Simon W. Beaven, MD, PhD
Chief of Gastroenterology, Olive View - UCLA Medical Center
Research and Medical Director, UCLA Center for Obesity and Metabolic Health (COMET)
Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Beaven attended Stanford University where he majored in mathematics with honors in humanities. He went on to receive his MD from the University of California, San Francisco, and received the Dean’s Research Prize for work he performed in the laboratory of Dr. Scott Friedman under a Howard Hughes Medical Student Research Fellowship. Dr. Beaven completed internal medicine residency training at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He came to UCLA in 2003 as a fellow in digestive diseases where he completed his gastroenterology fellowship. During this period, Dr. Beaven continued his research training and received a PhD with Dr. Peter Tontonoz in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Pathology. His doctoral work focused on cholesterol and lipid metabolism as it pertains to an important clinical problem: the metabolic syndrome. His major research interests include the genetics of liver fibrosis, especially in relation to fatty liver and the metabolic syndrome, the study of rare GI diseases (porphyrias and familial Mediterranean fever), and quality improvement projects in gastroenterology and liver disease at Olive View – UCLA Medical Center
Dr. Beaven joined the digestive diseases faculty at UCLA as an assistant professor in 2010. He is a research director for the Center for Obesity and Metabolic Health (COMET), which studies how metabolic pathways influence liver and gastrointestinal diseases. He has been studying the biology of the hepatic stellate cell, the key scar-forming cell in all forms of liver disease (e.g. fatty liver, viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease). This work is aimed at better understanding the genetics of liver fibrosis and the development of better tools to detect and predict outcomes from liver disease. He is a member of the American Porphyria Foundation and has joined the NIH-funded Porphyria Research Consortium. More recently, he is spearheading an effort to focus on rare liver and GI diseases such as the porphyrias and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Dr. Beaven and his trainees have received awards from the UCLA Department of Medicine Research Day, UCLA CURE, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). He is an active peer reviewer for several scientific journals, including Diabetes, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Hepatology, Gastroenterology, and the Journal of Lipid Research. Dr. Beaven teaches in the medical school at all levels and lectures to medical residents and fellows on issues related to liver and gastrointestinal disease. He primarily sees patients with liver diseases at the Pfleger Liver Institute (UCLA) and patients with liver disease and general GI conditions at Olive View – UCLA Medical Center.
Gina Choi, MD
Associate Director, Transplant Hepatology Fellowship
Health Sciences Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
Pfleger Liver Institute
Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant Center
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Choi specializes in general and transplant hepatology. She focuses on treating patients with the complications of cirrhosis, and manages their evaluation and care before and after liver transplant. She is well versed in the newest approaches to treat viral hepatitis B and C. She is part of a multi-disciplinary team employing the latest treatments for liver cancer. She is also interested in autoimmune liver disease, including autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis, and in caring for women with liver disease, including in pregnancy.
Dr. Choi graduated from Stanford University and subsequently spent one year in Korea as a Fulbright Scholar. She earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and completed her internal medicine residency at New York University (NYU). This was followed by a gastroenterology fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Choi then pursued an additional year of advanced training in transplant hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, she was recognized as a Southern California Rising Star.
Dr. Choi is board-certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and transplant hepatology. She speaks both English and Korean.
Francisco Durazo, MD, FACP
Chief, Transplant Hepatology
Medical Director, Dumont UCLA Liver Transplant Center
Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Durazo earned his medical degree from the State of Mexico University, Mexico City. After a research fellowship, he completed his residency in internal medicine as chief resident at Los Angeles County – USC. Following his fellowship training in gastroenterology and liver diseases, and pancreato-biliary endoscopy training in Germany and France, Dr. Durazo was appointed a clinical assistant professor, gastroenterology and transplant hepatology at USC. Dr. Durazo was recruited to the Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant Center in 2001 where he has been the medical director since 2007. In 2015, Dr. Durazo was named the chief of transplant hepatology in the Department of Surgery Liver and Pancreas Transplant Division.
His clinical research interests focus on the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, drug induced liver injury, including herbals and dietary supplements, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. An active presenter at national and international meetings, Dr. Durazo is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and past president of the Southern California Society of Gastroenterology. Dr. Durazo is board-certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology and liver diseases, and transplant hepatology.
Mohamed El Kabany, MD
Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine and Hepatology
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. El Kabany is associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Surgery. Dr. El Kabany received his MB, BCh from Cairo University School of Medicine in Egypt. He completed his fellowship in hepatology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine where he received his clinical hepatology diploma and he is board certified in internal medicine. Dr. El Kabany is active in many committees, including the Liver Transplant Executive Committee of the UCLA Division of Transplantation. He is also an active member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and has been a primary investigator in a number of clinical trials.
Steven-Huy Han, MD, AGAF, FAASLD
Director, Hepatology Clinical Research Center
Program Director, Advanced Transplant Hepatology Fellowship
Assistant Director, UCLA Asian Liver Center
Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Han received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and then attended medical school at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York where he received his MD degree. Following a residency in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University, Dr. Han completed a clinical fellowship in hepatology at the University of Southern California under the guidance of Dr. Telfer B. Reynolds. He then trained at the University of California, Los Angeles where he completed a clinical fellowship in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology. Since then, Dr. Han has remained at UCLA, where he is now professor of medicine and surgery in the Division of Digestive Diseases and the Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation. In addition to his patient care responsibilities in hepatology and liver transplantation, Dr. Han plays an active role in the clinical training of medical students, medical residents, and subspecialty fellows and is the current program director of the Advanced Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at UCLA. Most recently, Dr. Han has been working with the UCLA Foundation to establish the Philip L. Palumbo Endowed Chair in Clinical Hepatology to honor the chair’s donor. With this endowed chair, the first hepatology chair at UCLA, Dr. Han hopes to further UCLA’s mission to advance research in liver diseases and to help educate future liver scholars.
Dr. Han is the director of the Hepatology Clinical Research Center and assistant director of the UCLA Asian Liver Center. His research interests have focused on the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B and C, the prevention of recurrent viral hepatitis after liver transplantation, and the prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. He is the principal investigator of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Hepatitis B Clinical Research Network in Los Angeles, co-principal investigator of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Translational Liver Cancer Consortium, and multiple clinical studies involving treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C. Dr. Han also serves on the editorial boards of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and is a guest associate editor for Gastroenterology and Digestive Diseases and Science. He has published many articles in the area of viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, and liver cancer and is an active speaker, lecturing on these subjects both nationally and internationally. He has been recognized by Best Doctors every year since 2003. He is a past president of the Southern California Society of Gastroenterology and an ongoing council member.
Sammy Saab, MD, MPH, AGAF, FAASLD, FACG
Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Head, Outcomes Research in Hepatology
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Saab received his BS, MD, and MPH degrees from UCLA. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center and a fellowship in gastroenterology/hepatology at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences. He also served as chief medical resident at USCD. Dr. Saab is board certified in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology.
He has received honorary fellowship from several medical societies including the American Gastroenterology Association (AGAF), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (FAASLD), and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).
Dr. Saab is active in many local, national, and international committees. He served on the Medical Advisory Committee of the Ventura County/ West Valley Chapter of TRIO (2005-2012), Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Society of Transplantation (2006-2008), and the Educational Committee of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (2004-2007). He is currently co-chair on the National Medical Advisory Committee for the American Liver Foundation. He is on the board of directors for the American Liver Foundation and Chronic Liver Disease Foundation and the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation.
Dr. Saab served on the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Nominating Committee in 2014. He previously served as member of United Network for Organ Sharing Membership and Professional Standards Committee and Performance Analysis and Improvement Subcommittee. Dr. Saab was also a member of the Minority Affairs Committee Member and Cultural Diversity for the American College of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Saab has been an investigator in numerous clinical trials, a frequently invited speaker worldwide, and leads an annual patient education seminar.
He has been named one of the “Best Doctors in America,” has received the Distinguished Achievement Award from his Division of Digestive Diseases. Dr. Saab has published over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has authored many book chapters, editorials, abstracts, and poster presentations. Dr. Saab is on the editorial board of more than a dozen journal, and is currently the liver section editor for the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.
Myron J. Tong, MD, PhD
Director, Westwood Hepatology
Associate Director, UCLA Liver Cancer Center
Director, Asian Liver Center UCLA
Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Tong received his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of California, Berkley, and MD degree from the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his fellowship in hepatology at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles.
Dr. Tong served as a naval medical officer in Vietnam, and was attached to the US Naval Medical Research Unit in Danang, where he was involved in studies of war-related wounds and tropical diseases.
A world-leading hepatologist, Dr. Tong has specialized in liver-disease research and treatment for more than 25 years, with a distinguished record of service to the university and community. The first to link HBV infection with liver cancer, Dr. Tong is one of the leading clinical investigators on HBV and liver diseases in Asians in the US and Asia. Dr. Tong's research efforts include anti-viral treatment of patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and he is heavily involved in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at UCLA.
Kara Walter, MD
Health Sciences Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Walter earned her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College and completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She remained at the University of Washington for additional fellowship training in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology. She is board-certified in internal medicine and board-eligible in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology.
Dr. Walter specializes in general and transplant hepatology. She treats patients with a wide spectrum of liver disorders, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver diseases, cirrhosis of the liver and its complications, and hepatocellular carcinoma. She also cares for patients both before and after liver transplantation. Her research interests include management of hepatic encephalopathy and outcomes of liver transplantation.
Beshoy T. Yanny, MD
Program Leader, Hepatology, UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica
Health Sciences Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and Pfleger Liver Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Yanny specializes in general and transplant hepatology and focuses on treating patients with a wide spectrum of liver disorders. He is well versed in the treatment of hepatitis C with the new direct-acting antiviral agents. He cares for patients with liver cirrhosis and its spectrum of complications. He also cares for patients before and after liver transplantation. His research interests include non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and viral hepatitis B and C.
Dr. Yanny completed his internal medicine residency at Keck School of Medicine and county hospital of USC. Following his internal medicine training, he served as the inaugural transplant hepatology hospitalist at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center for one year. He then completed his gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center. Dr. Yanny moved to UCLA as the inaugural transplant hepatology fellow, where he completed his training. He is board certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology and transplant hepatology. Dr. Yanny has presented research at multiple national and international societies including AASLD, EASL, GUILD, and DDW.
Sherona Bau, MSN, ACNP-BC, CNS-BC
Hepatology Nurse Practitioner
Sherona graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008, with her MSN/dual program (acute care nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist). She has been working at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center since 2003 as a registered nurse on the transplantation unit focusing on liver, kidney, pancreas, and small bowel transplantations. She also worked at the transitional transplantation care unit in which the majority of those critically ill patients were seen soon after receiving abdominal organ transplantation.
In 2010, Sherona joined the UCLA Pfleger Liver Institute and Asian Liver Cancer Center working as an outpatient hepatology nurse practitioner specializing in liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Since 2013, she has had six research papers published in Liver International, Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, Clinical Transplant, and Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology. In early 2016, Sherona was invited as a guest speaker to teach overseas and at the UCLA MECN (Master Entry Clinical Nurse) program. She also participates in community service projects to screen for hepatitis C in a local church. Her clinical interests include: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, biliary liver diseases, autoimmune liver diseases, fatty liver disease, drug-induced liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Valerie Shin, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC
Hepatology Nurse Practitioner
Valerie earned her BSN degree at New York University and her MSN degree at UCLA School of Nursing. Her nursing experience includes working in the medical-surgical unit at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare system and in the cardiology unit at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. She joined UCLA Health Pfleger Liver Institute in 2018 as a nurse practitioner who specializes in hepatology. Her clinical interests includes viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, drug-induced liver disease, biliary liver disease, fatty liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and post liver transplant care.
