The UCSF Fresno Department of Pediatrics has more than 160 faculty members.

Health Science Faculty

The Health Science UCSF Fresno faculty is based primarily at Children's Health Center and is responsible for  the residents' continuity experience, outpatient pediatrics as well as inpatient services at Community Regional Medical Center. They also serve as attendings for one of the two resident inpatient teaching services at Children’s Hospital Central California.

John Scholefield, MD

Dr. Scholefield was appointed Interim Chief of Pediatrics in July 2006.  His interest in Pediatrics started with his Peace Corp public health experience. He has over 20 years practicing pediatrics first in a rural/poverty private practice and then as teaching faculty since 1994. He has served as the Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery, Children’s Health Clinic, and the Child Sexual Abuse Program. Dr. Scholefield completed his Residency and Chief Residency in the primary care pediatric track at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Scholefield's area of research is in child abuse prevention in the routine pediatric practice setting.  He has also published in the area of the evaluation of fever.

Victoria Acharya, MD
Dr. Acharya is one of our newest faculty members. Her impressive medical background starts with her Peace Corps experience in Togo as a Health Extension Agent. After medical school at the University of Arizona, she completed her residency at Phoenix Children’s Hospital/Maricopa Medical Center. Since then she has worked as a pediatric hospitalist in Arizona. She has worked urgent care and ambulatory pediatrics through diverse settings such as Kaiser and low income clinics. Her special areas of interest are inpatient medicine and family centered care. Currently she heads up a cross-disciplinary group of faculty interested in global health rotations.

David Aguilar, MD
Dr. Aguilar recently joined the faculty after graduating from this residency program where he served as a fourth year chief resident.  Dr. Aguilar recently received the UCSF-Fresno 2005-2006 Outstanding Resident Teacher Award.  Dr. Aguilar's area of particular interest is that of pediatric hospitalist medicine and the role of the general pediatrician in the neonatal unit in the community hospital setting.

Melissa Aguirre, MD
Dr. Aguirre obtained her medical degree from Stanford. She was presented the Pediatric Resident Award in 2001 from the University of Utah where she completed her pediatric residency training.  Poverty Pediatrics and cross-cultural medicine are her passion.  To this end Dr. Aguirre has developed two grant funded programs for the clinic:  home visitation and Reach Out and Read.  She also leads a faculty development program for the entire UCSF Fresno system.

Aimee Abu-Shamsieh, MD, MPH
Dr. Abu-Shamsieh is a graduate of UCLA where she obtained her BA in Near Eastern Studies as well as a Master of Public Health with a focus on maternal and child health in the Middle East.  She received her MD from Wayne State University and subsequently graduated from the UCSF-Fresno Pediatric Residency Program in 2001.  After spending some time in private practice she returned to academic pediatrics.  Dr. Abu-Shamsieh has a particular interest in international medicine, having worked and studied in the Palestinian health care system.  She also has extensive interest in breastfeeding support and promotion, particularly in the poverty populations.  Dr. Abu-Shamsieh is also trained in Genetics and helps with the Genetics clinic in the Children's Health Center.

Nicole Banh, MD
Dr. Banh is one of the current fourth-year Co-Chief Residents.  She is a recent graduate of the UCSF Fresno residency program and won the Continuity of Care Award in her senior year.  Her current interest lies in developing the didactic component of the Pediatric residency. 

Mahin Bayatpour, MD
Dr. Bayatpour is the architect of the Adolescent Medicine rotation which started in 1994.  
In the past, she helped establish the Teen Pregnancy Program and has received grants and presented papers in that area.   She is published in the area of Clinical Social Aspects of Pediatric Pregnancy.  She currently also runs an obesity prevention and treatment  clinic aimed at early adolescents at the Children’s Health Center.

Rick Brandt-Kreutz, LCSW
Mr. Brandt-Kreutz is a licensed mental health professional dedicated to clinical service and advocacy with diverse populations. He has 18 years experience with children and families and 10 year experience in children’s mental health. He is proficient in program development, grant writing and advocacy. He is experienced in psychosocial pediatrics, family dynamics, and precepts residents in his weekly Behavior Clinic.

Amy Evans, MD
Dr. Evans graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and its associated Pediatric Residency Program.  While there she also did a Bradford research fellowship in antifungal therapies and a pathology fellowship as well.  She returned to formal academic after 12 years in private practice.  At UCSF Fresno, she created the grant funded Department of Breastfeeding Medicine. She has published articles on breastfeeding medicine topics and recently was awarded Fellowship status by the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. 

Christian Faulkenberry-Miranda, MD
Dr. Faulkenberry is a graduate of Meharry Medical School.  After recently graduating from this residency program she has joined our faculty.   Her main area of interest is that of bringing evidenced based medicine to the practice of ambulatory care and follow-up of the newborn.

Maries Joseph, MD
Dr. Joseph completed her Pediatric residency at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and fellowship in Clinical Genetics from MUSC and from Stanford University-UCSF Medical Genetics program. Dr. Joseph is also a member and Fellow of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health of United Kingdom. Dr. Joseph has academic pediatric experience from India, Middle East, United Kingdom and the US. Her areas of special interest are childhood asthma, genetic disorders and Public Health Genetics. Dr. Joseph has published several articles in peer reviewed journals and has presented her work at various National and International conferences. Dr. Joseph was the recipient of the 2006 Residency program’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award in General Pediatrics.  She has developed an asthma clinic which is part of the grant funded Asthma Best Practice Program.  She and Dr. Abu-Shamsieh assist Dr. Curry in the Genetics clinic at the Children’s Health Center.

Sarah Smith, DO
Sarah Smith, DO is one of the current 4th year Co-Chief Residents and a recent graduate of the UCSF Fresno Pediatric Residency Program. During her residency she was the recipient of the UCSF Fresno Intern of the Year award for the entire UCSF residency programs. Her interests lie medical anthropology and in the promotion of compassionate care of the under-privileged. 

Joan Voris, MD
Dr. Voris serves as the Associate Dean for the entire UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program. She previously served several years as Medical Director of the Children's Health Center. Dr. Voris actively participates as an attending physician in the Children’s Health Center and at the Children’s Hospital Central California. For many years she was director of the child sexual abuse evaluation program and is published in that area.

Serena Yang, MD
Dr. Yang comes from Baylor Medical School where she has completed an academic General Pediatric fellowship.  As the newest faculty member, she will be joining this clinic based group in November.  Her areas of expertise and research include Neonatal follow-up and general ambulatory medicine.  She has published in the area of access of care and has several publications in the works.  She will be working with Dr. Kinman in the promotion of resident research projects.

 

Pediatric Subspecialty Academic Faculty

Most all of this large group of faculty is based at Children's Hospital Central California. They will be listed by the academic division chiefs and their respective faculty. 

Anesthesiology
Timothy Hanson, MD
Dr. Hansen is the Medical Director of Anesthesiology at Children’s Hospital Central California.  After completing medical school at the University of Utah School of Medicine, he finished his medical training with Residency at the University of Pittsburg.  Dr. Hansen is Board Certified in Anesthesiology.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Virgil Airola, MD
Christine Almon, MD
Adam Birek, MD
Igor Bulatov, MD
Marty Clayman, MD
Marino Fernandez, MD
Robert Gainor, MD
Theodore Greaves, MD
David Merzel, MD
Randall Morton, MD
Ramachandran Rajagopalan, MD
Harpreet Sandhu, MD
Newton Seiden, MD
Edward Tang, MD
Sivasai Voora, MD

Cardiology
Paul Francis, MD
Dr. Francis joined the Cardiology Department at Children’s Hospital Central California in 2003 and quickly became involved in resident teaching for the department. An alumnus of UC Davis Medical School, Dr. Francis continued his training in Pediatrics at the University of Colorado. From there he went to Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center where he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology. He was recently awarded the Subspecialty Teacher of the Year by the residents. Dr. Francis current areas of research and publication include myocardial disease, as well as various aspects of electrocardiogram. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
John Caton, MD
Narakesari Heragu, MD
Kenneth Jue, MD
Carl Owada, MD
James Prochazka, MD
Kenneth Rouillard, MD
Valeriano Simbre, II, MD

Chronically Ill & Medically Complex Children's Clinic (Charlie Mitchell Clinic)
Cherie Ginwalla, MD
Dr. Ginwalla received her training at USC and then finished her Pediatric residency at UC Davis.  She is the academic director for Charlie Mitchell Clinic which serves the medically fragile and complex children in helping coordinate care among the subspecialist.  Dr. Ginwalla is the Chair of the Ethics Committee and is actively involved in the Children's Hospital's programs to improve care for the chronically ill and medically challenging patients. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Hengameh Akhtar, MD
Joel Brownell, MD
James Horspool, DO
Peter Nakaguchi, MD
Neepa Ved, MD
Allan Weisshar, MD

Emergency Medicine
Robert H. Kezirian, MD
A native Fresnan, Dr. Kezirian is the Program Director of the UCSF Fresno Pediatric Residency as well as the Medical Student Site Director for UCSF Fresno at Children's Hospital Central California. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Kezirian served Chief of Staff at Children's Hospital.  He is Board Certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine. A graduate of the UCSF Fresno Residency program and former Chief Resident, Dr. Kezirian is an outstanding faculty member of the teaching program and is involved in several pediatric outreach programs to underserved patients of Children’s Hospital.  He has also won awards for his involvement in a rural clinic in Mexico.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Claudine Aguilar, MD
Aaron Baker, MD
Menouchehr Bazyani, MD
Sylvester Bryan, MD
Janice Kezirian, MD
Badrinath Kulkarni, MD
Henry Pollack, MD
Soledad Socorro Raroque, MD
Guillermo Sandoval, MD
Lawrence Satkowiak, MD
Gregory Watts, MD

Endocrinology
Renee Kinman, MD, PhD
Dr. Kinman is a graduate of Case Western Reserve Medical School, as well as University of Southern California PhD program in Physiology and Biophysics.  She completed her residency and fellowship at Rainbow Children's.  She is an extremely enthusiastic teacher who has won recent teaching awards.  She is published primarily in the area of diabetes but has other interests in basic research areas also.  She is currently the Director of Pediatric Residency Research Program. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Swati Banerjee, MD
“Jil” Huong Nguyen, MD
Lawrence Wetterau, MD

Gastroenterology
Roberto Gugig, MD
Dr. Gugig completed his Pediatric Residency at Maimonides Medical Center Brooklyn, New York and went on to do his clinical fellowship at UCSF in the Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition.  Dr. Gugig has given multiple presentations and is published in a variety of areas from Hepatology to Pancreatitis, often as a first author.  

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Muslim Jami, MD
Jose Martinez, MD

Hematology/Oncology
Robert Mignacca, MD
Dr. Mignacca came to Children's Hospital from UCLA Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship.  He is active in the extremely busy Oncology service which is engaged in numerous national cancer trials but his particular focus on teaching residents in the complexities of hematology. 

J. Daniel Ozeran, MD, PhD
Dr. Ozeran completed his medical school training at the University of Chicago, Prizker School of Medicine.  While at the University of  Chicago, he also obtained a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  He then came to UCLA for his internship/residency and also completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.  Dr. Ozeran is Board Certified in Pediatrics and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.  He has also published numerous articles and with others in the department is engaged in the numerous research trials.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Vonda Crouse, MD
John Gates, MD
M. Cris Johnson, MD

Hospitalists
Steve Foster, DO
Dr. Foster is currently a Hospitalist at Children's Hospital Central California, as well as the Associate Program Director for the UCSF Fresno Pediatric Training Program.  He is a graduate of the Program and has served as a fourth year Chief Resident. As the academic division chief  of the Hospitalists; he works closely with Dr. Mark Barrett, another graduate of the program, in establishing a aggressive didactic program focusing on inpatient medicine as well as in the role of the Hospitalist, inasmuch as the vast majority of the Hospitalists have come from UCSF Fresno Pediatric Residency.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Mark Barrett, MD
Jaime Bohlman, MD
Linne Curtis, MD
Ralph Diaz, MD
Donald Fields, DO
Richard Insco, MD
Rhonda Keosheyan, MD
Jolie Limon, MD
Paul Parker, MD
John Sanchez, MD
James Trietsch, DO

Genetics - Metabolics
Berkley Powell, MD
Dr. Powell is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics.  Dr. Powell earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia and completed his Pediatric residency and fellowship in Metabolism/Biochemical Genetics at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.  Dr. Powell has published numerous articles, medical chapters and abstracts and has been an invited speaker for over 100 presentations.  He has collaborated with Dr. Susan Winter on her nationally recognized research on carnitine deficiency.  He recently brought on board Dr. Shen, who has extensive research experience in metabolics.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Susan Winter, MD
Joe Shen MD,  PhD

Genetics-Perinatal and Dysmorphology
Cynthia Curry, MD
Dr. Curry is a Full Tenured UCSF Professor.  She is active in both clinical and academic genetics.  Dr. Curry is a graduate from Yale University and is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Genetics. Her research interests include thrombophilia, syndrome delineation in the fetus and newborn, and causes of mental retardation.  She has held many national positions in both genetics and pediatrics and speaks nationally and internationally. Dr. Curry is the new genetics editor for Rudolph's Pediatrics On-Line.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Dawn Delosier, PhD
Maries Joseph, MD

Infectious Disease
Nandini Narayan, MD
Dr. Narayan completed her pediatric residency training at Loma Linda University Medical Center and her Pediatric Infectious Disease fellowship at UC Irvine. She is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Disease.  Her research interests include serious bacterial infections in children, and monoclonial antibodies.  She is published in the area of osteomyelitis and RSV and in other areas. 

James McCarty, MD – Co-Division Chief 
Dr. McCarty graduated from this residency program and currently is Vice President of Medical Affairs at Children's Hospital, as well as an accomplished infectious disease expert.  He completed his fellowship at Tulane.  He is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases.  Prior to returning to Children’s Hospital, Dr. McCarty spent several years performing research at Genetech in the area of antibiotics effectiveness.

International Medicine
Bjorn Nilson, MD, MPH
Until recently, Dr. Nilson served as Chief of the UCSF Fresno Pediatric Residency Program. Dr. Nilson graduated of Ohio State University College of Medicine and did his pediatric training and Masters of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. He also served in the Peace Corps as Director of Medical Services for Africa. Dr. Nilson is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Critical Care Medicine. He was the recipient of the 2003 UCSF Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Nilson continues his work in Pediatric HIV/AIDS through education programs in Zimbabwe and Uganda.

Nephrology
Jerome Murphy, MD
Dr. Murphy completed his pediatric residency at Rainbow Children's finishing at UC San Diego where he did his fellowship.  He went on to be an academic nephrologist at UC Davis where he published extensively in a variety of areas of pediatric nephrology.  Dr. Murphy is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Nephrology.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Sahar Barayan, MD
Syed Kamal, MD

Neurology
Steven Ehrreich, MD
Dr. Ehrreich completed his residency at Duke and his fellowship in Child Neurology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Neurology & Psychiatry. His areas of interest include neural behavioral aspects of ADHD and similar conditions.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Amanda Fernandez, MD

Neurology - Outpatient at Children's Health Center
H.T. Hutchison, MD, PhD
Dr. Hutchison graduated from the University of Texas and is Board Certified in Pediatrics, Child Neurology, Clinical Genetics and Neuro Rehabilitation. An outstanding clinician and dedicated patient care advocate, Dr. Hutchison also obtained a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Recently Dr. Hutchison joined the Neurology team at UCSF, but continues to provide monthly neurology clinics at the Children's Health Center in Fresno.

Neonatology
Krishnakumar B. Rajani, MD
Following his initial medical education training in London, Dr. Rajani served as Chief Resident at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia prior to completing his Neonatal Fellowship at U.C. Davis. He is currently the Medical Director of the NICU at Children’s Hospital Central California.He and other local neonatologists have done extensive research and are published, particularly in the areas of assisted ventilation in neonates. 

Stephen Elliott, MD
Dr. Elliott completed medical school in Australia, at the University of Western Australia.  Upon immigrating to the US, Dr. Elliot completed a residency at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, followed by a neonatal fellowship at Baylor. He has been involved in grants and over 25 publications in the neonatology area.  Dr. Elliott is a favorite teacher among the residents and he focuses almost all of his teaching at Community Regional Medical Center. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Vinod Bansal, MD
Indira Chandrasekar, MD
Joyce Denson-Lino, MD
Kajori Thusu, MD

Orthopaedics
William Hennrikus, MD
After completing medical school at Georgetown University, Dr. Hennrikus went on to finish his residency at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego and the a Pediatric Orthopaedics and Scoliosis  fellowship at Harvard University, Children's Hospital in Boston.  He lectures extensively on both CME programs, and in academic and national meetings.  He has published numerous articles on clinical aspects of Orthopaedics.  Dr. Hennrikus is also actively pursuing starting a pediatric orthopaedics surgery program at UCSF Fresno.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Michael Elliott, MD
Joseph Gerardi, DO
Matthew Halsey, MD
Monthakan Ratnarathorn, MD

Psychiatry and Child Development
Karen Kraus, MD
Dr. Kraus, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, completed her residency and fellowship training at the University of Colorado.  She is Board Certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  Dr. Kraus’ academic interests include severely mentally ill children, children with pervasive development disorders and/or development disabilities, transcultural psychiatry, rural health care and psychiatry in primary care.

David Snyder, MD
Dr. Snyder is the Medical Director at the Assessment Center for Children at Exceptional Parents Unlimited in Fresno. Dr. Snyder is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and has presented and published on a variety of issues, including a presentation to the School Psychologists Association on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Prematurity and more recently contributing to the “Challenging Case” section of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics on temperament and breastfeeding with toddlers.  He works with the resident’s continuity clinics and the resident’s Developmental & Behavior rotation.

Rehabilitation Medicine
Amanda Fernandez, MD
Dr. Fernandez completed her Pediatric Neurology fellowship at the University of Miami.  She enjoys giving residents seminars.  She has interest in both traumatic brain injuries as well post infectious neurologic problems. 

Ophthalmology
Jane Kelly, MD
Dr. Kelly, in addition to doing a residency in Ophthalmology, completed a fellowship at Johns Hopkins in Ophthalmic Genetics.  She is one of the favorite lectures for the residents.  She is published in the area of general pediatric ophthalmology, as well as genetic abnormalities.

Pediatric Intensive Care
Ana Graciano, MD
Dr. Graciano is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care.  She completed her medical degree at Children’s Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina and then became a visiting fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Respiratory and Surgical Intensive Unit.  Dr. Graciano has numerous publications, abstracts and has made many presentations. 

Robert J. Dimand, MD
Dr. Dimand is Board Certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, and Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. A published academician, he came to Children’s Hospital Central California after being section chief of Pediatric Critical Care at UC Davis.  He currently serves as Associate Director of the Trauma Program at Children’s Hospital Central California. Dr. Dimand is extensively published and presents at national meetings.  He is a favorite of the residents because of his teaching skills.  A current interest of his is telemedicine.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Adam Birek, MD
Adam Holmes, MD
Harry Kallas, MD
Samuel Lehman, MD
David Merzel, MD
Jorge Montes, MD
Kathleen Murphy, MD
Newton Seiden, MD
Sivasai Voora, MD

Pulmonology
Reddi Sudhakar, MD
Dr. Sudhakar did his fellowship at Children's Hospital Washington, DC.   He is particularly interest in coccidiomycosis here in the Central Valley, as well as cystic fibrosis. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Lauro Roberto, MD
Mary Ann Tablizo, MD

Radiology
Michael Myracle, MD
Dr. Myracle completed his fellowship at Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.  He has won the teacher of the year award on more than one occasion. A superb teaching radiologist, one of his areas of particular expertise is child abuse evaluation. 

Other Faculty:
William Hastrup, MD
John Charles Smith, MD
John Miller, MD
Felix Wang, MD

Rheumatology/Immunology
Dowain Wright, MD, PhD
Dr. Wright received his BS Degree in Biochemistry from University of California, Riverside.  He went on to obtain his PhD in Molecular Virology and MD from University of California, San Diego.  He did his Pediatric Residency at Children’s Hospital, Boston.  He has also won multiple teaching awards due to his ability to take the complex doctorate type material and make it understandable for clinician.  He is particularly interested in clinical Kawasaki's Disease and has published over 10 original articles. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Edsel Arce-Hernandez, MD

Surgery
Douglas Y. Tamura, MD
Dr. Tamura is the Associate Medical Director for the Trauma Program at Children’s Hospital.  He is Board Certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.  Dr. Tamura graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and obtained his Medical Degree from Tulane University School of Medicine.  Dr. Tamura completed his General Surgery Residency at the University of Colorado and his Critical Care Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine.  Dr. Tamura’s interests include neonatal surgery, pediatric trauma, and mechanisms of the inflammatory response following stress/trauma.

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Michael Allshouse, DO
David Hodge, MD

Urology
Devonna Kaji, MD
Dr. Kaji completed her fellowship in Pediatric Urology at Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.  She has done research in a variety of pediatric urological issues.  The residents find her very approachable and an avid teacher. 

Other UCSF Fresno Faculty:
Irene McAleer, MD