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 and trauma medical director 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 fellowships 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, American Burn Association, 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 the chair 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, acute care surgery and general surgery.

Dr. McLean joined the department of surgery, Texas Tech Health 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.

Tiffany Lasky, MHS, D.O., FACOS, FACS is a professor of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso since 2024. She is a graduate of Michigan State Medical school where she did her residency in General Surgery in the Detroit area. She did her Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the University of Cincinnati. She earned membership in the master clerkship directors society of the association for surgical education, has served as a residency site director, and worked in many hospital leadership roles in Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery.  She has an interest in rural and pediatric trauma care. She spent many years in Appalachia as a professor at East Tennessee State and West Virginia Universities before coming to El Paso.

Duraid Younan, M.D., is an associate professor of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Dr. Younan is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care.

Dr. Younan is a graduate of the University of Baghdad School of Medicine, where he received his Doctorate of Medicine in 1992. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York.

In 2004, Dr. Younan completed a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Rochester, Rochester. He then completed a solid organ transplantation fellowship in 2006 at the University of Rochester as well.

Gilbert Aidinian, M.D., is a board certified vascular surgeon at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso in El Paso, Texas. He is an associate professor of surgery, and division chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Texas Tech Health El Paso. Dr. Aidinian is board certified in general surgery and vascular surgery and is a fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery and American College of Surgeons. 

Dr. Aidinian obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and earned his Doctorate of Medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Center in 2001. He completed his general surgery residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007 and completed his fellowship in vascular surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2009.   

He joined the vascular surgery faculty at William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC) in El Paso in 2009 and stayed in El Paso until his retirement in 2021. During his time at WBAMC, Dr. Aidinian developed protocols for performing complex, state-of-the-art vascular surgery procedures at WBAMC. While at WBAMC, he served as the chief of vascular surgery for six years and chief of the Department of Surgery for three years. This was followed by serving as the deputy commander for Surgical Services for one year.  

Dr. Aidinian received the prestigious Surgeon General’s “A” proficiency designator for vascular surgery in 2016. He has served two combat tours and retired from the United States Army after over 20 years, rising to the rank of colonel.  

Dr. Aidinian’s clinical and research interests include peripheral arterial disease, aortic aneurysms, vascular trauma, carotid occlusive disease and venous disease.

Alonso Andrade, M.D., FACS, is an Associate Professor for the department of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology.  He obtained his Doctorate of Medicine degree in 2010 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.  Subsequently he completed his general surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Department of Surgery in 2015.

Following residency Dr. Andrade has been involved with Medical Student education at Texas Tech Health El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine as the Associate Clerkship Director for General Surgery Clerkship and also as the Clerkship Director for Surgery Sub-Internship.  Dr. Andrade is also an Associate Residency Program Director for the General Surgery Residency at Texas Tech Health El Paso.

Dr. Andrade’s research interests include Simulation and Surgical Quality Improvement.  Dr. Andrade is the Surgery Medical Director and Director of the National Surgery Quality Improvement Program at University Medical Center of El Paso.

Dr. Andrade is board certified in general surgery and provides comprehensive general surgical care including minimally invasive and robotic surgery.

Jose A. Castro Garcia, M.D., is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon. He is an Assistant Professor 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. She is also board certified in Plastic Surgery.

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.

Shawn Diamond, M.D., grew up in Southern California and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He received his M.D. from Cornell University where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Diamond met his wife, a fourth generation El Pasoan, during his time in New York. Subsequently, he completed general surgery training in Santa Barbara, California and is certified by the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Diamond joined the Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency and was awarded the Resident Teacher of the year award in 2019 and served on the Plastic Surgery Executive Committee. He completed subspecialty hand and microsurgery training in the combined Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery fellowship at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Diamond joined Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso as an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery - specializing in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is an active educator of the Texas Tech Health El Paso General Surgery residency program, the combined William Beaumont Army Medical Center/Texas Tech Health El Paso Orthopaedic residency program, and Paul L. Foster School of Medicine medical students.  Dr. Diamond’s clinical practice focuses on adult and pediatric hand surgery, replantation, lower extremity limb salvage, amputation care, targeted muscle reinnervation and brachial plexus birth injury. He serves as the director of the Limb Restoration Program at Texas Tech Health El Paso. In addition to his work locally, Dr. Diamond also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery and has presented original research in the field of limb salvage at various national and international meetings. He is pleased to return to his wife’s hometown with his two young children to serve El Paso.

He is triple board-certified in general surgery, plastic surgery and hand surgery.

Roger G. Skiles, M.D., FACS, is a board certified otolaryngology-head and neck surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Dr. Skiles is a fellow and diplomate of the American Academy of Otolaryngology ­Head and Neck Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Skiles graduated with honors from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with a degree in zoology. He graduated with his medical degree from the Texas Tech University School of Medicine in Lubbock, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.

Following graduation, he trained in general surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 1987.

Dr. Skiles comes to Texas Tech Health El Paso after a successful private practice in Dallas, where he was named a D Magazine top doctor more than once and a Texas Monthly Super Doctor. He joined Baylor Scott & White Health in 2014.

Dr. Skiles has more than 30 years of clinical, surgical and leadership experience with advanced training in allergy treatment and management. Areas of expertise include the diagnosis and management of vestibular and balance disorders, hearing loss, voice disorders, as well as sleep disordered breathing. As a general otolaryngologist, Dr. Skiles treats all age groups, from newborns to adults.

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 Clinic 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. 

Amanda Chiao, Au.D., Ph.D., CCC-A is a clinician–scientist at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in communication sciences and disorders in 2010 and earned her Au.D. in 2014 and Ph.D. in vestibular function and assessment in 2016 from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. Dr. Chiao also spent two years as an NIH T32 postdoctoral research fellow at Boys Town National Research Hospital, where her research experience focused on pediatric vestibular assessment. Prior to returning to Texas, Dr. Chiao was a faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she maintained an active research laboratory focusing on the effects of sports concussion on the vestibular system and ototoxicity, taught graduate-level courses, and provided concussion and vestibular services for Division I athletics and the surrounding community.

Dr. Chiao joined as an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, continuing to specialize in clinical vestibular research. Now in El Paso, Dr. Chiao is most interested in studying hearing and vestibular health disparities within Hispanic community and improving intervention access. Dr. Chiao also is a practicing pediatric audiologist at El Paso Children's Hospital, where her clinical expertise focuses on diagnostics, ototoxicity and concussion. Dr. Chiao also publishes and serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for various top-tier otolaryngology journals, and she actively presents her work at national and international meetings in the field. An El Paso native, Dr. Chiao is excited to return to the Borderland alongside her husband to serve the pediatric community.

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. Applebaum has been an El Pasoan and Texan since 1978. He graduated from Coronado High School in 1982, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, from medical school at Texas Tech Medical School in 1991, and completed a general surgery residency and fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine at Houston in 1997. He has been practicing surgery in El Paso since 1997. 

He has been board-certified in general surgery since 1997. He is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of Texas Surgical and Michael E. DeBakey Surgical Societies. He is also a member of the Texas Medical Association and El Paso County Medical Society. He served as president of the El Paso County Medical Society in 2012. In addition, he has been a ringside doctor for USA Boxing.

She is a native El Pasoan, born and raised on the west side of El Paso. She completed her Bachelors of Science degree at the University of Dallas and attended medical school at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. She completed her General Surgery Residency here at Texas and Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and then completed additional training with the UT Health Houston Advanced Colorectal Fellowship. She is excited to return to the Sun City to offer her patients colon and rectal surgical care. Her focus is on minimally invasive colon and rectal surgery with the Da Vinci robot but she also offers screening colonoscopy, treatment for hemorrhoids, anal fissure, fecal incontinence, inflammatory bowel disease, and anal fistula.

Alex Flaris, MD, MSc is a board certified general surgeon and an endocrine surgeon. He is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Dr. Flaris obtained his medical degree from the Aristotle University School of Medicine (AUSOM) in Thessaloniki, one of the most prestigious medical schools in Greece. He completed his Masters of Science in “Physiology in Extreme Conditions” in Lyon, France. Following that, Dr. Flaris completed 7 years of training in General Surgery at Tulane in New Orleans. During that period of time, Dr. Flaris had the opportunity to travel back to Lyon, France for a clinical and research year and explored HIPEC for advanced cancers. He subsequently completed his fellowship in Comprehensive Endocrine Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Dr. Flaris is very excited to be in El Paso and to join Texas Tech. He is looking forward to serving the population of the city and surrounding areas with a special focus on thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and neuroendocrine pancreas diseases as well as general surgery pathology.

Katherine Aguirre, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech Health El Paso. Dr. Aguirre obtained her Bachelor of Science in human biology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. She went on to complete a Master of Arts in clinical psychology in 2013, followed by a Doctorate of Philosophy in health psychology in 2017, both at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her main research focus was the effects of stress, coping, and resilience on health outcomes.

Upon graduating, she became a postdoctoral fellow for the NIH BUILDing Scholars Center Research Enrichment Core Grant in January 2018. This grant served as a mechanism to motivate and fund students to pursue research careers in biomedical, social, behavioral, or health sciences, and/or biomedical engineering. 

After her postdoc in August 2018, she became part of the Texas Tech Health El Paso Department of Surgery, serving as surgical educator. In her role, she strives to support education, research, and professional development efforts for surgery residents, faculty, and fellows.