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

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

Kevin Qian Research Award
As an MD PhD graduate student at UCLA, Kevin published a landmark paper in the journal Nature describing the way in which fat cells (adipocytes) store lipids in droplets and ultimately burn these lipids in ways that can promote weight loss. Our DoM Education Team honored Kevin Qian, MD, PhD with the William N. Valentine Award for Excellence in Internal Medicine. Dr. Valentine was the second Chair of Medicine at UCLA from 1963-1971. Dr. Valentine was internationally acclaimed for his seminal research that describes the fundamentals of red blood cell physiology, particularly his work in describing the role of changes in metabolic enzyme function that could contribute to disorders such as hemolytic anemia. Dr. Qian is a member of our physician scientist training program (PSTP), now integrally linked with the STAR Program. The award recognizes his superior performance as a scholar in Internal Medicine and outstanding scholarly achievements throughout medical school.

Qian, K., Tol, M.J., Wu, J. et al. CLSTN3β enforces adipocyte multilocularity to facilitate lipid utilization. Nature 613, 160–168 (2023).


Amber Tang

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. 

Tang AB, Brownell NK, Roberts JS, Haidar A, Osuna-Garcia A, Cho DJ, Bokhoor P, Fonarow GC. Interventions for optimization of guideline-directed medical therapy: a systematic review. JAMA cardiology. 2024 Feb 21.


Alani Estrella

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.

Dobrinskikh E, Estrella AM, Hennessy CE, Hara N, Schwarz MI, Kurche JS, Yang IV, Schwartz DA. Genes, other than Muc5b, play a role in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. 2021 Aug 1;321(2):L440-50.


Jenn Mansour

Jennifer Mansour, MD, MHS

Resident: Jennifer Mansour, MD, MHS (PGY-3)

Type of research: Poster

Conference: Solomon Scholars Research Day

Jenn Mansour

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

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.

Fansiwala K, Rusher A, Shore B, Herfarth HH, Barnes E, Kochar B, Chang S. Oral vs Intravenous Discharge Antibiotic Regimens in the Management of Intra-abdominal Abscesses in Penetrating Crohn’s Disease. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2023 Dec 27:izad299.


Jamie Yang

Jamie Yang, MD

Resident; Jamie Yang, MD (PGY-3)

Subspecialty: Gastroenterology &Hepatology

Type of Research: Oral Presentation

Jamie Yang

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.

Yang JO, Galoosian A, Peterson E, et al. Validation of a Machine Learning Algorithm to Measure Bowel Preparation Quality for Screening Colonoscopy in a Large Health System. Oral presentation: Digestive Diseases Week; 05/22/2022. San Diego, CA.

Yang JO, DeSilva S, Maehara C, et al. Integrating Artificial Intelligence with Clinical Dashboards to Measure Screening Colonoscopy Quality Indicators for Large Health Systems. Oral presentation: Digestive Diseases Week; 05/06/2023. Chicago, IL.

Yang JO, DeSilva S, Smith B, et al. Evaluating Performance of an Artificial Intelligence Tool to Identify Individuals in Need of Three-Year Colorectal Cancer Post-Polypectomy Surveillance. Oral presentation: Digestive Diseases Week; 05/20/2024. Washington DC, DC.