UCSD Psychiatry Research Residency Track 2026-27

Trainees

Learn more about our trainees!

2026-2027 PGY-I Research Track Residents

Thomas Kim, MD, PhD

Thomas completed his undergrad studies at UC Berkeley and his MD, PhD training at Stony Brook University. His dissertation investigated neurovascular and behavioral aspects of Alzheimer's disease, using a novel AD mouse model. Thomas also completed post-graduate training at the Gladstone Institutes, where he studied the applications of advanced machine learning skills to conduct sophisticated analyses of mouse behavior. Also an accomplished magician and lacrosse player, Thomas played goalie on the U-19 Korean National Lacrosse Team. At UCSD, he plans to pursue translational research focused on neural mechanisms underlying novel therapeutics for affective disorders.

2026-2027 PGY-II Research Track Residents

Joseph Barnett, M.D., Ph.D.

Joe Barnett joins us from Mayo Medical School, where he received an MD/PhD. His work focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of psilocybin therapy in the rodent brain. He is interested in interventional psychiatry (TMS, ketamine, psychedelics) and is curious about the effects of cold immersion therapy and whole-body hyperthermia for the treatment of affective disorders. Joe enjoys all things outdoors and hopes to continue beekeeping in San Diego.

Gabriel Zamora, M.D.

Gabriel was born and raised in Southern California, and joined us from the UC San Francisco School of Medicine. His research interests focus on child development, and specifically the intersection of social media screen use and mental health (including substance use, mania and obsessive-compulsive disorder). At UCSF, Gabriel reported findings in these areas from the multi-site Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, with his work receiving national media coverage including NBC, CBS, FOX11, Healthline, Yahoo, KTLA, and US News. He plans to extend these studies via the ABCD site at UC San Diego. Gabriel is passionate about educational outreach, mentoring underrepresented students, and advocating for mental health equity, and has published with co-Resident Maribel Patiño on advancing Latine representation in his future field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Since joining our program, Gabriel was selected for the 2026 APA Foundation Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship.

2026-2027 PGY-III Research Track Residents

Justin Creeden, MD, PhD

Born and raised in New England, Justin attended the University of Michigan and completed the MD, PhD program in Cancer Biology at the University of Toledo. His doctoral dissertation focused on the role of protein kinases in inflammatory pathologies such as pancreatic cancer and liver fibrosis, as well as the role inflammation plays in the development and progression of mental health conditions such as depression; he has reported his findings in numerous peer-reviewed papers in high impact journals.  Justin has also studied and practiced acting, working professionally on stage and in film. He plans to focus his UCSD research on neuromodulation in treatment refractory depression.

Joseph Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.

Joe joins us from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he completed his MD and PhD in Social Medicine. Before that, he undertook a master's in public health and a three-year data science fellowship at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. His research combines epidemiological and anthropological approaches to studying substance use, drug overdose, mental illness, and other socially-bound causes of mortality and morbidity. He has a particular interest in the US-Mexico border region, and has spent several years living and working in Tijuana, Mexico. 

Maribel Patiño, M.D., Ph.D.

Maribel was born and raised in California. She earned a bachelor's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology, with a focus on Neurobiology, from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) Her MD/PhD training was completed at UC San Diego, where she conducted her thesis research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies under the guidance of Dr. Ed Callaway, earning a PhD in Neuroscience. Through the Brain Initiative, she developed neurotechnology that integrates transcriptomics with viral tracing tools to study cortical connectivity at a more granular resolution. Maribel is excited to combine her training in psychiatry and neuroscience to explore the biological foundations of psychiatric disorders, particularly mood disorders and psychosis. Since joining our program, Maribel was selected for the 2025 American College of Psychiatrists PRITE Fellowship and the 2026 Henry Grass Rising Stars in Neuroscience Award.

2026-2027 PGY-IV Research Track Residents

Lay Kodama, M.D., Ph.D.

Lay spent her Undergrad years as a neuroscience major at Johns Hopkins, did a Master’s of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge on a Churchill Scholarship followed by an MD, PhD (Neurosciences) at UCSF. Starting in 2022, Lay was been a post-doc at UCSF using bioinformatics with EHR data to develop predictive models for inpatient delirium risk. Since joining our program, Lay was selected for the NIMH Outstanding Resident Award Program and the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Travel Award, and was admitted to the Scholars Program of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. After completing her PGY-IV, Lay will pursue Fellowship training in Geropsychiatry.

Tara Trujillo, M.D.

Tara joined us from the 4-year medical research track at the University of Colorado.  She spent her Undergrad years as a Human Bio major at Stanford University, then worked for several years as a post-bac researcher at Stanford and a Clinical Trial Coordinator in the Psychosis research program at UCSF, before attending the University of Colorado. Tara’s research interests are in transitional age youth, early psychosis, autism and eating disorders. She may be headed into Child Psychiatry. Since joining our program, Tara was selected for the APA Kempf Foundation award and the Justine I. Cohen Award, both for outstanding schizophrenia research, as well as a Sorensen Foundation Fellowship. After completing her PGY-IV, Tara will pursue Fellowship training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.