PSTP People

Connor Beebout, MD, PhD

Internal Medicine Resident

Hometown: Redding, CA
Education: UC Davis, BA Philosophy, BS Microbiology; MD/PhD, Vanderbilt University
Clinical and research interests: Infectious Diseases, bacterial pathogenesis, metabolism, host-pathogen interactions
Personal interests: Running, hiking, going to the beach with my wife and son
Honors and Awards: Graduate Student of the Year Award (Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation); Sidney P Colowick Outstanding Graduate Student Award (Vanderbilt Microbe-Host Interactions Graduate Program); NRSA F30 (NIAID)

Travis Nielsen, MD, PhD, MPH

Internal Medicine Resident

Hometown: Moreno Valley, CA
Education: UC Riverside BA, University of Southern California PhD, Loyola University Chicago MD
Clinical and research interests: Iinfectious Diseases, nontraditional therapeutics for infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens
Personal interests: Dollar-bill origami, classic cars, fossils & geodes
Honors and Awards: The Order of Arêté (University of Southern California), Outstanding Abstract (American Society for Microbiology), Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (Chicago Chapter)

Dan Youmans, MD, PhD

Internal Medicine Resident

Hometown: San Diego, CA
Education: UC Berkeley, BS in Chemical Biology; University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, MD; University of Colorado Boulder, PhD in Biochemistry
Clinical and research interests: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, lung developmental biology
Personal interests: Surfing, spending time at the beach and in the ocean with my spouse and our baby, and Padres games at Petco Park
Honors and Awards: AOA, University of Colorado student clinical professionalism award

Harrison Penrose, MD, PhD

Gastroenterology Fellow

Hometown: Auburn, CA
Education: UCSD (BS, MS), Tulane Univ SOM (MD, PhD), UCSD (Internal Medicine Residency, GI Fellowship)
Clinical and research interests: Gut Inflammation, Metabolism, Obesity, IBD, Colon Cancer, Drug Discovery
Personal interests: Surfing

Eric Roth, MD, PhD

Infectious Diseases Fellow

 Hometown: Carmel, IN
Education: Indiana University, BS, Biotechnology; Stony Brook University, MD, PhD
Clinical and research interests: Solid tumor oncology, tumor microenvironment, metastatic processes, and translational drug development
Personal interests: Bicycling, snorkeling, struggling to surf

Amara Seng, MD. PhD

Rheumatology, Allergy, & Immunology Fellow

Education: MD/PhD: University of Kansas
Current Institution: Cedars Sinai

Morgan Birabaharan, MD

Infectious Diseases Fellow

 Hometown: Reading, PA
Education: Lehigh University B.S. Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell MD
Clinical and research interests: Discovery and development of microbiota-derived therapeutics against infectious diseases
Personal interests: NBA, weightlifting, Sri Lankan cuisine
Honors and Awards: 2022 UCSD Excellence in Teaching Award, 2023 UCSD Excellence in Teaching Award

Brian Ji, MD, PhD

Hematology / Oncology Fellow

Hometown: Madison, WI
Education: UW-Madison BS, Columbia University MD/PhD
Clinical and research interests: Solid tumor oncology, and applying computational approaches to better understand tumor cell biology and physiology
Personal interests: Playing basketball and soccer, trying to keep up with my 10 month old!
Honors and Awards: Goldwater scholarship, AOA, Columbia Janeway Prize

Michael Doud, MD, PhD

Infectious Diseases Fellow

 Hometown: Naperville, IL
Education: University of Michigan (BSE), University of Washington (MD, PhD)
Clinical and research interests: Phage therapy, synthetic biology, bacteriophage-host interactions
Personal interests: Hiking, music

Sharon Choi, MD, PhD

Hematology / Oncology Fellow

Hometown: Southern California
Education: MD, PhD, University of Illinois Chicago
Clinical and research interests: GU cancer research
Honors and Awards: CRM fellowship award 2023

Cynthia Hsu, MD, PhD

Staff Physician and Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown: Bellevue, WA
Education: University of Washington, BS; UCSD, M.D./PhD
Clinical and research interests: Gut microbiome, alcohol use disorder, and liver disease
Personal interests: Hiking/being outdoors, cooking/baking, being with my family
Honors and Awards: 2023-2025 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation Clinical, Translational, and Outcomes Research Award in Liver Diseases, 2023-2025 American Gastroenterological Association Fellowship-to-faculty Transition Award, 2023 Southern California Research Center for ALPD and Cirrhosis Pilot Project Award, 2022 Samuel French Memorial Award, Southern California Research Center for ALPD and Cirrhosis

Paul Hsu, MD, PhD

Staff Physician and Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown: Diamond Bar, CA
Education: MD, PhD, Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine
Clinical and research interests: Interactions between intestinal CD8 T cells and inflammatory joint and skin disease
Personal interests: Tabletop games, 3D printing, trying to bowl
Honors and Awards:  2023 Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies FOCIS Center of Excellence Travel Award

Sydney Ramirez, MD, PhD

Infectious Diseases Fellow

Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Education: CSU Sacramento, BS (summa cum laude); UTMB, MD, PhD
Clinical and research interests: Human immunology, adaptive immunity
Personal interests: infectious diseases particularly in the setting of immunocompromise (clinical), human immunology and pathogen-host interactions (research)
Honors and Awards: 2021-2023 A.P. Giannini Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Leadership Award, 2023 PSTP Pilot Award, 2020-2023 NIH NIAID T32 CHARM Training Grant

Shiruyeh Schokrpur, MD, PhD

Staff Physician and Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown: Fresno, CA
Education: BA, UC Berkeley; MD, PhD: UCLA
Clinical and research interests: Thoracic/head and neck medical oncology,  head and neck/lung squamous cell carcinoma tumor modeling and novel translational therapy development
Personal interests: Exploring new restaurants and breweries, sports, spending time at local parks with family
Honors and Awards: PSTP Pilot Research Grant, Travel Grant Award: 2023 Summit on Thoracic Malignancies, Kona, HI, UCSD Hematology/Oncology Excellence in Academic Achievement UCSD Hematology/Oncology Best Research Presentation, T32: Cancer Biology, Informatics, Omics (CBIO) Training Grant