Our Santa Clarita Physicians

 

Mufaddal Dahodwala, MD
Internal Medicine

Dr. Mufaddal Dahodwala earned his undergraduate degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College. He received both his medical degree and Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, where he graduated with honors. After relocating with his wife to Los Angeles, he completed training in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center, while also receiving multiple teaching commendations from medical students. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. His clinical interests include primary and urgent care, and he is passionate about empowering patients to take control of their health, holistic approaches to primary care, and promoting health literacy through technology and social media. Outside of the office, he enjoys traveling, exercising, and following his favorite Philadelphia sports teams. More »

 

Aria Fallah, MD
Neurological Surgery

Dr. Aria Fallah is a fellowship trained pediatric neurosurgeon who practices at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is board certified in Neurosurgery by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a thoughtful and meticulous surgeon specialized in research and treatment of pediatric neurosurgical conditions including medically intractable epilepsy, spasticity and hydrocephalus. He also has special expertise in brain tumors, arachnoid cysts, spinal dysraphism, craniofacial anomalies and other congenital malformations of the developing nervous system.More »

 

Lisa Kransdorf, MD, MPH
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics

Dr. Kransdorf earned her medical degree at Duke University in North Carolina, and completed her residency training in Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center. She received her Masters in Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. A California native, Dr. Kransdorf has previously practiced at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and the Mayo Clinic. She enjoys a collaborative and team-based approach with her patients. Her interests include women’s health, adolescent health, primary care of the very young to the elderly, and medical education. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. More »

 

Ramya Malchira, MD
Internal Medicine/Nephrology/Hospitalist

Dr. Ramya Malchira earned her medical degree from the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences in Bangalore, India. She completed her internship in Internal Medicine at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey and residency in Internal Medicine at LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles. Dr. Malchira completed her fellowship in Nephrology at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar, CA. Dr. Malchira joins the faculty in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at UCLA and has a clinical practice in inpatient and outpatient in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. More »

 

Sural Shah, MD
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics

Dr. Sural Shah earned her medical degree at Penn State College of Medicine, and completed her residency training in Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She received her Masters in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Shah previously practiced at Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts, where she also completed the Kraft Fellowship in Community Health Leadership and the Mount Auburn Health Professions Education Fellowship. Dr. Shah is committed to improving the health of immigrant populations, health policy and medical education. More »

 

Michael Shye, MD
Internal Medicine/Nephrology/Hospitalist

Dr. Michael Shye earned his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York before returning to his home state for nephrology training at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where he served as Chief Nephrology Fellow. Research interests have included vitamin D deficiency in kidney transplant recipients, obesity in kidney transplant candidates, and idiopathic membranous nephropathy. In addition to his outpatient practice in Santa Clarita, he sees patients at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, Northridge Hospital Medical Center, West Hill Hospital & Medical Center, and Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center. More »

 

Anthony Wang, MD
Neurological Surgery

Dr. Wang specializes in pediatric, cerebrovascular, and complex cranial base surgeries, having had the unique experience of fellowship training in each of these subspecialties. His research focuses on refining immunotherapy for pediatric brain tumors. More »

 

David Ahn, MD
Endocrinology

Dr. David Ahn was born and raised in Southern California. He completed both his undergraduate and medical school training at UC San Diego. He did an internal medicine residency at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, and then completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at UC San Diego. His clinical interests include diabetes, thyroid, and pituitary conditions. He also is enthusiastic about the potential for health technology to improve health and wellness. More »

 

Roy Altman, MD
Rheumatology

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Chidinma Chima-Melton, MD
Pulmonary Medicine

Dr. Chidinma Chima-Melton received her medical degree from Stony Brook University School of Medicine, New York. She completed her training in Internal Medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. She then made the move to the west coast for fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Following her fellowship, she joined UCLA Health. Dr. Chima-Melton’s interests include Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), Occupational and Environmental lung diseases. More »

 

Michael Cohen, MD
Infectious Disease

Dr. Michael Cohen has trained and practiced in Southern California for the past 26 years. He completed medical school at the USC Keck School of Medicine then went on to internal medicine internship and residency at the Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara. He then returned to Los Angeles to complete an infectious diseases fellowship and Masters Degree in Molecular Pharmacology at UCLA. He has been working in private practice in Los Angeles and as teaching physician for infectious diseases at Olive View UCLA Medical Center since 1997. Dr. Cohen’s clinical interests include general infectious diseases, Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), HIV, Hepatitis C, chronic wound care, staph infections and More »

 

Masoom Modi, MD
Rheumatology

Dr. Masoom Modi completed her rheumatology training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Originally from Northern California, she obtained her bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley. She attended medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine, and completed internal medicine training at Maricopa Medical Center. Dr. Modi is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology. She enjoys participating in teaching activities with first year medical students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and dog. More »

 

Emily Newsom, MD
Dermatology

Dr. Newsom is a board certified dermatologist and fellowship trained dermatologic surgeon. After completing her undergraduate studies at UPenn, she attended Tulane for medical school in New Orleans. Her dermatology residency was at Wayne State in Detroit followed by fellowship in micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology (Mohs surgery) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell in New York. She is excited to be living in Southern California and enjoys yoga, spinning, cooking, and travelling. She specializes in skin cancer, dermatologic surgery and cosmetic dermatology. Her research is primarily in the fields of skin cancer and patient education. More »

 

Gifty-Maria Ntim, MD
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics

Originally from Ghana, Dr. Gifty-Maria Ntim completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Tulane University. She has served as medical director for APLA Health & Wellness and preceding that worked as a staff physician at Antelope Valley Community Clinic (AVCC) in Palmdale. Dr. Ntim has received several awards relating to her professional work and community service and is an active fellow of both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Physicians (ACP). Dr. Ntim is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and considers it a privilege to be able to care for a wide variety of patients from babies to the elderly. More »

 

Brendan Riley, MD, MPH
Podiatry

Dr. Brendan M. Riley is Board Certified by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery in foot and reconstructive rearfoot/ankle surgery. In 2005, he completed four years of surgical residency training at the West Los Angeles VA, Olive View/UCLA Medical Center and Century City Hospitals. He then joined the University Podiatry Group at UCLA and is currently seeing patients at both the Westwood and Santa Monica offices. He is also a part-time Consulting Physician at the UCLA Arthur Ashe Sudent Health and Wellness Center and at Olive View/UCLA Medical Center where he enjoys being involved in resident education. His training and professional interests are in foot and ankle trauma, reconstructive surgery and diabetic foot care.More »

 

Colin Robinson, MD, MPH
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics

Dr. Colin Robinson received his medical degree and Master of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UCLA. His clinical interests include primary and urgent care for newborns, children, and adults of all ages. Medical education, health policy, patient advocacy and working with the underserved are other interests. Dr. Robinson is fluent in Spanish. More »

 

M. Iain Smith, MD
Pulmonary

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Hijab Zubairi, MD
Internal Medicine

Dr. Hijab Zubairi is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley in Biology and Religious Studies and received her medical education at the University of Vermont. She completed training in Internal Medicine/Pediatrics from Tufts University/Baystate Medical Center where she was chief resident. After residency she completed a Global Health Leadership fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and received her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public health. Her clinical interests include providing primary care to patients of all ages in resource limited areas, tropical medicine and infectious diseases, refugee health, patient advocacy, and medical education and advancement. Dr. Zubairi is fluent in Urdu. More »

 

Carlos Macias, MD
Cardiology

Dr. Carlos Macias brings the specialized medicine of the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center to Santa Clarita. He earned his medical degree in Mexico and completed internship and residency training in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico Medical Center. Dr. Macias completed a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of New Mexico Medical Center and then moved to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for an additional fellowship in clinical cardiac electrophysiology. His clinic interests include ablation, arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, electrophysiology, implantable defibrillators and pacemakers. More »

 

Behi Rabbani, MD
Cardiology

Dr. Behi Rabbani originates from Michigan. After completing his undergraduate degree at Yale University he returned to the University of Michigan to obtain his medical degree. He remained at the University of Michigan Hospital to complete an internal medicine residency (where he served as a chief medical resident), as well as fellowships in general and interventional cardiology. He then pursued additional advanced training in the management of peripheral vascular disease and the catheter based treatment of structural heart disease such as non-surgical heart valve replacement. Dr. Rabbani's mission is to treat every patient with the utmost compassion and individualized care. More »

 

Nidhi Thareja, MD
Cardiology

Dr. Nidhi Thareja earned her medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She completed a dual bachelor’s degree program at the University of Maryland, College Park in Physiology & Neurobiology and Computer Science. She did her internal medicine residency training at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and her general cardiology fellowship training at the LAC + USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. She enjoys practicing all aspects of cardiology with special interests in preventive cardiology, coronary artery disease, heart failure and women with heart disease. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and children. More »

 

Sittiporn Bencharit, MD
Digestive Diseases

Dr. Bencharit earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine and completed internship and residency training in internal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Moving west to San Diego, Dr. Bencharit completed his fellowship in gastroenterology at UCSD Medical Center. More »

 

Michael Jean, MD
Digestive Diseases

Dr. Michael Jean obtained his medical degree from Drexel University's, Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed internship and residency training in internal medicine at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. Dr. Jean completed his fellowship in gastroenterology at Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals. More »

 

Rajinder Kaushal, MD
Digestive Diseases

Dr. Rajinder Kaushal earned his medical degree in India at Government Medical College Amritsar and then completed internship and residency training in New York at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Wayne State University School of Medicine. More »

 

Kevork Kazanjian, MD
Colorectal Surgery

Dr. Kazanjian is a southern California native and completed his undergraduate and medical education at UCLA, earning his MD in 2001. He completed his General Surgery residency at the UCLA Medical Center, including a two year fellowship in cancer research. He subsequently trained in Colorectal Surgery at the University of Minnesota, the oldest and largest Colon and Rectal Surgery fellowship program in the country. Dr. Kazanjian is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. More »

 

George Pan, MD
Pain Management

Dr. Pan is originally from Atlanta, GA. He completed his undergraduate studies at Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned his M.D. at the Medical College of Georgia. He completed a surgical internship at Loma Linda University Medical Center and his Anesthesiology residency at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. He finished his subspecialty training in Pain Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Pan specializes in treating pain conditions that have not responded to conservative therapy by incorporating minimally invasive procedures with multimodal analgesic therapies. Some of these procedures include fluoroscopic guided injections, rhizotomy, neurolysis, spinal cord stimulation, kyphoplasty, and intrathecal pump therapy. More »

 

Michael G. Quon, MD
Digestive Diseases

Dr. Michael Quon earned his medical degree at the USC School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at LAC+USC Medical Center. Dr. Quon then completed fellowship training in gastroenterology at LAC+USC Medical Center. More »

 

Bradley Reid, MD
Pain Management

Dr. Reid is originally from Utah. After completing his undergraduate studies in Utah, he attended medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in upstate New York. He trained in Anesthesiology and Interventional Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. His primary training and clinical focus in managing chronic pain is with minimally invasive procedures. He also approaches managing chronic pain through physical therapy, pain psychology, lifestyle changes, multimodal analgesic therapy, complementary alternative medicine, and interventional procedures. Dr. Reid is a strong advocate for opioid minimization in chronic pain management by helping patients with alternative pain management methods that are safer, healthier and more evidence-based. More »

 

Alexander Black, MD
Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Black attended Harvard College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in biochemistry. He then attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. He did his fellowship training in hematology/oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Since then, Dr. Black has been a faculty member for all but 3 years. He initially focused on molecular biology research in leukemia, and, more recently, has shifted his efforts to clinical research and patient care. More »

 

Rena Callahan, MD
Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Callahan attended Yale University and obtained a BS in Biology. She later attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where she graduated with high honors, Alpha Omega Alpha. She completed her Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology training at UCLA.  As an assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA, Dr. Rena Callahan is active in the breast cancer research and treatment program.  She has spoken on the topic of the evolving treatment of breast cancer at both local and national meetings.  More »

 

Nu Lu, MD
Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Nu Lu earned her medical degree at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and completed internship and residency training in internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Lu then moved to Los Angeles to complete a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. More »