Residency Faculty

Designated Institutional Officer
Director of the Medical Safe Haven Clinic
Associate Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Davis became the Program Director at Northridge in 2001 where the hospital is currently engaged in being the first Residency Program in the Dignity Medical Foundation. Dr. Davis is enthusiastic about Family Medicine GME and is currently the Co- Chair of the Dignity Health GME Council and Co – Chair of the California CAFP Residency Network. Dr. Davis graduated from UCLA School of Medicine and has been involved in medical education all of her professional life.

Dr. Davis is passionate about family medicine education, health care access for all and expanding the role of the family medicine physician in our communities. She has been involved in the NRMP match process for many years and has had first-hand experience with resident issues and the Match.

Dr. Davis and her husband have two sons, Jeffrey and Daniel.

Residency Program Director
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

In 2021, Dr. Kuhlman became Program Director of the Dignity Health Northridge Family Medicine Residency. His association with the Family Medicine Residency Program goes back many years to his days as a medical student at UCLA when he participated in a summer research fellowship here at Northridge. Later, after completing his Family Medicine residency at the Hinsdale FP Residency in Illinois, Dr. Kuhlman returned to California and joined the Northridge faculty in 2001. Among other responsibilities, Dr. Kuhlman helped to manage the EMR system for our Family Practice Center’s clinic. He also served as Associate Program Director for a number of years before assuming his current role.

Outside of medicine, he enjoys hiking, gardening, watching basketball, reading about history and hanging out with his wife, Paula, and their two boys.

Associate Program Director
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Yang is a physician educator who is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine.  A graduate of the Stanford Physician Leadership Program, she currently serves as the residency Associate Program Director.  She is also the faculty supervisor for the surgical procedure clinics at the residency program.  Additionally, she is trained in Point-of-Care Ultrasound and leads as the residency POCUS champion.

Dr. Yang earned her B.S. in Biology from Duke University and medical degree from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, in her home state.  She completed residency training here at Northridge, during which she was selected as Chief Resident and received the Outstanding Graduate Resident award.

She joined the faculty in 2009, initially as an inpatient medicine Hospitalist, then later transitioned to the outpatient setting where she enjoys teaching office procedures and precepting in the residency clinic.  She has been honored with the Outstanding Faculty award and Excellence in Teaching award by the residents multiple times.

Beyond work, she unwinds by immersing herself in music, playing piano with her kids, cheering them on at ball games, and browsing Pinterest for creative ideas.  Her family enjoys taking road trips, traveling the globe one port at a time on cruise vacations, and going to Disney parks around the world.  

Sports Medicine Program Director & Family Medicine Faculty
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Ghuman is the faculty coordinator for Sports Medicine. He’s a graduate of the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine and completed his residency training at Tacoma Family Medicine in Washington. Following residency, he pursued a fellowship in Primary Care Sports Medicine at the combined UC Davis/UC Berkeley program.

Dr. Ghuman is an active member of the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine and currently serves as Team Physician for James Monroe High School and Cleveland High School along with being a volunteer physician at Cal State University Northridge.

Family Medicine
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Cairo graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in French and was a technical writer for several years before going to medical school at UCLA. She completed her residency at the Dignity Health Family Medicine Residency Program at Northridge Hospital then joined us as a member of our faculty.

Dr. Cairo’s interests include geriatrics and community outreach. She does nursing home visits, home visits, and deliveries with the residents. She helps coordinate the Community Medicine rotation which includes Geriatrics. She enjoys traveling and making Halloween costumes for her nephews and nieces.

Family Medicine Faculty & OB/GYN Coordinator

Dr. Eric Gama is a board-certified Family Physician. He attended medical school at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara and was accepted at the UCLA IMG pre-residency program. Dr. Gama then moved to the San Fernando Valley, where he completed his Family Medicine Residency here at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. He then completed an Obstetrics Fellowship at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas California. He came back to join Dignity Health Medical Group as a faculty member of the Northridge Family Medicine Residency Program. He enjoys working with the residents especially when it comes to obstetrics, maternity care and outpatient procedures.

When Dr. Gama is not seeing his patients at the clinic or delivering babies in the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his family. He also enjoys traveling and learning about customs and culinary practices from cultures around the world. He holds true to his heart that Mexican food is the absolute best, nonetheless, he loves exploring new flavors and dishes from different nationalities, which is conveniently easy to do in the Los Angeles area.

Family Medicine/Community Medicine Coordinator
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Lee graduated magna cum laude in Biology from Harvard University and received her medical degree at John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in her home state. She then moved to Los Angeles and did her training here at the Family Medicine Residency Program. She returned as faculty after a fellowship in Community Medicine at the Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale, California.

She has a strong commitment to caring for the under-served and has helped shape and coordinate our community medicine rotation. She does not surf but does love the beach. She also enjoys reading, eating out, and spending time with family and friends.

Family Medicine Faculty & OB/GYN Coordinator
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Diana Lev is fellowship trained in Maternity Care from the California Hospital /USC program. She passionately oversees Maternity care for family medicine residents at our program. Dr. Lev did her residency in Family Medicine at Eastern Maine Medical Center, a rural residency with an emphasis in Indian Healthcare. She returned back home to L.A .and has been a teacher of family medicine both at California Hospital and here at Northridge.

She has a strong commitment to maternity and newborn care, including teaching obstetrical ultrasound to residents, and loves calls in the middle of the night. She loves taking care of the entire family. Dr. Lev balances her life with painting and has a preference for oils; she has showings in the LA area when not running with her 3 boys, or rehabilitating animals that she finds on the street.

Diabetes & Nutrition Educator

Sheryl Thouin has been teaching nutrition assessment, food pattern evaluation, and medical nutrition therapy skills to our residents and rotating medical students since she joined the faculty of Northridge Family Practice several years ago. She has served as nutrition consultant and lecturer for leading universities, corporations and organizations including the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Georgia and Oklahoma Academies of Family Practice, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, PriMedia Workplace Learning, and the American Diabetes Association.

After finishing her undergraduate degree at the School of Public Health, UCLA and Clinical Dietetics internship at UCLA Medical Center, she completed graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley where she earned her MPH. As a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes care and education specialist, Sheryl has focused her attention on helping our family medicine residents improve their diabetes management efforts to achieve healthier outcomes for our patient community. Sheryl resides in Woodland Hills where she enjoys developing new recipes and prepares healthful gourmet meals for her family.

Behavorial Health Coordinator

Dr. Warnesky earned her BA in Psychology from Cal State Northridge and her PsyD from the California School of Professional Psychology (Alhambra). She joined the residency program in 2013. In addition to her work at Northridge she has a private practice in Pasadena seeing couples, adolescents, and psychology graduate students. She has taught graduate level psychology courses, supervised psychology interns, and participated in collaborative divorce cases. Ten years ago she was a psychology intern here at Northridge Family Medicine and is very excited to be back “home.”

Her background is diverse having been a special education teacher, volunteering for various organizations (such as The Trevor Project), and working in community mental health. Her primary focus in the residency is training and supporting the residents on issues of motivational interviewing, diagnosing of psychiatric disorders, the whole person and effective health education.

Dr. Warnesky completed the Behavior Science/Family Systems Educator Fellowship with STFM in 2018, and presented in Washington D.C. on the use of the ACEs questionnaire in family medicine clinics. She is proud to work for a residency program that values innovation and outstanding health care services for the underserved. As a faculty member, Dr. Warnesky has several roles: clinician, teacher and researcher. In her personal life she enjoys watching most sports (especially her kids) and spending time with her family and golden doodle.

Hospitalist Program Director/Inpatient Medicine
Associate Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

As a dynamic member of the inpatient family medicine faculty for over 30 years, Dr. Amico enjoys teaching and mentoring residents learning inpatient adult care. After graduating from Georgetown University Medical School, he completed the Internal Medicine Residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Following a year as Chief Medical Resident, Dr. Amico entered a fellowship in health services research, earning a Master of Public Health at UCLA.

His research interests are in access to medical care, patient safety, and resident physician involvement in the provision of medical care. He has been honored with Excellence in Teaching awards by the residents three separate years. As well as enthusiastically teaching residents and medical students, Dr. Amico serves as the medical director of the Hospital Medicine program at Northridge Hospital. Active on several hospital medical staff committees, he previously served as Chief of the Department of Medicine.

His whole family enjoys playing tennis together and he continues to work on improvement to his golf game.

Family Medicine/Hospitalist Attending

Dr. Ahuja completed his undergraduate education in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and after working in the industry for a year decided to pursue a career in medicine. He graduated medical school from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine after which he completed his Family Medicine training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at Shadyside in the Underserved Track. Enjoying his time in the inpatient setting and working with the elderly, he decided to further pursue a Geriatric Fellowship which he completed at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, on the Inpatient Track.

In his spare time, he likes running, playing Ultimate Frisbee, camping, hiking, road trips and learning about Buddhist philosophy.

Family Medicine/Hospitalist Attending

Dr. Charugundla was born and raised in Los Angeles. She earned her bachelor's degree from UCLA, and completed her medical schooling at Western University of Health Sciences. She was so thrilled to train in family medicine at Northridge, and has stayed on as a hospitalist and teaching faculty since her graduation in 2014. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and young son. She loves going to the beach, cooking, and playing tennis.

Family Medicine/Hospitalist Attending & Inpatient Medicine Coordinator
Volunteer Clinical Professor David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Williams joined the inpatient faculty following her residency at Northridge Family Medicine Residency Program, where she served as chief resident. She earned her osteopathic medical degree at Western University of Health Sciences. She currently serves as the Inpatient Family Medicine Rotation Director.

Prior to medical school, Dr. Williams earned her B.S. at UCLA and then taught high school science a lower socioeconomic school. Dr. Williams is also interested in international mission work and has participated in missions to the Philippines and Chile. She continues to stay involved in the community through her church. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, reading, and spending time with her immediate and extended family.