{"id":144610,"date":"2026-01-22T11:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144610\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T11:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:48:16","slug":"bravo-for-service-and-achievement-around-the-world-by-these-oc-residents-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144610\/","title":{"rendered":"Bravo for service and achievement around the world by these OC residents \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hoag spine surgeons help kids with scoliosis in Ghana<\/p>\n

Hoag Orthopedic Institute spine surgeons Dr. Kushagra Verma and Dr. Jeremy Smith have returned from a one-week medical mission to Ghana, where they performed spine surgeries on children with severe scoliosis.<\/p>\n

This was Verma\u2019s fifth\u00a0medical mission to the West African nation, and this time he self-funded the trip, planned the logistics and assembled a renowned team of spine surgeons to join him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat amazes me about these missions are the patients themselves and their resilience to live with severe spinal deformity for years,\u201d Verma said. \u201cThese would be routine conditions regularly treated at HOI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accompanying him on this trip were Smith, division chief of spine surgery, and Dr. Khawar Siddique, a neurosurgeon and spine specialist from West Los Angeles. Also joining the group for the mission was internist Dr. Patricia Chang. Verma and Smith are colleagues and have been friends for more than 15 years.<\/p>\n

Together, they performed 11 complex spinal surgeries at FOCOS Hospital in Ghana, most of which were for young children with severe scoliosis. They also performed pain-relieving spine surgeries on multiple patients and removed a spinal tumor. All the patients responded well to the treatments.<\/p>\n

When Verma was a young medical student in New York, he heard a spine surgeon speak of his passion to help those in need as part of a medical mission to Ghana. Verma volunteered and accompanied the surgeon on his next trip to the African nation.<\/p>\n

For Verma, that first trip changed his life and paved the course of his career as a spine surgeon. He continues to engage in medical missions around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy next trip is already being planned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Submitted by Hoag Orthopedic Institute<\/p>\n

\"Hoag<\/p>\n

Hoag Orthopedic Institute spine surgeons perform a surgery at a hospital in Ghana.
\n(Courtesy of Dr. Kushagra Verma)\n<\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/p>\n

Brandon Tran of Fountain Valley, a U.S. Military Academy Class of 2026 cadet, was named a Rhodes Scholar.
\n(Courtesy of West Point)\n<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Gold medalist Cloris Shi, Troy High School, Fullerton; gold medalist Kian Dhawan, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland; silver medalist Eric Liu, Ward Melville High School, East Setauket, New York; and gold medalist Hengzhou Li, Northwood High School, Irvine, were awarded at the 36th International Biology Olympiad, hosted at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines.
\n(Courtesy of The Center for Excellence in Education)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hoag<\/p>\n

Hoag Orthopedic Institute spine surgeons Dr. Kushagra Verma, center left, and Dr. Jeremy Smith, center right, and colleagues stand with children in Ghana. The medical team traveled to the the West African nation to treat patients with severe scoliosis.
\n(Courtesy of Dr. Kushagra Verma)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Hoag Orthopedic Institute spine surgeons perform a surgery at a hospital in Ghana.
\n(Courtesy of Dr. Kushagra Verma)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nWest Point cadet from Fountain Valley named Rhodes Scholar<\/p>\n

A Fountain Valley man has earned major recognition.<\/p>\n

Brandon Tran, a U.S. Military Academy Class of 2026 cadet, along with fellow cadets Max Felter and Johnathan Pinc, has been selected as Rhodes Scholars, furthering West Point\u2019s longstanding tradition of academic excellence and service-focused leadership.<\/p>\n

Tran, originally from Fountain Valley, is a Truman and Stamps Scholar. At West Point, he studies international affairs and Chinese as a double major. He has interned across defense organizations, working on Indo-Pacific security issues.<\/p>\n

Tran is also a fellow with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, a non-resident fellow for the Indo-Pacific Studies Center, and the former chief administrative officer of the first Oxford Semiconductor Conference. He has been published in several policy and security-focused outlets.<\/p>\n

In the Corps of Cadets, Tran has served as a company military development noncommissioned officer and a Cadet Leader Development Training intelligence officer. His experience in planning equipped him for his current role: battalion Sandhurst officer, facilitating the training and preparation for the Sandhurst competition in military skills. He hopes to serve as a military intelligence officer upon graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the Rhodes Scholarship was a culmination of years of effort, not just on my part, but on the part of my family and friends, who have supported me every step of the way,\u201d Tran said. \u201cI hope to continue to bring honor to my community as I represent our nation as a Rhodes Scholar.\u201d<\/p>\n

With three American Rhodes Scholars selected last year, West Point is tied for first in the nation alongside Harvard University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n

Orange County biology students win big on international level<\/p>\n

The Center for Excellence in Education announced that all USA Biolympiad Team members were awarded medals at the 36th International Biology Olympiad, hosted at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines.<\/p>\n

Orange County students Cloris Shi from Troy High School in Fullerton and Hengzhou Li from Northwood High School in Irvine are among the winners.<\/p>\n

IBO included students from 80 countries across five continents. It awards individual achievement in theoretical and laboratory biology knowledge.<\/p>\n

The 2025 USA Biolympiad Team was selected at CEE\u2019s USA Biolympiad National Finals competition held last year at Harvard. Nearly 11,000 students from 741 schools in 47 states and 36 international schools registered in the nationwide high school competition.<\/p>\n

USA Biolympiad is the nation\u2019s most prestigious biology education and testing program for U.S. high school students. Its mission concentrates on stimulating intellectual curiosity in young scholars and developing their critical thinking in laboratory skills and biological reasoning to propel them to careers of excellence and leadership in STEM.<\/p>\n

The Bravo! section highlights achievements of our residents and groups. Send news of achievements for consideration to ocrbravo@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hoag spine surgeons help kids with scoliosis in Ghana Hoag Orthopedic Institute spine surgeons Dr. Kushagra Verma and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,10316,7,23,611,77],"class_list":{"0":"post-144610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-bravo","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-orange-county","15":"tag-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}