2026 Research Symposium

Physician Innovator

Geoff Bocobo is a physician-innovator with experience in translational research and clinical development. His research experiences span Brigham & Women’s Hospital, NASA, and Yale, including contributions to the development of Sotatercept (now FDA-approved as Winrevair for pulmonary arterial hypertension) through the Yu Lab at Brigham. Geoff has published work ranging from a clinical publication in NEJM, to a book chapter describing novel signaling assays, and beyond. In addition, he was previously a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, co-founded and helped lead a clinical-stage medtech startup, and has experience in healthcare investing.

A 2023 graduate of the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Geoff was an AΩA Kuckein Scholar and the recipient of the 2021 HIMSS Steve Lieber Innovator Award. He currently works in fractional roles spanning Generative AI, mentorship, social impact initiatives, community building, and more. He plans to resume his clinical training in the near future, while continuing to champion CYFAM's mission.

Program Director, George Washington University, Department of Psychiatry Residency Training Program

Dr. Benedicto Borja is currently the Program Director for the George Washington University Department of Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Prior to coming to GW, he served as Director of Education at the Sheppard Pratt Health System and the Associate Program Director at the University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt Psychiatry Residency Training Program where he completed his residency as chief resident. His major areas of clinical expertise include emergency psychiatry and telepsychiatry and EMDR. He was instrumental in creating the first Psychiatric Emergency Services in Baltimore at the University of Maryland and was also instrumental in the development of the Crisis Walk In Clinic at Sheppard Pratt. He served as the founding Medical Director for both. Dr. Borja had served as a Senior Oral Board Examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (ABPN) from 2002 to 2015.

Resident Physiatrist, Larkin Community Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Dr. Dean Luis Cuadrado is a first-generation Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and a Resident Physiatrist at Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami, Florida. Prior to matriculating into medical school, Dr. Cuadrado was an award-winning research author at the New York University College of Dentistry Biomaterial Department in the Craniomaxillofacial Orthopaedic Biomaterials Regenerative Applications Lab. During his current tenure at Larkin Community Hospital, Dr. Cuadrado has been nominated for continuing medical education stipends, selected as presenter for the American Association of Physiatry and American Medical Society of Sports Medicine 2026, and actively serves as a committee board chair and resident member of the New York Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Florida Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, respectively.

Outside of clinical duties, Dr. Cuadrado is the proud President of Brotherhood Community Center in Bushwick, New York, where he teaches student-athletes the art of boxing and continues to make a meaningful impact through community service.

Doctor of Social Work (Cand.), University of Southern California

Melvin Dizon is a licensed social worker, philanthropist, and Doctor of Social Work (DSW) candidate at the University of Southern California, with professional experience spanning healthcare, behavioral health, research, and workforce development. He currently serves as a Licensed Social Worker at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where he provides integrated, trauma-informed care to medically underserved populations. Melvin holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and multiple undergraduate degrees in social work, psychology, and ethnic studies. His professional interests include health equity, interdisciplinary research, and the ethical integration of technology to improve mental health and healthcare access for diverse communities.

Director of the Antibiotic Stewardship Program, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and Kern Valley Healthcare District

Faculty for the Morehouse School of Medicine/Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program

Dr. Felizarta earned his medical degree at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila, Philippines, and completed internal medicine and infectious disease training at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease.

Dr. Felizarta runs his own solo practice in Bakersfield, California. His work includes serving as an HIV specialist at Kern County and Santa Barbara Public Health Departments, as well as an ID specialist at Community Health Centers of the Central Coast and through the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Telemedicine Program.

He serves as Director of the Antibiotic Stewardship Program at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and Kern Valley Healthcare District, and as faculty for the Morehouse School of Medicine/Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program. With experience as principal investigator in 200 clinical trials focused on HIV and chronic viral hepatitis, Dr. Felizarta has authored 50 peer-reviewed articles.

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Berkeley, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Molecular Therapeutics Division

Sheena Garcia is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Molecular Therapeutics Division at UC Berkeley in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Nomura. Her research uses chemoproteomic tools and covalent chemistry to develop novel small molecule degraders for "undruggable" transcription factors implicated in hormone-driven cancers (i.e. prostate & breast cancer). Dr. Garcia received her Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology and Biophysics from NYU School of Medicine where, in the lab of Dr. Michele Pagano & in collaboration with Dr. Ning Zheng (University of Washington), she utilized structural biology, biochemical, and cell biology-based methods to elucidate the mechanism by which two E3 ligases (FBXO22 and FBXL17) recognized and degraded a transcription factor critical for regulating the antioxidant response and driving metastasis formation in non-small cell lung cancer. In her spare time, Sheena enjoys running, paper crafts, and playing video games.

Associate Professor, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Dr. Joyce Javier is a pediatrician, scientist, and educator who is a leader in research on Filipino child health using community-based participatory research methods, concentrating on mental health promotion and the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based parenting interventions.

Dr. Javier is an Associate Professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, where she conducts research in Health Systems Science, mentors students, and teaches community and population health and other subjects in Integrated Sciences. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.

She currently serves as the President-elect for the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), Board Member for the American Pediatrics Society/SPR, and principal investigator for the Filipino Family Health Initiative, a California statewide study funded by the NIH focused on promoting the emotional well-being of Filipino children ages 8-12 years old. She is also overseeing recruitment of Filipino caregivers and adults ages 50 and above for the CARE registry, a research registry aimed at improving research participation and address Alzheimer's disease, aging, caregiving, and other related health issues in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Her team’s research contributions have been recognized with several honors, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Local Hero Award and Alta: A Human Atlas of Los Angeles, a social-impact art project by Marcus Lyon in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute, celebrating 100 individuals driving positive change across Los Angeles. Dr. Javier received her MD from UC Irvine, MPH from UC Berkeley, MS from USC, and completed pediatrics residency and a general academic pediatrics fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Rutgers Health New Jersey Medical School, Department of Medicine

Dr. Jumamil received her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2020, completed a residency in Primary Care General Internal Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and a residency/MPH in Public Health & Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai She joined the faculty at New Jersey Medical School in 2025 and currently practices primary care and obesity medicine at the Internal Medicine and Weight Management clinics affiliated with University Hospital. Additionally, she mentors residents in the combined Internal Medicine/Preventive Medicine and Preventive Medicine residencies, which integrate clinical medicine with public health, epidemiology, policy, and systems-level thinking. Her research interests include quality improvement, population health management, and social drivers of health.

Ophthalmic Administrative Manager, Pediatric Ophthalmology

Mariel Lansangan, MSHS, works as the Ophthalmic Administrative Manager at a pediatric ophthalmology practice in California. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, with minors in Chemistry and Psychology, from Regis University in 2019, graduating cum laude. Mariel completed her Master of Science in Health Systems Science at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University in 2025. Her academic background includes health systems and clinical outcomes research, with experience in analyzing healthcare operations, quality improvement, and patient-centered outcomes. Her professional experience demonstrates a solid foundation in research, healthcare operations, clinical coordination, and systems-based management within patient-centered care environments.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics Laboratory

Dr. Mabanag is a physician-scientist with a focus on Orthopedic Surgery. She earned her medical degree from San Beda University, where she was awarded the Most Outstanding Clinical Clerk in Orthopaedics distinction in recognition of her clinical excellence, academic performance, dedication and commitment to the field.

In pursuit of the highest level of scientific rigor, she advanced her training through postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago Biomechanics Laboratory, with concentration in arthroplasty, large database outcomes studies, and 3D modeling, with special interests in orthopaedic implants design and development, global health equity, healthcare disparities, policy-making, and accessible innovation.

Through her work, she aims to translate data-driven insights into scalable clinical and health system-level advancements in orthopaedic care, driving substantial and lasting impact that meaningfully improves patient surgical and musculoskeletal outcomes worldwide.

Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, Providence Health Care Research Institute

Dr. Joseph Puyat is a scientist committed to understanding why some people struggle to get the mental health care they need, and what we can do about it. Based at the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes in Vancouver, he has spent over a decade working alongside clinicians and researchers to design studies and translate complex health data into meaningful insights. He holds a Ph.D. in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia, with additional training in social psychology and epidemiology. He also serves as an Associate Professor at UBC's School of Population and Public Health and an Affiliated Investigator at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction.

UCLA School of Medicine

Joshua Rivera is a 1st generation Filipino-American born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Like many, Joshua was inspired to go into the field of medicine because of family illnesses he witnessed growing up. Joshua attended the University of California, Berkeley for college and worked at the University of California, San Francisco before starting medical school and medicine and pediatrics combined residency at the University of California, Los Angeles. Joshua hopes to pursue a career in combined congenital cardiology, with plans to take care of babies born with heart defects throughout their lifespan. Outside of medicine, he enjoys hiking, running, snowboarding, reading, playing music, watching movies, and binging TV shows.

Board Certified Primary Care Physician, Internal Medicine

Dr. Krixie Vivo Silangcruz is a board certified primary care physician specializing in Internal Medicine. She completed her Residency Training at the University of Hawaii Internal Medicine Residency Program earning multiple awards including excellence in ambulatory medicine. She graduated with a double degree of doctor of medicine and masters in business administration from Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health. She currently practices both primary care and hospital medicine in Southern California. She has lived in many places including the Philippines, the Bay Area in Northern California, Oahu in Hawaii, and New Jersey that has given her a wealth of experiences.

UCLA Health

Dr. Venzon is currently a Pediatric resident at UCLA, and has matched into UCLA’s Allergy and Immunology Fellowship to begin this summer. She received her PhD in immunology and MD from NYU. Currently, she studies the role of the gut microbiome in atopic and allergic diseases in children. She previously served as Co-Head of CYFAM’s Research Committee from 2020-2022, and now serves as Research Committee Manxng.

Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine

Doctor Christopher Villongco is an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University where he conducted research on Rhesus Monkeys for an animal model of early life trauma. He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and residency training in Psychiatry from Morehouse School of Medicine where he conducted research through USAID studying integrating mental health and substance use treatment at the community level in the Philippines. As faculty, he was accepted into the Clinical Research Education and Career Development program, American Psychiatric Association Research Colloquium for Junior Psychiatrist Investigators, and the Georgia CTSA KL2 Scholars Program. His work focuses on substance use treatment with a special focus within the Asian American and Filipino American Community. His work has been published in the Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, American Journal of Primatology, Psychoneuroendocrinology, and AJOB Neuroscience. Outside of research, he enjoys teaching medical students, being a husband, and working at Ethne Health - a Christian clinic serving a large refugee community.