Our Team

Dr. Karlan completed her medical degree at Harvard Medical School, residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a gynecologic oncology fellowship at UCLA School of Medicine. She is a board-certified gynecologic cancer surgeon. Dr. Karlan’s clinical practice and research intersect to focus on cutting edge treatments for ovarian and other women’s cancers, as well as early detection and inherited cancer susceptibility.

Mariana Niell-Swiller, MS, LCGC is a genetic counselor certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and licensed in California. She is an experienced clinician dedicated to improving the quality of and access to oncology genetic counseling services. Mariana received her MS in Genetic Counseling from Brandeis University in 2006 and her Bachelors of Arts from Cornell University in 2001. 

Wendy Conlon, MS, LCGC, is a genetic counselor board certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and licensed in California. She received her MS in genetics from the University of Arizona’s genetic counseling program in 2000, and received her BA from the University of Vermont in 1988. 

Daniella Kamara MS, LCGC is a board certified and licensed genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer syndromes. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in Spanish and then went on to complete her Master’s in Genetic Counseling at California State University, Stanislaus. Prior to joining the team at UCLA, Daniella worked at the Women’s Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai Medical Center as a genetic counselor.

Erica L Silver, MS, LCGC is a licensed and certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer syndromes. She received her Bachelor's degree from California State University, Northridge in Cellular and Molecular Biology and completed her Masters degree in Genetic Counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. She is board certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and holds a genetic counseling license through the California Department of Public Health.

Mary Sehl, MD, PhD is a medical oncologist board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and licensed in California.  She received her ScB, MMS, and MD degrees from Brown University, and her PhD in Biomathematics from UCLA.  She is a member of the Patients and Survivors Program in the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and medical director of the Cancer Genetics Counseling program within the UCLA Health System.

Nikhila Ramesh, MGC received her Master’s degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Born and raised in India, she is fluent in English and Tamil. She also holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Genetics. Her interests include community outreach and promoting diversity and inclusion.

Elana Spitz, MS, LCGC is a genetic counselor certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and licensed in California. She specializes in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes. She received her Bachelor's degree from Penn State University in Biobehavioral Health. Elana previously worked as part of the child life team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and went on to receive her Master’s in Genetic Counseling from Long Island University Post.

Dayna Richards, MS, CGC, is a genetic counselor who specializes in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer syndromes. She is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and is licensed in the state of California. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University, and her Master’s in Genetic Counseling from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her interests include the influence of psychosocial factors in engagement with genetics services.

Kyle Rosenthal, MS, LCGC is a licensed and board certified genetic counselor by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC). He specializes in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes. Kyle received his Bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and his Master of Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Keck Graduate Institute. His interests include increasing equity and access to genetic counseling and genetic testing services.

Jake Plewa, MS, CGC is a genetic counselor certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling and licensed in California. He specializes in cancer genetics and hereditary cancer syndromes. He received his Bachelor of Science from University of California, Irvine and his Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Chang earned her bachelor's degree at Wellesley College and received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Chicago, Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago and then completed her fellowship training in Pediatric Hematology-oncology at UCLA. 

Julian A. Martinez-Agosto is a medical geneticist and developmental biologist who has served on the UCLA School of Medicine faculty since he joined the Department of Human Genetics in 2007. Dr. Martinez earned his B.S. in Biology and Spanish Literature at Yale University and pursued his medical training at Yale School of Medicine. He went on to train as a Pediatrician at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.

Dr. Russell is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Genetics. She obtained her medical degree from the University of California, Irvine and completed her combined pediatrics and human genetics residency and metabolic training at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Dr. Russell sees general genetics patients as well as metabolic patients. 

 Marisa earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of San Francisco in 2003 and earned her master's degree in nursing from UCLA in 2007. She began her nursing career in pediatrics at Mattel Children's hospital UCLA in 2003 where she began caring for hematology/oncology patients. She joined the division of pediatric hematology/oncology as a nurse practitioner in 2007 after earning her master's degree.