John Maa, MD (TSP 2006-2007) is an Assistant Professor In Residence in the Department of General Surgery at UCSF. He received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and served as a Captain in the Medical Corps of the United States Army for nine years. During medical school, he was awarded the New York City Mayor's Prize for his research thesis entitled "Concomitant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infection in New York City, 1986-1991". During his general surgical residency at UCSF from 1994 to 2002, Dr. Maa was awarded a National Institutes of Health Gastrointestinal Research Training grant, and published numerous basic scientific articles in the area of pancreatic and gastrointestinal inflammation. He currently serves as the Associate Clerkship Director for the third-year medical student clerkship in the UCSF School of Medicine, and has been awarded a research grant to study curriculum innovation to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare professionals as tobacco cessation counselors. In addition to his clinical surgical activities, Dr. Maa is President of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association in San Mateo, California and spends time on several advisory boards and committees focused on improving the quality of care in hospitals. He has also completed the Health Care Policy Research Fellowship at the UCSF Institute of Health Policy Studies and is exploring mechanisms to improve the overall structure and processes of general surgical care delivered nationally.