News

Cynthia Tom took 3rd place in the Resident Research Competition at SoCal ACS for her paper entitled “Outcomes of Combined Hernia Repair and Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter Placement: A NSQIP Analysis” under the mentorship of Ashkan Moazzez. Great work!

Congrats to Kelsey Gray (R4) and Eric Simms who won the Battle of the Blades surgery debate at SoCal ACS, beating out SB Cottage, USC, Loma Linda, Kaiser LA, Kaiser Fontana, Cedars and UCI.

Welcome to our General Surgery Intern Class 2018-2019

Categorical Interns

Naveen Balan, MD – Drexel University COM

Caitlyn Braschi, MD – Icahn SOM at Mount Sinai

Tessa Lamberton, MD – Loma Linda University SOM

Jessica Liu, MD – University of Texas SOM at San Antonio

Holly Mulinder, MD/MPH – Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center SOM

Maria Valadez, MD – University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen SOM

Preliminary Interns

Nishat Ahmed, MD – Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

Mollie Andreae, MD – Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

Jeffrey Badday, MD – Universidad Autanoma de Guadalajara Facultad de Medicina

Catalino Bautista III, MD – Loma Linda University SOM

Martand Chhibber, MD – Ross University SOM, American University of Antigua COM

Jason Crowther, MD – Tulane University SOM

Xuan-Lan Doan, MD – University of Hawaii, John A. Burns SOM

Vivian Hsiao, MD – The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Christopher Mejias, MD – Washington University in St. Louis SOM

Tulsi Patel, MD – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences COM

Melissa Phuphanich, MD – Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

Fatima Sharif, MD, BA – University of Missouri-Kansas City SOM

Pranamya Suri, MD – Ross University SOM

Michael Van Tienderen, DO – A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona

Congratulations to Cynthia Tom for winning the Jack A. Barney Resident Paper Competition at the Southwestern Surgical Congress for her presentation entitled “Assessing outcomes and costs of appendectomies performed at rural hospitals.”

Congratulations to Dr. Dennis Kim on receiving the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Congratulations to Sonam Kapadia, Surgery R2, who is one of ten residents to receive the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine’s 2018 Excellence in Teaching Humanism Residents and Fellows Award.

We are proud to announce that Dr. Dan deUgarte has been appointed Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Harbor-UCLA, and Dr. Steve Lee is now the Chief of Pediatric Surgery at UCLA.

Congratulations to our faculty on their recent promotions:

Dr. Dennis Kim – Director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Training Program

Dr. Ashkan Moazzez – Medical Director of Utilization Review

Dr. Eric Simms – Interim Chief of the General Surgery Division

Dr. David Plurad will transition to the position of Trauma Medical Director and Medical Director of the SICU at Riverside Community Hospital. Congratulations and thank you for your service and dedication to our patients and trainees at Harbor-UCLA.

We want to welcome our new staff member, Dr. Richard Everson. Dr. Everson will be joining our Neurology team. We are excited to welcome him aboard.

Residency Interview Dates for the 2018-2019 Intern Class have been announced: November 29th and December 13th. All applicants must apply through the ERAS system

Third Annual Harbor-UCLA Department of Surgery Research Symposium Winners:

Alexander Schwed, MD for Best Clinical Science Paper Award

Michael O’ Leary, MD for Best Basic Science Paper Award

Congratulations and farewell to our graduating class!

Devon Callahan, MD- Private Practice (Acute Care Surgery), Abbott Northwestern, Minneapolis, MN

Jessica Keeley, MD- Trauma, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, University of Southern California

Jerry Kim, MD- Vascular Surgery Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine

Brian MacLaughlin, MD- Colorectal Surgery Fellowship, University of TX, Houston

Dennis Nemceff, MD- Vascular Surgery Fellowship, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine

Huan Yuan, MD- Endocrine Surgery Fellowship, North Shore University Hospital

A warm welcome to our three new faculty members:
Dr. George Singer –Trauma Division
Dr. Molly Deane –Trauma Division
Dr. Kathryn Chen – Surgical Oncology Division

The 2nd Annual Critical Care/Trauma Surgery Conference will be held on August 25th. The conference will highlight innovative therapies, best practices and issues encountered in Critical Care, Trauma and Surgery populations.