Welcome 2024 Incoming Fellows!

Stanford Surgery is excited to welcome 15 new fellows this year to our Divisions of Abdominal Transplantation, General Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Vascular Surgery. 

Dr. Sue Fu completed her general surgery residency at Stanford. Prior to that she graduated from Medical School at Case Western and before medical school she worked in investment banking in New York. Her research interests continue to leverage her financial background, with a focus on financial toxicity and how insurance markets affect access to surgical care. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, cooking, and listening to music.

Dr. Jaquelyn Yu grew up in Arcadia, California where she played piano and violin from a young age, participating in orchestras through high school. She graduated with honors from UC Berkeley with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. She then worked at Lockheed Martin as an engineer designing missile control systems while completing her MS at Stanford University, also in mechanical engineering. Following her experience as a primary caregiver for family illnesses, she decided to pursue medicine. She completed her MD at UC Davis, where she stayed for General Surgery Residency. During residency, she found her passion for transplant surgery and dedicated a year to kidney transplant research resulting in published manuscripts, conference presentations, as well as the American Society of Transplantation Recovery and Preservation Community of Practice Rising Star Grant Award. She is looking forward to returning to Stanford for Transplant Surgery Fellowship.

Dr. Leah Candell was born and raised in the Bay Area and was inspired to go into medicine by her father, who is a retired family practitioner, and mother, who is a retired nurse. She did her undergraduate education at the University of California, Davis and her medical school education at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed her surgical residency with the University of California, San Francisco-East Bay program based at Highland Hospital in her hometown of Oakland. After residency, she worked as a general surgeon for several years and it was during this time that her interest in breast cancer treatment grew, and sparked her desire to do a breast surgical oncology fellowship. During her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and spending time with her partner, two kids, and their dog Nessa.

Dr. Jenny Yu's hometown is Plainsboro, New Jersey. She is a graduate of the BA/MD program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She completed her general surgery residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. During her research years, Jenny studied angiogenesis and tissue regeneration at Boston Children's Hospital. Her current clinical and research interests include HPB surgery, HIPEC, and mechanisms of metastasis. In her free time, Jenny enjoys cooking/baking and reading and is looking forward to exploring the West Coast.

Dr. Perisa Ruhi-Williams received her bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Virginia and her medical degree from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She and her husband moved to Southern California from her home state of Virginia where she is currently completing her general surgery training at the UC Irvine Medical Center. As a resident, Perisa received multiple honors, including the Golden Scalpel Award for exemplary teaching and induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Perisa also completed an additional year of training as a Chief Resident in Quality and Patient Safety at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two young daughters and husband. Perisa is very excited to continue her medical training at Stanford as the 2024-2025 MIS/Bariatrics fellow.

Dr. Alexander Friedman will be joining the Palo Alto VA Medical Center as the new Advanced GI/MIS Fellow. Dr. Friedman graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. He then went on to attend medical school at Georgetown University before completing his General Surgery Residency at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. His professional interests include robotic surgery, abdominal wall reconstruction, and foregut surgery. Outside of work he enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling abroad, and reading about global trends and personal finance. He looks forward to exploring the beautiful state of California having grown up and trained on the East Coast.

Harrison Chau, MD, MS completed his medical school training at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2017 and most recently completed his general surgery residency training at the University of California San Diego. He was involved in outcomes research concerning blunt splenic injury that led to significant protocol improvements in patient care. He aspires to continue engaging in trauma outcomes research and being involved in educational courses with trainees while at Stanford University. He also has a passion for culinary arts, especially Chinese cuisine, cupcakes, and French macarons.

Gerald Wang, DO completed his general surgery residency at the University of Illinois Chicago, Mount Sinai Hospital. His passion for trauma and surgical critical care has stemmed from his residency training in Chicago where he was exposed to a high volume of blunt and penetrating trauma. In his free time, he really enjoys trying new restaurants, cooking, and pottery. His clinical interests include thoracic trauma as well as surgical education and teaching. He hopes to pursue a career in surgical education in the future where he can help to mentor and train surgical residents and fellows in the future.

Jacob Kirkorowicz, MD, MS obtained his MSc in Global Health at Duke University in 2013 and he went on to attend the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 2014. He gained high operative experience as a resident at Kaweah Health Medical Center in Visalia, CA. His main goals are to build his academic portfolio and gain additional critical care exposure to tools such as ECMO and LVADs. Currently, he is working with Dr. Forrester on his Rib Fracture Frailty multisite study, with Kaweah Health Medical Center being one of the participating sites.

Originally from Florida, Dr. Kevin Yang earned his undergraduate degree in biology and art history from the University of Maryland.  Afterward, he worked at the FDA during the flu pandemic and eventually found his way to medical school at UCLA. From there, Kevin’s broad interests led him to do general surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and plastic surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he found his true surgical passion in craniofacial surgery. Outside of work, Kevin likes Expressionist art, live music, spending time outdoors, and dreaming about building a greenhouse one day.

Dr. Susanne Carpenter, a dedicated and compassionate caregiver, is joining our team as the 2024-25 Dental Medicine and Surgery clinical instructor. Dr. Carpenter completed her general practice dental residency at Denver Health Medical Center following her graduation from the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, yoga, art, and volunteering with Special Olympics.

Dr. Cristin Coquillard grew up in Mountain View, CA and attended the University of Washington, where she received a BS in cell and molecular biology and a minor in chemistry. She then spent several years as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist and later as a supervisor in the Stanford Histocompatibility, Immunogenetics, and Disease Profiling Laboratory before pursuing a career in medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of Kentucky, where she was elected to AOA and graduated with high distinction, before completing her Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is excited to be at Stanford as a hand fellow for the completion of her training, and to return to the Bay Area.

Outside of hand surgery, Cristin spends her time with her husband and son going to parks, restaurants, museums, and the beach. Cristin also enjoys going to symphony and ballet performances, traveling, skiing, and baking.

Dr. Adam Wallace grew up in the Bay area and attended University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring in Microbiology. He then went on to receive his medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He completed Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency at the University of California, San Francisco in June 2024.

Dr. Soobin Lim is a dedicated plastic and reconstructive surgeon originally from San Diego. She completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA and earned her medical degree from Tulane University. Following medical school, Dr. Lim pursued residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at LSU. Outside of medicine, she enjoys an active lifestyle filled with hiking, yoga, aerial arts, and snowboarding. In her downtime, she cherishes moments playing with her 8lb yorkie.

J. Blake Iceton, MD recently completed internal medicine residency at NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. He originally studied biomedical engineering at Duke University and worked designing hip and knee replacements before switching career paths. His first step towards medicine was working in a vascular surgery clinic near Toronto investigating a proposed vascular contribution to multiple sclerosis and earned his vascular sonographer credentials at the same time. He stayed connected to the vascular community through further work in cardiology, interventional radiology, and vascular surgery practices while earning a master's degree in anatomy at the University of Colorado before completing medical school at St. George's University.

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The Stanford University Department of Surgery is dedicated to inventing the future of surgical care through:

• pioneering cutting-edge research, 
• developing the next generation of leaders, and 
• healing through incomparable surgical skills and compassion. 

To learn more, please visit surgery.stanford.edu