The Team

Erin Atkinson Cook was born and raised in Mountain View, California BEFORE Google moved to town. She attended Stanford University where she received a degree in Chemistry and minors in German Studies and Biology. She attended Medical School at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Cook did her Internal Medicine Residency at UCLA and was Chief Resident. It was during residency she found her passion for Geriatrics.

Angel Burrell is our new Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program Coordinator at UCLA. She has been a part of UCLA, contributing for the past two years. She began her academic journey at El Camino College and is new to program coordination. Angel is dedicated to enhancing the educational experience for fellows and ensuring the program's smooth operation. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and exploring new cultures.

Arun Karlamangla, PhD, MD, received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California and his MD from the University of Michigan Medical School. He is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. In addition to residency and fellowship training in internal medicine and geriatrics, he brings doctoral training and years of teaching and experience in statistical signal processing.

Dr. Alessi is the Director of the VA Greater Los Angeles (GLA) Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). She is a Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she is also Associate Director of the Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. She obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign, and her medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr. Wong is an assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and specializes in nursing home care. She has a passion for quality improvement and loves guiding fellows on their QI projects during the year. She earned her medical degree from Stony Brook School of Medicine, completed her internal medicine residency at UC Davis, and her geriatric fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Wong holds a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Brown University

Dr. Cathy C. Lee is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Division Chief of Geriatrics at UCLA and the Greater Los Angeles VA.  Dr. Lee directs the VA Gerofit program, promoting physical activity and cognition in older adults. She is also the director of the journal club for fellows and the clinical director at the WLA VA. Dr. Lee completed her residency at Penn State and fellowship at the University of Michigan. She is committed to guiding medical students in research.

Cal Burton is a Geriatric Hospitalist at the VA where he leads the acute geriatrics unit. He completed his undergraduate at the University of Maryland studying biology and Spanish and completed medical school at Northwestern University. His residency training in internal medicine took him to UCLA where he also completed his geriatric fellowship. Dr. Burton has clinical interests in care for the older members of the LGBTQ+ community in addition to experience with global health in Latin America.

Dr. Castle is Clinical Professor of Geriatric Medicine at UCLA, Clinical Director of Geriatrics at the VA Greater Los Angeles and was a Governor appointee to the California Commission on Aging from 2013-18. He is also the first physician certified as a FallPROOF!TM Instructor from Cal State Fullerton. His degrees are from Miami University and Ohio State School of Medicine. He did his residency in Internal Medicine at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Heather D’Adamo, MD is a member of the Fellowship Education Committee and a staff attending at the Community Living Center, the VA Nursing home in West Los Angeles. She has a long standing interest in Medical education design, having served as Representative to her medical school Curriculum Committee and to FEC while in Fellowship. She is also currently the Chair of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine Education committee.

Susan D. Leonard is a board- certified physician and clinician-educator in Geriatrics at UCLA. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed her internal medicine residency at UC Davis. A native of Los Angeles, she returned and completed her geriatrics fellowship at UCLA and joined the Geriatrics division thereafter. Her clinical practice balances outpatient and inpatient work, with the majority of her practice now focusing on post-acute and nursing home care.

Dr. Hess is originally from the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Hess attended medical school at the University of Washington, residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado and fellowship in geriatrics at UCLA.  She cares for older adults in the Harbor Geriatrics Clinic and has an interest in dementia in multicultural populations as well as the detection and prevention of elder abuse.