Shant Shekherdimian was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His educational background includes a medical degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Public Health with an emphasis on global health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Shekherdimian has completed a residency in general surgery at UCLA and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCLA. Dr. Shekherdimian’s clinical interests include neonatal surgery and pediatric surgical oncology. His research interests are in intestinal lengthening as a potential treatment of short bowel syndrome. Dr. Shekherdimian has participated and lectured at several international conferences pertaining to his surgical specialty and public health. He is involved in several projects with the aim to improve pediatric care in Armenia, including spearheading a novel model of effective diaspora contribution to health care systems in home countries. Dr. Shekherdimian is the senior advisors to the Ministry of Health of Armenia and Inaugural Associate Director for Healthcare Outreach in the Armenian Promise Institute at UCLA. He has served on the ARPA Institute Board for several terms