Our faculty and residents
Meet our faculty
Maili Velez-Dalla Tor, MD, FAAFP
Program director
Dr. Dalla Tor was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to Southern California at the age of nine. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in Physiological Science and attended the Charles R. Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program.
During her residency at the Memorial Family Medicine Program in Long Beach, CA, she was Co-Chief for both Quality Assurance and Gynecology.
After completing residency, Dr. Dalla Tor worked at Kaiser Permanente and then transitioned into academics. She joined the PIH Health Family Medicine Residency Program as faculty where she chaired the Clinical Competency Committee and helped to develop their Chronic Disease and Palliative Care Track.
Additionally, Dr. Dalla Tor worked at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program (PVHMC FMRP) as their Associate Program Director. At the PVHMC FMRP she developed the Clinical Competency Committee and served as the Medical Student Clerkship Director. Dr. Dalla Tor is dually board-certified in Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She joined our residency program in 2017 as the Associate Program Director and transitioned into the role of Program Director in the fall of 2018.
Dr. Dalla Tor enjoys teaching medical students and residents and has a special interest in resident and physician wellness, curriculum development, pipeline programs/mentorship, community medicine, procedural training and caring for patients and families of all ages.
On a personal note, Dr. Dalla Tor is married and has three children. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, arts and crafts, hiking, traveling and kayaking. Dr. Dalla Tor is excited to build a residency committed to academic excellence, innovation and service to our community through compassionate, quality care.
Hamed Shalikar, MD
Associate program director
Dr. Shalikar was born and raised in Southern California. He felt a strong bond to the community and remained in the region for his undergraduate education, obtaining a degree in political science and neuroscience at UCR. He then went on to medical school at UCLA and was active in community outreach programs.
He completed his family medicine residency at White Memorial Medical Center. During residency, he was Chief Resident and volunteered for football games and local boxing matches. Also, he was involved in implementing a mentorship program for a local high school.
He is board-certified in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine, CAQ. He completed his primary care sports medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente, Fontana. Dr. Shalikar has been active as a team physician for high schools and colleges. He enjoys having a practice that covers the breadth of family medicine and sports medicine. His patients range from newborns to parents; adolescents to elderly; athletes to weekend warriors; professionals to amateurs.
Outside of work, Dr. Shalikar cherishes time with his family. He enjoys family meals, events and movie nights. Also, he believes that exercise is the best medication and finds himself in the gym multiple times a week.
Anna Pavlov, PhD
Director, Behavioral Medicine
Dr. Pavlov was born in Whittier, California, and grew up in Torrance. She studied psychology at UCLA and received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. Dr. Pavlov completed a two-year fellowship in Primary Care Health Psychology at Genesys Regional Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, affiliated with Michigan State University School of Medicine and afterward joined the faculty in the Family Medicine Residency Program.
Returning to California, Dr. Pavlov served as the Director of Behavioral Medicine and Addiction Medicine at the Pomona Valley Family Medicine Residency Program. She has a special interest in psycho-oncology, perinatal mental health and resident and physician wellness. She has been active in many scholarly activities and co-edited, Cinemaeducation: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Film in Medical and Graduate Education.
Dr. Pavlov enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She is an avid film and theatergoer, practices yoga and loves international travel. She is proud to have joined Emanate Health and to be a part of launching the Family Medicine Residency Program.
Chinhnam Hathuc, DO
East Valley Community Health Center—Chief Medical Officer
Chinhnam Hathuc, DO, was born and raised in Southern California where he lived with his family in the Inland Valley. At the age of 16, he received a scholarship and left home to attend Simon's Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He graduated college at 19 years old and took a research position at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. After two years of neuroscience research, and a good amount of soul-searching, he decided to pursue a career in medicine and attended Touro University in Northern California.
Dr. Hathuc had the opportunity to share his medical school experience with his brother, as they were housemates and schoolmates. When not studying for exams, they both spent their summers volunteering for Camp Footprints—a nonprofit organization that serves physically, mentally, and/or socially economically challenged children. Volunteering at Camp Footprints is still a passion for both of them to this day.
After graduating medical school, Dr. Hathuc returned home to Southern California and completed his Family Medicine residency at Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, California. During his residency program, he developed a passion for community medicine as he worked in a medically underserved area. He wanted to put his efforts into community medicine because he saw a great need for quality health care for those patients that are most vulnerable.
Upon completion of his residency program and board certification in Family Medicine, Dr. Hathuc joined East Valley Community Health Center—a federally qualified health center that serves the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. He works there as a Lead Physician and the Chief Medical Officer for their four community clinics. He is also an Attending Physician and the Osteopathic Medicine Director for the Family Medicine residency program at College Hospital in Long Beach, California.
Through the partnership between East Valley Community Health Centers and Emanate Health, Dr. Hathuc hopes to give back to the communities that helped shape his career and inspire future family medicine physicians to go into community medicine.
Scott Nass, MD, MPA, FAAFP, AAHIVS
Director of Inpatient Services
Dr. Nass was born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern Kentucky. He ventured off to become well-rounded by obtaining undergraduate degrees in psychology and English from Bradley University, as well as a Master's of Public Affairs from Indiana University-Bloomington.
After working for not-for-profit organizations in inner city Chicago and Los Angeles, he recognized an opportunity to combine his love for policy and advocacy with a career in medicine, and then proceeded to earn his medical degree from the Charles R. Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program.
He completed his Family Medicine Residency at Ventura County Medical Center, followed by fellowships in faculty development at Ventura and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After residency, he worked full time as a hospitalist in Ventura County before serving as Associate Program Director and Director of the Family Medicine Inpatient Service for the Eisenhower Medical Center Family Medicine Residency.
Dr. Nass is board-certified in family medicine and is credentialed as an HIV Specialist™ by the American Academy of HIV Medicine. He enjoys practicing broad-spectrum family medicine, including hospital medicine, transgender health, medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder, dermoscopy, and multiple inpatient and outpatient procedures (including no-scalpel vasectomies).
He is an active advocate for health equity and was selected for the inaugural class of Leaders for Health Equity fellows at George Washington University. He is a member of the board of directors for GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality, and he participates in various leadership roles within the American Academy of Family Physicians, the California Academy of Family Physicians, and the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Claudia Martin, MD
Core faculty
Dr. Martin was born in Baja California, Mexico. She graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, with a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in mathematics. She attended The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Throughout medical school, she served as Chief for the UCLA Student-Run Homeless Clinic and participated in various mentorship programs, including the Harbor-UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship.
Dr. Martin's interest in community health and mentorship continued to motivate her through her Family Medicine Residency, which she completed at White Memorial Medical Center. During her residency she volunteered as mentor for various pre-med undergraduate groups and helped lead community health fairs. She appreciates the wide-spectrum care of the family unit that she is able to provide as a family physician. In particular, she enjoys learning and teaching about adolescent health, community medicine.
Dr. Martin loves to spend time with her family and taking long walks/hikes with her three pups. She enjoys music and dance from a wide range of genres and styles.
Supporting faculty
- Director of Pediatrics Outpatient—Aarti Kulshrestha, MD
- Director of Pediatrics Inpatient—Zacharia Y Reda, MD
- Director of Inpatient Family Medicine—Jeff Shapiro, MD
- Director of Newborn and NICU—Bruce Sindel, MD
- Directors of OB—Anna Leung, MD and Jason S Begley, MD
- Director of Emergency Medicine—Edward M Gentile, MD
- Director of Surgery—Raffaele Corbisiero, MD, FACS
Meet our PGY-1 2018 residents
Lord Addo, MD
Connie Cajavilca, MD
Innie Kim, MD
Zaira Ortega, MD
Renier Rosquete, MD
Susanna Sackitey, MD
Angie Trias, MD
Vicente Vasquez, MD
Jose Velasquez, MD
Idalberto Zaldivar, MD
Meet our PGY-2 2017 residents
Lulua Bahrainwala, MD
Maharashtra University of Health Sciences–India
Lulua describes herself as a third culture kid. With roots in India, but growing up in Bahrain and immigrating to Canada and then the U.S., she takes pride in being a truly global citizen. Making California her home four years ago, she loves to hike, swim, and explore different parts of the city. Being an avid world traveler, her top destinations are Turkey, Italy and South Africa. Lulua's dream is to backpack across Australia and New Zealand, exactly like her parents did 30 years ago.
Frank Choe, DO
Touro–Vallejo, California
A second generation Korean-American, Frank was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Growing up with an ocean view from his backyard, Frank would gaze at the ocean and watch for whales while savoring his Spam musubi and poke. During elementary school, he moved to sunny California and spent the majority of his life in the Hancock Park district of Los Angeles.
After graduating medical school, Frank traveled to South Korea and Japan to reconnect with his relatives. Frank hopes to travel to Vietnam and retrace his father's footsteps during the Vietnam War to get a glimpse into his own roots. Some of Frank's hobbies include golfing, tending to his saltwater fish, and building gaming computers from scratch. He also enjoys playing games such as StarCraft, and Counter-Strike.
Thomas Chong, MD
Ross–Dominica
Thomas is a native of the city of Covina. During his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, tennis, and going on hikes. Fishing is one of his main hobbies. He finds the thrill of hooking and reeling in a fish exhilarating. He believes that once you catch your first fish, you will be hooked yourself. Cooking is another hobby that he enjoys and finds relaxing. He looks forward to preparing dishes that other people will enjoy. His main cooking style is American barbecue. Thomas hopes that one day he will be able to go on a road trip with his friends around the southern belt of the US and stop at each state to sample their style of barbecue.
Luis Garcia, MD
Universidad Autonoma de Baja California–Mexico
Luis was born and raised near the U.S./Mexico border area and has family living in both countries. After completing medical school and the required year of community social service, he worked as a general practitioner in Mexico. Luis looks forward to closing communication gaps between monolingual Spanish-speaking patients and non-Spanish-speaking members of the health care team. His personal interests include playing chess, running, cycling, and spending time with family.
Mohammed Feroz Iqbal, MD
Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara/New York Medical College–Mexico/New York
Feroz enjoyed reading comics as a child, especially Batman and the DC Universe. He attended the San Diego Comic-Con for the first time this summer, fulfilling a lifelong dream. Feroz loves adventure. One of his favorite experiences was hitchhiking with a friend from Southern Mexico to Guatemala on the back of a truck. His love for travel stems from his passion for exploring new cultures and languages, but especially trying the food! Speaking of food, Feroz likes bringing people together with barbecues and potlucks. Two of his favorite dishes are the South Asian classics of Mughlai cuisine: Haleem and Nihari. His favorite saying is: "Panza llena, corazon contento" (a filled tummy makes the heart happy)! Aside from the occasional indulgence, he always advocates healthy eating!
Benedicta Omoko, MD
University of Calabar–Nigeria
Being of Nigerian descent, cooking is a skill Benedicta learned at an early age and one she's loved and developed. She jumps at the opportunity to cook and entertain family and friends. Benedicta's other hobbies include listening to music with her husband, singing and dance aerobics. Currently, she sings in her church choir. Dance aerobics is a fun way to burn calories and keep fit, making consistency easy. A favorite of hers is the Latin cardio workout, Zumba.
Francisco Ordaz, MD
Universidad Michioacana–Mexico
Francisco was raised in the agricultural area of Oxnard (SoCal). He enjoys spending time with his wife and their two small dogs. Francisco loves soccer and is a fan of the greatest club ever, Real Madrid. Visiting theme parks and fishing are other favorite hobbies. One of Francisco's greatest professional goals is to provide care for the underserved communities similar to where he grew up.
James Pearson, MD
University of St. Georges–Grenada
James is a third generation Californian having grown up in both Northern and Southern California. An avid outdoorsman and waterman, in his free time James enjoys spending time with his wife and children while taking advantage of California's beautiful natural resources, beaches and state parks. He enjoys surfing, paddle boarding, hiking and fishing. Known to make a fiery fruit salsa, on his days off, you may find him at San-O reading a Louie L' amour paperback and waiting for the tide with grilled fish tacos in hand.
Angel Pinachos, DO
Touro–Las Vegas, Nevada
Angela is a proud Las Vegas native who enjoys living in Southern California. Her favorite activities include watching movies, listening to new songs, spending time with family and friends, visiting museums, and sight-seeing. She also likes to relax by the pool and enjoys going to the beach. Angela has a long bucket list of places she would like to visit and loves to explore other cultures. She is hoping to one day travel to Spain, Greece and the Maldives.
Patrice Tully, MD
Drexel University–Pennsylvania
Patrice is a New York transplant who fell in love with the West Coast after medical school during her final US Navy move. She especially enjoys outdoor activities that include hiking, running, and fishing. She also loves reading murder mysteries with a soft spot for Agatha Christie's Poirot stories as well as historical fiction. Her recent favorite is "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. When she has time to cook, she prepares her favorite West Indian dishes learned from her parents and grandparents. She eagerly anticipates settling into work and life in Southern California.
Interested in a faculty position?
Please email a statement of interest and CV to verodriguez@emanatehealth.org and hshalikar@emanatehealth.org.