Meet Our Team

Dr. Patel graduated magna cum laude from the University of Scranton with a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry, cell & molecular biology. He then attended medical school at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and completed his internal medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he served as a chief resident. His research interests are focused on improving patient-centered care and optimization of current therapeutics for patients with IBD.

Dr. Orellana graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor of science degree in biology. He then attended medical school at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His pediatric residency training was completed at Valley Children's Hospital before returning to UCLA for pediatric gastroenterology fellowship. He has an interest in nutrition's role in IBD and the gut microbiome.

Christina is a registered dietitian and certified nutrition support clinician (CNSC) that specializes in gastrointestinal disorders. She received her master’s degree in nutritional sciences from California State University, Los Angeles and completed her internship at Cedars-Sinai and UCLA. She is an expert in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), GI surgeries, and nutrition support.

Nancee earned a master’s of science degree in nutrition from California State University Los Angeles. She completed her dietetic internship at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at UCLA, where she was mentored by Dr. Lin Chang, co-director of the UCLA G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience. She is currently studying the reintroduction phase of the low FODMAP diet with Dr. Chang. 

Kelly is a registered dietitian specializing in GI disorders. Her celiac diagnosis in 2014 led her to recognize and understand the impact of diet on health and management of chronic diseases. Kelly completed her master’s degree at CSU, Los Angeles, and her internship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research interests include diet and IBD as well as dietary impacts and manipulation of the microbiome. She co-leads UCLA’s Celiac Support Group.

Neha earned a bachelor of science in nutrition from California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) and a master's in public health nutrition from Loma Linda University. She was previously at Stanford Health Care, where she built nutrition services for the Digestive Health Center.

Dr. Iyengar graduated from Washington University/St. Louis with a BA in anthropology. She received her MD from U of Louisville before completing her IM residency at UCLA. Her clinical & research interests include integrative digestive health & the gut-brain axis. She is completing an integrative medicine fellowship through the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and is currently conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of herbs for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

Dr. DeDecker graduated from UC Davis with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition science biochemistry. She then worked as a nutritionist and technology-driven health coach for a primary care practice in San Francisco. She later worked at a start up with the aim of providing remote scribing services to physicians using Google Glass and AI. She graduated from UC Irvine School of Medicine with her MD and honors in research.

Dr. Fansiwala graduated from New York University with a degree in economics and minors in chemistry and public health. He obtained his MD from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he engaged in research around population-level risk factors for gastric cancer and optimal antibiotic regimens for abscess treatment in Crohn's disease. His current research interests include clinical outcomes related to stricturing Crohn’s disease and health care disparities.

Dr. Prakash graduated from Rice University with a BA in cognitive sciences and received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. She is currently an internal medicine resident at UCLA. In medical school, she studied disparities in colon cancer outcomes.

Dr. Spartz graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor of science degree in biology. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Minnesota, where she completed basic science research in immunology. She continues her training at UCLA as an internal medicine resident.

Joseph is a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He first became interested in IBD after a personal experience with the disease during his college years. He subsequently interned for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and volunteered as a counselor for Camp Oasis, a camp dedicated to kids diagnosed with IBD.

Mason is a medical student at the California University of Science and Medicine. He received his bachelor of arts degree in history from UCLA with the highest honors. As a patient with Crohn's disease himself and an aspiring gastroenterologist, Mason hopes to continue to expand his knowledge of IBD and ultimately contribute to the improvement of future care of IBD patients.

Jordan is a medical student at California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM). He completed his bachelors in biology at UCLA. His interest in GI stems from family health issues related to GI. During his time at UCLA, he was involved in hepatitis B advocacy and related liver issues. He recently completed a summer transplant research program at Tampa General Hospital.

Freida is a medical student at Drexel College of Medicine and has a BS in human biology and society from UCLA. She studied the effect of diet and malnutrition on IBD in the Limketkai Lab as an undergraduate student and is now interested in further exploring the fields of gastroenterology and gynecology in medical school. She is passionate about community health and intersectional medicine.

Andrew is a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA with a BA in human evolutionary biology from Harvard University. As an undergraduate student, he studied the interplay of nutrition and disease, and previously worked as a healthcare consultant specializing in pricing and market access of various IBD therapies. His experiences have been combined with the lab, now researching the clinical side of pharmacologic therapy and the impact of nutrition within IBD.

Aasna is a medical student at Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has received her bachelor’s degrees in human biology and clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego in 2019. Her first exposure to the world of clinical research was as a gastroenterology clinical research intern in 2016 at Stanford Medicine.

Isha is an undergraduate student majoring in molecular, cell and developmental biology. As someone who has had Crohn's disease for over 10 years, she is interested in learning more about IBD from a research perspective and contributing to existing literature focusing on symptom management and quality of life. Working as a research assistant in the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, she is involved in a variety of projects exploring nutrition, fatigue, and response to medication with IBD.

Andrew is an undergraduate student majoring in molecular, cell, and developmental biology. He is very interested in clinical research and is also currently doing non-clinical research looking at the effects of Huntington's Disease at different stages of development. Andrew plans on attending medical school after completing his undergraduate degree.

Shruti is an undergraduate student at UCLA, pursuing a degree in molecular, cell, and developmental biology. After graduating, she hopes to attend medical school. In the lab, she has primarily been working on the fatigue and microbiome studies, and is the student lead for the microbiome study.

Vikram is an undergraduate student majoring in physiological sciences at UCLA. He wants to understand how IBD treatment and care are optimized through clinical research. He is also interested in how mental health affects progression of chronic illnesses. After completing his studies at UCLA, Vikram hopes to pursue medical school in California, where he can be close to his family.