband who is a retired neurologist. I am an avid environmentalist. I drive an electric car powered by wind energy, reuse or recycle everything, and eat a vegetarian (& sometimes vegan) diet. I look forward to sharing my passion for Family Medicine with you.
Alina Merrill, DO
Director of Osteopathic Education
After completing a residency in family medicine at Beth Israel in New York City, I worked at an underserved community clinic in Chicago for three years practicing full-spectrum family medicine including obstetrics. I have always enjoyed teaching and tutoring and working with learners and was even a substitute teacher in my hometown of San Diego.
I studied medicine at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and was a chief resident in the family medicine residency program at Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Medicine in New York City. I now hold the position of Director of Osteopathic Education at MacNeal. I love the variety of my job in the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency program. On any given day, you may find me teaching a group of residents on labor and delivery, leading an osteopathic hands-on workshop, or supervising a wide variety of procedures in our clinic from toenail removals to epidermal cyst excisions to IUD placements or endometrial biopsies in our clinic at MacNeal. I also really enjoy learning from the wide cultural diversity of patients and staff that we have at MacNeal. I continue to practice obstetrics and have a passion for reproductive health. I speak both Russian and Spanish.
On days off, if my nose is not buried in a book, you may either find me crossfitting or in Oak Park hanging out with my family swimming, ice skating, bowling or playing tennis. Since growing up in San Diego, I continue to worship the outdoors. On vacation, when I am not sharing a drink and a meal with family and friends, you may find me skiing, snowboarding, hiking, boating, kayaking or convincing others to join me playing a new boardgame.
Edward C. Foley, MD
Faculty Development Fellowship Director
I was born and raised in Chicago where I attended the University of Chicago for both my undergraduate and medical degrees. I completed a residency in family medicine at the Rush-Christ Family Medicine Program where I became interested in teaching and served as chief resident. To pursue this interest in teaching, I completed a two-year fellowship in family medicine faculty development at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh, where I also obtained an MPH degree in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.
Before coming to MacNeal in 2000, I served as faculty at two family medicine residency programs and was the founding program director of the Rush-Copley Family Medicine Residency program in Aurora, IL.
In addition to my usual faculty duties, I oversee the scholarly activity projects of the residents, the geriatric rotation, journal club and the house call program along with Drs. Lo, Merrill, Ralston, and Yellayi. I started and direct the faculty development fellowship here at MacNeal. On the hospital side, I have served on the Medical Executive Committee and currently am the Chair of the MacNeal Multidisciplinary Peer Review Committee. I also am a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee.
My special interests include evidence-based medicine/information mastery, preventive health care, geriatrics, house calls and research.
I live in Wheaton with my wife. I have a daughter, a son-in-law and three grandchildren who live nearby in Winfield and a son and daughter-in-law who live in Naperville. I play handball year round, ride my bike for exercise weather permitting and dabble in stamp collecting, model railroading and sports memorabilia for relaxation.
Tamajah Jordan, MD
Core Faculty
I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a BS in Biology. I always knew that I wanted to work with underserved patients in a primary care setting. I explored my interest during my clinical years at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. I completed my Family Medicine residency at the Ventura County Medical Center in California and served as a chief resident. I embraced the Latino community and worked with my colleagues annually to provide free health screenings at the local farmers' market and honed my medical Spanish skills.
After residency, I completed the PCC Community Wellness Maternal Child Health Fellowship in Oak Park, Illinois and later served as a co-director of the program. I was blessed to also serve as site medical director of the federally qualified health center where I cared for my patients during that time. Many of them followed me to MacNeal when I accepted the core faculty position in 2017, so I always have a full clinic schedule and am honored that they continue to see me.
I enjoy being a faculty member of our program because I get to teach amazing residents and students while still providing full scope primary care to patients from a plethora of ethnic backgrounds. Dr. Esparza and I started the J.E.D.A.I. (Justice-Equity-Diversity-Advocacy-Inclusivity) Council in 2020. We aim to support our FM residents, recruit diversely, and provide education to the community. I also work on our hospital-wide inclusivity efforts. You may see me in clinic on 4th Wednesdays in my Walk with a Doc t-shirt since I am a faculty leader of our chapter.
The MacNeal Family Medicine Residency played a major role in how I met my husband because a former resident whom he supervised while working as a Pediatric hospitalist introduced us! We love to watch movies – especially anything DC or Marvel. Our dog, Jack Jordan, is my bully pit baby and he loves meeting new people, so get ready! We live near Rate Field, and the White Sox win every time we go to a game. And, yes, I will always be a New Orleans Saints fan. When I am not teaching or seeing patients, you will find me playing tennis with the Slice Girls at XS Tennis on the South Side. My goal is to travel to the four Grand Slam tournaments to watch the pros.
Davis Yang, MD
Core Faculty
I’m a Chicago native and have lived on the North Shore of Chicago since first grade. I have always been drawn to both health sciences and technology. I studied biomedical engineering at Northwestern and medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In 1994, I made the fateful decision to train in family medicine at MacNeal Hospital, and I’ve been here ever since.
Over the past 31 years, I’ve had the privilege to work in the MacNeal family medicine residency in many roles: as an intern, chief resident, faculty member, FMC Center Director, and most recently as Program Director for 14 years. I am grateful to continue working in the residency and to support the program and the people who make it special.
I love learning new things and sharing what I learn. Over the years, that’s led me to explore medical informatics, medical acupuncture, POCUS, and lifestyle medicine. Just as my mentors supported me, I hope to encourage our residents and faculty to follow their interests and never stop growing.
Outside of work, you can often find me tinkering, modding, or trying to repair or improve something, especially if it involves circuits, automated systems, or tools. I still live in Evanston with my family. Two of my kids were delivered at MacNeal Hospital by our family medicine residents.
Mathew Lo, DO
Core Faculty
I was born and raised in sunny California where I attended the University of California, Merced for my BS in Biological Sciences and met my wonderful wife, Cecilia. I have always felt a strong pull to medicine, but took some time after my undergraduate career to explore other aspects of the medical field. I worked at a genetic screening company and with children with autism spectrum disorder while completing the Pre-Health Professionals Post-Baccalaureate program at California State University, East Bay. Volunteering at a free clinic in my hometown of Tracy really solidified my role in medicine and my passion for service to the medically underserved.
That pursuit and curiosity eventually brought me to Chicagoland, where I attended Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. My passion for working with the underserved continued to flourish while rotating through various clinics and hospitals in Chicagoland. I rotated at MacNeal as a student, albeit not with the Family Medicine Team, but fell in love with the patient population. I loved the opportunity to help the Spanish-speaking community while getting to learn more Spanish along the way. I was fortunate to complete my residency here at MacNeal FMRP and served as one of the Chief Residents. I enjoyed my time at MacNeal Family Medicine and working with the amazing patient population so much that I took the opportunity to continue my career with MacNeal by staying on as clinical faculty.
Medically, I enjoy the full spectrum of Family Medicine including prenatal care, office-based procedures and osteopathic-manipulative medicine. During my training I developed an interest in medical education and training, POCUS, EMR optimization and home visits.
Outside of medicine, my wife and I enjoy traveling and culinary adventures. Chicago is a top food city and we have made a point to take advantage of it. I am an avid soccer fan, particularly Arsenal FC and Chicago Fire FC. I also enjoy dabbling in amateur photography. We like to spend time outdoors with our dog, Peanut, who is heavily featured on our camera reels next to all our culinary adventures.
Sirisha Yellayi, DO
Core Faculty
I grew up in Michigan, and went to Michigan State University for both undergrad and medical school (Go Green!). I then came to MacNeal for residency, where I was a chief resident, and then stayed to complete the Faculty Development Fellowship. I started out my faculty career at Northwestern McGaw Family Medicine Residency at Humboldt Park, where I practiced full spectrum family medicine including obstetrics and inpatient adult medicine. I then had the opportunity to rejoin the MacNeal Family Residency as core faculty. My clinical interests include pretty much everything (like a true family doc) but I really enjoy inpatient medicine, procedures, OMT, women’s health/obstetrics, and obesity management. I also really enjoy working with residents, and find it to be the most rewarding part of my job.
My husband and I live in Chicago with our dog Loki. I’ve been an Indian classical dancer for over 20 years, and still love to dance and perform whenever I am able. I also love to read, and was actually an English major back in college. I’m excited to be back with the MacNeal family and can’t wait to share my love for Family Medicine with you!
Brian M. Ralston, MD
Clinical Faculty/Sports Medicine
I grew up in Virginia and have called Chicago home since 1995. I did my undergraduate work at MIT, attended medical school at the University of Virginia, and completed my family medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I came to MacNeal in 1994 as a sports medicine fellow and have been part of the MacNeal family ever since, serving as community-based clinical faculty for the residency and lecturer for the sports medicine fellowship. I also served as President of the MacNeal Medical Staff.
My clinical interests center on family medicine and sports medicine, with a particular focus on prolotherapy (dextrose injection therapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain). I practice prolotherapy in our residency clinic and have conducted quality improvement research on its outcomes in the primary care setting.
Outside of MacNeal, I volunteer as teaching faculty at a free medical clinic in Chicago. I serve as Board President and Medical Director of the Honduras program for the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation (HHPF), a nonprofit that sponsors annual medical service-learning trips to Honduras and Mexico, treating underserved patients and teaching local physicians. I have traveled to Honduras with HHPF more than a dozen times over 30 years. I am also co-author of two books for expectant and new fathers: The Caveman's Pregnancy Companion and Caveman's Guide to Baby's First Year.
When I'm not working, you'll find me on a golf course, playing guitar, reading (I'm a longtime member of a Chicago book club approaching its 60th year), or traveling. My mother is from County Tipperary, and I visit family in Ireland regularly.
Enrique J. Blanco-Martinez, MD
Community Faculty
I grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and attended the University of Central Florida before moving to Chicago for medical school at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. After medical school, I completed my Family Medicine residency at Ascension Saint Mary in Chicago, where I served as Chief Resident. My interest in medical education led me to the MacNeal Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship, where taught and practiced alongside the residents and faculty who serve the Berwyn community.
What drew me to Family Medicine was the opportunity to care for patients of all ages and build lasting relationships with families over time. My clinical interests include full-spectrum Family Medicine, including outpatient primary care, inpatient medicine, prenatal care, labor and delivery, office procedures, and home visits. I enjoy the variety that Family Medicine offers and the ability to meet patients where they are in every stage of life.
As a native Spanish speaker, a large part of my clinical practice involves caring for Spanish-speaking patients in Berwyn and throughout the Chicago area. I am passionate about reducing language barriers in healthcare and helping patients receive care in the language they feel most comfortable speaking. I serve as the site preceptor for the residency's Medical Spanish elective and enjoy teaching learners how language and cultural understanding can strengthen the physician-patient relationship.
One of my favorite parts of academic medicine is working with residents and medical students. As a recent residency graduate, I enjoy sharing practical lessons from training and helping learners develop confidence in outpatient medicine, inpatient care, and obstetrics. You may work with me in the Family Medicine Center, where I precept residents.
Outside of medicine, I enjoy trying new restaurants, cooking, basketball, hiking, movies, and video games."
Mithi Janakiram, MD
Community Faculty
I spent a large part of my youth moving to various places across the United States secondary to my father’s job. Finally in middle school, I told my parents that we needed to stay put. This was in the midwest in a small town near Cleveland, Ohio. They listened. There I went on to do my combined degree BS/MD at NEOMED. After completing this program I knew the best place to practice Family Medicine would be the Midwest. I wanted a bigger city though. I participated in the couples match with my husband. We chose the greatest city in the midwest :Chicago! We decided to start our new home here in 2003.
After completing my residency at MacNeal Hospital, I knew that I wanted to stay within the organization. I chose to be an employed doctor through MacNeal in their most southwestern area, Bridgeview, Illinois. I now live very close to this diverse area. I also knew that I loved teaching eager residents. I started working part-time at the residency program one half day week. That was in 2006. I haven’t changed my mind. It’s still such a joy bringing my “real world” experiences back to the residency.
In addition to seeing all ages of patients. I truly enjoy diabetes management, adolescent screenings as well as women’s preventive care. When I am not at work you can find me reading, eating and exercising when I am not with my three wonderful daughters.