Addiction Medicine Fellows

Sam Lee, MD

Sam Lee, M.D. was born in Flushing, NY but grew up in Kyrgyzstan most of his life and calls the Tian Shan mountain range his home. He is a proud Notre Dame grad, where he studied sociology and solidified a lifelong dedication to social justice. He spent two years working with refugee communities both in the U.S. and abroad, before heading to Eastern Virginia Medical School where he further developed his love for primary care. After completing his Internal Medicine residency in the UCSF San Francisco General Primary Care Track, Sam is excited to explore the intersection of substance use disorders and adolescents, individuals that identify with gender minorities, and people living with HIV. He plans a career practicing primary care in urban underserved communities—wherever that might lead him. When not practicing medicine, Sam can usually be found stanning Bangtan, sorting people into their respective Hogwarts houses, running in Chrissy Field, or proselytizing Californians about public transportation.

Amy Liang, MD

Amy Liang, MD was born in Ohio and raised in rural Tennessee. During her undergraduate years at Wake Forest University, followed by a Fulbright-funded year in South Korea, she delved into harm reduction endeavors for homeless, underserved, and refugee communities. Amy received her medical degree from the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, then moved out to California for the Emergency Medicine residency at Highland Hospital in Alameda County. It is here she found her passion for treating persons with substance use disorders in the emergency department and bridging them to outpatient care. Amy is enormously excited to join the UCSF Addiction Medicine community and to continue her work establishing SUD treatment protocols along unique transitions of care. Outside of the emergency department, she enjoys rock climbing, outdoor foraging, birding, book clubs, and being a cat mom.

Stephen Matzat, MD

Stephen Matzat, MD grew up in the golden foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. He studied Human Biology at Stanford University and was drawn then to New York City, where he earned his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Stephen returned to California for residency in Family Medicine at the Natividad Medical Center in Salinas. He is motivated by issues of social justice and aims to steer healthcare systems to become more accessible and welcoming to historically marginalized communities, including people who use drugs. Outside of medicine, his passions run the gamut from crochet and crosswords to technology and travel.

Ekene Ojukwu, MD, MSc

Ekene Ojukwu, MD, MSc was born in Baltimore and grew up in Onitsha (Nigeria), Houston, Savannah, and Memphis. She received her undergraduate degree in History and Science from Harvard, where she developed a love melding the social sciences, hard sciences, literature, and social justice. She attended John Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed a master’s degree in Health, Population, and Society at the London School of Economics and Political Science. During her Internal Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, she discovered the joys of taking care of people with substance use disorders, mood disorders, and complex medical issues. She hopes to be a medical educator that integrates the arts and enhanced communication skills into the care of people from marginalized backgrounds. Ekene likes spending time with her family, writing stories, spending all her husband’s money at bookstores, hiking, traveling, and eating any type of noodles.

Nicole Tantoco, MD, MPH

Nicole Tantoco, MD, MPH was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her experiences growing up in a mixed immigration documentation status household provides the lens through which she sees social forces impacting the health of individuals, families, and communities. After completing her undergraduate degree in Human Biology at Stanford University, Nicole worked at the Berkeley Free Clinic as a hepatitis test counselor and section coordinator. She earned her M.P.H. in Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health while attending the UCSD School of Medicine's Program in Medical Education -Health Equity. She completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency through UCSF, and is humbled and thrilled to continue training at San Francisco General as an Addiction Medicine fellow! Outside of work, catch her furiously trying to keep up with BTS, organizing dinners and trips with loved ones, and mass ordering boba.

Surabhi Nirkhe, MD

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Gigi Simmons, MD

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Elizabeth Abbs, MD

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Ayesha Appa, MD

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Katrina Ciraldo, MD​​​​

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

Trevor Lee, MD

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Triveni Defries, MD MPH

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Christy Soran, MD MPH

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Jamie Carter, MD MPH

DUKE HEALTH

Hannah Snyder, MD

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