Nancy Marks Endowed Chair in Women's Health Research

Dr Beth Karlan

Dr. Beth Karlan, UCLA Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department's Vice Chair of Women's Health Research, has been named the inaugural holder of the Nancy Marks Endowed Chair in Women's Health Research.

A $5 million gift to UCLA from Nancy and Howard Marks has endowed this faculty chair to provide resources to help ensure that women's health research at UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine is consistently led by a renowned physician-scientist and continually remains a priority. The gift will enable Dr. Karlan to allocate funds to support promising clinical and translational research efforts.   

“I am incredibly grateful to Nancy and Howard for their vision, trust and philanthropy,” Dr. Karlan said. “I'm thrilled for this opportunity to amplify the impact of my work at UCLA and prepare the next generation of leaders in women's health to carry this important work forward.”

Dr. Karlan is a well-recognized expert on ovarian cancer, earning international accolades for her efforts to improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of the disease and in addition to other gynecologic malignancies. She earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School before completing her residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. She completed a Gynecologic Oncology fellowship at UCLA. In 2019 Dr. Karlan was appointed as Director of Cancer Population Genetics at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in conjunction with her faculty position in the UCLA Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Karlan's own research is focused on hereditary predisposition to cancers, a lifelong passion of hers that she hopes will eventually contribute to making genetic testing standard of care for all cancer patients and families with elevated cancer risk.

“My patients inspire me to keep searching for new ways to improve their lives and longevity---and their cancers drive me to unravel their root causes and find more effective ways to quash them,” Dr. Karlan shared. “We all have our own ‘her-stories' and ambitions, and I have enormous gratitude for the opportunities I've been able to embrace thanks to all the women who have blazed trails before me. It is quite fitting that the announcement of this generous gift was made during Women's History Month.”

For more information on the Nancy Marks Endowed Chair in Women's Health Research >