2025 – 2026 Fellows
Sarah Baranes, MD
Medical School: Dartmouth
Residency: Contra Costa Medical Center
Bio: Sarah Baranes, MD (she/her) is originally from Washington, D.C. but has made the Bay Area her home. She earned a B.A. in Anthropological Geography from Colgate University. After college, she worked as a wrangler on a ranch in Wyoming and then served as a research assistant in an oncology lab at the National Institutes of Health, which led her to complete a post-baccalaureate program at Mills College. Her volunteer work includes syringe services through HEPPAC and care coordinating a mobile clinic run by Roots Community Health Center, deepening her commitment to address health disparities. She attended medical school at Dartmouth University, where she helped establish a syringe service program offering rapid HIV and HCV testing in rural New Hampshire. Sarah completed a family medicine residency at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center. Sarah is passionate about providing high-quality care for people living with HIV, especially those also living with addiction. She is also passionate about reproductive healthcare access and care during the prenatal period. Sarah is thrilled to continue her medical training at Kaiser Permanente, where she aims to deepen her skill as an HIV provider and leverage Kaiser’s robust data systems to improve health outcomes for the populations they serve.
Johnny Alvarez de La Cruz, MD
Medical School: Rush University
Residency: UC Davis
Bio: Johnny Alvarez de la Cruz, MD (he/him) was born in Mexico and moved to the United States at the age of 14. He completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at UCLA and completed a one year of study abroad in Italy. After college, he returned to Italy where he worked in the fashion industry as a junior buyer for an independent fashion boutique. He then attended medical school at Rush University. During his time there, he was involved with outreach groups to provide healthcare to underserved communities in Chicago, specifically addressing LGBTQ+ and gender health disparities. He returned to California for residency at UC Davis in Internal Medicine. During his experiences at One Community Health with mentorship from Dr. Cohen, he was able to provide HIV primary care in one of the oldest clinics set up during the AIDS epidemic. He is excited and honored to join the Kaiser Permanente HIV fellowship and experience the diverse patient population living with HIV and learn about its comorbidities, expand on the complex knowledge related to ART, and population health in a system known for its dedication to the community and advancement of healthcare.
2024 – 2025 Fellow
John Hawkins, MD
Medical School:University of Chicago
Residency: Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency
Bio: John (he/they) is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, but has spent most of his adult life in different parts of the Bay Area. He completed his undergraduate degree in Human Biology and Studio Art at Stanford University, after which he worked in stem cell biology research at UCSF. He became interested in caring for people living with HIV as a sexual health counselor and volunteer in needle exchange street outreach, which motivated him to pursue clinical training. He attended medical school at the University of Chicago, where he completed a research year in reproductive health disparities and an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship working with Black & Pink, a grassroots organization supporting the currently and formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ community. He returned to California for training in full-spectrum family medicine at Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency, a safety net county health system in the East Bay. He is interested in the intersections of HIV medicine, harm reduction, and care for sexual and gender minorities, with a particular focus on substance use, mental health, peri-natal medicine, full spectrum reproductive health, street medicine, procedures, and palliative care. He is excited for the opportunity to train at Kaiser Permanente, with its diverse patient population and particular strengths in evidence-based and integrated care, as well as other safety net sites throughout the Bay Area.
2023 – 2024 Fellow
Andrew Kinimaka, MD – HIV Specialist/Primary Care/High Resolution Anoscopy at KP San Francisco
2022 – 2023 Fellows
Earl Clark, MD – HIV Specialist/Primary Care at KP Richmond
Avani Dalal, MD – HIV Specialist/LGBTQ+ Care at Pride Program, Einstein Health
2021 – 2022 Fellows
Brandon Imp, MD MPH – HIV Specialist/Primary Care at California Correctional Health Care Services
Kurtis Mohr, MD – Public Health Medical Officer, STD Control Branch, California Department of Public Health
2020 – 2021 Fellows
Lakecia Pitts, MD MBA – HIV Specialist/Primary Care at Avenue 360 Health and Wellness
Leah Goodman, MD – HIV Specialist/Primary Care at KP Oakland