Culture & Engagement Champions

Tara Lynn Humphrey, DO

Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology (Clinician Educator)
Director of Resident Simulation and Director of Cardiac Fellowship
Department of Anesthesiology
Vice Chair of Culture & Engagement
tlhumphr@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Culture & Engagement Committee: support, evaluate, ideas
• Culture & Engagement Speaker Series
• Mentoring residents, medical students, high school students
• Communication Training
• Keeping department data

Brooke E. Hjelm, PhD

Assistant Professor
Culture & Engagement Champion
Department of Cancer Biology
bhjelm@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Initiating education and support programs to help with employee/learner burnout
• Developing scholarship opportunities to increase training opportunities and mentorship in genomics/bioinformatics
• Supporting department wellbeing & belonging through cultural/social events

Karina Recinos

Student Services Advisor
Culture & Engagement Champion
krecinos@usc.edu

Judd Rice, PhD

Associate Professor of Cancer Biology
Director, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Master’s Program
Culture & Engagement Champion
juddrice@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Fostering community amongst the department through community engagement and social events.
• Developing grant opportunities to expand student access to career development programs.
• Facilitating professional development opportunities for staff aimed at enhancing skills, fostering leadership, and promoting continuous learning.

Nada Elbuluk, MD, MSc, FAAD

Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology
Director, Skin of Color & Pigmentary Disorders Program & Fellowship
Dermatology Director of Culture & Engagement Program
Department of Dermatology
KSOM Director of Curriculum Equity
nada.elbuluk@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Reflections Book Club
• Community Service Programs
• Scholar Series
• Resident and Faculty Culture and Engagement Training

Mariana Martinez, MD

Director, Culture & Engagement Programs
Department of Emergency Medicine
marianam@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Departmental presence at Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Regional/National Conference, Student National Medical Association (SNMA) AMEC Conference, National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Conference, and National Medical Association (NMA) Conference
• Institution of holistic review process for faculty and resident recruitment
• Integration and discussion of social justice themes into resident education and faculty development

Lisa Richardson, MD

Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine
Vice-Chair of Culture & Engagement for the Department of Family Medicine
lisa.richardson@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Equity Enrichment based on Dr. Eddie Moore Jr’s 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge ©, a self-guided, engaging activity to promote equity & understand power & privilege
• Departmental climate survey & focus group analysis to inform strategic priorities for equity, inclusion & well-being goals and inform vision planning
• DEIB scorecard collaboration with Departments of Medicine and OB-GYN: track progress of DEIB efforts and guide benchmarks and strategic goals
• Restorative Practices and Mindset Trainings

Joyce Perez, EdD

Assistant Dean for Graduate Education
Keck School of Medicine
jpperez@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Community building and social wellness activities focused on campus-wide cultural celebrations
• Presence at STEM graduate recruitment conferences
• Support and engagement of affinity groups.

Tea Jashashvili, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck Medicine of USC
Vice Chair for Culture & Engagement
Member, MECC
Member, Keck Executive Steering Committee for IRG
tea.jashashvili@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• MS and PhD Students Travel to the Anatomy Connected Meeting organized by the American Association for Anatomy (AAA)

Alyssa Rosario, MD

Senior Culture & Engagement Champion, LAGMC Pediatrics
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Residency Program
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine
Pediatric Hospitalist
alyssamr@usc.edu

Cathy Jalali, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Education and Medicine
Director of Faculty Development in Education
Assistant Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Training Program
Director of Culture & Engagement Champion, Department of Medical Education
cjalali@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Health Justice and Systems of Care course: preclinical phase of the medical school curriculum & extended into the clerkship phase with a two week-course
• Curriculum bias mitigation project: identify (potential for) bias and work with faculty to help actively explore issues of race, gender, and social determinants of health (amongst many others) in the medical school curriculum
• Inaugural Keck Medical Education Conference (2023). Conference included a keynote address, Ensuring Equity in Medical School: Inside and Outside of the Classroom and a workshop on mitigating bias in medical education

Aneesah Smith, MD, FACP

Vice Chair, Cultural Engagement
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine
Aneesah.smith@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Engagement with Resident Affinity Groups
• Presence at regional and national minority conferences: Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Regional Conference; Student National Medical Association (SNMA) AMEC Conference; National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Conference
• Engagement with Resident Affinity Groups
• Presence at regional and national minority conferences: Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Regional Conference; Student National Medical Association (SNMA) AMEC Conference; National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Conference

Gutian Xiao, PhD

Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Culture & Engagement Director
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Gutian.Xiao@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Student and scholar training and career enhancement programs
• Seminars and conferences on disease
• Social wellness activities and events

Lilyana Amezcua, MD, MS, FAAN

Associate Professor of Neurology
Division Chief, Multiple Sclerosis & Neuroimmunology
Director, Culture & Engagement Programs
lamezcua@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Population Health and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) in Neurology
• Inclusion initiatives in research
• Community engagement and health equity programs that support brain health
• Culture & engagement Grand Rounds speakers
• Resident and faculty culture & engagement training

William J. Mack, MD, MS, FAANS, FACS, FAHA

Vice Chair, Academic Affairs
Professor of Neurosurgery
Neuroscience Graduate Program
Culture & Engagement Champion
william.mack@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Grand round speakers program incorporating women/underrepresented minority speakers as visiting professors speaking on DEI issues in Neurosurgery
• Research Grant awarded to URM medical student
• DEI/ Implicit Bias Training for residents and faculty

Nicole Mitchell-Chadwick, MD (she/her)

Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology- Keck School of Medicine of USC
Director OB/GYN Culture & Engagement
Assistant Residency Program Director Ob/Gyn
Member, ACOG District IX DEI Committee
Member, GEMS- KSOM Implicit Bias Trainer
Member, Keck Executive Steering Committee for DEI
USC Verdugo Hills OB/GYN
evelyn.mitchell@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Equity Morbidity & Mortality Conferences for clinical care departments
• Standardizing holistic interview strategies for hiring of residents, faculty, and staff
• Equity Chief Resident
• Alumni/Resident mentoring program
• Faculty / Staff DEI Taskforce
• DEI curriculum via monthly departmental newsletters and grand rounds/ trainings
• Social Justice Dinners
• DEI focused clinical research

Lernik Torossian, OD, FAAO

Assistant Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology
Chief of Optometry Service
Director of Community Outreach
Doctor of Optometry
USC Roski Eye Institute
lernik.torossian@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Virtual and in-person training for department faculty, staff, trainees, and student researchers pertaining to patient care in our community.
• Various Lectures, panels, hands-on experiences designed to introduce current KSOM medical students, USC undergraduate students, high school students and the community to careers in eyecare, while highlighting the importance of routine and specialized eye examinations.

Christopher Ornelas, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery (Clinician Educator)
Chief Culture & Engagement Officer for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
christopher.ornelas@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Diversity in Medicine Visiting Clerkship Award
• Pathways programs

Tamara Chambers, MD

Chief, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Associate Director of Perioperative Services
Medical Director, Speech & Audiology
LAC+USC Medical Center
Associate Program Director
Associate Professor
Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Co-Chair, Culture & Engagement Committee for Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
tamara.chambers@med.usc.edu

Daniel Kwon, MD FACS

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Co-Chair, Culture & Engagement Committee for Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
daniel.kwon@med.usc.edu

Marlene Mendoza, MS

Program Administrator
Department of Otolaryngology
Co-Chair, Culture & Engagement Committee for Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
marlene.mendoza@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• OtoTeaches: Pipeline program working with Bravo Medical Magnet HS, MedCor, and USC Bridging the Gap Programs to increase exposure to otolaryngology
• OtoTalks: Movie viewing and scheduled committee meetings to discuss important topics, propose new directions, and provide a sense of community
• OtoGives: Outreach projects to provide service for the community and build community with each other

Saloni Walia, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology
Director of Culture & Engagement, Pathology
walia.saloni@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Careers in Pathology – information session for high school and college students
• Grand rounds
• Participation in search committees for staff and faculty

Michael Bryant, MD, MBA

Vice Chair of Culture & Engagement (Department of Pediatrics)
Division Head (Pediatric Hospital Medicine)
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
USC Keck School of Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
mbryant@chla.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Advocacy for leadership selection that is metric driven, transparent and accountable
• Coffee Chat Network: pilot to create a searchable database for faculty to connect with others with shared or different intersectional identities
• Evaluating leave practices that potentially result in bias and disproportionately impact our faculty and their families
• Development of DEI webpage
• Gender Equity Initiative
• Expansion of community relationships

Joyce Richey, PhD

Associate Dean for Culture & Engagement
Associate Professor, Clinical Physiology & Neuroscience
Associate Professor, Clinical Medical Education
Pronouns: She/Her
jrichey@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Diversity and Inclusion Research Seminar Series
• Physiology & Neuroscience (P&N) Visiting Scholars Program: attracting underrepresented post-docs or early-stage investigators from HBCUs and MSIs to conduct summer research with P&N faculty.

Mariana Stern, PhD

Professor, Clinical Population & Public Health Sciences and Urology                                                                      The Ira Goodman Chair in Cancer Research                                                                                                                  Associate Director for Population Science at USC NCCC
Vice Chair for Culture & Engagement
Department of Population and Public Health Sciences
marianas@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Allyship training
• Departmental climate surveys with faculty, students, and staff
• Diversity listening sessions with staff and students

Ekta Kumar, PsyD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences (Clinician Educator)
Senior Director, Culture & Engagement
Psychologist
Counseling and Mental Health Services
USC Student Health | Keck Medicine of USC
Engemann Student Health Center
Pronouns: She, her, hers
ekta.kumar@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Multicultural Coordinators across department
• Implementation of Inclusive Recruitment Practices
• Multi-year Culture and Engagement Strategic Plan
• Monthly Inclusive Education Grand Rounds
• Quarterly Inclusive Practice and Care Consultation Space for Faculty, Staff, Trainees, and Residents
• Annual, Inclusive Department-Wide Trainings (e.g., Mindful Management, Restorative Practices)
• Departmental Vision Statement
• Medical Fridge Initiative for Faculty/Staff/Trainees
• Book Club and Other Socials to Engage Faculty/Staff/Trainees

Aram Modrek, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Vice Chair of Culture & Engagement
aram.modrek@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Reflections Book Club
• Community Service Initiatives
• Resident and Faculty Training

Daphne K. Walker, MD

She/Her/Hers
Vice-Chair of Culture & Engagement
Associate Professor of Radiology
daphne.walker@med.usc.edu

Program Highlights

• USC URM Summer Premed Radiology Research Program: 6-week mentored research projects, lectures, skills workshops, shadowing, and mentoring
• USC AMWA-DOR Shadowing Program
• Radiology Guest Lectures USC MEDS Premedical Courses
• KSOM-DOR Radiology Women’s Interest Group
• DOR Culture & Engagement Advisory Committee:  Inclusive departmental leadership group that promotes inclusion initiatives and programming

Albert Ernesto Almada, PhD

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Vice Chair of Culture & Engagement
aealmada@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• USC SCRM Faculty present as part of the Minority Science Programs at UC Irvine
• Departmental climate evaluation and remediation program with Academic Pipeline Project (APP) consulting

Damon Clark, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery
Associate Medical Director, SICU
Medical Director Emergency Surgery
Department of Surgery
damoncla@usc.edu

Program Highlights

• Community projects related to violence prevention and community development for surgery residents
• Scholarships for medical students to do MS4 rotations in USC General Surgery Program
• Department of Surgery Grand Rounds presentations