Resident Research
Resident Research Spotlight
During the '23-'24 academic year, there were at least 116 DoM Trainee-Authored Publications. Our trainees have access to research mentorship from world-class researchers, as UCLA is among the top NIH-funded public institutions. Below, we highlight a few of the many examples of resident-led research and awards.
Kevin Qian, MD, PhD
Resident Kevin Qian, MD, PhD (PGY-2)
Subspecialty Endocrinology
Type of Research Publication
Journal Nature
CLSTN3β enforces adipocyte multilocularity to facilitate lipid utilization
Amber Tang, MD
Resident: Amber Tang, MD (PGY-3)
Type of research: Publication
Publication: JAMA cardiology
Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remains underutilized in clinical practice despite widespread evidence on its efficacy in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Amber Tang, current PGY-3, and her co-authors developed a systematic review exploring prior interventions aimed at optimization of GDMT with the goal of informing future quality improvement efforts.
Alaní Estrélla, MD
Resident: Alani Estrella, MD (PGY-2)
Type of research: Publication
Publication: American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Alaní Estrella studied the role of a gain-of-function Muc5b promoter variant on risk for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Muc5b is a genetic variant that is highly associated with IPF, but it’s clinical utility and role in its pathogenesis is still under investigation. Through analyzing the amount and localization of fibrosis across multiple mouse strains, his work added evidence that other factors, either directly or indirectly, contribute to the development of IPF. By using atypical mouse strains in the field of lung fibrosis there may be other genes identified that are important to the study of lung fibrosis.
Jennifer Mansour, MD, MHS
Resident: Jennifer Mansour, MD, MHS (PGY-3)
Type of research: Poster
Conference: Solomon Scholars Research Day
As a Health Equity and Advocacy Pathway resident, Jennifer has used her background in public health to work with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health where she studies the implications of dementia screening legislation on Los Angeles county public hospitals with the goal of improving screening rates. Her work was presented at UCLA’s annual Solomon Scholars Research day and will be incorporated into public health recommendations for Los Angeles county.
Mansour, J., Demanes, A., & Chang, E. (2024). Don’t Forget to Screen for Dementia: Implementing a Medi-Cal Cognitive Health Assessment in Los Angeles County. In Solomon Scholars Research Day. Los Angeles; UCLA, Department of Internal Medicine.
Kush Fansiwala, MD
(Chief) Resident: Kush Fansiwala, MD (PGY-4)
Type of research: Publication
Publication: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Internal Medicine chief resident Kush Fansiwala, MD, published a study in “Inflammatory Bowel Diseases” examining the difference in outcomes of using oral versus intravenous (IV) discharge antibiotic regimens in the management of intra-abdominal abscesses in penetrating Crohn’s Disease. The premise of the paper, which he started while in medical school, is that the optimal route of antibiotic administration for intra-abdominal abscesses is poorly studied but may have important implications for clinical care and patient quality of life, given the potential inconvenience of prolonged indwelling catheters.
Jamie Yang, MD
Resident; Jamie Yang, MD (PGY-3)
Subspecialty: Gastroenterology &Hepatology
Type of Research: Oral Presentation
Dr. Jamie Yang’s research within the May Lab focuses on leveraging artificial intelligence, specifically natural language processing (NLP), to enhance the quality of gastrointestinal (GI) care in our UCLA Health System. Notable achievements include validating an NLP algorithm to 1) Assess bowel preparation quality in colonoscopy reports, 2) Develop a clinical dashboard using NLP metrics to report key colonoscopy quality indicators, and 3) Identify high-risk neoplasia patients requiring three year follow up colonoscopy. Her innovative work has led to three oral presentations at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) conferences to date, including a 2022 AGA Student Abstract Award.