Los Angeles ophthalmologist David H. Aizuss, M.D. was elected to the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees this weekend during a virtual meeting of the AMA House of Delegates.

“We are facing unprecedented times as a profession and as a country,” Dr. Aizuss said in his speech to the AMA House of Delegates, which met virtually this weekend. “While we battle the frontlines of COVID-19, we must look ahead to the future and ensure that we are working as a united voice, advocating for our profession, for our patients and for our communities.”

Dr. Aizuss is a longtime leader in organized medicine. He is the immediate past president of the California Medical Association (CMA) and a former president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. Before being elected as CMA president in 2018, he served as the Chair of the CMA Board of Trustees.

During his tenure as CMA president, Dr. Aizuss implemented a new organizational emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Under his leadership, CMA significantly increased diversity in its council and committee leadership. Dr. Aizuss has also been at the forefront on issues such as physician scope of practice, vaccines, mental health and gun violence.

Dr. Aizuss is a managing partner in a multispecialty ophthalmology group, where he focuses exclusively on patient care. He also serves as an assistant clinical professor of Ophthalmology at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine.

He received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School and his bachelor’s degree in medicine from Northwestern University. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute in Los Angeles, where he also undertook a fellowship in cornea and external ocular disease

Also returning to the AMA Board of Trustees for another year is Jack Resneck, Jr., M.D., a dermatologist and health policy expert from San Francisco. Passionate about advocacy for physicians and patients, Dr. Resneck has held several leadership positions in organized medicine—including serving as chair of the AMA Board of Trustees from 2018-2019. He has been an AMA trustee since 2014 and has been a member and chair of the AMA Council on Legislation and he has served as a delegate to the AMA House of Delegates for 10 years.

Dr. Resneck is professor and vice-chair of the UC San Francisco Department of Dermatology and holds a joint appointment as a core faculty member at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. He also directs the dermatology faculty practice clinics at UCSF, where he previously ran the dermatology residency training program.