Deborah Krakow
Deborah Krakow, MD, Chair, UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology

Message from Department Chair, Deborah Krakow, MD

In late July we received news from U.S. News & World Report that UCLA Health once again ranked as the #1 health care facility in both Los Angeles and California.  Even more impressive was that UCLA Health rose to become the 3rd highest ranked health system in the United States.  For our OBGYN Program there was equally good news, as we climbed five places to our highest rankings in years, and now in the top 25. Overall UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA performed exceptionally during one of the most trying times in the history of healthcare.  Recognizing the especially challenging dynamics of the past year, Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News & World Report, said "Hospitals faced incredible challenges this past year, and the best of them have provided great care throughout the pandemic and continue to offer excellent care today."  

Deborah Krakow, MD, Chair, UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology

I am especially proud of the productivity of our research and clinical faculty throughout the challenges of the last 18 months.  We’ve maintained a strong work effort that has kept our Department growing in both patient care and scientific discovery.   In this issue of OBGYNews you’ll read about an exciting new prenatal research program, and see a sample of the high impact publications generated by our faculty over the past several months. 

Also, in this issue of OBGYNews, you’ll meet our 65th class of OBGYN Residents who began their clinical training in July.  You’ll also meet Dr. Sulagna C. Saitta, MD, PhD, FACMG, Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology, who will lead a multidisciplinary team approach to Reproductive Genetics for our Department.  Dr. Saitta is nationally recognized for her expertise in Medical Genetics particularly in chromosomal deletion/duplication disorders that present in the prenatal period. She serves as a principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple funded proposals in the area of genetics and has authored numerous papers in this area.

I am excited to share that OBGYN faculty and staff are participating in the University’s Perinatal Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Coalition, a group of 80 physicians, nurses, researchers, social workers, midwives and others tasked with developing strategies for dismantling structural racism in maternity care at UCLA.  I also hope you will share my pride in some of the national and international honors bestowed on OBGYN faculty in the past few months, recognizing excellence in clinical care and research.

Finally, in this issue of OBGYNews we’ve added a new feature to our newsletter – our Spotlight on Philanthropy.  Read about how the generosity of one donor is changing the lives of many others by accelerating Dr. Yalda Afshar’s pioneering research in developing a mechanism for the early detection of placenta accreta spectrum disorders.

We have much to celebrate related to the recognition of our OBGYN Program and the outstanding productivity of our faculty, trainees and staff.  We will remain focused on improvements across the board that continue to bring our patients and their families the highest quality women’s health care and ensure access to latest achievements in research.

Thank you for all that you do to support our mission in the delivery of quality care to women.   

Deborah Krakow, MD

In this issue:

Meet the Faculty: Sulagna C. Saitta, MD, PhD, Division Chief of Reproductive Genetics
Clinical Update: Perinatal EDI Coalition
Education Update: Meet Our New Residents
Research Update: Detecting Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder
Spolight on Philanthropy
New and Noteworthy
Recent Highlighted Publications

Our Mission

The mission of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCLA is to implement the four pillars of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; clinical service, research, education and community service. The Department seeks to excel in all areas of women’s health. This includes the delivery of state-of-the art health care to women of all ages based on best available practices, research devoted to advancing women’s health through basic, translational and clinical exploration, and a commitment to training the next generation of providers and researchers devoted to improving women’s health.