Board Members and Executive Staff

Kristina D. Lawson, J.D., President

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 10/28/15 | Term Expiration: 06/01/26

Kristina Daniel Lawson, of Walnut Creek, has served as a public member of the Medical Board of California since 2015. She is the Managing Partner and chief executive of Hanson Bridgett LLP, a California law firm with six offices throughout the state. Lawson also serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Bay Area Council, an organization of 300+ influential employers committed to working with public and community leaders to keep the San Francisco Bay Area the most innovative, globally competitive, inclusive, and sustainable region in the world. She was a member of the Walnut Creek City Council from 2010 to 2014 and served as Walnut Creek's Mayor in 2014. Lawson earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Arizona.

James M. Healzer, M.D., Secretary

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/25/21 | Term Expiration: 06/01/25

Dr. James Healzer was appointed to the Medical Board in 2021 by Governor Gavin Newsom. Dr. Healzer is Chair of the Chiefs of Quality for The Permanente Medical Group and Staff Anesthesiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center. He is also Chair of the Permanente Federation's Peer Review Advisory Committee. He completed residency training in Anesthesiology at Stanford University and Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; and he is certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Healzer earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and a Master of Science degree in biological sciences from Stanford University.

Irving Ayala-Rodriguez, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/12/24 | Term Expiration: 06/01/28

Dr. Irving Ayala-Rodriguez, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the Medical Board of California in 2024. Dr. Ayala-Rodriguez has been the Chief Medical Officer with Clinica Sierra Vista since 2022 where he previously served as a Walk-in Clinic Director and Associate Medical Director. He received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He completed a pre-residency program at the UCLA International Medical Graduate Program and his Family Medicine Residency Program at UCLA. He is currently board certified in Family Medicine and certified as an HIV specialist through the AAHIVM.

Michelle Anne Bholat, M.D., MPH

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/08/22 | Term Expiration: 06/01/25

Dr. Michelle Anne Bholat served as a member of the Medical Board from 2015 to 2019, appointed by former Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr. Later, in 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to the Medical Board. She is an editor for the Journal of Medical Regulation of the Federation of State Medical Boards. She also served as an expert reviewer to the Medical Board for many years. Her public service has been long-standing and she has been a member of many boards concerned with vulnerable populations including the Los Angeles County Public Health Commission, Health Care Los Angeles, IPA Chief Medical Officers and the Association of California Health Districts. Currently, she is a board member of the Beach Cities Health District. Dr. Bholat earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California at Irvine and completed residency training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Post-residency, she earned a Master's in Public Health Policy and Management from UCLA School of Public Health. She is board eligible in Addition Medicine. She is Professor of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Executive Director of the UCLA International Medical Graduate Program in the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA.

Anni Chung

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/12/24 | Term Expiration: 06/01/28

Anni Chung has been the CEO of Self-Help for the Elderly, a Bay Area community-based organization, since 1981. Self-Help provides a comprehensive range of health, educational, social, and recreational services to over 40,000 seniors a year. Additionally, Self-Help operates three HUD-insured affordable senior housing projects in the Bay Area: Lady Shaw in San Francisco Chinatown, Lincoln Court in Oakland, and Autumn Glow Alzheimer's Care Home in San Francisco Hayes Valley.

Since 1966, Self-Help's services have included Senior Nutrition, Case Management, Senior Escorts, Affordable Housing, Licensed home and Hospice, Adult Day Services, Emergency IHSS, Employment and Training for Older Workers, HICAP, Transportation, and Residential Care for Alzheimer's patients. Self-Help also operates 15 Senior Centers, three Affordable senior housing projects, and the Chinatown One-Stop Career Link Access center for immigrant job seekers.

With a staff of over 400 and an annual budget of $34 million, Self-Help started in San Francisco Chinatown and now serves seniors in five Bay Area counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties.

Anni currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Asian and Pacific Islander Council. She also serves as the Elder Abuse Chair of the Family Violence Council in San Francisco. In October 2020, she was appointed by Governor Newsom to serve on the California Commission on Aging.

Anni is the Producer of a Public Affairs show called "Chinese Journal" for KTSF-TV 26.

Hemant Dhingra, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 02/16/24 | Term Expiration: 06/01/26

Dr. Hemant Dhingra is a board-certified Nephrologist and has been President and CEO of The Nephrology Group in Fresno, CA since 2014. Dr. Dhingra serves as the Chief of Medical Staff at Saint Agnes Medical Center since 2023, where he was Founding Program Director of Internal Medicine. He is a member of the American Society of Nephrology and the California Medical Association. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed his Fellowship in Nephrology at Texas Tech University.

Nicole A. Jeong, J.D.

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 04/14/22 | Term Expiration: 06/01/26

Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Nicole A. Jeong, of South Pasadena, to the Medical Board of California in April 2022. Jeong has been the Southern California Regional Director of Advocacy at Root & Rebound since 2021, where she's been an Attorney since 2018. She was a Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney at Legal Services NYC from 2016 to 2018 and a Litigation Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP from 2014 to 2016. Jeong earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School.

Asif Mahmood, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/01/23 | Term Expiration: 06/01/27

Dr. Asif Mahmood comes from humble beginnings, growing up in the remote Pakistani village called Kharian. He received his medical degree from Sind Medical College, did his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center followed a Pulmonary fellowship at the University of Virginia and Harlem Hospital at Columbia University. Dr. Mahmood has been a practicing physician at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena since 2000 and has served in different capacities from medical executive committee member to chief of staff in different hospitals. He is also on the board of the East Los Angeles College Foundation and the United Nations International Children's Fund, Western Region.

Wendy Mitchell

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/04/2024 | Term Expiration: 06/01/2028

Wendy Mitchell, based in Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Medical Board of California in 2024. Mitchell is a trailblazer, having founded Empower Her Mentoring in 2023, an esteemed organization dedicated to empowering women in the public policy, regulatory, and non-profit sectors. Mitchell has been the Principal of Wendy Mitchell Consulting Inc. since 2006. Her consulting firm provides strategic counsel in the areas of transportation, energy, and infrastructure across California and Washington, DC.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Journalism from California State University, Sacramento, and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Southern California. Additionally, she served for six years on the California Coastal Commission and for the last five years on the California Horse Racing Board.

Richard E. Thorp, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/01/23 | Term Expiration: 06/01/27

Dr. Richard Thorp was appointed to the Medical Board in 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom. Dr. Thorp has been president and chief executive officer at Paradise Medical Group since 2001. He was an internal medicine physician and medical director for Butte County for the California Medical Foundation from 1994 to 2000 and internal medicine physician at Richard E. Thorp MD Inc. from 1981 to 1994. Dr. Thorp is a member of the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, California Medical Association and the Butte-Glenn County Medical Association. Dr. Thorp earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Marina Torres

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 06/12/24 | Term Expiration: 06/01/28

Ms. Torres is an experienced litigator and former federal prosecutor with over 30+ trials in federal and state courts. She is currently a partner at the white-shoe law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where her practice focuses on trial work of all types, criminal investigations and enforcement. She has broad experience with government enforcement actions, corporate internal investigations, and solving complex and sensitive legal, policy, and regulatory issues. Prior to going to private practice, Ms. Torres was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in both the District of Columbia and the Central District of California. Most recently, she was the Opioids Coordinator for the International Narcotics, Money Laundering and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. In that capacity, she led and coordinated the law enforcement response to the growing epidemic of opioid diversion and overdoses within the District, working with an array of federal, state and local agencies, officials and community groups.

As a seasoned prosecutor, Ms. Torres led a wide variety of numerous high-profile investigations and prosecuted individuals, corporations and international criminal enterprises for financial crimes, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, corruption, tax violations, identity theft and international drug trafficking. Ms. Torres has received multiple awards and recognitions for her work in law enforcement, including a commendation from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Secret Service for her work in a wide-ranging gang investigation (2020), the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Director's Award for securing a trial victory against a suspected white nationalist engaging in widespread and complex mortgage fraud (2019), and a Special Achievement Award from Main Justice (2017).

Ms. Torres also served as a political appointee with the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama, where she was part of the policy team leading the design and implementation of the President's executive actions on immigration. In that role, Ms. Torres counseled the Secretary and senior Department leadership on responses to Congressional investigations and agency oversight, as well as provided high-level legal and policy support to the Director on complex and highly sensitive USCIS programs. Ms. Torres maintains active Top Secret Security Clearance. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Torres honed her litigation skills at the law firms of Wilmer Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Munger Tolles and Olson LLP. There, she provided strategic counsel and investigation-related assistance to a broad suite of companies confronting criminal, regulatory and Congressional inquiries, with a focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters.

She has been honored for her immigration and civil rights work by the ACLU of Southern California (twice), by the National Immigration Legal Center, and was previously selected for the 2013 "Inaugural Hot List" for the Mid-Atlantic Region by "Lawyers of Color," a list compiled to recognize early-to-mid-career attorneys under 40 who are excelling in the legal profession. Ms. Torres was also listed in Huffington Post "Top 40 Latinos under 40 in Politics"; chosen as the "2015 Rising Star" by the Hispanic Bar Association of DC (HBA-DC), and selected as a Political Partner in the Truman National Security Project. Ms. Torres was selected as a Salinas Scholar for the Aspen Institute and is also a Term Member for the Council for Foreign Relations. She has served on numerous boards of various nonprofits in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Ms. Torres is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia, as well as before the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Ms. Torres received her law degree from Stanford Law School, where she was on the executive board of the Stanford Law Review, and her BA from the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated with distinction.

Veling Tsai, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 04/14/22 | Term Expiration: 06/01/25

Veling W. Tsai, MD, JD, FCLM, is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California at Los Angeles - David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr. Tsai is also an attending physician in the Department of Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery at Olive View - UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, California. Additionally, Dr. Tsai is in private practice in Alhambra, California. He attended UCLA and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography/Environmental Science, graduating with Latin honors. Dr. Tsai then received his dual law and medicine degrees from Southern Illinois University - School of Medicine and School of Law. Dr. Tsai completed his Head and Neck Surgery residency training at UCLA, and is a board certified otolaryngologist by the American Board of Otolaryngology. He is licensed to practice both law and medicine in the State of California. Dr. Tsai previously served as the President of American College of Legal Medicine, and is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Legal Medicine.

Eserick "TJ" Watkins

Classification: Public | Appointing Authority: Senate Rules Committee | Appointment Date: 6/01/23 | Term Expiration: 06/01/27

Eserick "TJ" Watkins was appointed as a public member of the Medical Board of California by The Senate Rules Committee in 2019. He previously served as a Board member on the Physical Therapy Board of California and held the vice president position.

Mr. Watkins is the owner of The Next Level Coaching, a hybrid strength training and life coaching company. He also serves on the board of South Coast Foundation, a US-based private foundation that funds children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Mr. Watkins is a published author, speaker and coach; he holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Graduate School of Business, Stellenbosch University.

Felix C. Yip, M.D.

Classification: Physician | Appointing Authority: Governor | Appointment Date: 12/08/2023 | Term Expiration: 06/01/26

Felix Yip, of San Marino, has been appointed to the Medical Board of California, where he served from 2013 to 2022 and in 2003. Yip has been CEO and a Urologist at Felix Chi-Ming Yip MD Inc. since 1987. Yip has also been a Clinical Professor of Urology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine since 2013 and at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine since 2023. He is a member of the American Board of Urology and the American Urological Association. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, a Master of Business Administration degree in Healthcare Management from the University of California, Irvine and a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin.