Third-Year Residents

Kourosh Eshafi, MD

Dr. Eshafi is a graduate of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Iran and completed two years of internship in university hospitals prior to immigrating to Canada.  He lived in Vancouver for three years, earning a clinical trainee license and worked in this capacity at Dundarave Family Care Center in West Vancouver for more than a year.  He got married just before moving to the United States and starting his residency with Ghent Family. He is a great fan of nature and enjoys swimming, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. His hobbies include music and computers.  He also plays piano, tanbur and setar.  He believes he has Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)!

Nimfa Gabriana, MD

Dr. Gabriana is a graduate of University of the East in the Philippines. She practiced emergency and primary care medicine until 2001.  After arriving in the United States, she worked as a registered nurse in New York and New Jersey areas prior to entering residency.

She enjoys traveling, cooking, singing, playing with her baby girl and her 3-year-old son and spending time with friends and family.

 Masoumeh Kiamanesh, MD

Dr. Kiamanesh is a graduate of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in Iran. While in Iran, she practiced emergency medicine and primary care medicine, and she was the team physician for the Women's Physical Education Organization of Guilan Rasht.  She lived in California and worked as the Director of Medical Operations at Cardiovascular Institute in Encino prior to starting her residency here.  She enjoys hiking, bike riding, camping and coaching youth track.

Trey Leaven, MD

Dr. Trey Leaven is a graduate of Eastern Virginia Medical School.  A Norfolk, Virginia native and University of Virginia undergrad, he returns to residency here at Ghent Family Medicine.  Dr. Leaven is interested in pursuing a sports medicine fellowship upon completion of his family medicine training with us.

Sarkis Malkhassian, MD
Dr. Malkhassian is a graduate of the University of Baghdad in Iraq. He completed almost two years of general surgical residency in Iraq before leaving that country to live in Lebanon.  While in Iraq and Lebanon, Dr. Malkhassian practiced primary care medicine, emergency medicine, surgery and internal medicine.  He came to the U.S. and lived in California where he worked as a medical and health services manager of a convalescent hospital and nursing facility, at the same time serving as a research fellow at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.  He enjoys learning languages, music, swimming and fishing.

Elizabeth Villarico, MD

Dr. Villarico graduated from The University of the East in the Philippines, where she also completed two residencies--the first in family medicine, and the second in dermatology. Her practice in the Philippines included inpatient and outpatient medicine and dermatology. She worked as a registered nurse at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC prior to starting her residency with us here.  Her hobbies and interests include preparing Pan-Asian cuisine, reading interesting books and articles, watching movies and telenovelas, and surfing the internet.

Mala Ashok, MD
Dr. Ashok comes to us having completed a preliminary internal medicine internship at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York.   She earned her medical doctorate at Nawabshah Medical College, Pakistan.  She likes traveling, making new friends, and listening to music.

Katherine Cadacio, MD

Dr. Cadacio earned her medical doctorate at Far Eastern University in the Philippines.  She completed an OB/GYN residency and practiced OB/GYN in the Philippines prior to coming to the United States.  Here in the U.S., she worked as an ICU R.N. at Kaiser Permanente in Harbor City, California prior to joining our residency program.

Olga Elliott, MD

Dr. Elliott graduated from Russian State Medical University and completed a pediatric residency there.  She practiced as a pediatrician in Russia before coming to the United States.  Her U.S. experience includes substantial time spent in internal medicine / primary care at the Charlotte Community Health Clinic in North Carolina.  Olga's interests vary such as road trips exploring areas from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina as well as traveling to other national sites and cities, gardening, hiking, and  exercising. She is also very family-oriented and enjoys spending quality time with her husband and daughter.

Elisa LaBenne, MD
Dr. LaBenne is a graduate of Loma Linda University.  Her husband is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and is stationed here in the area.  She is a seasoned and familiar face at our program, having completed elective rotations with us as an M4.  A veteran of medical mission work (in the picture, she is with her husband in Cameroon), her other interests include being outdoors, canoeing, horseback riding, reading, traveling and Indian food.  

Julia Shrivastava, MD

Dr. Shrivastava is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. As an undergraduate, she studied Behavioral Neuroscience at Harvard University, where she graduated with honors. After completing medical school, Dr. Shrivastava moved to Virginia with her husband, who is a resident physician in the U.S. Navy. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, working out, traveling, and playing with her dogs.

 Anjali Shukla, MD

Dr. Shukla completed both medical school and a general surgery residency at B.J. Medical College, India, and practiced there as a general surgeon prior to emigrating to the U.S.   She has lived in northern Virginia with her family where she had a number of externships and observerships in family medicine and internal medicine.  Dr. Shukla loves to travel and to visit new places and countries.  She likes to play tennis and volleyball in her free time.

First-Year Residents

Sheena Anderson, DO

Dr. Anderson graduated from West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.  Born in California, as an undergrad, she went to George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and to Wright State University in Dayton, OH.  She enjoys participating in her Indian heritage by attending events, cooking and performing dances.  She likes to work out and stay active by going to the gym, hiking and biking.  She enjoys reading for pleasure, as well as creating writing. 

April Foster, DO

Dr. April Foster is a Florida native.  She earned her Doctorate of Osteopathy and her Master of Public Health degrees at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  During her undergraduate years, she earned her B.S. in exercise physiology at Florida State University.   She loves spending time with her husband and dogs.  Her outdoor activities include running, biking, hiking and sailing.  Mission work is one of her biggest passions.  She loves to dance, cook, bake, interior design, antique shop and watch Florida State football.  She loves being involved in community activities and staying involved and committed to her church.

Nail Miakhel, MD 

Dr. Miakhel is of Afghani heritage, born in Peshawar, Pakistan.  He graduated from St. Matthews University School of Medicine on Grand Cayman Island. He began his undergraduate studies at Northern Virginia Community College, earning an A.S. in computer science, and completed them at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where he earned his B.S. in biology. He enjoys sports, travel and watching movies. He has recently participated in a competitive cricket league and managed a club.

Olusola Kendra Onayemi, MD

Dr. Onayemi was born in Lagos, Nigeria and graduated from Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences. There, she served as secretary of her medical school yearbook committee and also for fund-raising committees for medical outreach to underserved areas of southern Nigeria.  In recent years, she and her family have lived in Massachussetts, where she worked at a primary care medical practice and gained additional exposure to the healthcare system in various other settings.  She enjoys workinig with children, singing, cooking her native dishes and spending time with her family. 

Jayashree Payappagoudar, MD

Dr. Payappagoudar was born in Koppal, India.  She graduated from Bangalore Medical College in India, and went on to residency training in the United Kingdom, earning a diploma in sexual and reproductive health.  She enjoys watching movies, cooking, traveling and exploring local cultural and culinary events with her husband.  She likes socializing with family and friends, listening to instrumental music, gardening, photography, yoga and fitness trainiing.  She particiates in volunteer work and believes in giving back to the society.