About us

Ivana Asencio, MD

Dr. Trinidad-Asencio was born and raised in sunny Miami, Florida. She attended Florida International University where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biology. She received her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in South Bend, Indiana where she was first introduced to the harsh Midwest winters. During medical school, she volunteered at a student-led clinic, where she found her passion to assist the underserved community. She is part of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, an honor society that recognizes students for their compassionate and empathetic care. Her interest in OBGYN stemmed from her 3rd year rotation in medical school, where she observed how it would allow her to be a surgeon and have lifelong continuity of care with her patients.

During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, going for walks, trying new restaurants (particularly Peruvian and Mexican cuisine), going to different coffee shops, and traveling.

Medhavi Bhasin, MD

Dr. Bhasin was born in India but moved to the suburbs of Chicago when she was young. After attending boarding school on the East coast, Dr. Bhasin returned home to attend Northwestern University, where she majored in Cognitive Science. In college, she cultivated her passion for community health and working with underserved patients, spending many weekends volunteering as a Hindi translator for a free clinic for uninsured South Asian patients. She also traveled, competed, and recorded a CD with her award-winning a cappella group.

After college, Dr. Bhasin earned an MA from Loyola University Chicago then spent a year teaching at Loyola and various community colleges in Chicago. She went on to attend medical school at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, where she graduated with a distinction in Wellness. While in medical school she further developed her passion for serving her community, helping run a free clinic for patients with diabetes and organizing many wellness initiatives for the medical school community. She also developed a keen interest for OBGYN, particularly for the opportunities it provides to educate and advocate for women.

Dr. Bhasin loves spending her free time with her partner, a Neurology resident at the University of Chicago, as well as with her corgi puppy Ollie. When not at the hospital, she can often be found enjoying new restaurants, trying new recipes, traveling, and spending time at the beach.

Gregory Harpring, MD

Dr. Harpring was raised in the small farming community of Sherman, Illinois. He went to the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana for undergraduate and majored in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience. He attended medical school at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Carbondale, IL.

In medical school he was active on campus, serving as a class representative, OBGYN community service chair, and president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. He has conducted basic science research at UIUC as well as clinical research at SIU and Lurie Children's Hospital.

Within the field of OBGYN, Dr. Harpring is especially passionate about preventative health care and sexual health. In his free time Dr. Harpring enjoys working out, reading, drawing, hanging out with friends, and playing board games.

Connie Panton, MD

Hi! I'm Dr. Connie Panton and I grew up in River Forest, IL. I attended Northwestern University for college, where I majored in Anthropology and Biology. I also had a global health minor, and I got the chance to study abroad in Mexico City through that program. After college, I moved to the East Coast and pursued a Master's in Public Health at Dartmouth.

I then moved to Rhode Island for medical school at Brown. I loved my time exploring the East Coast and getting the chance to hike around the White Mountains and Acadia National Park, relax at Rhode Island beaches, and go leaf-peeping in the beautiful New England falls.

I've had a strong passion for teaching and health education for some time, and some of the highlights of my time in college and med school came from teaching comprehensive sexual health curricula in public schools in both Chicago in Providence. During med school, I fell in love with the combination of primary care, surgery, and women's health advocacy that make up Ob/Gyn, and the opportunity to take part in some of the most important moments in people's lives.

In my free time, I like to spend time outside, cook, play board games, listen to podcasts on my drive in to work from the city, and explore Chicago neighborhoods for the best hidden hole in the wall restaurant or coffee shop study spot. I'm so excited to be starting my residency training here at Lutheran General, and to be back closer to family and friends in Chicago.

Natalia Feldman, MD

Dr. Feldman was born and raised in Yaroslavl, Russia in a family of doctors. She graduated from Yaroslavl State Medical University and relocated to Chicago in 2015. Her dedication to medicine pushed her towards a job as a medical assistant, where her exposure to complex medical pathology as well as her close-knit connections with patients encouraged her to follow her goal and enter residency at ALGH.

As a second generation OBGYN, Dr. Feldman is dedicated to helping underprivileged women in the Chicagoland area. Her own struggles with immigration in the United States are the foundation of her passion to working with women and young girls facing economic and social disparities.

In her spare time, Dr. Feldman enjoys sleeping, travelling and spending time with her husband and Golden Retriever, Jake!

Pauola Gueorguieva, MD

Dr. Gueorguieva is born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and moved to the United States in 2005. She attended high school in the suburbs of Chicago and earned her Bachelors Degree at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Her passion for philosophy, as well as medicine, pushed her to pursue a Master of Science in Biomedical Ethics at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Afterwards, she made a return home to Illinois to attend Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science for her medical degree.

Dr. Gueorguieva's passion for hands on medical practice, as well as the commitment to forming long term connections with her patients, encouraged her to pursue a career as an OBGYN. She is passionate for women's reproductive rights and the ethics behind women's healthcare.

In her free time, Dr. Gueorguieva enjoys practicing vinyasa yoga, reading nonfiction and hiking the national parks!

Natascha Cirignani, DO

Dr. Natascha Cirignani was born and raised in the southwest suburb of Hinsdale, went to college at Case Western Reserve University, and attended Medical School at AT Still University. Though AT Still is Arizona-based, its program was designed to get its med students into underserved populations around the country. Natascha chose Chicago and finished her medical training at Cook County Hospital while living in Logan Square.

She was drawn to OBGYN as a specialty for numerous reasons including the diversity of the field, the excitement of bringing new life into the world, and most importantly the ability to empower women through education and encouragement. Her main interests within the field include adolescent gyn and family planning.

In her free time she loves going to movies (mainly for the popcorn), going to music concerts, and mountain biking.

Dorothy Trenter, DO

Dr. Trenter was born and raised in south Florida in a small beach town called Hobe Sound. She became interested in the field of OBGYN when she saw the opportunity to make a huge change and be a support system in women’s lives. Dr. Trenter loves the combination of medicine and surgery and the variety of cases.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling to see her family in Florida, practicing yoga, curling up with a good book, and spending quality time with her fiancé and their sweet mini dachshund, Addison.

Allan Dong, MD

Dr. Dong was born in Michigan, but moved around quite a bit in childhood, spending time in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington DC before moving to southern Illinois. He went on to attend boarding school in the Chicagoland area, and stayed in the area for undergrad, medical school and now residency. Between medical school and residency, Dr. Dong did a research year at the University of Illinois at Chicago working on research on thyroid disease in pregnancy and recurrent pregnancy loss.

Dr. Dong is passionate about the field of women's health and empowering women to take charge of their reproductive decisions and healthcare. He has a particular interest in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and hopes to pursue fellowship in this field in the future. He also loves teaching and has an interest in medical education.

In his spare time, Dr. Dong plays video games, tennis, and tries to visit his fiance, who is an internal medicine resident in Detroit, as much as he can.

Maddie Kahn, DO

Dr. Kahn was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. She went to the University of Colorado for undergraduate and majored in Neuroscience. She then spent a year as a medical scribe (and avid hiker) in Durango, CO. She attended medical school back in her hometown at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine. In medical school she was involved in advocacy and policy writing, particularly in regards to Human Trafficking and LGBTQ+ education in medical curriculums.

In her free time, Dr. Kahn enjoys the outdoors, spending time with her family, traveling, playing in soccer and kickball leagues, and trying new restaurants around Chicago. She used to play ice hockey, however she has retired her ice skates and now enjoys leisurely roller blade sessions down the lakefront trail.

Hanna Legator, MD

Dr. Legator was and born raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago where she cultivated her interest in medicine from a young age. She attended Evanston Township High School exactly 30 years after her father, where she played trumpet in the marching band and made some of her best friends and high school memories. From there she moved to St. Louis for undergrad where she majored in Anthropology and was very involved in the Jewish community.

After graduation Dr. Legator moved back to her hometown to be close to her family and little brother who was only 7 years old at the time. She worked at a pediatricians’ office for a year thinking that this was her calling. It wasn’t until later in medical school that she discovered how much she loved the field of OBGYN for its population, and combination of medicine and surgery. She enjoys residency for the opportunities to learn and teach simultaneously.

In her free time, Dr. Legator enjoys camping, canoeing, hiking and indoor rock climbing.

Kristina Lilja, MD

Dr. Lilja was born at Lutheran General Hospital and grew up in Grayslake, Illinois. She attended Marquette University where she studied Biomedical Science and Psychology. She then spent a year exploring the city of Milwaukee while working in the emergency department as a medical scribe and doing research.

Dr. Lilja received her MD degree in North Chicago, IL. During medical school she decided to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology due to her passion for women's health and love of surgery.

In her free time, Dr. Lilja enjoys international travel, playing with her two crazy cats, and enjoying good coffee.

Vera Brink, MD

Dr. Vera Brink (pronouns: she/her/hers) hails from Berlin, Germany. She spent her junior year of high school in Virginia, where she learned about the college liberal arts system. She completed high school in Germany and returned to the US to study Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. As a freshman in college, she joined the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs and at the end of her senior year, passed a national exam to become a professional carillonneur. Through the ‘Guild,’ she also met her partner, Joey, who is the University of Chicago Carillonneur.

After college, Joey and Vera moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she worked as a research coordinator for 2 years and gained admittance to the University of Utah School of Medicine, receiving her MD in 2018. When deciding on a residency program, Vera was especially looking for a program that fostered teamwork and instilled independent clinical decision-making, as well as strong surgical skills in their graduates. She looks forward to being a generalist OB/GYN.

Outside of work, Vera, Joey and their daughter Charlotte like to bike along Lake Michigan or to the Forest Preserves. Joey and Vera also immensely enjoy backpacking and canyoneering in the depth of the Grand Canyon and Southern Utah.

Jessica Koren, DO

Dr. Koren grew up in New York before attending The University of Michigan where she received her degree in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Sciences with a minor in Women's Health. After graduating college, Dr. Koren served as a member of the Community HealthCorps, a sector of AmeriCorps. For two years, Dr. Koren worked with members of Hudson River Healthcare, a federally qualified health center, on various projects including quality improvement and health education. She worked collaborated with the OB/GYN department to lead prenatal classes and tours at the local hospital in multiple languages to meet the needs of the community. It was this project that sparked her interest in Women's Health and paved the pathway to becoming an OB/GYN.

As Dr. Koren finished her time with AmeriCorps,she was accepted to Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York City. Attending medical school in New York City allowed her to work with a diverse community and patient population. Dr. Koren was elected as Vice President of Sigma Sigma Phi where her main role was to co-chair the school's Annual Health Fair, providing screening tests and health education to the surrounding Harlem community. She hopes to use the lessons from her past experiences through residency and beyond to provide comprehensive obstetric and gynecological care to her patients.

In her free time, Dr. Koren loves to explore Chicago and spend time with her husband, family, and friends. She enjoys cooking and trying new restaurants, staying active, and traveling.

Alex Phelps, MD

Dr. Phelps grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin where she lived with her parents, younger sister, and beloved dog. She spent most of her free time in the gym doing gymnastics and traveling in the Midwest for meets. For college she attended the University of Wisconsin where she was an avid Badger fan and campus tour guide. She majored in Kinesiology with plans to become an Athletic Trainer, prior to switching course in pursuit of medicine, which was inspired by studies in global and public health.

While applying for medical school, Dr. Phelps helped develop a chronic disease management program at a federally qualified community health center in Boston, Massachusetts through the Americorps Community Healthcorps program. It was here that she developed a passion for medically underserved populations, an interest that was further developed in medical school through the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) program at the University of Wisconsin. She decided to pursue OBGYN because of the rich opportunities to address healthcare disparities through women's healthcare, advocate on behalf of women's reproductive healthcare rights, and develop strong relationships with patients through some of their most significant life events. Plus, surgery is awesome.

Dr. Phelps spent her first year and a half as a resident at a program in Pennsylvania prior to transferring to Advocate Lutheran General to pursue a more rigorous educational environment and expanded options for Maternal Fetal Medicine exposure, and to be closer to friends and family.

When not in the hospital, Dr. Phelps enjoys getting outside for hiking and water sports, traveling, playing with her (adorable) dog Milly, and exploring Chicago's many neighborhoods.

Emma Tessier, MD

Hello! I am Dr. Emma Tessier, one of the PGY-3's. I am originally from Canada, but moved to Nebraska with my family before high school. I attended St. Louis University for undergrad and my degree was in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. One interesting fact about me from undergrad is that I co-founded the SLU Equestrian Team. I moved back to Nebraska for medical school at UNMC and fell in love with OB/GYN and Women's Health.

In my spare time I love to read, play board games, play tennis and attempt to make a regular appearance at Orange Theory. On any free weekends I can be found in Nebraska hanging out with my husband and our two goldendoodles as he is finishing dental school in Nebraska.