PLUS Trainee
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland PLUS Participants:
We are thrilled to have 3 residents from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland participating in PLUS. These residents complete their residency training through BCHO, and spend the PLUS focused weeks learning the PLUS curriculum. They participate in a community based project with Oakland based partners, and are mentored by BCHO Faculty Advisors Gena Lewis & Diane Halberg. We are thrilled to have 3 new residents from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland participating in PLUS. These residents complete their residency training through BCH Oakland and spend the PLUS focused weeks learning the PLUS curriculum.
Current Trainees: PGY-1, PGY-2, PGY-3, BCHO PHY-2, BCHO PGY-3
PGY-1
Anna Ayala
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Undergraduate: Willamette University
Medical School: Oregon Health & Science University
Other Education/Training: N/A
PLUS Interests: Restorative justice, school-based health, structural competency, art in medicine, global and urban health
Personal: All things music, learning about the world through food, my almost 10-year old Great Dane Mastiff, Durbin, exploring cities by foot, bike, and public transit.
Earl Chism
Hometown: Elk Grove, CA
Undergraduate: Yale
Medical School: University of Illinois
Other Education/Training: N/A
PLUS Interests: Improving URiM representation in healthcare, pathway programming, education and access, anti-racism
Personal: All things food, movies, sports (especially basketball and football), and anything that makes me laugh
Joseph Fong
Hometown: Florence, CO; Naperville, IL
Undergraduate: University of Rochester
Medical School: University of Illinois
Other Education/Training: N/A
PLUS Interests: Mental health, Housing insecurity, Food insecurity, Social determinants of health, School-based interventions
Personal: Hiking, drawing, playing the drums, reading science fiction books and manga
Vida Sandoval
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Undergraduate: University of CA, Davis
Medical School: University of CA, Los Angeles
Other Education/Training: UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (MPH)
PLUS Interests: Immigrant child health, Latinx health, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), childhood food insecurity, community engagement, advocacy, interventions to address health disparities
Personal: Being outdoors, hiking, camping, trying new restaurants, indoor cycling, spending time with family, dogs
Isabel Sunshine
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
Undergraduate: Brown University
Medical School: Keck, University of Southern CA
Other Education/Training:
PLUS Interests: Adolescent mental health for gender diverse youth, disparities in infant and maternal health outcomes, legislative advocacy
Personal: reading historical fiction novels, running and hiking, movie theaters (read: eating popcorn), recipe testing
PGY-2
Dina Abdo
Hometown: Orange County, California
Undergraduate: University of California, Irvine
Medical School: Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Other Education/Training: N/A
PLUS Interests: Refugee/Immigrant health, Social determinants of health, School-based interventions, narrative medicine and advocacy
Personal: I enjoy writing, playing sports, hiking, reading fiction, consuming lots of tea!
Saba Ali
Hometown: Whittier, California
Undergraduate: UC Berkeley
Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU/MCV)
Other Education/Training: Columbia University
PLUS Interests: Immigrant/Refugee Health, Health Disparities, Social Determinants of Health, Preventative Health, Health Policy
Personal: Cooking, yoga, traveling, reading, swimming, live music
Dominique “Nicky” Forestier
Hometown: Miami, FL
Undergraduate: MIT
Medical School: University of Florida
PLUS Interests: Health disparities research, anti-racism education and action, LGBTQ+ health, adolescent medicine, and community building
Personal: I love to play soccer, cook new recipes, and read. I also get excited about dogs, spoken word, and film festivals.
Emilee Tu
Hometown: Blacksburg, VA
Undergraduate: Princeton University
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
PLUS Interests: gun violence prevention, narrative medicine, legislative advocacy, health policy, global health, coalition building, anti-racism work
Personal: hiking, playing the piano, discovering new bakeries/restaurants/boba, rock climbing, bird watching, anything outdoors!
Lawren Wooten
Hometown: Washington, DC
Undergraduate: Cornell University College of Human Ecology (BS)
Medical School: Georgetown University School of Medicine (MD)
Other Education/Training: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (MS)
PLUS Interests: Black American/African American health, Early childhood, mutual aid, Community activism
Personal: I'm a semi-professional cellist with almost 3 decades of experience. I performed at the Sydney Opera House as a teenager.
PGY-3
David Avila
Hometown: Venice, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, Irvine
Medical School: University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
Other Education/Training: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Masters in Public Health (Health Policy)
Interests: Health policy, childhood obesity prevention, nutrition, immigrant health, childhood education, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), preventing child abuse and neglect
Personal: Cooking, road biking, basketball, traveling (culinary travel)
Robert "Robi" Bucayu
Hometown: Santa Maria, CA
Undergraduate: Stanford University
Medical School: University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
Other Education/Training: University of California, Los Angeles: Masters in Public Health
Interests: LGBTQ+ health care, underserved communities (including Filipino and Latinx), program design and evaluation, medical education
Personal: singing, karaoke, running, wine and cheese
Mauricio Franco
Hometown: Lancaster, CA
Undergraduate: University of California Los Angeles
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Other Education/Training: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science: Postbacc. University of Southern California: Master of Science in Global Medicine
Interests: Queer and Immigrant child/youth health; Narrative Medicine; Anti-oppression and Anti-racism initiatives; Mentorship and community engagement
Personal: I have 17yo dog named Gizmo, love to garden with my husband, and a favorite past time of mine is to make foods that remind me of home- its how I connect to my ancestors. Looking forward to exploring new parks and hiking trails in SF.
Amber Gautam
Hometown: Raleigh, NC
Undergraduate: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Medical School: East Carolina University
Other Education/Training: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Masters in Public Health
Interests: Health policy, coalition-building
Personal: I love live music and recently got Scuba certified!
Ursula Griffiths-Randolph
Hometown: Rockville, MD
Undergraduate: Tufts University
Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School
Other Education/Training: The George Washington University: Masters in Public Health
Interests: Black maternal and child health, global health, health communications, social determinants of health, health disparities (especially per birth outcomes), mentorship and pipeline programming for URM students and trainees
Personal: I love singing, music, theatre, design, personal styling, reading, food (eating and preparing), mentoring, and my extra extra large family.
BCHO PGY-2
Daniel Park
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: University of CA, Los Angeles
Medical School: Rush Medical College
Other Education/Training:
PLUS Interests: Health equity with some budding interest in civic engagement
Personal: Camping, hiking, and listening to new music
Teresa Skelly
Undergraduate: Harvard
Medical School: Rowan University
Other Education/Training:
PLUS Interests: School-based health, adolescent health, mental health, health policy, ACEs, early relational health
Personal: Hiking, baking bread, exploring the bay
BCHO PGY-3
Alicia Callejo-Black
Hometown: San Francisco
Undergraduate: Lewis & Clark College
Medical school: UC San Diego School of Medicine
Other Education/Training: Post-bacc at Portland State University
Interests: Social determinants of health, health equity, integration of mental health into the primary care setting
Personal: Backpacking, camping, skiing, beach volleyball, exploring the local food
Nassim Durali
Hometown: San Diego
Undergraduate: UC San Diego
Medical school: UC San Diego School of Medicine
Other Education/Training: N/A
Interests: School-based health initiatives, maternal and adolescent mental health, comprehensive care in immigrant and refugee populations, and exploring interventions to improve health literacy in patients with chronic illness and their families.
Personal: Baking, Hiking
Caitlin Jackson
Hometown: Turlock, CA
Undergraduate: Saint Mary's College of CA
Medical school: Michigan State University
Other Education/Training: Keck Graduate Institute (Post-Baccalaureate program in biomedical science)
Interests: adolescent mental health, early childhood education, nutrition, cultural humility, fighting systemic racism
Personal: cooking, walking my dog around Lake Merritt, reading, traveling, watching reality TV