Our Trainees

Victoria Bendersky
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Undergrad: California State University Los Angeles, Biology
Medical School: Duke University
Outside Interests: Traveling, exploring new restaurants, hiking, snowboarding, walking on the beach with my dog
Research Interests: Regenerative medicine, cell biology, transplant immunology, medical education

Rachel Jensen
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Undergrad: University of California Davis; Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior
Medical School: University of California Davis
Outside Interests: Cooking, baking, bike riding, yoga, painting, piano playing, Warriors basketball
Research Interests: Trauma outcomes, medical education, global health

Jay Meisner
Hometown: Lake Forest, Illinois
Undergrad: Northwestern University; Biological Sciences
Medical School: University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Outside Interests: Backpacking and white-water rafting, gluten-free cooking and baking, yoga, discovering new music and going to concerts.
Research Interests: Surgical and medical education, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, biopsychosocial and developmental impact of surgical intervention in the pediatric population.

Zongyang Mou
Hometown: Qingdao, China
Undergrad: Emory University, Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Major
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Outside Interests: Tennis, basketball, video games, cooking, and almost any outdoors activity
Research Interests: Genetics of obesity, utilizing Mendalian randomization in big data studies, medical technology

Rohini Patel
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Undergrad: University of Southern California, Biology major with a minor in Business and Popular Music
Medical School: University of Arizona - Tucson
Outside Interests: Traveling, kayaking, jet skiing, hiking, and learning how to snowboard
Research Interests: Clinical outcomes of standard versus novel surgical treatments, large database analysis of sub-populations, and surgical technological innovation

Ashwyn Sharma
Hometown: Overland Park, Kansas
Undergrad: Johns Hopkins University; Biomedical Engineering
Medical School: Johns Hopkins University
Outside Interests: Following KC sports, basketball, tennis, watching TV shows and movies, photography, exploring San Diego
Research Interests: Surgical oncology, tissue engineering, surgical device development

Michael Turner
Hometown: Brawley, CA
Undergrad: Corban University, Psychology
Medical School: Oregon Health and Science University
Outside interest: running, happy hour, reading, basketball, surfing (hopefully)
Research interest: minority health, medical education, bariatric surgery

Raeda Taj
Hometown: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Medical School: King Abdulaziz University
Outside Interests: Exercise, yoga and traveling
Research Interests: Cleft lip and palate and craniofacial conditions

Robert Frank Cubas
Hometown: Lima, Peru
Medical School: National University of Cordoba, Argentina
Residency: Loma Linda University
Outside Interests: Martial arts, CrossFit, Hiking, Family bike rides, Singing, Taking our kids to the park, Gathering with friends, Travel
Research Interests: Quality improvement, Interesting cases, Surgical education, Minimal invasive & robotic surgery

Ryan Broderick
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Undergrad: University of Cincinnati, Biomedical Engineering - Device development
Medical School: University of Cincinnati
Residency: UC San Diego
Outside Interests: fly fishing, hiking with family, cooking, gardening
Research Interests: clinical and outcomes based research in minimally invasive/foregut/bariatric surgery, medical device and robotics design and optimization

Arvin Wali, MD, MAS
Undergrad: UC San Diego Revelle College
Medical School: UC San Diego School of Medicine
Residency: UC San Diego School of Medicine
Outside Interests: surfing, running, weight lifting, traveling, spending time with his family, Advaita Vedanta, Buddhist philosophy, and Stoic philosophy
Research Interstets: cost-effectiveness of neurosurgical interventions, big data analytics of neurosurgical outcomes, and addressing global/national socioeconomic disparities in neurosurgical outcomes

Luis Daniel Diaz-Aguilar, MDS
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles

Kareem Tawfik
Residency: University of Cincinnati

Kayva Crawford, MD (PGY -1)
Hometown: Portland, OR
Undergrad: University of Washington; Spanish, Bioethics and Humanities
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Outside Interests: marathon running, piano, reading, hiking, painting, baking
Research Interests: population-based research, head and neck oncology, pediatric otolaryngology

Omid Moshtaghi, MD (PGY-1)
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Undergrad: San Diego State University; Biology.
Medical School: University of California, Irvine.
Outside Interests: Surfing, hiking, camping, and spending time with family.
Research Interests: Hidden hearing loss, dizziness, tinnitus, patient decision making, and bioelectric technology.

Farhoud Faraji, MD, PhD (PGY -1)
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley; Molecular & Cell Biology
Medical School: Saint Louis University
Outside Interests: Terrestrial and marine naturalism, scuba and freediving, climbing, hiking, yoga, travel, culinary arts, sailing, live music, horticulture and botany.
Research Interests: Head and neck oncology, metastasis biology, transcriptional biology, cell-mediated immunity, medical education.

Benjamin Keller, MD
Hometown: West Chicago, Illinois
Undergrad: University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; Molecular and Cellular Biology
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Residency: UC Davis Medical Center
Outside Interests: Running, Cooking, Yoga, Scuba, Live Music, Camping, Spending time with Family
Research Interests: Biomedical Device Design, Fetal Surgery, Pre-Term Labor, Mentorship

Dr. Tzyy-Nong Liou
Hometown: Taichung, Taiwan
Undergrad: Washington University in St. Louis; Biology
Medical School: Washington University in St. Louis
Residency: Washington University St. Louis
Outside Interests: Hiking, cycling, kayaking
Research Interests: Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, quality improvement

Dr. Paige McLean 
Hometown: Reno, NV
Undergraduate: (Neuroscience) University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV
Medical School: University of Nevada School of Medicine, United States
Interests in Plastic Surgery:
Hobbies: Traveling, camping, hiking, snowboarding, golfing, Crossfit, cooking

Dr. Riley Dean
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate: (Biology) Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Medical School: McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas
Hobbies: Cycling/Running, Snow Skiing, Cooking, Playing Music, Hiking/Camping, Creating Artwork, Traveling

Dr. Jiwon Sarah Crowley
Undergraduate: (Psychology) University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
Medical School: Florida State University- College of Medicine
Residency: University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento

Hector Daniel Ludi
Hometown: Entre Rios, Argentina
Undergrad: River Plate Adventist College, Argentina, BA in Biology
Medical School: Cordoba University, Argentina
Residency: Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California
Outside Interests: Traveling, hiking,
Research Interests: Trauma

Nikolas Kappy
Hometown: Holmdel, NJ
Undergrad: Georgetown University, Biology
Medical School: Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School
Residency: Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey
Outside Interests: Sailing, Tennis, Skiing, Hiking with our dog Leo
Research Interests: Traumatic Brain Injury, adipose-derived stem cells, Quality Improvement

Meghan Cochran-Yu
Hometown: Redlands, CA
Undergrad: University of Redlands, Asian Studies, Biochemistry
Medical School: Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Residency: Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, California
Outside Interests: Outdoor sports, cooking, dancing
Research Interests: Education

Michael Levine
Hometown: Randolph, MA
Undergrad: University of Massachusetts. Chemistry
Medical School: University of Wisconsin
Residency: UC San Diego
Outside Interests: Sailing
Research Interests: Vascular Surgery