Faculty

Alan H. Tyroch, M.D., FACS, FCCM, is a fifth-generation native Texan. He is professor and founding chair of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. Dr. Tyroch is also chief of surgery, trauma medical director and the chief of staff at University Medical Center of El Paso.

After obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, Dr. Tyroch earned his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of the Phoenix Integrated Surgical Residency Program in Phoenix, Arizona. He has also furthered his surgical education with a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of California, San Francisco Fresno Medical Education Program in Fresno, California.

Dr. Tyroch is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care. He is a member in the American College of Surgeons, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Texas Surgical Society, Southwestern Surgical Congress, American Trauma Society, Pan-American Trauma Society, Pediatric Trauma Society, Western Surgical Association, Association for Academic Surgery, Association for Surgical Education, Society of Surgical Chairs, ACS-South Texas Chapter, Texas Medical Association and El Paso County Medical Society.

Dr. Tyroch is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Tyroch is an appointee on the governor’s Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Advisory Council. He is an active member in the BorderRAC, the Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico Regional Advisory Council on Trauma and Emergency Healthcare. His clinical and research interests are trauma, surgical critical care and general surgery.

Brian Richard Davis, M.D., is the general surgery residency program director and director of surgical research at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. He is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery and Internal Medicine and is board certified in general surgery.

Dr. Davis obtained his Doctorate of Medicine in 1999 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He completed general surgery residency and a fellowship at the University of Louisville in 2005. His specialty interests include hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. He also is an expert in laparoscopic and robotic surgery with a special emphasis in foregut surgery, including treatment of hiatal hernia and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. His innovations include endoscopic treatments for biliary disease (ERCP) and surgical treatments for gastroparesis.

Dr. Davis is a career surgical educator who has designed competency-based training curricula for surgical residents and is a founding faculty member for the gastroenterology fellowship. He is an elected member of the Texas Surgical Society, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Research interests include surgical education, robotic surgery, endoscopic surgery and the microbiome of inflammatory bowel disease.

Karinn M. Chambers, M.D., FACS, is an assistant professor for the department of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso dedicated to the surgical treatment of breast related concerns, benign and malignant. Dr. Chambers is board certified in general surgery and a fellowship trained breast surgical oncologist.

Dr. Chambers is a graduate of St. George University Medical School Grenada, West Indies, where she received her Doctorate of Medicine in 2005. She completed her general surgery residency at Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York in 2011. In 2012, Dr. Chambers completed a breast surgical oncology fellowship at Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dr. McLean joined the department of surgery, TTUHSC El Paso faculty in 1998. She is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia. She took her surgery internship and general surgery residency at Brown University and graduated in 1994. She went on to a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and completed all requirements in 1995. She stayed on as an instructor in surgery for one year; then to the Mayo Medical School and Clinic Foundation in Minnesota until 1998. She is board certified in both general surgery and surgical critical care.

Alejandro J. Rios Tovar, M.D., is an assistant professor and the associate trauma medical director for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

He graduated from Columbia University in New York City with a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering. Upon graduation in 2007, he attended the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine in San Antonio. In 2011, Dr. Rios Tovar graduated with a doctorate degree in medicine.

He completed his general surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Department of Surgery in 2016. Following residency, he pursued a surgical critical care fellowship at the Methodist Health System in Dallas. In 2017, he completed his fellowship studies that focused on training and education relating to the treatment of critically ill and injured patients.

Grace Ng, M.D., is an assistant professor and the assistant trauma medical director for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Dr. Ng is board certified in both general surgery and surgical critical care. 

She graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2008, with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. She then graduated with the inaugural class of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in 2013. She completed her general surgery residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center- Tulsa in 2018, followed by her fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. One of her areas of interest is pediatric trauma. She is an El Paso native and has returned to serve the region after completing her fellowship.

Alonso Andrade, M.D., is a Assistant Professor for the department of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Dr. Andrade is board certified in general surgery.

Dr. Andrade is a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas where he received his M.D. in 2010. He completed his general surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Department of Surgery in 2015.

Nathaniel Ng, M.D., FACS, graduated from medical school at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 2010. He completed his residency in general surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso in 2016. Following residency, Dr. Ng completed his fellowship at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern School of Medicine, specializing in colon and rectal surgery. Dr. Ng is a native of El Paso and has returned to serve the region after completing his surgical training.

Vid Fikfak, M.D., is an assistant professor for the department of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, dedicated to the surgical treatment of colon and rectal disease.

Dr. Fikfak obtained his doctorate in medicine from University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and completed general surgery residency at the Houston Methodist Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical School in 2018. During this time, he also completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in computational surgery and medical device innovation at Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation and Education (MITIE). Here, through the support of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, he focused on computational modeling of disease processes and development of innovative solutions and patent-pending medical devices for disease management and treatment. After completing residency, Dr. Fikfak completed subspecialty training in colon and rectal surgery at the University of Texas in Houston.

With almost two decades of experience in clinically applicable and implementable qualitative and clinical research, Dr. Fikfak has made it his mission to improve the lives of patients as a surgeon-scientist, developing innovative solutions to problems he and his patients are faced with throughout the disease treatment process.

Dr. Fikfak is excited about practicing in El Paso as a surgeon-scientist and providing advanced colon and rectal surgery care.

Jose A. Castro Garcia, M.D., is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon. He is a clinical instructor for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Dr. Castro Garcia is a graduate of Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi, Mexico where he received his Doctorate of Medicine in 2004. He completed his general surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Department of Surgery in 2012.

In 2015, Dr. Castro Garcia completed a plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. He continued his training at the Craniofacial Center in Dallas, Texas, completing a craniofacial surgery fellowship in 2016.  

Stephanie Nemir, M.D., Ph.D., is a native of El Paso, having graduated as valedictorian from El Paso High School in 1999. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Yale University, then was accepted into the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine. She earned her doctorate in medicine from Baylor along with a Ph.D. in bioengineering from Rice University, where her research focused on the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. She went on to complete an integrated plastic surgery residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where she won numerous accolades for her research, including the Cronin Award from the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons. After her residency, she furthered her surgical education with a one a one-year fellowship in reconstructive microsurgery and advanced cancer reconstruction at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Nemir is pleased to put her training in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery to work at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, where she serves as the Director of Breast Reconstruction. Her clinical interests include implant-based and autologous breast reconstruction, post-bariatric body contouring, general reconstruction, and cosmetic surgery of the breast and body.

Jarett K . Howe, M.D., is an assistant professor for the department of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Dr. Howe is board certified in general surgery, surgical critical care, and pediatric surgery.

Dr. Howe is a graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he received his Doctorate of Medicine in 2006. He completed his general surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Department of Surgery.

In 2012, Dr. Howe completed a surgical critical care fellowship at St. Louis University. He then completed a pediatric trauma/research fellowship in 2013 and a pediatric surgery fellowship in 2015 at St. Louis University, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Walker graduated from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in 2009. She completed residency training in General Surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 2015. Following that, she completed a fellowship in Surgery Critical Care at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2016. She then did outcomes research in Pediatric Surgery focusing on surgical outcomes and quality improvement with an emphasis on antibiotic stewardship in the NICU and care of the surgical neonate in the OR in 2017. Dr. Walker then completed her fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinc in Iowa City in 2019. 

Dr. Walker is excited to provide broad-based general pediatric surgery from neonates to adolescents. Her research interests include quality improvement and surgical outcomes. She also has a clinical interest in helping pediatric patients with chronic conditions transition into the world of adult care. 

Dr. Fallah joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso in January 2019. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, and serves as the Division Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, and Medical Director of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at University Medical Center in El Paso.

He also has appointment as Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at Uniformed Services University Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, M.D.. 

He is board certified in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, fellow of the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, fellow of the American Collage of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, fellow of the International College of Dentists, and member of the American Dental Association. 

He graduated with honors in restorative dentistry from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry where he received his Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS) in 1993, and then entered on active duty in the United States Army Dental Corps. While serving in the Army Dental Corps, he practiced five years of comprehensive general dentistry, and completed a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry. He then completed a surgical residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, GA in 2002.

He retired as a Colonel from active duty, after 25 years of honorable service in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, in 2018.

He enjoys the full scope practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery; however, his primary areas of interest are Orthognathic Corrective Jaw Surgery, Maxillofacial Trauma, Maxillofacial Pathology and Reconstructive Surgery, Dental and Facial Implant Surgery, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea among others.

Miller F. Rhodes, M.D., is an otolaryngologist and assistant professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, Texas. He is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He is active in teaching residents and medical students. His special interest is chronic ear disease.

Dr. Rhodes is a graduate of Meharry Medical College where he received his M.D. with honors. He is a graduate of the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in ENT residency where he also did his internship.

He is a retired military colonel who served in Korea. He received the Legion of Merit, and is a member of the South Carolina State University ROTC Hall of Fame.

Patricia Nelson, M.D., is a board-certified, comprehensive ophthalmologist with an affinity for cataract, refractive, and oculoplastic surgeries. Dr. Nelson received a B.A. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Oberlin College. She was awarded a United States Army Health Professionals Scholarship and earned her M.D. from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dr. Nelson completed her transitional internship at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas where she was Intern of the Year. She continued her ophthalmology residency training in San Antonio, Texas and received second place from the Texas Ophthalmology Association for a resident research presentation. Following residency, Dr. Nelson served for four years as an ophthalmologist at Martin Army Community Hospital in Fort Benning, Georgia. During this time, Dr. Nelson was promoted to the rank of Major, named Chief of Ophthalmology, served with the American Board of Ophthalmology to set exam standards, and helped initiate a partnership with the Alabama Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Most recently, Dr. Nelson was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and awarded the Army Meritorious Service Medal following eight years of exemplary active duty military service.

Dr. Erica Renee Alvarez graduated from Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center here in El Paso, Texas. She completed her internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago, ophthalmology residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C, and her fellowship training at The Ohio State University. Dr. Alvarez is an El Paso native, bilingual in Spanish, and accepting new patients now.

Dr. Alvarez offers her expertise in treating cancers of the eye including primary vitreoretinal lymphoma, uveal melanoma, conjunctival melanoma, leukemic retinopathy, ocular side effects of cancer treatments as well as metastatic diseases to the eye. She is trained in the latest techniques for treatment including: intraoperative and in-office intravitreal chemotherapy injections. She is proficient in the placement of brachy radiation therapy plaques and transpupillary thermotherapy for treatment of uveal melanoma. She offers fine needle aspiration biopsies, and transcleral biopsies for identification of tumor genetic markers and overall prognostication. For larger tumors, she is competent in surgical removal via enucleation. She has worked with radiation oncology and is competent in following patients as they receive external beam radiation for treatment of metastatic lesions, as well as cancers like Diffuse B-cell lymphoma.

Dr. Claudia Maria Prospero Ponce is a Board-certified Ophthalmologist who graduated from Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (TEC de Monterrey), Monterrey Mexico, considered one of the best Medical Schools in Mexico for its national and international rotations and innovative biomedical research.

She enrolled in pre-residency research at The Cole Eye Institute, Department of Refractive Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, The Retinal Vascular Center at Charles A. Garcia and Associates, and the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston, TX. She completed her Internal Medicine internship and her residency in Ophthalmology at The University of Arizona in Tucson AZ. She also trained in Neuro-Opthalmology and Ocular Pathology at Houston Methodist hospital before becoming an assistant professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Some of her areas of expertise include optic nerve pathologies (i.e. ischemic optic neuropathy, optic neuritis, neuro-retinitis), visual field and visual acuity loss, unexplained and/or transient visual loss, double vision, ocular motility abnormalities, histopathological assessment of eyelid, periorbital and orbital lesions including neoplastic (i.e. melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, etc.) and non-neoplastic (chalazion, idiopathic orbital inflammation, among others).

Dr. Maldonado is a native El Pasoan and long-standing faculty at the Texas Tech Ophthalmology Clinic. He is board certified by the American Board of Optometry in Ocular Disease and licensed in Texas and New Mexico.

He trains residents and medical students throughout the year on ocular disease and pathology of vision. He is current president of the El Paso Optometric Society and serves on the Board of Directors for the El Paso Diabetes Association. Professionally, he lectures on various eye disease topics throughout Texas for several organizations.

Professional Affiliations:

• American Board of Optometry #4236
• American Academy of Optometry
• American Optometric Association
• Texas Optometric Association, Board of Trustees 

• El Paso Optometric Society, President 2007-2017
• El Paso Diabetes Board of Directors, since 2011
• National Eye Institute NEHEP Planning Committee Member, since 2012
• Faculty Council Committee Member, Texas Tech University
• Adjunct Clinician, IAUPR Optometry School

Dr. Nelson was awarded a United States Army Health Professionals Scholarship and earned his M.D. from the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, NE. He completed his internship and residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center through Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso's Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation program. Following residency, he served three years at Martin Army Community Hospital and deployed to Afghanistan. He finished his time with the Army at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, training residents. He was also awarded the Army Meritorious Service Medal for his nine years of exemplary active duty military service. Dr. Nelson employs cutting-edge technology to compassionately treat many orthopedic conditions and is excited to share his experience with the TTUHSC El Paso and El Paso community.

Dr. Konstantinidis was born and raised in Greece. He graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Medical School. He moved to the United States and completed a research fellowship on pancreatic and biliary cancer and a surgical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital before completing his general surgery training at the University of Arizona.

During his residency, Dr. Konstantinidis completed a research fellowship on pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He continued his advanced training in Complex Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery at City of Hope National Cancer Center with Dr. Yuman Fong. 

Dr. Konstantinidis has written several peer-reviewed articles on pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers and has received several awards including an American Cancer Society Merit Award.

Dr. Alkhalili (Pronounced al-ka-li-li) is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso and Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso at Transmountain. He graduated from medical school at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. He completed his internship in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital then finished his residency training at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. He then completed his endocrine surgery fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Alkhalili is dedicated to the surgical care of patients with disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands.

Dr. Muron was born near Pittsburgh, PA, but has lived in Virginia most of his life. He attended the University of Virginia, where he developed an interest in Orthopaedic Surgery while working part-time at UVa Hospital as an orthopedic aide. He subsequently obtained a Pharmacy degree at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and worked in Drug Information and Cardiology as a Clinical Pharmacist. His medical and surgical interests led him to pursue a medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia in 1987, and he completed his Orthopaedic Surgery residency at MCV in 1992.

 Dr. Muron has worked in two private practice locations in Virginia and enjoyed having had a faculty appointment at MCV and the McGuire VA Hospital, training residents in spine, trauma, and general orthopedics. His most recent Locum Tenens work has taken him to Iowa, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire prior to committing to the faculty position at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Dr. Muron has 3 children, 2 boys and a girl, living in Arizona and Virginia. His outside interests include oenology, viticulture, the scholarly works of Thomas Jefferson, 18^th century history, reading, sailing, USTA tennis, woodworking, masonry, and gardening.

Shintaro Chiba, M.D. is an assistant professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Dr. Chiba specializes in weight loss surgery, reflux surgery, hernia surgery, minimally invasive general surgery, and robotic surgery.

Dr. Chiba completed his General Surgery Residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He went on to complete a fellowship in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery / Bariatric Surgery  at Loma Linda Universirty Health in Loma Linda, California.

Dr. Chiba is board-certified in general surgery.  He is a member of American College of Surgeons (ACS), Society of American Gastrointestonal and Endoscopic Surgeoons (SAGES), and American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).  Dr. Chiba regularly publishes in his field and presents at national meetings.