Our Team

Leadership

Neil S. Wenger, MD, MPH
Medical Director

Neil S. Wenger is Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at the University of California, Los Angeles and a practicing general internist with an interest in patients with complex illness. He also directs the UCLA Health System Ethics Center and leads the Advance Care Planning and Services initiative. At RAND, he is a senior scientist and has directed the Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders (ACOVE) project. Dr. Wenger's current efforts focus on building health system-level advance care planning structures and on measuring and improving the quality of care for vulnerable older persons. Dr. Wenger's educational efforts focus on training physician fellows in health services and primary care research, training resident physicians in primary care general internal medicine, and teaching clinical ethics. He directs the HRSA-funded National Research Service Award Primary Care Research Fellowship in the Division of General Internal Medicine at UCLA. Wenger received his MD from the UCLA School of Medicine and his MPH from the UCLA School of Public Health. More >

Anne M. Walling, MD, PhD
Medical Director

Dr. Walling is a palliative care physician and PhD-trained health services researcher with a research focus on palliative care quality measurement, advance care planning, and interventions to improve the quality of care for patients with serious illness. She has a specific interest in palliative care and end stage liver disease. 
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Faculty and Providers

Shawn Smith

Shawny Smith works as the Advance Care Planning (ACP) Specialist in the Ambulatory Care Management department at UCLA, collaborating closely with Dr. Neil Wenger and his team on the Advance Care Planning initiative. With thirty years of experience in the healthcare industry in addition to medical management, Shawny brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role. Since 2015, Shawny has been dedicated to assisting patients with Advance Directives, fostering meaningful conversations and providing invaluable guidance. Her mission is to empower patients by conveying the significance of understanding and completing Advance Directives. Driven by a passion to destigmatize and normalize discussions surrounding Advance Care Planning, Shawny diligently works to remove barriers hindering progress. Through her proactive approach, she endeavors to identify obstacles and implement effective solutions in completing the Advance Directive. Shawny aims to ensure every individual receives comprehensive support in their healthcare journey, enhancing patient well-being through informed decision-making.

Shirley Otis-Green, MSW, MA, ACSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FNAP, FAOSW

Shirley is the founder and consultant of the Collaborative Caring. Shirley’s career is dedicated to enhancing excellence in the delivery of contextualized care to more equitably address the symptoms and stress of serious illness. Her education, research and consultation efforts focus on palliative care, interprofessional leadership and creating meaningful organizational change. As Principal Investigator on studies with over $3.5 million in external funding, her work has been recognized with numerous awards and disseminated through more than 100 publications and 500 professional presentations. She is a National Association of Social Workers Pioneer, California Health Care Foundation Leadership Fellow and a Distinguished Social Work Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice. Shirley was among the first to receive a Master of Arts in Health Research - Palliative Care degree from Lancaster University in Great Britain, and is co-editor of the The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work (Second Edition).

Hussai Nuristani, MPH
Project Manager

Hussai Nuristani Is the project manager who oversees the Advance Care Planning Program portfolio. She previously worked in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine at City of Hope for 4+ years where she strategized and managed the development, coordination, and implementation of various research activities and projects associated with the submission and implementation of research grants. She primarily led the operations for the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) and the development and implementation of the NIH/NIA R21/R33 Geriatric Oncology Research Infrastructure to Improve Clinical Care grant in supporting high-impact research aimed at improving the care of older adults with cancer.