Karen Woo, MD, PhD
Accepting new patients

Karen Woo, MD, PhD

  • Vascular Surgery
Gonda Vascular Surgery | 200 Medical Plaza, Suite 526, Los Angeles, CA 90095

About

Dr. Woo is a Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She is a busy vascular surgeon and sees patients in the vascular surgery clinic, the wound care and limb salvage clinic and hyperbaric medicine. She is a recognized expert in dialysis vascular access. She and her team perform complex vascular access operations and are dedicated to the care of patients with end stage kidney disease.  

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Woo is the Principal Investigator of a National Institutes of Health funded research laboratory. Dr. Woo has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has been an invited speaker at a variety of national and international scientific meetings. Her scientific research focuses on improving outcomes of dialysis vascular access operations and optimizing the patient experience of healthcare. To do so, she collaborates with numerous other researchers across the UCLA campus including in the fields of public health, biostatistics and medical informatics.

Dr. Woo is the Associate Director of the Vascular Low Frequency Disease Consortium, a novel collaborative effort among investigators from institutions across the US and the world to study management and outcomes of uncommon vascular conditions.  Dr. Woo is an active member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, the Society for University Surgeons and a number other professional organizations. She has served in numerous local, regional and national leadership positions within the surgery community including the Board of Directors for the Surgical Outcomes Club, Board of Directors for the Southern California American College of Surgeons and president of the Southern California Vascular Surgical Society.  

 

Languages

English

Education

Medical Board Certification

Vascular Surgery, American Board of Surgery, 2010

Fellowship

Vascular Surgery, Scripps Clinic & Research, 2009

Residency

Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 2007

Internships

Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 2003
Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2002

Degrees

PhD, UCLA School of Public Health, 2020
MS, USC, 2013
MD, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2001

Recognitions

  • Member Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
  • American Medical Women’s Association Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Citation
  • 2nd Place, Resident Paper Competition, 27th Annual Meeting of the Southern California Vascular Surgical Society
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Hospital Affiliations

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center

Research

Interests

  • Dialysis Access
  • Decision Making
  • Surgical Quality Improvement
  • Outcomes Research

In the News

Recognitions

  • Member Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
  • American Medical Women’s Association Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Citation
  • 2nd Place, Resident Paper Competition, 27th Annual Meeting of the Southern California Vascular Surgical Society
  • Ruben F. Gittes Award for Excellence in Research by a Surgical Fellow
  • LAC+USC/Keck School of Medicine Faculty Teaching Award, May 2010 and May 2011
  • Member, The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
  • 2012 Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society Traveling Fellowship
  • Pasadena Magazine 2014 Top Doctor in Vascular Surgery
  • University of Southern California Schaeffer Center Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Scholar
  • Society for Vascular Surgery Women’s Leadership Training Grant
  • Society for Vascular Surgery Distinguished Fellow