Spring 2026 Newsletter
I have come to understand that medicine is never just about the person sitting in front of me. It’s about the generations standing behind them and the ones yet to come. My patients are someone’s child — no matter how old they may be — and often have children and grandchildren of their own. This always reminds me that my responsibility extends beyond treating their medical needs. It is about preserving stories, understanding families and honoring the trust placed in me at some of life’s most vulnerable moments.
At the same time, I am driven to think about how we can do better — how innovation and new ideas can bring our patients greater ease and treatments that make their goals possible. It is my hope that through thoughtful care and meaningful progress, each patient may fully experience the profound gift of wellness, so that they can live, love and thrive.
The Power of Proximity
There’s a relatively new development in clinical medicine called point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). It is a portable, bedside imaging technique performed by clinicians to immediately diagnose, monitor or guide procedures without the need for a separate appointment. It allows a clinician to examine a patient and provide immediate specific answers to acute clinical questions, enhancing real-time decision-making.
These ultrasound scanners are small enough to be kept in the office and technically simple to use, enabling physicians to train to perform imaging tests while their patients are physically in the exam room.
The division is grateful to Patricia Harris, MD, for her leadership and initiative to acquire POCUS machines and training with support from the Innovation in Geriatric Medicine Fund. UCLA Health geriatricians now have an extraordinary opportunity to learn advanced skills that enhance lives and greatly benefit the patients we see right when we see them.
Innovating Language Curricula
Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. When one UCLA medical student was a boy, his English was the best in his primarily Spanish-speaking family. A family member experienced a medical emergency, and he found himself in the awful position of having to translate. It was an incredibly stressful role — to bear the responsibility of communicating a frightening situation.
First-year medical students at UCLA, Egbert Villegas Gomez and Benjamin Vogel, recognized that a physician’s medical expertise loses its impact when a language barrier prevents meaningful connection and understanding with a patient. This compelled them to develop curriculum for practitioners to become certified as medical translators in Spanish. This benefits everyone involved: It helps to comfort patients, empower doctors and enrich the careers of those who participate.
For their novel and compassionate efforts, Egbert and Ben have been named the 2026 Schuman Family Foundation Scholars of Distinction. Congratulations!
Innovation Award Recipient: Jonathan Wanagat, MD
The UCLA Innovation in Geriatric Medicine Fund held its Founders Event at the Hotel Bel Air on November 20th, 2025. Guests celebrated physicians whose pioneering visions and unwavering commitment to geriatric care drive innovation in the science and art of aging well.
The 2025 Innovation Award honoree, Dr. Wanagat, is a clinical professor of medicine in the UCLA Division of Geriatric Medicine and a staff physician at the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, part of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. His research focuses on the biology of aging, geroscience and mitochondrial function.
Groundbreaking innovations begin with understanding people’s needs. Please enjoy this five-minute video highlighting Dr. Wanagat and his important work to identify a biomarker that could help predict longevity, which would ultimately benefit us all.
A 100-Year Voyage
I often meet my patients in the last chapters of their lives. This held true for Mort La Kretz. I didn’t know him thirty years ago when he was a prolific businessman. I didn’t know him 70 years ago when he was robust and in the Navy. I got to meet him in his final season. Mort had an exceptional, goal-directed work ethic, along with a mindset to build things and execute projects. He had seen and accomplished so much.
Mort exuded wisdom and had a wonderful perspective. He also really wanted to be 100 years old.
On January 28, 2026, Mort celebrated his 100th birthday, the crowning achievement of his life, according to him. The party was in a building he completely refurbished, adjacent to beautiful horse trails and Griffith Park. He had everything he wanted: hamburgers, tacos, milkshakes and a Mariachi band in a space filled with people he loved. This was his goal. Two days later, he passed away peacefully with his family by his side.
I see a metaphor in the work I do: I am the captain of a ship, and my patient is the passenger who tells me where they want to go. I set the course, navigate the seas and get them there. Sometimes there are storms. Sometimes it is smooth sailing. My patients define what matters to them — and that looks different for everyone. For Mort, getting to 100 was his goal, and I am gratified to know what it meant to him when we arrived at his port of call.
— Brandon