Dr. Andre Cipta serves as the Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Founding Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Mid-Career Fellowship, Palliative Medicine Clerkship Director at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, and Associate Medical Director of the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Hospice Agency. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is a recipient of the 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Leadership Scholar Award and holds the rank of Assistant Clinical Professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

His interest in serving those in need led him to study Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, spend a year at the Master’s Seminary, and complete a Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a palliative medicine physician, he finds profound meaning in supporting those living with advanced illness. He is passionate about training future generations of clinicians to further optimize the care of the seriously ill.

Dr. Cipta has a particular interest in innovation. As Fellowship Director, he created an innovative mid-career fellowship track in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania through the ACGME Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) program. He expanded the program from two to four fellowship positions (two traditional, two mid-career), which is embedded in a unique, longitudinal curriculum spanning across palliative care settings. He created the Palliative Extubation Simulation-Based Formative Activity for both graduate and undergraduate medical learners, and co-created a novel wellness curriculum entitled “iRISE (Initiative for Resiliency Self-care and Empathy) which was awarded an innovations grant and presented at numerous national conferences.

His research interests lie primarily in exploring the role of spirituality in optimizing whole-person, patient-centered care, which led him to train at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Glendale Adventist Medical Center for medical school and residency, respectively. He was awarded the Christian Academic Physicians and Scientists Faith and Medicine Research Fellowship Award and most recently published on the topic of spiritual distress in serious illness in the BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care.

Dr. Cipta serves as a deacon at Immanuel Bible Church in Los Angeles, CA.

Nicholas is President and Professor of INMED, the Institute for International Medicine. He is also part-time faculty at the Research Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. Over a two-year period, Dr. Comninellis served inner-city citizens at Shanghai Charity Hospital. Over another two years, he led a healthcare ministry in the war-besieged nation of Angola in southern Africa. Dr. Comninellis next served for six years in the Kansas City public hospital before launching INMED in 2003. Dr. Comninellis is a classical guitarist and faculty advisor for Cru at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Rick currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF) in Memphis, TN., and recently as the Interim Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Community Health Services in Franklin, TN. He also serves part-time as an emergency department physician at the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Donlon earned his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth TX, and his Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans followed by a combined internship and residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. He is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and holds an active medical license in Tennessee. Dr. Donlon has co-founded several healthcare initiatives, including Resurrection Health and Christ Community Health Services, which focus on serving low-income populations in the Memphis area. His recent publications include contributions to book chapters on healthcare missions, emphasizing the importance of serving underserved populations. Dr. Donlon is an active member of various professional organizations and community boards, including the Community Advisory Board for the Assisi Foundation.

Stephen Doane graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. After graduating from the UCLA School of Medicine, he served in the Department of Surgery, Temple University as a Hospital Resident in General Surgery. He followed his residency with a fellowship with the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The specialty was Advanced Gastrointestinal/Minimally Invasive Surgery, with specific emphasis on foregut and pancreaticobiliary surgery. His current area of expertise is minimally invasive hernia repair, hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux surgery, surgery for stomach and colorectal cancers, benign and malignant thyroid disorders, hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases, splenectomy, adrenalectomy, and breast conservation therapy for breast cancer.

Dr. Jennifer Kang is a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist actively practicing in Redding, California, where she resides with her husband and four children. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience and M.D. at the University of Rochester, and then completed residency training in Ob/Gyn at Brown University/Women & Infants Hospital. She then served in the US Southwest Indian Health Service, where she began to discover the reality of her dual-realm authority, synergizing her medical and scientific training with spiritual lifestyle and supernatural healing in a way that more comprehensively meets the needs of individual patients, systems, and communities.

In 2013, she moved her family to Redding, California, and founded Selah Women’s Health, a private medical practice where partnership with Holy Spirit is boldly presented as central to healing and the practice of medicine. In addition, she founded Selah Health International, a non-profit that seeks to elevate the health and value of women and children. This non-profit organization also hosts the Restore Healthcare Project, which connects and inspires healthcare professionals who believe that healthcare can be a living manifestation of the gospel and power of Jesus Christ. Her weekly Restore Healthcare Project podcast gives voice to the innovators in healthcare who bring their brilliance because of a shared passion for Jesus and the living power of the Holy Spirit.

Janet is a Clinical Instructor of Medicine and Pediatrics at UCLA. She serves as the faculty advisor for the CMDA student group at UCLA.

Rebecca has been a nurse for over 30 years, and in the hospital setting, worked in the PICU/CVICU as part of the ECMO Team and Transport Team, as well as an Educator, Charge Nurse, and Manager. She transitioned to full-time professor in 2010 while also practicing as a faith community nurse. She was leader for the overall curriculum, and co-author of the culture and strategies sections of Christian Global Health in Perspective, a 12-week course available for people as they prepare for missions. She trains with and leads teams of students to serve cross-culturally where they learn to integrate their faith with their discipline.

Sue is an endodontist at VA Loma Linda Dental Clinic. Sue is the founder of Radix Endodontics and was senior endodontist until the year 2023. She graduated from one of the leading universities in Latin America, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, School of Dentistry in 1990, and completed her endodontics residency at the University of Southern California in 2013. In July of 2020, Sue joined UCLA School of Dentistry’s Postdoctoral Endodontics department as a lecturer.

Over the years, Sue has been involved in the community through outreach and volunteer events, heading international mission trips to Thailand and Cambodia and taking part in events hosted by local organizations such as the free dental clinic run by UC San Diego’s Pre-Dental Society and Lestonnac Free Clinic. Furthermore, she was a volunteering dentist for Continuing Promise and Pacific Partnership, the US Navy’s humanitarian, dental, medical, veterinarian, and engineering efforts throughout the Indo-Pacific Region and Central America.

In her free time, she enjoys playing cello for her church’s worship team and spending time with her dogs.

Dr. John Tannous is a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine. After completing his pediatric residency, John started the American dream of private practice in suburban Phoenix. However, God had other plans and led John, his wife, and two young sons to Kunming, China in 2001. Over the next 20 years, the Tannous family served the poor, orphaned, and marginalized in southwest China. They also added two daughters, the youngest of whom was adopted. Dr. Tannous spent two “sabbatical” years working in inner-city Chicago. After navigating the initial COVID pandemic in China, Dr. Tannous returned to the US with his family in 2021. He now works in a Los Angeles FQHC serving a primarily Asian community.

Throughout the years, Jesus has faithfully opened doors and provided unique opportunities to serve and witness God at work, changing lives.

Karen Tannous was raised in Taiwan and learned Mandarin at an early age.  After returning to the US for college, Karen met her husband, John, at the Urbana missions conference.  God led them to southwest China where they served in medical missions and raised their 4 children.  Karen now teaches English to Middle Eastern refugees in southern California.

Geogy (pronounced “Joe G”) is a Family Physician and the Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer for Dayspring Health, a community health center located in the Appalachian Mountains. He loves practicing the full spectrum of family medicine including surgical obstetrics. Geogy and his wife Jessie, planted a church in Williamsburg, KY. Jessie serves as the National Director of Student Programming at Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF.) They have 3 grown children who they are immensely proud of.

Geogy was born in India and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. It was at Intervarsity’s Urbana Missions conference that he heard God’s call to serve in medical missions. He received his Medical Degree from the University of Illinois and then completed his residency in Ventura, California.

It would take the NHSC Scholar Program, CMDA, and the hand of God to move the Thomas’s from the beautiful California coast to the majestic Appalachian Mountains. It was in the small town of Jellico, Tennessee that God started to impress upon Geogy the plight of the rural poor and the disparities of healthcare system in America. Twenty-five years later, the Thomas’ are still in rural TN, living out Isaiah 58, as they minister to the poor and preach the Gospel.

Jessie Thomas is the national Director of Student Programming at Christian Community Health Fellowship, working with students who are serious about their faith in Jesus.  She received her Master’s in religious education at Trinity International University and has worked in student ministry for over 25 years. She lives in rural Appalachia with her husband who is a physician in a community health center, focused on those experiencing poverty. When she is not engaging healthcare students, she has spiritual discussions with people through her podcast Being Brown & Bold and her connections in the culinary world @jessoulfood on Instagram.

Dr. Wai is a Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds) physician at Loma Linda University in Southern California. He has been involved with CMDA since his first year of medical school and continued to host the LLU student group at his home. He is passionate about raising up the next generation of Christian healthcare professionals as a faculty member at Loma Linda University.

Dr. Zamora currently works as the Director of Inter-Professional Education at UCR School of Medicine and is clinical faculty. She is clinically a certified physician assistant (PA-C) and has a Doctorate of Health Science in Global Medicine from AT Still University. She has seven years of teaching experience in classroom settings as well as five years in higher education and as a clinical preceptor. She trained in medicine at the University of Southern California (USC), Keck School of Medicine, Primary Care Physician Assistant Program. She has clinical experience in pediatric, family and urgent care medicine and she currently works at Upland Medical Center. After precepting and guest lecturing for USC, she went on to help develop the PA program of California Baptist University (CBU MSPAS) from August 2015 through July 2020 as a founding faculty member. She coordinated/interviewed all guest lecturers, new faculty and personally taught across most of the clinical courses (especially in the clinical medicine and clinical skills courses, as well as women’s health, pediatrics, pharmacology and research). She also designed and executed the live model exam-program, OSCE exams, simulations, hands-on workshops and incorporated inter-professional education (IPE) and inter-professional practice at CBU and the University of La Verne. She continues to love teaching in the classroom and out in the field, especially taking students out of their comfort zones to various street medicine sites and many outreaches.