2024-2025 Fellows

Dr. Micah Atwood was born in Honolulu, HI and grew up in Washington state. After completing his medical school at Western University of Health Sciences, he was drawn toward primary care and completed his residency in Family Medicine at UCSF’s program in Fresno, CA. Dr. Atwood enjoys getting to know his patients, their families and discovering ways to help the unique health puzzle each person has. Within the field of geriatrics, he is most excited to learn more about performing research, nursing home work, and dementia care from the world class experts at UCLA. Outside of medicine, he enjoys reading, time with family and playing basketball.
 

Dr. Elaine Deemer was born and raised in Southern California. She graduated from UC San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in Mammalian Physiology and Neuroscience. Then completed a master’s degree at Drexel University in Anatomy and Pathology. She completed medical school at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine and her internal medicine residency at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, CA. Her interest in geriatrics grew from caring for her grandmother with Alzheimer's and affirmed during residency while caring for underserved elderly patients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and traveling to eat.
 

Dr. Jenny Xinyu Ji grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She completed undergraduate studies in Occupational Therapy at McGill University, which ignited her interest in optimizing functional outcomes in older adults with complex medical disease. She studied medicine at McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and stayed to complete her Internal Medicine Residency. Her research focuses on perioperative frailty assessment and inpatient delirium prevention. Jenny has particular interest in bridging cultural and linguistic barriers in our diverse patient population. She plans to pursue further training in public health to more effectively address service disparities and promote healthy aging.  
 

Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq. completed my medical degree at University of Sharjah-College of Medicine in United Arab Emirates. Completed residency in Family Medicine in a rural area at Adventist Health-Hanford Central Valley Network. My professional interests are cognitive and memory disorders in elderly and academic career in geriatric primary care. 
 

Dr. Andrew Pak was born in Sacramento, California. He spent his primary years in Seoul, Korea before he immigrated back to Southern California. He received his B.S. in Chemistry at Davidson College, North Carolina. Afterwards, he investigated skeletal biology and diseases at the National Institutes of Health. He obtained his medical degree at University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has a special interest in working with vulnerable patient populations, especially those from immigrant background. After fellowship, he plans to pursue academic medicine in geriatric primary care and hospital medicine. 
 

Dr. Christopher Pardo hails from Belleville, IL just outside of St. Louis, MO where he was born and raised. He graduated from DePaul University in Chicago and made his way west to Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, NE and eventually completing his Internal Medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His enjoyment with working with older adults started over conversations with his father, a part-time Hospice doctor, and continued to grow through experiences with his late grandfather near the end of his life. After fellowship, he hopes to work with older adults as a Hospitalist and in Skilled Nursing Facilities. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time hiking, camping, and eating all of the delicious food LA has to offer. 
 

Dr. Jessica Phan was born and raised in San Jose, CA. She graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in Human Biology and a minor in Political Science. After spending 2 gap years working as an assistant paralegal, a pharmacy technician, and a Vietnamese interpreter at the county hospital, she made her way to Tampa, FL to attend medical school at the University of South Florida. She went on to complete Internal Medicine residency at Kaiser Santa Clara. Her passion for geriatrics stems from watching her grandfather and family navigate the healthcare system while she was in high school. From that experience, she learned the value of culturally and linguistically competent care. She strives to provide individualized care to help improve the quality of life for her patients. Her interests in geriatrics include health policy, working with the underserved, and dementia care.
 

Dr. Daniel Stokes grew up in the Boston area. He received a B.S in Physics from Georgetown University and an M.S. in Epidemiology from the Brazilian National School of Public Health prior to completing medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency training in the UCLA Internal Medicine Primary Care Program. His research interests are in loneliness and social connectedness, and in using creative methodologies to gather and amplify patients’ experiences of health and illness. In his career, through clinical practice and research, he hopes to support older adults in building and preserving community.
 

Dr. Nancy Tran was born in New Orleans, Louisiana where she has spent most of her professional career. She attended Xavier University in New Orleans where she received her B.S. in Biology. She went on to complete medical school at LSU Health Science Center and internal medicine residency at Ochsner Health in her hometown of New Orleans. As a resident, she realized many of her patients and colleagues were not aware of the resources available within the field of geriatrics and palliative medicine. This sparked an interest in patient education and curriculum building to help ensure geriatric patients receive evidence-based, quality care. She finds joy in caring for the elderly regardless of which phase of life they are in. Her goal is to pursue a career in academic medicine working with trainees while exploring primary care or the in-patient setting. 
 

Dr. Aaron Wang was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from USC in 2014 with a degree in Neuroscience. He completed a dual DO and MPH degree at Touro University California and a FM residency at Good Samaritan in Oregon. Aaron has a strong passion for osteopathic manipulation. He believes in using his hands to treat patients in order to reduce pain and improve recovery. He was inspired by his father, who was a geriatrician, to assist patients during transitions of care and end-of-life. Aaron plans to pursue a career in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care.
 

Geriatric Medicine-Palliative Care Fellowship, Year 1 

Dr. Christine Willinger was born and raised in suburban New Jersey. She graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics, followed by a NIH research fellowship in cardiovascular epidemiology at the Framingham Heart Study. Christine received her MD and MPH degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She moved to Los Angeles for residency in the UCLA Internal Medicine Primary Care Program, after which she served as Ambulatory Chief Resident. She aspires to practice person-centered outpatient care for older adults with serious illness. Additional interests include medical education, quality improvement, and global health. 
 

Geriatric Medicine-Palliative Care Fellowship, Year 2

Dr. Kevin La was born and raised in San Jose, California. He graduated from UC Davis before attending UCSD for his MD and UC Berkeley for his MPH. His residency in Internal Medicine was completed at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles. He seeks a career in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine to pursue his interests in patient access and literacy and impact health systems and policy.