Gloria Yiu, MD, PhD
Fourth year fellow
STAR Track – Basic Science
Education:
BA - Pomona College
MD, PhD - Stanford Medical School
Internship & Residency, Yale Internal Medicine – ABIM Physician Scientist Track
Research Interests: T-cell development and therapies in autoimmune disease.
Why UCLA: UCLA provides rigorous clinical training paired with the singularly unique STAR program – dedicated to advancing the careers of young independent investigators.
Hobbies: cooking and baking for friends and family, jamming (vocals, piano, guitar), drought-resistant gardening, circuit-training, trainee advocacy, spending time with my spouse and goldendoodle – Elio.
Ashkan F. Ara, MD, MPH
Third year STAR fellow – (Rheumatology/Health Policy and Management PhD)Education: Completed undergrad/MD as well as a research fellowship in EBM at IUMS (in Tehran, Iran), followed by an MPH in epidemiology, a research fellowship in clinical epidemiology, and internal medicine residency at UC Irvine (in Orange County, CA).
Career Goals: Academic Medicine – interested in neuro-rheumatology and pharmaco-economics.
Why UCLA: Mainly because of the unique career development opportunity via the STAR program; also, UCLA Rheumatology offers an optimal combination of a large diverse program, excellent case mix at four different settings, training under nationally-recognized attendings with expertise in various sub-fields of rheumatology, proximity to the UCLA main campus with its many perks, unbeatable weather, and proximity to the "Persian Square" aka "Tehrangeles" :D
Hobbies: Walking our fluffy dogs with my incredible wife, triathlon, tennis, and wasting time on Twitter!
2nd YEAR FELLOWS
David Chetrit, MBChB
Second Year Fellow
Education:
MBBChB - University College Dublin School of Medicine
Internal Medicine Residency - Pennsylvania Hospital of UPENN
About Me: David grew up in Montreal, Canada, where he developed an interest in hockey, maple syrup, and socialized healthcare. He graduated from McGill University with a degree in physiology. His medical studies have spanned three countries, ultimately landing him in Philadelphia where he completed his internal medicine residency at the nation's first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital.
Why UCLA: He chose to pursue the next step of his training at UCLA, as much for the beaches as for the cutting edge medicine.
Clinical/Research Interest: His clinical interests include autoinflammatory syndromes and medical education, as he hopes to contribute to program and curriculum development.
Hobbies: David is reputed for his restaurant recommendations and his passion for making music.
Courtney O'Brien, DO
Second Year fellow
Education:
DO - Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
Internal Medicine residency - Rush University medical Center
About Me: I'm originally from Chicago, but I have lived all over the country. I attended Penn State for college, moved to South Florida for medical school, and then came back to Chicago for residency. Now, I am trying out the West Coast for a change! UCLA has always been my dream institution based on its global prestige and ideal location in beautiful, sunny LA. In fact, I have a picture of me with a UCLA sweater while hiking in Montana when I was 17 years old.
Why UCLA: I chose UCLA for multiple reasons. UCLA Rheumatology is one of the biggest programs in the country in terms of number of faculty and fellows, which provides a wide breadth of learning opportunities. Rheumatology is a specialty based heavily on refining one's clinical skills, and I am excited to be able to learn from various providers' styles of clinical-decision making. I have a long history of involvement with global health with a focus on targeting healthcare disparities among the Hispanic community. LA encompasses a sizable Hispanic population, especially at the Harbor site. This advantage will allow me to understand the specific barriers to obtaining high quality care and satisfaction with care in this population group.
Clinical/Research Interest: At this point, I have a subspecialty interest in vasculitis because of its high-level complexity. My goal is to pursue a career in academic rheumatology with a focus on research in social determinants of health.
Hobbies: I am an outdoor enthusiast, so California is the place to be. I love hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, swimming in the ocean, and walking on the beach. California offers all those different landscapes in the same location.
Amir Razmjou, MD
Second Year STAR Fellow
Education:
Undergraduate: UC Irvine
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Residency: UCLA Medical Center
About Me: I was born a raised in Southern California (with a brief stint living in Tehran during elementary school), before moving to Wisconsin for medical school, and finally returning to California for residency and fellowship at UCLA.
Why UCLA: The breadth of clinical exposure at our 4 training sites, incredible research opportunities of the STAR program, friendly and laid-back colleagues, and perks of living in Los Angeles were the main factors which made me decide to stay at UCLA for fellowship. It's a great place to work and learn, with room for physicians of all interests in terms of career opportunities (clinicians, scientists, medical education).
Clinical/Research Interests: I am pursuing clinical/translational research through the STAR program, with an interest in RA pathogenesis/extra-articular manifestations, and ANCA-associated vasculitis. Additionally, I am interested in medical education, and how to increase house-staff training and exposure to rheumatology.
Hobbies: Music (indie rock, Grateful Dead), exploring the various foods of Los Angeles (there are a lot), live shows in small venues, travelling, museums, and going to the local breweries and coffee shops.
Richard Seto, MD
Second year fellow
Education:
Medical School - Rush Medical College
Internal Medicine Residency – LAC+USC
About Me: Originally from San Francisco Bay Area, I started my professional life as a medical device engineer. A few years into my career, I realized that I had a strong desire to directly treat patients, and went to medical school.
Why UCLA: Strong clinical training that comes from both the respected attendings in the program as well as the variety of clinical sites, which allows exposure to patients from every background. Another reason I chose UCLA was because of past projects with the UCLA Department of Engineering. This relationship showed me there are opportunities for true interdisciplinary projects, even with departments that are not traditionally associated with Rheumatology.
Hobbies: Family is my main hobby! I also enjoy hiking, food, and photography.
1st YEAR FELLOWS
Chesca Barrios, MD
First Year Fellow
Education:
Medical School - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Internal Medicine Residency - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
About Me:
Why UCLA:
Clinical/Research Interest:
Hobbies:
Surbhi Gupta, MD
First Year fellow
Education:
Medical School - University of Virginia School of Medicibne
Internal Medicine residency - University of Texas Southwestern
About Me:
Why UCLA:
Clinical/Research Interest:
Hobbies:
Jordan Jacquez, MD
First Year Fellow
Education:
Medical School: Washington University in St. Louis
Residency: Washington University in St. Louis
About Me: I was born and raised in Houston (outside the loop, for those in the know!), shipped off to Duke for college, and then spent the past eight years living in St. Louis for med school, residency, and a year as a hospitalist. The entirety of my immediate family still resides in Texas, from the verdant Gulf Coast to the arid borderland of El Paso, so I frequently return. I'm grateful for the chance to have experienced different parts of the country and am excited for this newest phase out west!
Why UCLA:I think all trainees would agree that, although grueling at times, residency goes by in a flash. The field of rheumatology is so stimulating and ever more complicated that I knew I wanted to pack in as much clinical exposure as possible into two years. The diversity of training sites and patient populations is incredible here, and I feel this will maximize my educational enrichment in a relatively narrow window. The weather, mountains, beaches, food, and cultural firepower the region offers for free time are awesome as well!
Clinical/Research Interests:I'm one of those undifferentiated folks, but I have an interest in SLE, medical education, and addressing disparities in healthcare.
Hobbies:Tennis (strange benefit of the pandemic is I now have three chances to go to Indian Wells!), reading graphic novels / comics, television (first love Dexter, choice for GOAT is The Sopranos), movies, cooking, and perpetually trying to play guitar.
Arissa Young, MD
First year STAR fellow
Education:
Medical School - Tufts University School of Medicine
Internal Medicine Residency – Vanderbilt University
About Me: Arissa is originally from New Jersey. She went to Tufts University where she majored in Biology and met her husband, Alex de Castro-Abeger. After two years living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, she returned to Tufts for medical school (alongside her husband). She and Alex then ventured to Nashville, Tennessee where they completed residency at Vanderbilt. While there, they adopted a cat (Shea) and a dog (Dodger) and welcomed their first child, Adalyn in May 2021!
Why UCLA: Arissa chose UCLA in large part because of the STAR program. She was involved in immunometabolism research during residency and plans to pursue a career as a physician-scientist. Los Angeles is also home to her husband’s entire family.
Clinical/Research Interests: Immune related adverse events related to immune checkpoint inhibitors, T cell immunology, and cancer/autoimmune overlap.
Hobbies: Trying out new restaurants, traveling, hiking, yoga, cycling.
