Meet Our Chief Residents
Chief Residents 2026-2027
Sundus Lateef, MD
Sundus is originally from West Virginia. As a transitional year intern, she became the youngest NIOSH-certified B-reader, a certification for classification of pneumoconioses, such as coal workers pneumoconiosis and silicosis. At UCLA, her passion has been working on identifying atypical imaging features of silicosis among immigrant workers in the engineered stone countertop industry. She has also conducted research on quantitative imaging in combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema. Sundus and her family enjoy exploring Los Angeles, especially finding new plays to watch. She loves being in nature and recently rescued an injured hummingbird, and she volunteers for organizations such as the Department of Energy’s Science Bowl Competition.
Lynden Lee, MD
Lynden was born in Arkansas and raised in Southern Illinois before moving to Chicago. He graduated from Boston University under a Presidential Scholarship with a dual-degree in Biology and Human Physiology. He then earned his medical degree with a Distinction in Research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine under a Research and Service Scholarship. He completed his internship as a UCLA surgical intern and continues as an Integrated Interventional Radiology resident. He has served as the Chair of the Education Committee for the SIR MSC and currently is a senior member of the inaugural PERT Consortium trainee council. His current research interests revolve around thyroid intervention, PE, pediatrics, robotics, and lymphatics.
When not pinning wire and battling his crippling soda and ice cream addiction, he enjoys all 140.6 miles of an Ironman triathlon, LA/Chicago sports, dog sitting Pika, snowboarding, rewatching The Office, gaming, amusement parks, Korean bbq, and movies at the Century City Mall. Lynden looks forward to working with his co-chiefs/borderline friends in the upcoming year to continue to make UCLA both a productive and fun place to learn.
Wendy Qiu, MD
Wendy was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up in Palo Alto, California. After completing her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, she took a slightly unconventional path, briefly working as an analyst in the field of executive compensation/corporate governance before heading to medical school at Creighton University School of Medicine, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism honor societies. She later made her way back to California to pursue radiology residency at her dream program, UCLA!
Outside the reading room, Wendy frequents the gym and attends regular Lagree fitness classes, never missing an opportunity to treat herself to a matcha latte afterward. She can also be found relaxing at home with her fiancé and their two cats or eating fried shrimp tacos from her favorite food truck in West LA, Mariscos Jalisco.
Wendy is honored to serve alongside her co-chiefs to support the well-being and educational experience of her fellow coresidents. After residency, she plans to pursue fellowship training in musculoskeletal radiology.
Jeffrey Rosenthal, MD
Jeff was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California. After completing his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis and earning his medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta, he was excited to return to Los Angeles for residency training at UCLA. Outside of medicine, Jeff enjoys beach volleyball, tennis, pickleball, and hiking with his wife and labradoodle. Following residency, he plans to pursue a fellowship in musculoskeletal imaging, with academic interests in sports imaging, orthopedic oncology, and medical education. Jeff is honored to serve alongside his co-chief residents and is committed to fostering a supportive environment in which residents can thrive.
Mana Shams, MD, PhD
Mana was born and raised in Sweden, where she completed her MD at Uppsala University and PhD in neuroscience at Karolinska Institute before continuing her training abroad. She first moved to Copenhagen, Denmark for a year to complete her European internship, followed by a move to Dayton, Ohio for her internship, which served as her final stop before finally making the move from Scandinavian winters to sunny Southern California and residency at UCLA, marking the next exciting chapter of her training journey.
Outside of radiology, Mana enjoys spending time outdoors with friends and family and has especially enjoyed Southern California’s outdoor lifestyle through beach runs, swimming, hiking, and pickleball. After residency, she is planning to pursue a fellowship in neuroradiology. She is honored to serve as chief resident and is grateful for the opportunity to support her coresidents as best she can while continuing to promote the collaborative, supportive, and academically strong clinical environment at UCLA.
