Washoe County Medical Society Leadership / Board of Directors
President
John Hardwick M.D.
John Hardwick, MD, is an emergency medicine specialist in Reno. He graduated from Oregon Healthscience University/School of Medicine in 2013 and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 2017. He is affiliated with Northern Nevada Emergency Physicians. He joined the WCMS Board of Directors in 2020 and is a member of the NSMA Governmental Affairs Commission.
Immediate Past President
Daniel Spogen, M.D.
After 23 years in private practice Dr. Daniel Spogen came to the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine to become faculty in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. In two years as director of medical education he helped start OB & Sports Medicine Fellowships, METRIC, and faculty development sessions. In October 2006 he became Chair of the Department. For the last 18 years he has been the Family Medicine Interest Group liaison to the Nevada Academy of Family Physicians. He also is active in the Nevada and American Academies of Family Medicine. Dr. Spogen stepped down from the Chair position in August of 2021. He is now part time with the university. He is the Site Director of the Elko Family Medicine Rural Residency program and Medical Director of both the Student Outreach Clinic and the Rural Outreach Clinic. Dr. Spogen is also on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine and is currently the Finance Chair and on the executive committee. He is also on the Board of Directors of Community Health Alliance and is Chair of the Quality Improvement Committee of CHA. Dr. Spogen has a medical degree from University of Southern California. Dr. Spogen joined the WCMS Board in Directors in 2018 as a director and was elected secretary/treasurer in 2020.
President-Elect
Lali Sekhon, M.D.,
Lali Sekhon, M.D., PhD., M.B.A is a board certified (FRACS) and double-fellowship-trained neurosurgeon specializing in spine surgery who joined Reno Orthopedic Center in 2019. Dr Sekhon completed his residency in Sydney, Australia with fellowships at the Mayo Clinic and in Toronto Canada. He also completed a PhD from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the University of Nevada, Reno.
He has worked in Reno since 2005 and has been a practicing physician for over 34 years, 23 of those as a neurosurgeon. Dr. Sekhon is clinical associate professor, at the University of Nevada, School of Medicine in Reno. He has received countless awards and recognition with over 100 peer-reviewed publications to his name.
Dr Sekhon is passionate about patient care, advocacy, education and leadership. Dr. Sekhon founded ThinkFirst of Northern Nevada in 2011, a not-for-profit organization that teaches high school children head and spinal cord injury prevention throughout the Northern Nevada. He is on the board of several not-for profit boards and has taken leadership roles locally and nationally.
In 2023 he joined the WCMS as a director.
Secretary/Treasurer
Ali Nairizi, M.D.
Ali Nairizi, M.D., is an interventional pain specialist as well as a board certified anesthesiologist and board pain specialist. Originally from Tehran, Iran he earned his medical degree in 2004 from Shahid Beheshti University School of Medicine. He then attended Pennsylvania State University to obtain a master’s degree in cellular and molecular physiology. After completing his master’s degree, he went to Drexel University for his residency.
In 2014, Dr. Nairizi moved to Nevada to join a pain specialty practice. His dedication to his profession, business and innovation, led him to open Reno-Tahoe Pain Associates in 2019 and in 2020 the first and only urgent care in the country dedicated to acute injuries and pain, United Pain Urgent Care (UPUC). UPUC has received national recognition from Beckers Review and the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Providing educational opportunities to physicians, Dr. Nairizi has collaborated with Yale University mentoring medical students, providing educational forums/seminars around new technologies and treatments in the realm of chronic pain management to health care providers, and serving as a Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Additionally, he provides educational seminars introducing new technologies to patients. As the co-chair of the members/public relations committee, he has served on the board of the Washoe County Medical Society since 2018, and now seeks to serve as the secretary/treasurer. An inherent problem solver, Dr. Nairizi would like to see growth in the financial structure of the Society with the goal of providing more programs for physician and patient advocacy. As an industry leader, he and his practices have been named the Best Doctor by the readers of Reno Magazine, Reno Gazette-Journal’s Best of Reno in 2022 and this year UPUC scored in the top 3 of Nevada Business magazine’s Newby Awards.
Delegation Chairman
Ron Smith, M.D.
Ron Smith, M.D., has been in the private practice of Internal Medicine in Reno since 1980, after finishing residency at the University of South Dakota. He has participated in organized medicine for many years, with leadership positions in Governmental Affairs and the NV Medical Political Action Committee. Dr. Smith looks forward to leading an enthusiastic group of physician and student delegates from Northern Nevada to the upcoming NSMA Annual Meetings.
Director
Nicholas Anast, M.D.
Nicholas Anast, M.D. practices full-time as a board-certified anesthesiologist in Reno, where he’s been in practice for 8 years. He graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 2010, completed his residency in Anesthesiology at Stanford University in 2014 and completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at Stanford University in 2015. Dr. Anast enjoys the Nevada outdoors and spending time with his wife and their son.
Director
Thomas Christensen, M.D.
Thomas Christensen, M.D., specializes in shoulder, elbow and hand disorders, injuries, reconstruction, and microvascular surgery. He began practicing at the Reno Orthopedic Clinic in 2013. He received his medical degree from the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, where he was number one in his class. His orthopedic residency was completed at the University of Utah, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. After residency, Dr. Christensen completed a fellowship in hand and microvascular surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as well as a fellowship in open and arthroscopic shoulder surgery with Dr. Laurent Lafosse at the Alps Surgery Institute in Annecy, France.
Dr. Christensen is the only surgeon at the Reno Orthopaedic Clinic board certified by both the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the American Board of Hand Surgery. He is also a volunteer at the University of California, Davis, where he is a visiting clinical professor teaching resident orthopaedic surgeons. In 2019, he joined the WCMS board of directors.
Director
Mariko Rajamand, D.O.
Mariko Rajamand, D.O., is a board-certified OBGYN serving the greater Reno/Tahoe area since 2019. Dr. Rajamand opened FEM Women’s Wellness in January 2023. Setting her apart from traditional gynecologists, she has unique training enabling her to perform complex urogynecologic surgeries on the pelvic floor. After graduating from California State University, Long Beach, Dr. Rajamand attended Midwestern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, AZ. Dr. Rajamand trained in obstetrics and gynecology in southeast Michigan, graduating from Michigan State University at Ascension Health Hospitals. Dr. Rajamand has affiliations with various organizations and is active with the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists and the North American Menopause Society.
Director
Tim O’Mara, M.D.
Tim O’Mara. M.D. received his medical degree from the University of Nevada School of Medicine in 2000. He is now a surgeon at the Reno Orthopedic Center specializing in trauma and adult reconstruction. In 2019, he earned his MBA from Yale University. He was born and raised in Reno and is proud to be a part of this medical community. He became more involved with WCMS after observing the hard work of his sister, who represented Nevada physicians for four years as executive director of the Nevada State Medical Society. From that, he recognized that, while organized medicine is not for everyone, doctors need to participate and sometimes fight for themselves especially during these chaotic times in a state like Nevada.
Director
Samantha Schneider, M.D.
Samantha Schneider, M.D., I am a board-certified dermatologist and a fellowship-trained and board-certified Mohs micrographic surgeon. My clinical focus is delivering high-quality patient-centric care, patient safety and lifelong learning. Outside of clinical practice, I have an interest in medical advocacy at the local, state and federal levels. On a national level, I am an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) and the American College of Mohs Surgery where I currently serve on committees within each of those organizations (SkinPAC Committee (AAD), Federal Affairs Committee (ASDS), Professional Conduct Committee (ASDS) and Tromovitch Award Committee (ACMS)). Locally, I am a committee member of the Nevada State Medical Association’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, and I am a member of the Washoe County Medical Society. I am also a member of the Nevada Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery and served on the 2022 annual meeting planning committee. I am looking to make an impact on our local medical community by serving on the Board of Directors for the Washoe County Medical Society. I care deeply about our community and want to help all of us achieve a healthier Nevada. Thank you in advance for your support.
Director
Colin West, M.D.
Colin West, M.D., board certified in emergency medicine, he practices at Renown Regional Medical Center. Dr. West grew up in the Pacific Northwest and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Washington. Dr. West is a 2012 graduate of the University of Reno School of Medicine.
He enjoys fly fishing, trail running and biking in this beautiful area. He and his family are happy to be back in the mountains and near water. His wife, Kelsey, is on the faculty at the UNR Family Medicine program. They have two young boys.
Director
Tim Grunert, M.D.
Director
Andrew Tomlinson, M.D.
Student Board Member
Stephen Lencioni
Stephen Lencioni is a third-year medical student at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2019. Stephen has achieved accolades for his academic and research accomplishments, including the Jerry & Janet Zebrack Family Scholarship for Humanism. Recently, he was selected to be a Larry A. Green Visiting Scholar at the Robert Graham Center in Washington, DC, where he will be conducting health policy research in Family Medicine.
Stephen is committed to various extracurricular activities, such as developing the UNR Med Scholarly Concentration in Health Policy and Advocacy and serving as the Vice President of the University of Nevada School of Medicine Gold Humanism Society. He is keen on making a difference in health policy and advocacy and has actively participated in initiatives to improve healthcare access in Nevada. His efforts include introducing a Graduate Medical Education bill during the 82nd Session of the Nevada Legislature.
Stephen plans to pursue Family Medicine, with a particular interest in Geriatric Medicine.
Student Board Member
Robby Boparai
Student Board Member
Trenten Fenster