Obstetrics & Gynecology

New and Noteworthy

Newsletter Spring 2021

UCLA faculty who have been recognized for excellence in clinical care, research and teaching.

HONORS AND AWARDS:

UCLA Health CICARE awards are given to providers who are recognized by patients and peers for their extra effort to fulfill UCLA Health’s vision of healing humankind, one patient at a time, by improving health, alleviating suffering, and delivering acts of kindness. We are proud to share that Angela Chen, MD, MPH, UCLA OBGYN Associate Professor, received a CICARE Award for excellence in patient care.

Lab Researcher

Daniel A. Dumesic, MD, UCLA OBGYN Professor, was the recipient of a Star Award for more than 10 years of contributions to research for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He was also invited to be a reviewer for the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center/CTSI Program Pilot Review Committee.

Lauren Nathan, MD, UCLA OBGYN Professor and Vice Chair of Education, and Carla Janzen, MD, PhD, UCLA OBGYN Associate Professor, have been appointed as “Core Faculty Educators” for the Scientific Foundations of Medicine Course for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. They will jointly run the new "Reproduction Block" that has been added to the curriculum.

Rajita Patil, MD, UCLA OBGYN Assistant Clinical Professor, and Angela Chen, MD, MPH, UCLA OBGYN Associate Professor, have been named co-chairs for the Society of Family Planning Telehealth Practitioner’s Special Interest Group. This is a 2-year national leadership position that will work towards creating best practices and accelerating advocacy efforts for abortion and contraception telehealth services. This year the group will be working to create a telehealth resource directory and a guiding principles document.  

Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH, UCLA OBGYN Associate Professor, has been appointed as Chair of the ACOG - FIGO collaboration sub-committee Global Women’s Health Expert Work Group at the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists, as well as a member of ACOG’s National CREOG Examination Committee. She was also featured on Consortium for Women's Health Equality, an online resource for practicing obstetricians and gynecologists who want to better understand issues around racial and gender disparities affecting themselves and their patients.

GRANTS:

Daniel A. Dumesic, MD, UCLA OBGYN Professor, is the investigator for “Androgen Excess Causes Adipogenic Dysfunction in PCOS Women,” Project IV of the Hyperandrogenemia, Diet and Female Reproductive P50 Specialized Cooperative Centers Program in Reproduction and Infertility Research awarded to UCLA by the National Center for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility (NCTRI).

Deborah Krakow, MD, Professor and Chair of UCLA OBGYN, and Rashmi Rao, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of UCLA OBGYN, received funding from the National Institutes of Health for their research studying the effect of Osteogenesis Imperfecta on pregnancy. 

Dr. May Sudhinaraset from UCLA’s School of Public Health and Rajita Patil, MD, UCLA OBGYN Assistant Clinical Professor, received a grant from the Society of Family Planning in support of the M-POWER STUDY: Medication abortion – Person-centered telemedicine Options Working for Equity and Reproductive justice. This study will compare patient experiences and clinical outcomes of NTTA to clinic-based medical abortion.  

PRESENTATIONS:

Joshua Cohen, MD, UCLA OBGYN Associate Clinical Professor, and Morcos N. Nakhla, MS, a second-year student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA present Surgical Outcomes for Frail Patients with Ovarian Cancer at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. As a result, Morcos appeared on the ASCO Post to discuss data showing that a higher surgical volume is associated with better outcomes for frail patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. 

Ritu Salani, MD, UCLA OBGYN Professor:

  • Frontline Treatment of Cervical Cancer. 6th Annual Meeting Master Class for Gynecologic Malignancies Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Virtual), March 2021.
  • Recurrent Treatment of Cervical Cancer. 6th Annual Meeting Master Class for Gynecologic Malignancies Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Virtual), March 2021.
  • Maintaining a long-distance relationship: Telehealth in cancer care. Alaska Let Every Woman Know Survivor Conference (Virtual), January 2021.
  • Exploring the Practicalities of Gynecologic Cancer Management as New Options Emerge Ovarian Cancer Tumor Board (Virtual), January 2021.
  • Recurrent Ovarian Cancer-Current Landscape and Future Directions. Opinions in Gynecologic Malignancies: An Interactive Forum (Virtual), January 2021.

Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH, UCLA OBGYN Associate Professor:

  • A Sridhar, C Nameth, Hwang Y. Real-time, Remote and Recorded: Medical Student Experiences When Teaching with Smart Glasses. Oral abstract presentation at the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) & Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Annual 2021 Meeting.
  • J Kim, A Sridhar. Game On: Surgical Instruments Teaching via Gamification in Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship. Oral abstract presentation at the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) & Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Annual 2021 Meeting.
  • MDouglass, NiinoC, Bryan K, Herbert L, Sridhar A. Development and Comparison of an Audio and Video Podcast for Contraception Education. Poster presentation at the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) & Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Annual 2021 Meeting.
  • A session on oral contraceptives on the popular podcast, CREOGS over COFFEE. 

Amy Rosenman, MD, UCLA OBGYN Clinical Professor:

  • A Urogynecologist's 20-year experience with hysteropexy for prolapse. Annual Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) Scientific Meeting. February 26, 2021

Mae Zakhour, MD, UCLA OBGYN Assistant Clinical Professor:

  • Nyakudarika NC, Marsh LA, Moatamed NA, Zakhour M. Pandemic paradox: shorter times from consult to gynecologic oncology treatment during COVID-19. 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, Virtual Meeting, March 2021.              
  • Manrriquez E, Tatsugawa Z, Mendoza M, Holschneider CH, Zakhour M.Ovarian-cancer associated germline mutations in a predominantly non-White patient population. 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, Virtual Meeting, March 2021. 
  • Manrriquez E, Holschneider M, Pineda E, Holschneider CH, Zakhour M. Telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic: access, attitude and experience of gynecology and gynecologic oncology patients in a large public safety-net hospital system. 52ndAnnual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, Virtual Meeting, March 2021.