2025 District IX Candidates

District Vice Chairperson Candidate

Professional titles

Attending physician and director of education of the Division of Hospital Medicine, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Pediatrics clerkship co-director and assistant professor of clinical pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Medical school and post-graduate education

M.D., UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

M.A.C.M., Keck School of Medicine of USC

Residency program and fellowship

Pediatrics residency, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Involvement in AAP and other organizations

• Vice chair, District IX (2025)
• President, California Chapter 2 (2022-’24)
• Vice president, California Chapter 2 (2020-’22)
• Treasurer, California Chapter 2 (2018-’20)
• Member-at-large, California Chapter 2 (2012-’18)
• What motivates you to seek this position?

My goal is to strengthen AAP California by promoting more effective advocacy, supporting member pediatricians and developing the pediatric workforce. We need to identify legislative contacts across the state, engage chapter advocacy committees and expand participation in the Sacramento legislative conference. We need to expand in-person networking events and help chapters form pediatric councils to communicate directly with payers. We need to reach out to medical students considering a career in pediatrics, connect them with mentors and include them in advocacy efforts. Together, we will fight to preserve immunization access, Medi-Cal funding and policies vital to child health.

District Vice Chairperson Candidate

Professional titles

Learning and behavioral pediatrics, Kaiser Fontana Medical Center, Fontana, Calif.

Medical school and post-graduate education

M.D., Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Residency program and fellowship

Residency, Children Hospital of Los Angeles

Involvement in AAP and other organizations

• AAP ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline Subcommittee chair (present)
• AAP National Nominating Committee member (2020-’22), chair (2022)
• AAP California Chapter treasurer (2017-’24), president (2016-’17)
• Bright Futures Steering Committee (2012-’23)
• AAP Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine (2006-’12)
• Chief of pediatrics, Kaiser Fontana Pediatrics (1995-2007)

What motivates you to seek this position?

As a pediatrician, I have been involved in the care of children and their families for over 40 years. I believe in the AAP’s mission to ensure the health and well-being of all children. This includes promoting nurturing, inclusive environments and actively opposing intolerance, bigotry, bias and discrimination. Our core values and beliefs are threatened by the Trump administration, which seeks to inflict great harm on children, immigrants, health care and diversity, equity and inclusion. I believe the AAP needs to stand strong and oppose these policies. I want to be involved in the fight through California District IX and national AAP against these policies.

National Nominating Committee Candidate

Professional titles

Professor and chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.

Medical school and post-graduate education

M.D., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J.

M.P.H., health policy and management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston

Residency program and fellowship

Residency and chief residency, Floating Hospital, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston

Fellowship, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Involvement in AAP and other organizations

• AAP Resident Section (now Section on Pediatric Trainees) founding chair
• AAP Committee on Government Affairs liaison from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
• AAP Committee on Adolescence member and chair
• AAP New York Chapter 1 president
• AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence associate executive director, founding director
• AAP Council on Adolescents and Young Adults, Section on Nicotine and Tobacco Prevention and Treatment, Section on Global Health and Section on Senior Members current member
• International Association for Adolescent Health president (2021-’25)
• International Pediatric Association treasurer (2020-’25)

What motivates you to seek this position?

Child and adolescent health are threatened by recent cuts to immunization, Medicaid, reproductive health and research programs. These extraordinary times call for leaders able to mobilize AAP members, ensure our advocacy is effective and strengthen our role as the most trusted source for child health. I believe my skill set fits well with service on the National Nominating Committee, helping select and support future Academy leaders. I am good at helping groups reach consensus. And I love meeting people, learning their priorities, and helping them bring their passion and talents to the Academy and our commitment to the health of all children.

National Nominating Committee Candidate

Professional titles

Health sciences assistant clinical professor of general pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Medical school and post-graduate education

M.D., UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

Residency program and fellowship

Residency, UCLA Pediatric Residency Training Program

Involvement in AAP and other organizations

• AAP Section on Early Career Physicians District IX representative and Nominating Committee member; Membership and Networking Workgroup
• AAP California Board of Directors early career representative
• AAP California Chapter 2 early career representative, Newsletter Editorial Board chair, Nominating Committee member
• AAP Council on Community Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health program chapter facilitator
• AAP Council on Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care Nominating Committee member
• AAP Committee on Membership liaison
• Academic Pediatric Association
• Association of Pediatric Program Directors

What motivates you to seek this position?

Recent years have challenged pediatricians and the families we serve in unprecedented ways. As the AAP continues to lead through advocacy, guidance and support, I hope to serve our members by helping identify leaders who reflect our diversity, strength and evolving needs. Through early leadership in the Sections on Pediatric Trainees and Early Career Physicians, active roles in several AAP sections and councils, and as a graduate of the Young Physicians Leadership Alliance, I have learned what effective leadership looks like. I am committed to selecting leaders who will represent us all and keep the AAP strong, inclusive and mission driven.