Board of Directors

Officers

Lydia Lam, MD, FACS
President
University of Southern California

Maheswari Senthil, MD, FACS
President-elect
University of California, Irvine

Javier Romero, MD, FACS
Vice President
Community Memorial Health System Ventura

Angela Neville, MD, FACS
Secretary-Treasurer
Harbor-UCLA

Peyman Benharash, MD, FACS (2025-2027)
Recorder
UCLA

Kazuhide Matsushima, MD, FACS (2026-2028)
Recorder
University of Southern California

Board of Directors

Phillip Frykman, MD, FACS
Los Robles

Mark Girgis, MD, FACS
UCLA

Cristina Harnsberger, MD, FACS
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

Anna Leung, MD, FACS
Kaiser Permanente

Laleh Melstrom, MD, FACS
City of Hope Medical Center

Jeffry Nahmias, MD, FACS
University of California, Irvine

Christian Perez, MD, FACS
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Naveenraj Solomon, MD, FACS
Loma Linda University

Alicia Terando, MD, FACS
Cedars-Sinai

Past Presidents

Areti Tillou, MD, FACS
Immediate Past President
UCLA

Sharon Lum, MD, FACS
Past President
Loma Linda University

Brian Smith, MD, FACS
Past President
University of California, Irvine

Other Council Positions

Joyce McRae, MD
RAS Representative – Resident Member
Loma Linda University

Mallory Jebbia, MD
RAS Representative – Associate Fellow
University of California, Irvine

Razmik Ghukasyan, MD
RAS Vice Chair Associate
Providence St. Jude Medical Center

Lindsey Braden, MD
RAS Vice Chair Resident
Kern Medical

Committees, Governors, & Chairs 

Program Committee

Maki Yamamoto, MD, FACS
Program Chair
University of California, Irvine

Junko Ozao-Choy, MD, FACS
Associate Program Chair
Harbor-UCLA

Tara Russell, MD, FACS
Assistant Program Chair
UCLA

National Governors-at-Large

Galinos Barmparas, MD, FACS
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Amir Berjis, MD, FACS
Kern Medical Center

Sebastiano Cassaro, MD, FACS
Kaweah Health

Jeffry Nahmias, MD, FACS
University of California, Irvine

Brant Putnam, MD, FACS
Harbor-UCLA

Maheswari Senthil, MD, FACS
University of California, Irvine

Mediget Teshome, MD, FACS
UCLA

Advocacy Committee 

Sigrid Burruss, MD, FACS
University of California, Irvine

State Chair, Commission on Cancer

Shawn Steen, MD, FACS
Community Memorial Health System Ventura

Committee on Trauma

Matt Martin, MD, FACS
University of Southern California

Membership Committee

Michael O’Leary, MD, FACS
University of California, Irvine

Social Media Committee

Esther Yung, MD, FACS
Loma Linda

Committee on Women in Surgery

Lauren Van Sant, MD, FACS
Ventura County Medical Center

Young Surgeons Representatives

Karim Jreije, DO, FACS
Anacapa

Kaylene Barrera, MD, FACS
Murrieta Valley Surgery Associates