Our Expert Team

V. Raman Muthusamy, MD, MAS, FACG, FASGE, AGAF
Medical Director of Endoscopy, UCLA Health
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Location: Westwood

Dr. Muthusamy is recognized as a leader in advanced endoscopic procedures. His clinical research interests focus on the evaluation of existing and new endoscopic technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive disorders. They include endoscopic ablative techniques for Barrett's esophagus with dysplasia and early esophageal adenocarcinoma, clinical applications of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with a particular focus on EUS-guided tissue acquisition, assessment of new endolumenal stents, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with a particular interest in cholangioscopy and stent patency, and endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Dr. Muthusamy also has recently focused on the development of quality metrics in endoscopy and methods to improve the safety and efficiency of endoscopy care with a particular focus on endoscope reprocessing and duodenoscope associated transmission of infections.

Dr. Muthusamy is currently a professor of clinical medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and medical director of endoscopy for UCLA Health. Prior to his recruitment to UCLA in 2011, he was a faculty member at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. In addition to his extensive clinical work in interventional endoscopy there, he also served as the director of the GI Fellowship Program at UC Irvine. He has also previously served as director of endoscopic ultrasound at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Muthusamy completed his undergraduate work at Stanford University and graduated with distinction. He subsequently went to medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he graduated with honors. His residency was undertaken at Duke University Medical Center where he served as assistant chief resident and traveled abroad to study evidence-based medicine under Dr. David Sackett at Oxford University. He completed his fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California San Francisco before undertaking his advanced endoscopy fellowship at the University of California Irvine which he completed in 2001.

Dr. Muthusamy is board-certified in gastroenterology and has been recognized by Best Doctors since 2011. He is an editor of the 3rd edition of textbook Clinical Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He is a past-president of the Orange County GI Society and a councilor for the Southern California Society of Gastroenterology. Dr. Muthusamy is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (FACG), American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (FASGE) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF). He serves as one of two ACG governors for Southern California and is a former member of the ACG Research and Public Relations committees.  He is current an associate editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology. He previously has served as a co-director of the ASGE’s Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit course and serves on the ASGE Quality Assurance in Endoscopy committee. He is also a long-standing member and the current chair of the AGA’s Center for GI Innovation and Technology and serves on the AGA’s research award panel. 

Danny Issa, MD
Health Sciences Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Locations: Santa Clarita and West Hills

Dr. Issa is an interventional gastroenterologist with advanced fellowship training. His clinical and research interest focus on using minimally-invasive approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases such as the pancreas and biliary tract disorders, achalasia, Barrett’s esophagus, gastroparesis, colon polyps and early cancer lesions. Gastrointestinal procedures he performs include endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), tumor ablation, endoluminal stenting, mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). He has a particular interest in bariatric endoscopy and obesity medicine and performing non-surgical endoscopic procedures for weight loss such as endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) and gastric balloon placement. Dr. Issa has presented his research at numerous national meetings.
 
After earning his medical degree from the University of Damascus, he completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Northwestern University, Chicago, and a residency in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic - Fairview Hospital. He then completed a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an advanced endoscopy fellowship at Weill Cornell Medical College/ New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Issa is board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine. He is an active member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Gastroenterology Association, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the American College of Gastroenterology.

Stephen Kim, MD
Director, Faculty Career Development in Advanced Endoscopy
Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Location: Westwood

Dr. Kim’s clinical focus involves the application of advanced endoscopic procedures in the diagnosis, treatment and palliation of various gastrointestinal disorders. He is proficient in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), ERCP, endoluminal stenting, deep enteroscopy, and endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of large colon polyps. His research and clinical interests lie in the endoscopic management of pancreatic diseases.

Dr. Kim received his undergraduate education from Harvard University and earned his medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania after which he spent an extra year as chief medical resident. He then moved to UCLA for his gastroenterology fellowship and faculty career development in advanced endoscopy. He is board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine and is an active member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association. He is currently the director of the Faculty Career Development in Advanced Endoscopy at UCLA.

Alireza Sedarat, MD
Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Location: Santa Monica and Westwood

Dr. Sedarat joined UCLA in 2013 as a member of the interventional endoscopy within the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases. His clinical interests encompass the development and application of advanced endoscopic techniques and interventions to diagnose, stage, treat and palliate a range of benign and malignant gastrointestinal disorders. He is proficient in the application of advanced endoscopic techniques including therapeutic ERCP, EUS with fine needle aspiration and biopsy, ERCP in surgically altered anatomy, interventional EUS (such as biliary drainage or rendezvous procedures, pancreas pseudocyst drainage, pancreas necrosectomy, fiducial placement and abscess drainage), pancreatic and biliary endotherapy, endoluminal stenting, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), complex polypectomy, tumor ablation, deep (device assisted) enteroscopy, endoscopic fistula and leak closure, complex stricture dilation and endotherapy, endoscopic treatment of Barrett’s esophagus with mucosal resection and radiofrequency ablation, endoscopic antireflux procedures, Zenkers’ diverticulum myotomy, endoscopic management of surgical complications, and chromoendoscopy. Dr. Sedarat also performs bariatric endoscopy, including primary endoscopic therapies for obesity, endoscopic treatment of weight regain following bariatric surgery, and treatment of post-surgical complications.

He started the program at UCLA to offer the POEM procedure (peroral endoscopic myotomy) as treatment option for patients with achalasia and spastic disorders of the esophagus.  His research interests include endoscopic device development and application as well as evaluation of existing and emerging endoscopic technologies with a focus on improving patient outcomes. He is interested in the application of the emerging fields of submucosal and transluminal endoscopy, including endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early tumor resection, POEM, and application of devices and techniques to treat gastrointestinal disorders that traditionally were managed surgically.
 
Dr. Sedarat completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his fellowship in gastroenterology here at UCLA and returned to UPenn to complete an advanced endoscopy fellowship. He is board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine and is a member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association. 

Adarsh M. Thaker, MD
Health Sciences Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Location: Burbank and Westwood

Dr. Thaker's clinical practice and research focus on the use of the latest endoscopic technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. He has specialized training in eradication therapies (including radiofrequency ablation) for Barrett’s esophagus and early esophageal cancer; stricture dilation; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP); cholangioscopy; endoluminal stent placement; deep enteroscopy/balloon enteroscopy; endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of large polyps; endoscopic suturing, fistula and leak closure; endoscopic weight loss therapies; and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for cancer staging, fine needle aspiration and biopsy and interventional procedures (such as bile duct access or rendezvous procedures, pancreatic pseudocyst drainage, pancreatic necrosectomy, fiducial placement and celiac plexus neurolysis).

In addition, Dr. Thaker has recently focused on eliminating endoscope-related infections to improve patient safety.

Dr. Thaker completed his undergraduate training in chemical engineering at UCLA before attending medical school at New York Medical College. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, followed by gastroenterology fellowship and advanced endoscopy fellowship training at UCLA. In additional to performing procedures at UCLA’s campuses in Westwood and Santa Monica, Dr. Thaker will be providing advanced procedures in other Southern California locations.

Dr. Thaker is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine. He has published several research studies, literature reviews and a textbook chapter related to the endoscopic management of complex gastrointestinal diseases, anesthesia safety during endoscopy and preventing infections related to endoscopic instruments. He is a member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). He also serves on the committee for the AGA’s Center for GI Innovation and Technology (CGIT), which supports innovation and the development of new technologies for use in gastroenterology, hepatology, nutrition and obesity management..

Harold Paredes, MD
Health Sciences Clinical Instructor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Paredes completed his undergraduate training in biology at New York University and then attended medical school at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. His training continued with internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai followed by general gastroenterology fellowship at Stony Brook Hospital in Long Island, New York.

Dr. Paredes’ research interests include quality improvement projects, including devising ways to increase certification rates for GI related procedures for internal medicine residents during their training, and reducing the number of no shows in the endoscopy unit. He is also interested in the application of novel endoscopic therapies, such as endoscopic vacuum closure device for upper GI defects (E-VAC). His passion for teaching is demonstrated by the Gold Humanism Honor Society Teaching Award received during his residency. Dr. Paredes has also been involved in hepatitis C related research, including anti-retroviral treatment in marginalized populations.

He is board certified in internal medicine, and is an active member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association.

Dan Serber, RN, BSN
Nurse Coordinator

Dan Serber, RN, BSN, facilitates and organizes the patient care continuum. He provides nursing consultations designed to educate and prepare the arriving patient for their advanced GI procedures. This personalized attention has been shown to ease patient anxiety, improve adherence to preparatory guidelines and increase overall patient satisfaction. Dan also participates in outreach efforts and serves as liaison for current and potential referring physicians.