Current Residents & Fellows

Tristen Chun, MD
Senior Fellow

Hailing from Lexington, Massachusetts, Dr. Tristen Chun graduated from Johns Hopkins University and then completed medical school at Boston University School of Medicine. After medical school, he concluded his residency in general surgery at Brown University. Dr. Chun chose to come to UCLA for its tradition of excellence in training and a chance to work with some of the most prominent vascular surgeons in the country. He attributes his decision to the great sense of camaraderie and the family atmosphere that all the trainees develop with their peers. His goal is to pursue a career in academic vascular surgery and translational research.

Michael Cheng, MD
Junior Fellow

Dr. Cheng was born and raised in Northern California and attended college at Duke and medical school at Case Western. He completed general surgery residency at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. In his free time, when he is not attending to pandemic related issues, he enjoys hiking and traveling, as well as exploring the amazing LA food scene.

Rhusheet Patel, MD
PGY-5, Chief Resident

Dr. Patel attributes exceptional mentorship to the reason he chose vascular surgery as a part of his medical practice. He has continued to benefit from that culture of mentorship inside and outside the operating room at UCLA. Dr. Patel chose to come to UCLA for the diversity of faculty expertise, tradition of clinical research, and a healthy resident culture. The comradery between trainees and faculty is what Dr. Patel appreciated most about his training experience. Among the diverse exposure to vascular surgery that he had during training, he looks forward to developing his interests in venous disease, complex aneurysm repair, and joint decision making in vascular surgery.

Joe Pantoja, MD
PGY-4

Dr. Joe Pantoja is a native angelino from South Los Angeles. He studied mechanical engineering and materials science engineering at UC Berkeley. After finishing at UC Berkeley, he worked for a major energy company as a mechanical engineer before switching careers into medicine. After a prolonged formative experience as a clinical volunteer at a local hospital, he decided to make the career change. Dr. Pantoja graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Throughout medical school and during residency, he researched cardiovascular biomechanics and computational modeling. He also engaged in clinical outcomes research after venous reconstruction. During his free time, Dr. Pantoja enjoys spending time with his family and hiking around Southern California. He enjoys working on home improvement projects as well as mentoring pre-medical/ medical students.

Mark Ajalat, MD
PGY-3

Dr. Mark Ajalat, MD is the PGY-3 integrated Vascular Surgery resident at UCLA. He was born and raised in Southern California and attended UCLA for college, completing a Bachelor of Science in physiology. He completed a Master of Science in physiology at Georgetown University. In addition, he obtained his MD degree from UC Irvine School of Medicine where he was president of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Dr. Ajalat was also honored with the Office of the Dean Outstanding Graduate Student Award for graduating at the top of his class.

Marianna Pavlyha, MD
PGY-2

Originally from Ukraine, Dr. Marianna Pavlyha spent most of her adult life living and receiving education in New York City. She started her medical career at Columbia University Medical Center, where she spent two years studying the mechanisms of newly developed small molecule regulators of lipid metabolism. She pursued medical education at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. During that time, she continued to explore research interests as part of the NIH-T35 Harvard-Longwood Research Training in Vascular Surgery by studying the role of the atheroprotective and anti-inflammatory gene A20/TNFAIP3 in influencing the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Her current interests include academic surgery and student education.

Amanda Chin, MD, MBA
PGY-1

Dr. Amanda Chin is a PGY-1 in the Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency Program. Originally from Short Hills, NJ, she moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania for undergrad, majoring in Biochemistry. She went on to complete a dual-MD/MBA at the Perelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School with a focus in Health Care Management. Her research interests include the development and implementation of new technology and devices within vascular surgery, as well as clinical outcomes research inaortic and peripheral vascular disease. She is also passionate about mentorship and medical education. In her free time, she enjoys cooking/baking, running outdoors, traveling and discovering new restaurants to try.