Featured Faculty

Dedicated, passionate, accessible, and innovative, our faculty go the extra mile.
You can get to know a few of them here with more to be added periodically.

  • Stephanie Bolton, MD
    Service Line Medical Director, Inpatient Adult Services, LLUBMC
    Medical Director, Seniors Services, LLUBMC

    Dr. Bolton was born in the beautiful farming community of Exeter, California. She completed her undergraduate studies at Pacific Union College. She graduated from medical school at Loma Linda University where she also went on to complete her residency in psychiatry. She is especially interested in geriatrics and loves working with residents and all things psychotherapy.

    In her free time, she loves to travel and takes several international trips yearly. “I also love to bake and am the reigning BMC holiday dessert champion, much to Dr. Rolle's chagrin. My husband and I also love dogs and currently have a three legged dog, Colton, that anyone will hear about if they are around me for more than five minutes.”

  • Kevin Chun, MD
    Adolescent PHP and IOP
    CAP Fellowship, UCI

    "I love getting to wear different hats everyday, acting as a psychopharmacologist, a physician, a psychotherapist, a family therapist, a team leader, a teacher, and a consultant to primary care doctors."

    "Its exciting to get to work with Loma Linda residents who are really hard working, eager, and curious and are interested in trying to integrate psychoanalytic and developmental thinking into day to day clinical practices."

    In his spare time, Dr. Chun likes to go Hiking, paddle boarding, and running

    Dear MS4s: "Psychiatry is a really broad specialty and interviews are fun ways to discover the parts of psychiatry that excite you the most and the program that fits your interests."

  • Jo Everett, MD
    Co-Director of Neurology & Human Behavior Block, LLUSOM
    Assistant Psychiatry Clerkship Director, LLUSOM

    "I love mentoring students and residents. Helping students find an appreciation for Psychiatry has been lots of fun. Working with residents keeps me on my toes, they’re always asking great questions."

    "I spend lots of time baking, crafting, and hanging out with my kids. We are champion trunk-or-treaters."

    Dear MS4s: "Overall my advice is that you will end up where you are supposed to be, and hopefully that’s here with us at Loma Linda."


  • Leia Gill, MD
    Chief of Inpatient Psychiatry, VA

    "I have the most fun working with residents when I get to see their reaction when something clicks, like figuring out that a patient has catatonia for the first time after we evaluate a patient together.” “I get especially excited when I hit on exactly the right medication regimen. It doesn’t matter how many patients you see with the same diagnosis, they are all different; it is impossible to put them in a box. I also love seeing the rare zebras like CJD."

    "When I’m not at work, I spend time with my family and pets (cats, dogs, a bird, a chinchilla, and several reptiles). We love going to the park, Disneyland, the mall, and indoor playgrounds."

    Dear MS4s: "This too shall pass. :-)"

  • Serafin Lalas, MD
    CAP Inpatient
    CAP MEND IOP
    CAP Fellowship, USC

    Dr. Lalas is especially interested in mood disorders and anxiety disorders. He is involved in ongoing research related to the MEND IOP for patients with medical and psychiatric issues. He would like to conduct future research related to ways to better support the child and family at home to prevent frequent hospitalization.

    "I most enjoy working with residents and fellows."

    "Outside of work, I spend as much time as I can with my wife and 2 children, and we love to visit other countries on vacation. I'm learning to play guitar and enjoy trying my hand at songwriting and podcasting.”

  • Carolina Osorio, MD
    Medical Director, Geriatric IOP
    Medical Co-director, ECT
    Geratric Psychiatry Fellowship, UCLA

    Dr. Osorio is a member of collaborative center for the World Health Organization. She is actively involved in multiple ongoing research projects and publishes regularly.  Her special areas of interest include global mental health, geriatric depression, delirium, dementia, the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s, and anxiety disorders.

    What she most treasures about our residency program is "our amazing diversity."

    “I enjoy bird watching, going to the beach with my dogs, going to the symphony, and horseback riding.”


  • David Puder, MD
    Medical Director MEND (PHP & IOP)
    2-year Certificate in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at NCP

    Dr. Puder created the IOS app “Emotion Connection,” which teaches people how to read emotions and develop deeper emotional connection. He also is a principle investigator in a research team that studies medical education and part of a larger team called the "Center for Advanced Statistics in Education" and creator of the “Connection Index.” He specifically studies connection and disconnection in medical teams.

    He is the creator and host of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast. He has also been featured on NPR and ABC7.

    Dr. Puder is married with two children and spends most of his free time playing with them or cooking for them.

  • Jamie Snyder, MD
    CAP CL Service, LLUMC Children’s Hospital
    CAP IOP
    CAP Fellowship, USC

    Dr. Snyder was previously program director for the Creighton University Psychiatry Residency and Creighton University Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship in Omaha, NE. She was associate program director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Wright State University in Dayton, OH.

    She is especially interested in ADHD as well as psychotic and bipolar disorders in children and adolescents.

    When she wants to recharge, she turns to scuba diving, gardening/growing orchids, cooking/foodie, home repair/decorating, traveling, bike-riding, and reading.

  • Cory Suard, MD
    Consult Psychiatrist, VA

    “I handle psychiatric evaluation and treatment for patients who are admitted for medical issues and I act as the liason between the medical and the psychiatric sqauds. The constant researching and learning required to treat psychiatric illness safely in this setting feels intellectually fulfilling."

    "Having residents to teach gives me an opportunity to be challenged academically and to further develop my own skills through teaching and modeling. Residents are a joy to be around. I have so much more fun!"

    Dr. Suard is a social butterfly and almost never finds himself alone, but when he does need to recharge his social batteries, he likes to play video games (Red Dead Redemption 2, Overwatch). Dr. Suard loves hanging with his husband and hiking with his Cattledog-German-Shephard-Wolf mix named Remi (because of Remeron).

    Dear MS4s: “Take vacations.”


  • John Tarr, MD, PhD, MPH
    Associate Professor of Psychiatry

    Dr. Tarr grew up in South Africa and India. After graduating with his MD from LLUSOM, he did his internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital and his psychiatry residency at the University of Southern California. He obtained his PhD and psychoanalytic training at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute and his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. He is especially interested in psychoanalytically informed psychodynamic psychotherapy and the psychoanalysis of character structure. He loves initiating and developing didactic courses for our residents.

    "I enjoy helping consolidate psychiatric residents’ professional identities.”

    In his spare time, Dr. Tarr dabbles in travel, art, reading, classical music, opera, volunteering for philanthropic and artistic causes.

  • Tai Yoo, MD, MBA
    Outpatient Psychiatry Chief, VA
    Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, UCLA

    Dr. Yoo served for over twenty-three years at the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan as the Vice president, Medical Director, and the Chairman of Psychiatry Department and Behavioral Services while serving as the Director of Psychiatry at the Harper University Hospital and the Wayne State University in Michigan for one year. In 2001, he became the first Joint Chairman and Director of Psychiatry at the Kern Medical Center and the Kern County Mental Health in Bakersfield, California, and developed the UCLA Kern Psychiatry Residency Program in 2003. He developed the UCLA Kern Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program in 2007 and the UCLA Kern Addiction Psychiatry fellowship program in 2014.

    Dr. Yoo’s areas of expertise and interest include population health care, academic program development, transcultural psychiatry, health care financing, psychiatric integrated care, and psychopharmacology.