Meet the Residents

PGY 1

Kelsey Haddad, MD

Medical School: Washington University School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of Notre Dame
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Interests: Donuts (food in general), hiking/backpacking, any form of workout class
Research Interests: technology in medicine, bio/device design, health disparities, impact of environment on human health

Kera Kwan, MD

Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles
Undergraduate institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Hometown: Lake Forest, CA
Interests: Rock climbing, crochet, hiking, camping, house plants, pugs
Research Interests: Cancer biology

Jose Luis Lopez, MD

Medical School: University of California, San Francisco
Undergraduate Institution: California State University, Fresno
Hometown: Clovis, CA
Interests: Fútbol, Art/galleries, Live music, Skateboarding, Ice cream, Health equity
Research Interests: Health equity, optimizing access to surgery and improving surgical outcomes for marginalized communities, improving surgical education/culture.

Cray Noah, MD

Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Undergraduate Institution: Georgia Tech
Hometown: Houston, TX
Interests: dancing, lifting, sailing, cliff jumping, sports, sushi, crypto
Research Interests: machine perfusion of transplant organs, drone delivery of organs, medical devices, immunotherapy

Terrance Peng, MD

Medical School: University of Southern California
Undergraduate Institution: Boston College
Hometown: Edison, NJ
Interests: Making music, time with family, cooking, hiking, soccer, waving hello to dogs on the street
Research Interests: Health services and outcomes research, thoracic surgical oncology, medical/surgical education

Carolyn Smullin, MD

Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles
Undergraduate: UC Berkeley
Hometown: Eureka, California
Interests: spending time with my family, running, reading James Michener, making playlists, drawing
Research: intestinal failure, intestinal transplantation, biomarkers of acute allograft rejection

Serena Zheng, MD

Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Undergraduate Institution: University of Southern California
Hometown: La Canada Flintridge
Interests: scuba diving, wildlife photography, backpacking/traveling, skiing, tennis
Research Interests: subclinical significance of circulating tumor cells; racial disparities in oncology, at the population and molecular levels

PGY 2

Dominic Amara, MD, MS

Medical School: UCSF
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Hometown: Sonoma, CA
Interests: Data science, running, lifting, skiing
Research: Transplant/oncology, translational/clinical informatics, precision medicine

Mark Bailey, MD, PhD

Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Interests: Coffee, Running, Literature
Research: Virology, Vaccine development, Oncolytics

Tyler McCaw, MD, PhD

Medical School: University of Alabama School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: North Carolina State University
Hometown: Birmingham, AL
Interests:
Research: Surgical oncology and basic: CD8 T cell response to and differentiation in solid tumors

Andrew Melehy, MD

Medical School: Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Undergraduate Institution: Northwestern University
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Interests: Snowboarding, hiking, camping, tennis
Research: Health services, clinical research informatics, data-driven research, transplant

Whitney Orji, MD, MS

Medical School: University of Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: Rice University
Hometown: Pflugerville, TX
Interests: Health equity/justice, global surgery, reading, creating the perfect playlist, being outside
Research: Health equity in surgery

Brittany Robinson, MD

Medical School: UCSF
Undergraduate Institution: Yale University
Hometown: Temecula, CA
Interests: Scuba diving, vinyl collecting, hiking, ice cream
Research: Global surgery, trauma, health equity (specifically access to surgery and surgical outcomes)

Michael Srienc, MD, MS

Medical School: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Hometown: Lake Elmo, MN
Interests: Trying new restaurants, being outdoors, spending time with my family, surgical oncology
Research: Basic science or translational research related to oncology with a preference to work with proteins

PGY 3

Tess Huy, MD

Medical School: Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Hometown: Leamington, Ontario, Canada
Interests: Traveling/backpacking, baking, quality improvement research, undecided career interests
Research: Quality improvement

Young-Ji Seo, MD

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Hometown: Corona, CA
Interests: Indoor gardening, classical piano, health services

Nicholas Siena, MD

Medical School: Thomas Jefferson University
Undergraduate Institution: Temple University
Hometown: Philadelphia
Interests: Healthcare policy, transplant surgery, old motorcycles
Research: Something policy related

Kevin Blair, MD

Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: Vanderbilt University
Hometown: St. Louis, MO / Chicago, IL
Interests: Running, Scuba Diving, Global Health, Trauma Surgery
Research: Global Surgery

Joseph Hadaya, MD

Medical School: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Hometown: Burbank, CA
Interests: Cycling, hiking, molecular biology, clinical outcomes
Research: Cardiovascular diseases

Ivy Huang, MD

Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Interests: enhancing resident autonomy, live music, trivia, playing with my co-resident's pets
Research: Surgical education

Garrett Salzman, MD

Medical School: Keck School of Medicine of USCl
Undergraduate Institution: Macalester Collegee
Hometown: Glendale, CA
Interests: Acute Care Surgery, professional sports (Go Rams!), BBQing
Research: Health services research focusing on emergency surgery in geriatric patients.

Benjamin Tran, MD

Medical School: Mount Sinai
Undergraduate Institution: Mount Sinai School of Medicine medical school
Hometown: San Diego
Interests: Transplant surgery; translational research; cycling; camping
Research: Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Circulating Tumor Cells, Liquid Biopsy

Zachary Weitzner, MD

Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Undergraduate Institution: Boston College
Hometown: Acton, MA
Interests: Minimally Invasive Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, Boston Sports, Golf
Research: Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotics

PGY 4

Michael Dacey, MD

Medical School: USC Keck School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: Northern Arizona University
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Interests: Cardiac Surgery, Beach/Outdoors, Basketball/Sports
Research: Translational neurocardiology

Razmik Ghukasyan, MD, MBA

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate Institution: UCLA
Hometown: Yerevan, Armenia
Interests: Pancreaticobiliary diseases, healthcare administration , jazz piano,
Research: Pancreatic cancer, cancer immunology

Danielle Graham, MD, MBA

Medical School: University of Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Hometown: Laguna Beach, CA
Interests: Camping, hiking, running, our dogs!
Research: Sarcoma, bioinformatics

Michael Mederos, MD

Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas - Pan American
Hometown: Laredo, TXA
Interests: Basketball, weightlifting, going to the beach, and surgical oncology
Research: Pancreatic cancer

Gabriel Oland, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Undergraduate Institution: Arizona State University
Hometown: Sioux Falls, SD
Interests: Medical device design, critical care technology, live music, basketball
Research: Medical device design, neurotrauma

Max Schumm, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Interests: Golf, Traveling, Surgical Education, Endocrine Surgery
Research: Endocrine Surgery

Rivfka Shenoy, MD, MS

Medical School: New York University
Undergraduate Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Hometown: Portland, OR
Interests: Hiking, Health Services Research, Beach time, Eating delicious food with co-residents
Research: Understanding how standardization of surgical care can prevent disparities (specifically racial/ethnic)

Linda Ye, MD

Medical School: Georgetown University School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: UCLA
Hometown: Sunnyvale, CA
Interests: Live music, eating out, surgical oncology
Research: Surgical oncology

PGY 5

Amy R. Copeland, MD

Medical School: University of Virginia
Undergraduate Institution: University of Virginia Hometown: King George, VA
Interests: Dance, yoga, knitting, oncology
Research: Adoptive cell therapy (NIH/NCI)

Claire Faltermeier, MD, PhD

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate Institution: Columbia University
Hometown: Bainbridge Island, WA
Interests: Some of my research/clinical interests: cancer biology, transplant, critical care; Some of my hobbies: horseback riding, hiking and jewelry design
Research: Cancer Biology

Yang Lu, MD

Medical School: UC San Francisco
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Hometown: Bozhou, China
Interests: Basketball, medical education, MIS
Research: Medical education

Roxanne Massoumi, MD

Medical School: The Medical College of Wisconsin
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Irvine
Hometown: San Carlos, CA
Interests: Learning languages, Baking, Being a mom
Research: Pancreatic cancer

Alexandra M. Moore, MD

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University
Hometown: Alamo, CA
Interests: Surgical Education, Vegetable Gardening, Reading Historical Fiction
Research: Basic Science, Pancreatic Cancer Metabolism

Catherine Zhu, MD

Medical School: Stony Brook University
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley Hometown: Foster City, CA
Interests: Clinical outcomes research, cooking/baking, martial arts
Research: Clinical outcomes in endocrine surgery

Research Residents (PGY-3/PGY-4)

Mariah Blegen, MD

Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: Macalester College
Hometown: Deephaven, MN
Interests: Implementation science, YouTube yoga, camping, propagating my succulents
Research: Disparities in lung cancer screening

Nikhil L. Chevru, MD

Medical School: Georgetown University
Undergraduate Institution: Princeton University
Hometown: Marietta, GA
Interests: Playing saxophone and drums, Atlanta sports, Cardiothoracic surgery

Hattie Huston-Paterson, MD

Medical School: University of Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: University of Oxford
Hometown: Lawrenceville, NJ
Interests: Health Justice, Structural Violence, Workforce Diversity, Surfing
Research: Thoracic Trauma

Kyle Klingbeil, MD, MS

Medical School: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of Iowa
Hometown: Estherville, IA
Interests: Cycling, traveling, cooking, meditation/yoga and surgical oncology
Research: Oncology - Sarcoma Metabolism

Amanda Labora, MD

Medical School: University of Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: Brown University Hometown: Miami, FL
Interests: Latinx health, POCUS, surgical critical care, hiking and baking

Serena Lofftus, MD

Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: Boston College
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Interests: Skiing, sailing, perfecting my mom’s Korean food recipes, surgical oncology
Research: outcomes research in cardiac surgery and tumor immunology

Joon Park, MD

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley
Hometown: Pleasanton, CA
Interests: Basketball, biking, surgical oncology, coffee
Research: Pancreatic cancer

Alykhan Premji, MD

Medical School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Undergraduate Institution: Duke University
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
Interests: Public Health & Global Surgery, swimming/biking

Jordan Rook, MD

Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Undergraduate Institution: University of Denver
Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO
Interests: Addressing disparities in healthcare through policy, colorectal surgery, surgical oncology, exploring new neighborhoods!
Research: Exploring the health impact of out-of-pocket costs

Haley Tupper, MD, MPH

Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Undergraduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Interests: Soccer, skiing, health systems design, my dog

Whitt Virgin-Downey, MD, MBA

Medical School: Stanford Medical School/Business School
Undergraduate Institution: Harvard University
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Interests: Music, Basketball, Frisbee, Organizational Design
Research: Hospital Administration

Mark Yost, MD

Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Undergraduate Institution: UCLA
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Interests: Ice Hockey, Global Health, Trauma/Critical Care, Dogs
Research: MPH and Global Surgery Project(s)

Dennis Zheng, MD

Medical School: UC San Francisco
Undergraduate Institution: Harvard Hometown: Granite Bay, CA
Interests: Global health, trauma surgery, NBA basketball
Research: Surgical care in sub-Saharan Africa