Anesthesiology Staff Members - VA Palo Alto Health Care System
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VA Palo Alto Health Care System

 

Anesthesiology Staff Members

Ed Mariano Edward R. Mariano, MD, MAS. After graduating from Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Mariano completed his anesthesiology residency and pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center with emphases in clinical investigation and regional anesthesia for children.

Full biography
Peter Barelka Peter Barelka, MD, graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with majors in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Russian Language and a minor in Chemistry. He attended Georgetown University Medical School, following which he completed the Georgetown Transitional Medical Internship. He attended Stanford University for residency in Anesthesiology remaining there for Pain Medicine Fellowship.

Full biography
Juliana Barr Juliana Barr, MD, FCCM, Dr. Barr is currently an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine in the Medical Center Line at Stanford, and a Staff Anesthesiologist and Intensivist at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center. She has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California, and a Doctor of Medicine from Johns Hopkins. She is board certified in internal medicine, anesthesiology, and critical care medicine.

Full biography
Edward J. Bertaccini Edward J. Bertaccini, MD, practices as a cardiac anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist at the Palo Alto VA where he has served as both the director of the operating room and the acting co-director of the intensive care units.

Full biography
Robin Boselli Robin Boselli, MSN, RNP, has been at the VA Palo Alto since 1988 and with the Anesthesia Services since 2003. She currently shares her time between the Anesthesia Pre-Operative clinic and Pain Management.

Full biography
Carlos Brun Carlos Brun, MD: After graduating from North Eastern Ohio College of Medicine, Dr. Brun completed his Internal Medicine residency at Legacy Emanuel and Good Samaritan in Portland, Oregon. He then spent one year at the Montreal Heart Institute. Afterwards, he completed a one-year fellowship in Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He then came to Stanford and graduated from the Critical Care Medicine fellowship in 2008 and from Anesthesia residency in 2011.

Dr. Brun is proud to join the VA Palo Alto as a new attending in Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Peri-operative Medicine. His teaching interests include difficult airway management and peri-operative ultrasound. His research interests are in peri-operative patient management, and resident and fellow teaching.
Sung ( Sung ("Jason") Chi, MD, joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service at VA Palo Alto in 2016 after seven years in private practice. Prior to that he worked as a volunteer anesthesiologist with Doctors Without Borders in Nigeria. He completed his anesthesiology residency and cardiac anesthesiology fellowship at the University of Chicago. His clinical and scholarly interests include perioperative echocardiography, trainees' transition to private practice, and medical missions. He is currently a Clinical Instructor (Affiliated) at Stanford University School of Medicine.
David J. Clark David J. Clark, MD, PhD, is Professor of Anesthesia at Stanford University and the Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the VA Palo Alto.

Full biography
Clarity Coffman Clarity Coffman, MD, MPH. Dr. Coffman earned her MPH at UC Berkeley and worked for three years as a public health researcher and project director before pursuing medicine. She graduated from UC San Diego School of Medicine, then completed internship at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and anesthesiology residency at Stanford. During residency, she led quality improvement projects focused on promoting perioperative smoking cessation and decreasing health care worker exposure to smoke generated by electrocautery in the operating room.
  Frances Davies, PhD, is the Director of Anesthesia Faculty Development with a mission to help faculty develop effective research programs, search for and obtain funding, work with investigators on the nuts and bolts of grant preparation (including study design, data analysis, statistics, and graphical representation of data), and disseminate results.

Full biography
Janette (Jan) Elliott Janette (Jan) Elliott, RN-BC, MSN, AOCN, is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and the clinical coordinator for the Palo Alto VA Pain Clinic. Jan graduated from the Independence Sanitarium and Hospital School of Nursing in 1970, received a bachelor’s in nursing from Sacramento State University in 1976 and a master’s in Nursing from the University of California San Francisco in 1978.

Full biography
Deborah Fretwell Deborah Fretwell, MD, received her medical degree from Stanford University and completed her anesthesiology residency at the University of California, San Diego, in 2019. She returned to Stanford University in 2020 for her subspecialty fellowship training in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine, then joined the VA Palo Alto Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service in 2021.
Natasha Funck Natasha Funck, MD, joined the VA Palo Alto HCS in 2001. Her professional interests include regional, orthopedic and neuroanesthesia and preoperative patient care.

Full biography
David M. Gaba David M. Gaba, MD, holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University, and an MD from Yale University. He is Associate Dean for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning and Professor of Anesthesia (with tenure) at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has been a staff anesthesiologist at VA Palo Alto for 27 years, and is the founding director (now co-director) of its Patient Simulation Center of Innovation since 1995.

Full biography
Ana M. Hammons Ana M. Hammons is the Administrative Officer for Anesthesiology and participates in several committees in the hospital. She works closely with the Director of Clinical Support in the Chief of Staff office in the development of the “AO Academy” with a group of her peers.

Full biography
T. Kyle Harrison T. Kyle Harrison, MD, is a clinical associate professor of anesthesia (affiliated) at Stanford University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. His professional interests include cardiac anesthesia, regional anesthesia, and peri-operative medicine.

Full biography
Jonay Hill Jonay Hill, MD, attended medical school at the University of Texas in San Antonio and completed residency at Vanderbilt University. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service at the VA Palo Alto in 2016. Her interests include physician wellness and regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine. Outside of work she enjoys tennis, yoga, and spending time with her three children and husband.
Dr. Jung Hong Jung Hong, MD, joined the VA Palo Alto as a staff anesthesiologist in June 2013 after working in private practice. He is fellowship-trained in pediatric anesthesiology and enjoys working with residents and medical students. He is a Clinical Instructor of Anesthesiology (Affiliated) at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Steven K. Howard Steven K. Howard, MD, is an anesthesiology physician and Co-Director of the Patient Simulation Center of Innovation at the VA Palo Alto – the VA’s first simulation center. His research interests include the study of fatigue in hospital personnel and research and training applications of medical simulation.

Full biography
Oluwatobi O. Hunter Oluwatobi O. Hunter, DNP, RNP, joined the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in September 2016 and works with the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Team as a Nurse Practitioner. She obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing in 2009. In 2014, she completed her master's degree at Columbia University in New York City as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

Full biography
  Ramon (Ray) Imai, RRT, has been a respiratory therapist for over 25 years. He relocated from Texas to California to work at the San Francisco VA. He transferred to the Palo Alto VA in February of 2008.

Full biography
Angela Ji Angela Ji, MD. Dr. Ji’s first career was as a mechanical engineer after graduating from UC Berkeley with a major in bioengineering, and minor in industrial engineering and operations research. She then went to medical school at UC Davis, where she was inducted into the AOA honor society. Afterwards she completed her anesthesiology training at Stanford. She served as our VA anesthesiology Chief Resident in 2019, and we are very excited to have her back as a staff anesthesiologist.
Scott Kennedy Scott Kennedy, MD, MBA, completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and earned his medical and business degrees from Yale University. He completed diagnostic radiology residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Hospital for Special Surgery, and advanced musculoskeletal radiology fellowship at the Donald L. Resnick Program in San Diego, California. With his ongoing interests in maintaining direct patient care and relieving pain, he pursued pain medicine fellowship training, which he completed at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service at VA Palo Alto, where he practices exclusively pain medicine specializing in multidisciplinary pain management and image-guided interventions to relieve pain.
Gunjan Kumar Gunjan Kumar, MD, first earned her bachelor of science degree in Biology at Johns Hopkins University before attending medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University. After medical school, Dr. Kumar completed anesthesiology residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and then went on to train as a fellow in Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine at Stanford. She joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service as a staff physician in 2016.
Jody Cimbalo Leng Jody Cimbalo Leng, MD, MS. Dr. Leng first earned her bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering at Tulane and master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford and worked for 2 years as a research and development engineer for a medical device start-up company in Silicon Valley before attending medical school at the University of Miami. After medical school, Dr. Leng completed anesthesiology residency at Stanford in 2013, during which she also served as one of our Chief Residents at VA Palo Alto, and then went on to train as a fellow in Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine at Stanford. She joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service as a staff physician in 2014.
Deyong Liang Deyong Liang, Ph.D., joined the VAPAHCS Department of Anesthesiology in 2008. Currently he works on neurobiology and pharmacology of pain and opioid addiction. His professional interests include pain model development, preclinical assessment, molecular biology, genetics, and signal transduction.
Geoffrey Lighthall Geoffrey Lighthall, MD, PhD studied at the University of California at Santa Cruz and at San Diego and received his medical and graduate degrees from University of Maryland Medical School. He served as chief resident during his anesthesia residency at Stanford, and completed a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine in 2000. Board certified in both Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, he provides cardiothoracic anesthesia and critical care services. He serves as the chair of the CPR committee and the Medical Director of the VA Palo Alto eTeam program.

Full biography
Milo Lochbaum Dr. Milo Lochbaum, M.D., is a Staff Anesthesiologist at the VA Palo Alto and a Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) in the Stanford University Department of Anesthesiology. His B.S. was earned from Stanford, his M.D. from UCSF, and he completed Anesthesiology residency at Stanford. He joined the VA staff in 2013. His focus is on clinical care and resident education.
Sesh Mudumbai Sesh Mudumbai, MD, is a Staff Anesthesiologist at the VA Palo Alto HCS. He completed his anesthesiology residency and medical school training at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and State University of New York-Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He has received Board Certification both in Anesthesiology and in Quality Assurance and Utilization Review.

Full biography
John Pollard John Pollard, MD, graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Business in 1981 and from Duke Medical School in 1988. He completed his internship (Internal Medicine at Stanford) in 1989 and the Stanford Anesthesia Residency program in 1992.

Full biography
Shawn Riente Shawn Riente comes from a military family and it was no surprise when he joined the United States Marine Corps. For four years, he served as a Fire Direction Control man with artillery. After his military service, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Recreational Therapy, then worked as a caregiver for a man with traumatic brain injury for over 10 years. He has a passion for volunteering, and his activities have included serving as Treasurer for Navy Relief, coaching high school track, and working with underserved youth. He currently volunteers for Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC). ETC provides access to the outdoors through river rafting, kayaking, and cross-country skiing for people with disabilities and social or economic disadvantages. Shawn has worked in all three ETC programs as a trainer, trip leader, and guide. His VA experience has included working at the Defenders Lodge as a Program Support Assistant, Medical Support Assistant in Dermatology, and Advanced Medical Support Assistant in Pulmonary. He is excited to join the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service as an Administrative Support Assistant. Shawn has a wife and two sons, and enjoys spending time with his family.
  Peyman Sahbaie, MD, is a research assistant with Dr. David Clark.
Lena Scotto Lena Scotto, MD, completed her undergraduate education at Stanford University, earning her Bachelor of Science degree. Dr. Scotto then attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She then returned to her native Bay Area to complete her postgraduate training at Stanford in the combined Anesthesiology Residency and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship program and served as Chief Fellow in Critical Care Medicine. Following graduation, she joined a private practice group at a local hospital as an anesthesiologist and critical care medicine specialist. During this time, she continued teaching difficult airway skills and ultrasound workshops for Stanford residents and fellows. She joined the VA Palo Alto Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service in 2019 as an attending physician in anesthesiology and critical care medicine.
Audrey Shafer Audrey Shafer, MD, is a staff anesthesiologist, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and a Professor, Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine/VAPAHCS. She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard University and her medical degree from Stanford. After anesthesiology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania, she returned to Stanford for a research fellowship in clinical pharmacology.

Full biography
Cynthia Shum Cynthia M. Shum, DNP, MEd, RN, CHSE-A, is the Director of Education and Operations for the Simulation Center at VAPAHCS for the past six years. In this position she is responsible for the operations of the center, facilitation of simulation activities throughout the hospital and development of new uses for simulation activities.

Full biography
Lawrence Siegel Lawrence Siegel, MD, is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania and fellowship at Stanford University. He is currently Clinical Professor (Affiliated), Stanford University School of Medicine. Prior to joining the staff of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in 2002, he served as associate professor and chief of cardiovascular anesthesia at Stanford University. He has also been an executive in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

Full biography
Erica Stary Erica Stary, MD, completed her residency in anesthesiology at UC San Diego. Following residency, she was the chief fellow during her Pain Medicine fellowship at Stanford University. She currently practices anesthesiology and chronic pain management at the VA Palo Alto and is the director of the Women’s Health Pain Management Clinic, a multidisciplinary clinic with coordinated care between pain psychologists, physical therapists, and pain pharmacists, and where Dr. Stary performs acupuncture for Veterans.
  John Tegio, Lead Anesthesia Technician, was born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay. He was a certified pharmacy technician at Stanford from 1991 to 1996. In 1996, he received his certification as an anesthesia technician and remained at Stanford from 1996 to 1999. In 1999, he joined the anesthesia team here at VAPAHCS and shortly thereafter became the lead anesthesia technician.

Full biography
Meghan Tieu Meghan Tieu, MD, graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics and a certificate in Health Policy. She completed medical school and anesthesiology residency at Stanford. Before joining the staff at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in 2018, she worked in private practice and provided anesthesia services at more than 15 hospitals and surgery centers in the Bay Area. She brings valuable experience from working in various practice environments and is grateful for the privilege of serving our Veterans as a staff physician anesthesiologist.
Eddalee Tolentino Eddalee Tolentino, BSN, MSN, RNP, received her bachelor in science in nursing degree from Adventist University of the Philippines in 1988. In her nursing career, she has worked as a registered nurse in the Emergency Department for 22 years, and most recently in Occupational Medicine at the VA Loma Linda Medical Center for the past 12 years. While working at the VA Loma Linda, she went back to school to earn her MSN-AGNP degree from Azusa Pacific University in 2017. She has joined the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System as a pain management registered nurse practitioner.
Tessa Walters Tessa Walters, MD, joined VA Palo Alto in 2006, focusing on perioperative, cardiac and regional anesthesia as well as resident education as a clinical assistant professor (affiliated) at Stanford.

Full biography
Rachel Wang Rachel Wang, MD, completed her undergraduate education at Stanford University and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. She returned to Stanford for anesthesiology residency, serving as Chief Resident at the VA Palo Alto during her final year of training. She has always enjoyed taking care of Veterans and is excited to join the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care Service as a staff anesthesiologist after working in private practice.
Bradford Wee Tom Bradford Wee Tom, RRT, helped initiate the Respiratory computerized system utilized in the Critical Care units. His specialty is Critical Care and he functions as an Informatics RT assisting various VA hospitals.

Full biography
Jim Wong Jim K. Wong, MD, M.S., earned his medical degree from UC San Diego then completed internal medicine residency, one year as Chief Resident in internal medicine, and a two-year critical care medicine fellowship. After his critical care medicine fellowship at Stanford, he continued his training there as an anesthesiology resident and cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesiology fellow. He holds board certifications in internal medicine, critical care medicine, anesthesiology and the national board of echocardiography, and has a Master in Epidemiology degree from Stanford.
Amy Ye Amy Ye, MD, MPH. Dr. Ye graduated from Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University with an MD and MPH. After internship at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Ye did her anesthesiology residency at New York University followed by a regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine fellowship at Mt. Sinai. In her first year after training, she was an attending anesthesiologist in the Duke University Community Division where she specialized in regional anesthesia. Dr. Ye has been involved in multiple research and quality improvement projects in her career to date, and we are very excited to have her as part of our team.
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