UCLA Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows
2026 - 2027
First Year Fellows
Louisa Dru Brenner, MD
Hometown: Pontiac, MI
Education: Stanford University (BA), University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (MD)
Residency: UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital
Hobbies/Interests: Dance, Reading, Pickleball, my dogs
Professional Interests: LGBTQ+ mental health, transitional age youth, psychotherapy
What I’m looking forward to most: I’m so excited to continue my training at UCLA alongside incredibly accomplished and inspiring colleagues. I love the collaborative environment at UCLA, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with all the people who make patient care possible (shout out to all of the faculty, social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, nutritionists, psychology interns, fellows, residents, and medical students!). I am also excited to keep learning from my patients and families who teach me so much about the kind of psychiatrist I want to be!
Evelyn Lee, MD
Hometown: Saratoga, California
Education: University of Southern California (BS), University of Cincinnati (MS), Northeast Ohio Medical University (MD)
Residency: UC Irvine
Hobbies/Outside Interests: I’m a huge foodie – love cafe hopping and searching for the best boba and matcha in town. I love trying out new workout classes and am a proud member of the slow runners club. Nothing brings me more joy than a sunset at the beach!
Professional Interests: Community and public psychiatry, school-based mental health, social justice and advocacy, the intersection of faith and mental health, and psychotherapy
What I’m looking forward to most: I am so excited to surround myself and learn from some of the best community – the attendings and my co-fellows carry so much passion and talent in their work, and I can’t wait to spend the next couple of years learning from them all.
Younji YJ Lee, MD
Hometown: Georgia
Education: Dartmouth (BA, MD)
Residency: Yale
Hobbies/Outside Interest: dance, running, birding
Professional Interests: psychodynamic psychotherapy, advocacy, LGBTQ+ care
What I’m looking forward to most: growing and learning together!
Thomas Pak, MD, PhD
Hometown: West Des Moines, IA
Education: Johns Hopkins University (BA in Neuroscience; Certificate in Dance); Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Iowa (MD/PhD)
Residency: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Therapy Concentration)
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Social dancing (salsa dancing, cha cha), bouldering, musicals, anime, board games, sports, and spending time with friends and family
Professional Interests: Research and clinical care of adolescent substance use disorder and suicide, family and group therapy, interventional psychiatry, metabolic and sports psychiatry, organized medicine (APA, AACAP)
What I’m looking forward to most: Getting to know my co-fellows, exploring the LA salsa dance scene, and spending more time with my brother. I’m excited to grow into my identity as a child and adolescent psychiatrist and finding community as a UCLA Bruin. A Midwestern boy finding his way in LA.
Armaan Rowther, MD, PhD
Hometown: Irvine, California
Education: University of California, Irvine (BS); The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (MD); Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (PhD); Cambridge Muslim College (PGDip)
Residency: Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Hobbies/Outside Interests: I love traveling with people, eating together, and discussing good books, anything that facilitates deep, honest heart-to-heart conversations and laughter.
Professional Interests: reproductive psychiatry, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, maternal and infant mental health, psychotherapy, Islamic Psychology, Ecological Medicine
What I’m looking forward to most: being of service, supporting families and fellow trainees, learning from sincere teachers and mentors to provide healing and benefit to my patients
Kendall Umstead, MD
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Education: Northern Arizona University (BA), Georgetown University (MD, MS)
Residency: The University of Chicago
Hobbies/Outside Interests: socializing in any form, traveling, dancing, posting runs and peloton rides on Strava, being overly competitive at pickleball, listening to NPR, and eating pasta
Professional Interests: psychopharmacology, neuromodulation, LGBTQ+ and immigrant populations, clinical research, medical education
What I’m looking forward to most: Growth. Every experience is an opportunity, and I am excited to learn from leaders in the field, co-fellows, residents, medical students, nurses, and patients… also the beach!
Eun Jin Gloria Yu, MD
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea/ Glen Rock, NJ
Education: Harvard University (BA), UCLA (MD)
Residency: The Mount Sinai Hospital
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Live music and stand up comedy, tv & film, pilates, car camping, exploring new food and drinks, endless time at the beach
Professional Interests: Forensics, parent-infant mental health, psychodynamic psychotherapy, immigrant mental health
What I’m looking forward to most: Returning to the warm, caring, and inspiring psychiatry community at UCLA! I am excited to deepen my understanding of how our development shapes who we are.
Second Year Fellows
Kate Hagen, MD
Hometown: Oshkosh, WI
Education: University of Wisconsin- Madison (B.S.) and Mayo Clinic- Arizona (M.D.)
Residency: Mayo Clinic- Minnesota
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Rollerblading, yoga, gardening, camping, hiking, spending time with loved ones
Professional Interests: philosophy of psychiatry, psychodynamic psychotherapy, attachment, developmental trauma, early psychosis
What I’m looking forward to most: Building meaningful connections. Planting my roots alongside my husband, Ahsan, and fostering a sense of belonging in my new community. Living my authentic self.
David Okikawa, MD, MPH
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Education: UCLA (BS), UCLA (MD/MPH)
Residency: UCLA
Hobbies/Outside Interests: orchids, aquariums, trail running, baking
Professional Interests: medical education, school-based mental health, severe mental illness, medically complex mental health
What I’m looking forward to most: Working with and getting to know co-fellows, learning with med students and residents, and growing for my future patients
Johana Pena, MD
Hometown: Oakland, California
Education: University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Residency: UCLA/VA Psychiatry Residency Program
Hobbies/Outside Interests: I love spending time with family, exploring local restaurants, and soaking up the California sun at the beach. I also enjoy traveling with friends and immersing myself in new cultures.
Professional Interests: I’m passionate about child and adolescent psychiatry, with a focus on underserved and minority communities. I’m particularly interested in how trauma, culture, and family systems influence mental health across generations. I also hope to explore interventional psychiatry and other emerging treatments. Long-term, I aim to combine clinical work with mentorship and advocacy.
What I’m looking forward to most: I’m excited to deepen my clinical skills in child and adolescent psychiatry and to build long-term therapeutic relationships with young people and their families. I’m especially looking forward to learning from faculty who are leaders in the field and being part of a collaborative, supportive fellowship community.
Alana Slavin, MD, MSc
Hometown: Los Angeles, California & St. Louis, Missouri
Education: Loyola Marymount University (BA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (MSc), University of Michigan Medical School (MD)
Residency: Yale University School of Medicine
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Visiting art museums, shooting with a film camera, thrifting with iced coffee in hand, discovering new restaurants, drawing inspiration from cookbooks like Zaitoun, and nurturing my rapidly growing collection of indoor plants.
Professional Interests: Childhood trauma, first-break psychosis, maternal and infant mental health, and the mental health of minoritized patients—including LGBTQIA+ individuals and migrants.
What I’m looking forward to most: Working with inspiring co-fellows dedicated to justice, learning from leaders in the field, advocating for LA’s children, and exploring the city’s vibrant art, nature, and food scene along the way.
Brigette Torrise, MD
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Education: University of Virginia (BA, MD)
Residency: Oregon Health & Science University
Hobbies/Outside Interests: I love Young Adult Fiction (The Princess Diaries), poetry (Emily Dickinson), and Broadway shows (Hadestown, Heathers, John Proctor in the Villain). I do yoga, play soccer, and like to go on (easy) hikes.
Professional Interests: I respect and admire teens and young adults, especially when they’ve got big feelings, so I’m excited to build a skill set that lets me care for them well. I’m also interested in adolescent addiction, advocacy through narrative, and mentorship.
What I’m looking forward to most: Learning from peers and colleagues who are really excellent at their jobs! Medical education is ultimately an apprenticeship and it’s such a privilege to pull from this deep bench of knowledge, respect, and passion as I grow into my own professional identity. I also think it’ll be fun to rollerblade around Venice Beach at sunset with a slurpee.
Jennifer Tu, MD, MTS
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Education: Harvard University (BA), Duke University (MD, MTS)
Residency: UCLA Semel Institute
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Long urban walks with my husband, cooking and baking, yoga, writing poetry as (self) therapy, watching cartoons, doodling and caricaturing, and attempting to cuddle with my cat
Professional Interests: psychotherapy (psychodynamic, CBT, family, MBT, trauma-focused, supportive — perhaps all modalities!), religion/spirituality and mental health, caregiver burden, social determinants of health and community psychiatry
What I’m looking forward to most: Getting to see little ones grow up someday (in other words, longitudinal patient relationships)
Margaret Yau, MD, MS
Hometown: Hong Kong; Riverside, CA
Education: University of California, Berkeley (BS), University of California, San Diego (MS), University of California, Riverside (MD)
Residency: University of California, Riverside
Hobbies/Outside Interests: ballet, cats, music/piano, poetry, reading/writing, technology
Professional Interests: neurodevelopmental disorders, prevention and early interventions, social determinants/early adversity, health equity, digital psychiatry, community-based participatory research,
What I’m looking forward to most: I am looking forward to being part of a supportive, inclusive community of individuals passionate about child psychiatry and psychiatry in general, as well as building a strong foundation in child psychiatry that will enable me to improve the mental health of children and families from all backgrounds through clinical practice and research.
Third Year Research Track Fellow
Debha Amatya, MD, PhD
Hometown: San Diego, California
Education: Stanford University (BS), University of California San Diego (MD/PhD)
Residency: University of California Los Angeles
Hobbies/Outside Interests: Hiking, basketball, gardening, cooking, spirituality. I’m also learning the harmonium, a South Asian classical music instrument!
Professional Interests: Prodromal states of serious mental illness, transitional age youth, digital mental health, holistic mental health. Also looking to expand my psychotherapy skills and learn family therapy.
What I’m looking forward to most: I’m looking forward to embracing the complexity of child psychiatry! I want to adopt a holistic lens that clarifies how family/social systems interact with innate factors to impact development and the health of young people.
