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Department of Surgery Department of Surgery
  1. Department of Surgery
  2. Education and Training
  3. Residency Programs
  4. General Surgery
  5. Current Residents

General Surgery Residents

Chief Residents

Victoria Bendersky, MD, PhD

Victoria Bendersky, MD, PhD
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
MD: Duke University
PhD: Johns Hopkins University
Research: Transplant surgery

Claire Bensard, MD, PhD

Claire Bensard, MD, PhD
Hometown: Denver, CO
MD: University of Utah
PhD: University of Utah

Karina Covarrubias, MD

Karina Covarrubias, MD
Hometown: El Paso, TX
MD: Johns Hopkins University
Research: Transplant surgery
Mentors: Justin Parekh, MD, and Aleah Brubaker, MD, PhD

Jorge De La Torre, MD

Jorge De La Torre, MD
Hometown: Mexicali, Mexico
MD: Tecnológico de Monterrey
Research: Pancreatic cancer
Mentor: Rebekah White, MD

Nicole Goldhaber, MD

Nicole Goldhaber, MD
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
MD: Harvard University
Research: Healthcare management and quality
Mentors: Bryan Clary, MD, MBA, and Christopher Longhurst, MD, MS

Estella Huang, MD

Estella Huang, MD
Hometown: Lisle, IL
MD: University of Illinois at Chicago
Research: Minimally invasive surgery
Mentors: Garth Jacobsen, MD, and Ryan Broderick, MD

Kevin Li, MD

Kevin Li, MD
Hometown: Somerset County, NJ
MD: UT Southwestern
Research: Pancreatic cancer immunotherapy
Mentor: Andrew Lowy, MD

Ashwyn Sharma, MD

Ashwyn Sharma, MD
Hometown: Kansas City, KS
MD: Johns Hopkins University
Research: Surgical oncology — gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), computational biology, bioinformatics
Mentors: Jason Sicklick, MD, and Jill Mesirov, PhD

PGY4

Wyeth Alexander, MD

Wyeth Alexander, MD
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
MD: University of Pittsburgh
Research: Cardiac transplant

Sophie Chung, MD

Sophie Chung, MD
Hometown: Naperville, IL
MD: Yale University
Research: Surgical oncology and outcomes

Kristin Cox, MD

Kristin Cox, MD
Hometown: Bainbridge Island, WA
MD: University of Washington
Research: Fluorescence labeling of gastrointestinal cancers
Mentor: Michael Bouvet, MD

Ana Maria Dumitru, MD, PhD

Ana Maria Dumitru, MD, PhD
Hometown: Bucharest, Romania/ John’s Creek, GA
MD: Dartmouth University
PhD: Dartmouth University
Research: Pre and postnatal gene therapy

William Johnston, MD

William Johnston, MD
Hometown: Houston, TX
MD: Baylor College of Medicine
Research: Trauma — resuscitation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary contusions

Sean Perez, MD

Sean Perez, MD
Hometown| Upland, CA
MD: Boston University
Research: Surgical informatics, health disparities, education
Mentors: Bryan Clary, MD, MBA, and Christopher Longhurst, MD, MS

Louis Perkins, MD

Louis Perkins, MD
Hometown: Newburgh, IN
MD: Indiana University
Research: Trauma and emergency general surgery
Mentors: Bruce Potenza, MD, and Jarrett Santorelli, MD

PGY3

Sami Abujbarah, MD

Sami Abujbarah, MD
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
MD: Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine — Arizona

Mark Antkowiak, MD

Mark Antkowiak, MD
Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA
MD: Northwestern University
Research: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)
Mentor: Jason Sicklick, MD

Thomas Handley, MD

Thomas Handley, MD
Hometown: London
MD: Imperial College School of Medicine

Kim Nguyen-Ta, MD

Kim Nguyen-Ta, MD
Hometown: San Diego, CA / Lincoln, NE
MD: UC San Diego
Research: Pancreatic cancer
Mentor: Rebekah White, MD

Gabrielle Rajulu, MD

Gabrielle Rajulu, MD
Hometown: Houston, TX
MD: University of Texas Health San Antonio

Graham Spurzem, MD

Graham Spurzem, MD
Hometown: Novato, CA
MD: UC San Diego
Research: Minimally invasive surgery
Mentor: Ryan Broderick, MD

PGY2

Jessica Della Ripa, MD

Jessica Della Ripa, MD
Hometown: Castaic, CA
MD: UC San Diego

Brittny Flynn, MD

Brittny Flynn, MD
Hometown: Portland, OR
MD: Oregon Health & Science University

David Hu, MD

David Hu, MD
Hometown: Hamden, CT
MD: Dartmouth College

Yash Huilgol, MD

Yash Huilgol, MD
Hometown: San Diego, CA
MD: UCSF

Federico Palacardo, MD

Federico Palacardo, MD
Hometown: New York, NY
MD: Weill Cornell Medicine

Lauren Poston, MD

Lauren Poston, MD
Hometown: Tulare, CA
MD: Case Western Reserve University

Allie Yan, MD

Allie Yan, MD
Hometown: Middleton, WI
MD: University of Chicago

Interns

Brandon Bellen, MD

Brandon Bellen, MD
Hometown: La Porte, IN
MD: University of Colorado

Natalie Kessler, MD

Natalie Kessler, MD
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
MD: University of Virginia

Georgia Kirn, MD

Georgia Kirn, MD
Hometown: Mill Valley, CA
MD: UCSF

Jacob Kotlier, MD

Jacob Kotlier, MD
Hometown: Belmont, MA
MD: Tufts University

Kelsey Ogomori, MD

Kelsey Ogomori, MD
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
MD: UCSF

Cristian Puerta, MD

Cristian Puerta, MD
Hometown: Tijuana, Mexico
MD: Universidad Autonoma de Baja California

Celina Thomas, MD

Celina Thomas, MD
Hometown: Perry Hall, MD
MD: University of Maryland

Research Fellows

John Austin, MD

John Austin, MD
Hometown: Irvine, CA
MD: Stanford University
Research: Trauma and Emergency General Surgery
Mentors: Allison Berndtson, MD, Laura Haines, MD, Jarrett Santorelli, MD, and Jessica Weaver, MD

Javier Bravo Quintana, MD

Javier Bravo Quintana, MD
Hometown: Mexico City
MD: Universidad Anáhuac Escuela de Medicina
Research: GI Cancer surgery enhancement through fluorescence
Mentor: Michael Bouvet, MD

Asimina Courelli, MD

Asimina Courelli, MD
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
MD: UC San Diego
Research: Pancreatic Cancer
Mentor: Andrew Lowy, MD

John Deng, MD

John Deng, MD
Hometown: Springfield, IL
MD: UCLA
Research: Translational research, thoracic surgery, lung cancer
Mentor: Mark Onaitis, MD

Blackberrie Eddins, MD

Blackberrie Eddins, MD
Hometown: Beaumont, CA
MD: Northwestern University
Research: Fluorescence labeling of gastrointestinal cancers
Mentor: Michael Bouvet, MD

Simone Hyman, MD

Simone Hyman, MD
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
MD: University of Arizona at Tucson
Research: Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship
Mentor: Benjamin Keller, MD

Bradley Kawano, MD

Bradley Kawano, MD
Hometown: Kailua, HI
MD: Duke University
Research: Surgical patient quality and safety
Mentor: Bruce Potenza, MD

Ruth Laverde, MD

Ruth Laverde, MD
Hometown: Miami, FL
MD: UCSF
Research: Clinical informatics, quality improvement, global surgery, pediatric surgery, minimally invasive surgery
Mentors: Jeff Reeves, MD

Nicholas Neel, MD

Nicholas Neel, MD
Hometown: San Dimas, CA
MD: UC San Diego
Research: Machine learning, colorectal surgery, gastric cancer
Mentors: Samuel Eisenstein, MD, and Winta Mehtsun, MD, MPH

Danae Olaso, MD

Danae Olaso, MD
Hometown: Maui, HI
MD: Duke University
Research: REIMAGINE Transplant Surgery Research Fellow, translational and clinical research in organ transplantation and organ donation
Mentors: Aleah Brubaker, MD, PhD, Gabriel Schnickel, MD, MPH, and Peter Than, MD

Parisa Oviedo, MD

Parisa Oviedo, MD
Hometown: Irvine, CA
MD: UC San Diego
Research: VA Chief Resident in Quality and Safety
Mentor: Bruce Potenza, MD

Nikita Thareja, MD

Nikita Thareja, MD
Hometown: Saratoga, CA
MD: UC San Diego
Research: Minimally invasive surgery, novel robotic systems, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, surgical education
Mentor: Ryan Broderick, MD

Away-Research Fellows

Alyssa Joachim, MD

Alyssa Joachim, MD
Hometown: Lodi, WI
MD: University of Wisconsin
Research: Long-term outcomes of neonatal surgical diseases

Paul Park, MD

Paul Park, MD
Hometown: San Diego, CA
MD: UCSF
Research: Pediatric and fetal surgery

Alexander Zhu, MD

Alexander Zhu, MD

Hometown: Norman, OK
MD: Duke University
Research: Thoracic surgery and outcomes, wearables, lung cancer screening