Program:
Start Year:
2025
Why did you choose Duke for your residency training?
I chose Duke Ob/Gyn because Duke has outstanding clinical training, including a high acuity labor floor with heavy maternal-fetal medicine involvement (and thus great exposure to high-risk pregnancy) as well as excellent family planning services, and excellent and early exposure to gynecologic surgical training, including excellent minimally invasive surgery. I wanted to attend an academic program that would train me to be the best ob/gyn I could be while also working in a program that was committed to advocacy and reproductive justice.
What excites you about the residency program at Duke Ob/Gyn?
Duke has such strong faculty and resident voices advocating for reproductive justice and they continue to share their ongoing, clear commitment to reproductive and health justice, and I cannot wait to join this amazing group of scholars and advocates! Duke was also one of the few programs with readily accessible resident-specific research funding, which showed how they value the scholarly pursuits of their residents, and I've seen that residents have done amazing interdisciplinary research, including leading randomized controlled trials!
What are your career goals?
I hope to become an academic ob/gyn (faculty) at a university-affiliated ob/gyn department one day, either as an MFM, MIGS or generalist (although I'm pretty undecided between these). I plan to also pursue scholarship in bioethics, reproductive justice and health justice as well as clinical research, while ideally being heavily involved in medical education for both residents and medical students!
Describe your research interests/goals:
I am interested in bioethics, reproductive justice and health justice scholarship, including ethics of research in pregnancy, pain during office-based gynecologic procedures, criminalization of pregnancy and ethics concerns related to artificial intelligence. I am also broadly interested in clinical ob/gyn research, and hope to narrow my clinical research focus during residency.
What are your hobbies?
I love playing tennis and now also pickleball, collecting vinyl records, seeing my favorite artists live, trying new food/restaurants, traveling, recreating fun TikTok recipes and doing anything to hang with friends!
Education & Training
Undergraduate school & graduation year:
University of Texas at Austin, 2020
Medical school & graduation year:
Yale School of Medicine, 2025
Awards & Honors
Miriam Kathleen Dasey Award, 2025
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health - Medical Student Research Training Fellowship, 2024
Yale Global Health Clinical Elective Travel Award, 2024
Nomination for Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarship at Yale School of Medicine, 2022
Yale School of Medicine Medical Student Fellowship for Summer Research, 2021
Joseph W. Eichenbaum, M.D. Endowment Fund for Student Research, 2021
Dean’s Distinguished Graduate of the College of Liberal Arts at UT Austin, 2020
Distinction in Research in the College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin, 2020
College Scholar for College of Liberal Arts, 2019 - 2020
College Scholar for College of Natural Sciences, 2019 - 2020
University Honors, all 8 semesters, 2016 - 2020
Summa Cum Laude on The Dean’s Honor List at UT Austin, 2019
Sylvia S. Miller Scholar in Religious Studies, 2019 - 2020
Summa Cum Laude on The Dean’s Honor List at UT Austin, 2019
Unrestricted Endowed Presidential School, 2019 - 2020
Publications
Pondugula N, Maghsoudlou P, Ravitsky V, King LP. What Does Our Tolerance of Poor Management of Patients' Pain Have to Do With Reimbursement Inequity for Office-Based Gynecologic Procedures?. AMA J Ethics. 2025;27(2):E137-E148. Published 2025 Feb 1. doi:10.1001/amajethics.2025.137
Pondugula N, Garcia Hernandez C, Sirvent R. Against a New Wave of Vaccine Apartheid: Reconceptualizing Justice in Vaccine-Sensitive Rationing. Am J Bioeth. 2024;24(7):111-114. doi:10.1080/15265161.2024.2353806
Hauc SC, Rivera JC, Pondugula N, Febre-Alemañy DA, Jayaraj C, Goss JA, Butler PD. A 10-year analysis of the racial distribution of authors in plastic surgery research and the impact of minority mentorship. Am J Surg. 2024 Apr 15:S0002-9610(24)00232-0. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.04.015. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38658268.
Hauc SC, Junn AH, Long AS, Rivera JC, Littlefield TR, Ihnat JM, Shah HP, Pondugula N, Almeida MN, Alper DP, Persing JA, Alperovich M. Orthotic Helmet Therapy for Deformational Plagiocephaly: Stratifying Outcomes by Insurance. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2023 Jan 18:10556656231152517. doi: 10.1177/10556656231152517. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36655295.
Black C, Pondugula N, Spearman-McCarthy EV. Words Matter: Stylistic Writing Strategies for Racial Health Equity in Academic Medicine. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022 Dec;9(6):2071-2076. doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01424-1. Epub 2022 Oct 17. PMID: 36251121; PMCID: PMC9575627.
Hauc SC, Long AS, Rivera JC, Ihnat J, Littlefield TR, Shah HP, Pondugula N, Junn AH, Almeida MN, Alper D, Persing J, Alperovich M. Predictive Factors of Outcomes in Helmet Therapy for Deformational Plagiocephaly and Brachycephaly. J Craniofac Surg. 2023 Jan-Feb 01;34(1):231-234. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000009048. Epub 2022 Oct 10. PMID: 36210494.
Presentations
Pondugula N, Wijesekera T, Galerneau F. Using Comprehensive Integrative Puzzles to Enhance pre-clerkship OB/GYN Clinical Reasoning Education. 2025 Yale School of Medicine Med Ed Day. New Haven, CT. 2025, June 5th.
Pondugula N, Culhane JF, Lundsberg LS, Partridge C, Merriam AA. Maternal Gestational Weight Gain in GLP-1 Agonist Exposed and Unexposed Patients. Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Aurora, CO. 2025, February 1st.
Pondugula N, Wijesekera T, Galerneau F. Using Comprehensive Integrative Puzzles to Enhance pre-clerkship OB/GYN Clinical Reasoning Education. 2025 Association of Professors of Gynecology & Obstetrics Martin L. Stone, MD Faculty Development Seminar. Honolulu, HI. 2025, January 12th.
Pondugula N, Maghsoudlou P, Ravitsky V, King L. A Justice-Driven Approach to Painful Office-Based Gynecologic Procedures. 2024 American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Conference. St. Louis, MO. 2024, September 20th.
Geng B, Pondugula N, Sangal R, Lundsberg L, Zurich H, Fan L. Leveraging Electronic Alerts to Enhance the Detection of Post-operative Complications in the Emergency Department after Gynecologic Surgery. 50th Annual Scientific Meeting of Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. Orlando, FL. 2024, March 24th.
Hauc SC, Rivera JC, Pondugula N, Goss J, Butler P. A 12-year Analysis of the Racial Distribution of Authors in Plastic Surgery Research and the Impact of Minority Mentorship on Authors of Color. Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Ann Arbor, MI. 2023, September 30th.
Pondugula N, Li HJ, Sayeed S, de Queiroz Campos G, Taylor H, Cho Y. Risk of Repeat Laparoscopy Following Surgical Diagnosis of Endometriosis: Effects of Hysterectomy, Oophorectomy, & Psychiatric Disease. AAGL 51st Global Congress. Aurora, Colorado. 2022, December 3rd.
Pondugula N, Wijesekera T, Galerneau F. Using Comprehensive Integrative Puzzles to Enhance Pre-Clerkship OB/GYN Clinical Reasoning Education. 2025 Innovations in Medical Education Online Conference. 2025, February 6th.
Pondugula N, Culhane JF, Lundsberg LS, Partridge C, Merriam AA. Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy in GLP-1 Agonist Exposed and Unexposed Patients. Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Denver, CO. 2025, January 31st.
Pondugula N, Borneman R, Fonteh A, Meyer J. Women’s Health Trainees Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes Towards HIV Prevention with PrEP. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists Districts I, V, & VI Annual District Meeting. Boston, MA. 2024, September 28th.
Pondugula N, Maghsoudlou P, Ravitsky V, King LP. A Justice-Driven Approach to Painful Office-Based Gynecologic Procedures. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists Districts I, V, & VI Annual District Meeting. Boston, MA. September 27-28, 2024.
Pondugula N, Greenberg J, Illuzzi J, Adeyemo O. Exploring Impact of Patient Counseling on Mode of Delivery after Cesarean Section. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists Annual Clinical Scientific Meeting. San Francisco, CA. 2024, May 19th.
Li HJ, Wang SF, Mamillapalli R, Pondugula N, de Queiroz Campos G, Sayeed S, Cho Y, Taylor H. Molecular Pathways Distinguishing Symptomatic from Asymptomatic Endometriosis: Inflammation, Neuromodulation, and Cell Adhesion. Society for Reproductive Investigation 70th Annual Scientific Meeting. Brisbane, Australia. 2023, March 23rd.
Pondugula N, Bahar R, Larson H, Acuna Higaki A, Hauc S, Stephan a, Fereydooni S, Jegarl A, Schwartz M, Illuzzi J. A Case Study of Advocacy at YSM: Recording Workshops and the Importance of Vertical Collaboration. Yale School of Medicine Student Research Day. New Haven, CT. 2021, May 18th.
Pondugula N, Li HJ, Sayeed S, de Queiroz Campos G, Cho Y, Taylor H. Surgical Rebound: Rates of Repeat Laparoscopy in Patients with Biopsy-Confirmed Endometriosis. Yale School of Medicine Student Research Day. New Haven, CT. 2021, May 18th.
Bahar R, Pondugula N, Hauc S, Park N, Hunter C, Valdez C, Jegarl A, Fernando A, Ment L. A “Third Look”: Evaluating YSM Student-Led Efforts to Recruit the Admitted Class of 2025 in the COVID Era. Yale School of Medicine Student Research Day. New Haven, CT. 2021, May 18th.
Mulgaonker R, Pondugula N, Maguire R, Kioumarsi A, Rich JD, Becker S, Operario D, Safren S, Claborn K. Provider-Level Treatment Philosophy for HIV and Substance Use: A Qualitative Analysis. Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction Meeting. San Antonio, TX. February 29th, 2020
Pondugula N. Global Benevolence or Self-Advancement Abroad? Rethinking the Ethics of Undergraduate Student Participation in Short-Term Experiences in Global Health. International Chair in Bioethics 14th World Conference: Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Health Law. Porto, Portugal. 2022, March 7-10.