Chief Residents

Katya Lavine

Katya Lavine (she/her) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied English and creative writing at UCLA. She worked at a safety net hospital and global health nonprofit before deciding to pursue medicine. She completed medical school at Brown where she was part of the Primary Care-Population Medicine (PC-PM) program and received a joint MD-ScM in Population Medicine.

Katya chose Internal Medicine for the broad spectrum of patients and pathophysiology it offers. She finds deep joy in bringing together a patient’s story and their data to come up with a diagnosis and plan. She also loves getting to know her patients and their families over time. 

Katya’s interests include complex chronic disease management, reproductive and sexual health, menopause, and mental health. As a chief resident she is thrilled to continue to serve as a primary care doctor and resident preceptor at both the UCLA Santa Monica 309 clinic and the West Los Angeles VA Homeless Patient Care Aligned Team (HPACT). She is also looking forward to helping residents navigate a challenging, exciting, and deeply rewarding period of their medical training. 

Outside of medicine Katya is an avid writer, hiker, thrift shopper, documentary watcher, and co-parent to two cats.

Jeemin Kwon

Jeemin Kwon (she/her) grew up in the Bay Area and completed her undergraduate studies in biology at Yale. She worked at a non-profit organization delivering patient-centered education on diabetes before going on to complete medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. 

During residency, Jeemin was in the primary care track, where she developed a deep appreciation for ambulatory medicine and the continuity of care it allows. She also completed the Medical Education Pathway and has enjoyed working closely with trainees both as a clinical teacher and as a near-peer mentor. She ultimately discovered her love for gastroenterology during residency and in particular, caring for patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction, and is applying to GI fellowship this cycle.

As ambulatory chief resident, Jeemin is looking forward to enhancing the outpatient experience for residents while fostering a supportive, collaborative, and fun environment within the residency program. 

Outside of work, Jeemin enjoys hiking, jogging, reading, exploring LA’s food scene, and logging new birds on her Merlin app. 

Nancy Miles

Nancy Miles (she/her) grew up in Washington State. She attended Stanford University, where she majored in Human Biology while competing with the varsity women's crew team. After college, she completed a pre-medical post-baccalaureate at Mills College and worked as a research coordinator before returning to Washington for medical school at the University of Washington, where she also completed the Indian Health Pathway.

During residency, Nancy pursued the Medical Education Pathway, drawn to the challenge of teaching not just clinical knowledge but the humanistic skills including communication, debriefing, leadership, that make trainees excellent physicians. As VA Quality Improvement chief, Nancy is passionate about engaging trainees in improving access, equity, and efficiency through a QI lens, and she looks forward to helping residents build the skills to see systems-level change as part of excellent patient care.

As chief resident, Nancy is excited to mentor residents navigating their own career path and to foster community including through events centered on narrative medicine and the outdoors. She is applying to Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship this cycle.

Outside the hospital, Nancy and her fiancée enjoy being in the mountains, whether on skis or in hiking boots. In LA, she loves exploring the city's theater and musical scene.

Esther Kim

Esther Kim (she/her) grew up in Orange County, California, and completed her undergraduate education at USC then medical school at UCLA. During her medical school clerkship rotation at the West Los Angeles VA, she discovered her passion for hospital medicine and medical education, which drew her to UCLA for residency.

During residency, Esther joined the Medical Education Pathway, where she further developed her passion for teaching and mentoring learners at every stage of training. As a VA Quality Improvement Chief Resident, she is passionate about helping residents integrate quality improvement into their clinical practice while advancing equitable, patient-centered care. She strives to make medical education approachable and to support trainees as they navigate the challenges of residency. After chief year, Esther plans to pursue a career as an academic hospitalist.  

Outside of medicine, Esther enjoys spending time with her family and her dog, Toby, baking for her team, traveling, and exploring the many farmers markets of Los Angeles.

Sneha Sharma

Sneha Sharma (she/her) grew up outside of Columbus, Ohio and studied Microbiology and French at Ohio State. She then went directly to medical school at NYU, where she pursued a dual degree MD/MSc. During that time, she was also actively involved in the NYC Free Clinic, NYU SoM Asylum Clinic, and the national chapter of Physicians for Human Rights. Her research during her Master’s was focused on longitudinal women’s health outcomes (as she was deciding between Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Internal Medicine at the time, eventually choosing the latter).   

During IM residency at UCLA, Sneha continued to develop her passion for health equity and leadership. Clinically, she was drawn to Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) due to her preference for complex pathophysiology, high acuity, interstitial lung disease, and palliative care. She is currently applying to PCCM fellowship. 

As chief resident, Sneha hopes to build strong mentorship skills and support residents clinically, professionally, and personally. She is excited about approaching important health equity and advocacy issues from a leadership perspective, with aspirations to further integrate such work more deeply into the residency program. 

Outside of medicine, Sneha is a huge bookworm, film buff, pan-genre music lover, longstanding dog-admirer, and runner. She loves spending as much time as possible outside, and with her loved ones. 

Tyler Morad

Tyler Morad (he/him) grew up in the north suburbs of Los Angeles and completed his undergraduate studies at UCLA with a degree in neuroscience. After graduation, he spent a year working for a non-profit organization, Disability Voices United, advocating for individuals with disabilities. He then matriculated to medical school at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine before returning home for residency at UCLA.

During residency, Tyler cemented his passions for medical education and mentorship. He completed the Medical Education Pathway to build on his skills as a clinician educator, which he applied to teaching his co-residents about screening criteria and treatment thresholds for familial hypercholesterolemia. Tyler is currently applying to cardiology fellowship with plans to be a general cardiologist with specific interests in preventative cardiology and cardio-oncology.

As chief resident, Tyler is looking forward to helping foster a positive, collaborative learning environment. He is especially excited to teach and learn alongside his colleagues, and he hopes to serve as an accessible resident mentor and advocate throughout the year. Outside of the hospital, Tyler enjoys playing ice hockey and golf, managing his fantasy football teams, watching UCLA sports, and exploring the LA food scene with his fiancé, Laelle.

Harveen Sekhon

Harveen Sekhon (she/her) grew up in Sacramento, CA and completed her undergraduate degree in Human Biology and Society at UCLA before completing medical school at UC Davis. During medical school, she was actively involved with the global health program and student-run free clinics, experiences that fostered her commitment to global health equity and caring for underserved communities. 

During residency, Harveen participated in the Global Health Pathway, completing two clinical rotations in Malawi, where she collaborated on quality improvement initiatives to strengthen hypertension care in a resource-limited setting. As a QI Scholar, she partnered with the outpatient cardiology department to develop and implement an EHR tool aimed at improving guideline-directed secondary prevention for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Through these experiences, she discovered a passion for cardiology and is applying for fellowship this year.

As an inpatient chief resident, Harveen is excited to support resident education by enhancing the didactic and ultrasound curriculum, expanding opportunities for clinical teaching, and fostering a collaborative, supportive learning environment.

Outside of the hospital, Harveen enjoys reading, running, exploring new coffee shops, and spending time with family and friends.

Will Stringer

Will Stringer (he/him) grew up in Long Beach, California and completed his undergraduate studies at UCLA where he double majored in Physiological Science and History. He completed his medical education at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and obtained a Master of Public Health degree prior to graduation. His research during medical school used latent class analysis to identify sub-phenotypes of COVID-related acute lung injury.

During residency, Will deepened his interest in translational research and Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. His work focused on transcriptomic profiling of right ventricular tissue during progressive right ventricular dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension, aiming to identify molecular programs underlying the transition toward right ventricular failure. Will is currently applying to Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship and hopes to pursue a research career in academic medicine.

As chief resident, Will is looking forward to supporting resident education and scholarship. Outside of the hospital, Will loves to run, watch Dodgers baseball, and hang with his two tuxedo cats, Felix and Figaro. 

Abhinav Thummala

Abhinav Thummala (he/him) grew up in Dallas, Texas and studied biology at the University of Texas at Dallas. He then continued on at the University of Texas Southwestern as part of the UT-Partnership in Advancing Clinical Transition program. In medical school, he graduated with a Certificate in Global Health and cultivated his interest in medical ethics.

During residency, Abhinav participated in the Medical Education Pathway to build applied skills in bedside education, which he applied through close work with medical students and residents. He helped run the largest curricular initiative in the program, titled “Intern Intake,” to standardize core education for PGY-1s. Early in residency, he developed an interest in Cardiology and pursued this through his clinical and scholarly work, which explores the relationship between structural and electrical remodeling in cardiomyopathy.

As a chief resident, Abhinav is motivated to build the existing educational infrastructure with a focus on organization, development, and articulation of clinical reasoning. He is excited about the opportunity to implement this curricula through morning reports and noon conferences. Outside of the hospital, Abhinav enjoys playing tennis and spikeball, trying new coffeeshops, reading, and spending time with his fiancé and cat.
 

Allie Kaufman

Alexandra (Allie) Kaufman (she/her) grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and studied Political Science and Physiology at the University of Arizona. After graduation, she spent a year with AmeriCorps, working for a nonprofit that primarily served incarcerated women transitioning back into the workforce. This experience inspired her to pursue a Master’s in Public Health, where her work focused on health equity and improving access to care in rural Arizona. She then spent a year working on the San Carlos Apache Reservation before attending medical school at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

During residency, Allie participated in the Medical Education Pathway to further develop her skills as a clinician educator. She is particularly passionate about mentorship and continues to lead a program that pairs internal medicine residents with medical students on their clerkships for one-on-one clinical coaching. As a chief resident, she looks forward to building on UCLA's strong culture of resident-led didactics and identifying new ways to enhance resident education on inpatient wards.

After chief year, Allie plans to remain in academic medicine as a hospitalist. Outside of medicine, she enjoys planning her next trip, crocheting, reading, and attending live theater and concerts with her husband.