Congratulations to Dr. Shaun Yang for his recent interview in UCLA Health concerning the COVID Delta variant!
We are very grateful that Dr. Yang and our UCLA microbiologists are not only testing for COVID, but also are helping to educate our communities about the dangers the Delta variant poses. We are very proud of our Microbiology team! If you see a member of the team on campus, please thank them for their great work.
Read more here.
Congratulations to Dr. Elaine Reed on her newly funded research program investigating the role of the HIPPO pathway in antibody mediated heart transplant rejection. The funds, received via a generous donation from an Aestiva Software Founder who prefers to remain anonymous, will be used to support a 2-year fellowship for a post-graduate to work on this project.
Corynebacterium hindlerae sp. nov., has been named after Janet Hindler, who retired from the UCLA Clinical Microbiology Laboratory in 2017 after 40 years of service. Janet spent her career focused on antimicrobial susceptibility testing and has helped develop standards to guide laboratories in detecting antimicrobial resistance. She has written and taught extensively in this area and is the recipient of numerous awards including Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. In her semi-retirement, Janet works as a consultant for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health where she is part of the team responsible for keeping LA County residents safe from antimicrobial resistance threats. Additionally, she remains actively engaged in advancing the professional development of a new generation of clinical microbiologists through her volunteer work with the American Society for Microbiology and the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. More about Corynebacterium hindlerae can be found here.
Dr. Jianyu Rao is a tenured full professor at David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles. He serves as the Vice Chair of Diagnostic Technology Innovation for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Chief of Cytopathology Division, Director of International Telepathology, and Medical Director of the Cytotechnology School. He is a fellow of College of American Pathologist, fellow of Academy of Translational Medicine, Member of Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Member of California Nanosystem Institute. He received Physician of the Year award by Wall Street Journal (2005), International Health Professional and Scientist of the Year (2003, 2006), Guangji Scholar by Zhejiang University (2011), and be nominated to Shaw prize in life science and medicine (2010) and Tang prize (2018). His clinical expertise includes cytopathology, FNA, gynecological pathology, and genitourinary pathology. His research areas include cancer biomarker studies, cancer screen and precancer field disease researches, molecular epidemiology, liquid biopsy, digital and computational pathology, with over 190 peer-reviewed research publications, 18 books/book chapters, and speaking in over 190 meetings locally, nationally and internationally. His accomplishments include established the first-ever international Telepathology program, uncovered the role of cytoskeletal actin remodeling in cancer progression, determined molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer effect of green tea, and pioneered the work for developing cellular mechanobiological profiles as a biomarker for cancer.
Featured Presentations:
Featured Publications:
Congratulations to Dr. Valerie Arboleda on being selected to receive the 2021 John H. Walsh Young Investigator Research Prize!
Dr. John H. Walsh was a distinguished member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at UCLA from 1970 until his passing in June 2000. His research in the regulation of gastric secretion and physiology of gastrointestinal tract hormones was world renown and his contributions through his leadership were significant both at UCLA and nationally. His greatest passion was mentoring young basic and clinical scientists in achieving successful academic careers. This prize for outstanding research has been established to honor the memory of Dr. Walsh.
Factors for selection include: an extraordinary future promise of a distinguished career in academics, innovation in research, impact of research in your field, originality and creativity of scholarship, research productivity, and quality as demonstrated by publications, presentations, awards, and funding. Dr. Arboleda will provide a lecture at an upcoming celebration to be scheduled in September.
Please join us in congratulating our Cytology Students on being selected to present at the 2021 American Society for Cytotechnology Annual Conference!
Each year, the American Society for Cytotechnology, a national organization committed to defining and promoting the profession and education of cytotechnology, holds an annual conference and invite all students training in Cytology programs to submit an interesting case for participation.
Recently, our four Cytology students have been selected and are invited to present their interesting cases in-person at the 2021 American Society for Cytotechnology Annual Conference in Denver, CO, on August 27-28, 2021. 
Congratulations to Dr. Dinesh Rao and his collaborator, Dr. Jeremy Sanford, at UCSC, for receiving a multi-PI grant from the National Cancer Institutes with total costs over $3 million over five years. The grant focuses on how RNA-binding proteins may be important in leukemia and other hematologic malignancies. Dr. Rao will be leading the efforts at UCLA to better understand the role that this protein plays in the development of leukemia and how its inhibition may be leveraged for future therapies. Read more here.
We are delighted to announce that, following an external search process, Amanda Fakih has been selected to become the permanent Chief Administrative Officer for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, effective August 1. Following current practices, this search was conducted jointly by the Department and DGSOM.
Amanda has served as the Department’s Deputy and subsequently Interim CAO since May 2020. During this time, Amanda and her team have accomplished a number of high impact initiatives across the department. Some highlights include: engaged partnership with Core Research Services Directors resulting in several fee schedule revisions and operational and financial improvements; the establishment of the inaugural Pathology Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee; revitalization of the Pathology Grand Rounds; +$2M identified in cost savings; improved work processes across the Department’s Business Office, and improved transparency and clarity for faculty regarding all areas under her oversight. While Deputy/Interim, Amanda also led or participated in several important DGSOM-wide initiatives, including leading the process to establish a common fee schedule for the three UCLA Sequencing cores and serving on the DGSOM Racial Equity and Justice Task Force.
Amanda received both her Bachelor of Business Administration and her Master of Health Services Administration (with a Certificate in Public Health Genetics) from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the department, Amanda completed a one-year Administrative Fellowship in Hospital Operations at UCLA Health. Her previous work experience included working as a Business Development Director and General Manager for fertility clinics and genomics laboratories. In these roles, she not only increased revenues, but also worked with insurers to improve coverage for offered services, led the implementation of new LISs, ensured labs met all clinical regulatory requirements and spearheaded patient safety/lab quality initiatives.
Please join us in welcoming Amanda as our permanent CAO. She truly embodies the values of our Cultural North Star – Do What’s Right, Make Things Better and Be Kind – and we look forward to her continued leadership, collaboration and innovation.
Congratulations to the inaugural senior class at the Geffen Academy at UCLA! Krysten, the daughter of Jowin Rioveros, Director of the Director, UCLA Blood & Platelet Center and Component Processing Laboratory, was bestowed the honor of being one of the selected speakers at the graduation, alongside the commencement speaker, Oprah! Congratulations, Krysten!
Congratulations to the Clinical Laboratory Scientist Program (CLS) Class of 2021! We would like to thank you all for your continued dedication and contribution to their clinical rotation. Your support, knowledge sharing, and guidance have prepared them for their upcoming exam and their future career as a CLS. Please join us in congratulating them on their hard work and accomplishment.
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Congratulations to Dr. Alyssa Ziman for being quoted in a LA Times article surrounding research being done to determine if federal rules regarding the eligibility of gay and bisexual men to donate blood can be modified. Read more here.
Congratulations to Dawn Ward, MD on being invited as the closing speaker for the UCLA DGSOM Pre-Medical Enrichment Program (UCLA PREP) this year! UCLA PREP is a unique non-residential program designed to provide premedical students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the means to strengthening their ability and readiness to study medicine. Full participation in the UCLA PREP program allows participants to enhance their chances of being accepted to medical school and succeeding once there.
Congratulations to Valerie Arboleda, MD, PHD on her work on Swabseq “Massively scaled-up testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA via next-generation sequencing of pooled and barcoded nasal and saliva samples'” being featured in the journal, Nature Biomedical Engineering. Read more here.
Congratulations to Dr. Precious Fortes, on being elected to serve on our new UCLA Minority Housestaff Organization (MHO) Executive Board as Historian on the Community and Professional Development Committee!
Congratulations to Amit Kumar Jaiswal, PhD, Tiffany Tran, PhD, and Dr. Dinesh Rao, MD, PhD on their paper “Focused CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screening reveals USO1 as a vulnerability in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia” being featured in the journal, Scientific Reports. Read more here.
We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Clara Magyar’s role in the department will expand, effective July 1, as the Manager, Pathology Biobanks and Biospecimen Research Cores. In this capacity, Dr. Magyar will oversee the Translational Pathology Core Laboratory (TPCL), inclusive of the UCLA Biorepository (UBR), as well as the Center for Pathology Research Services (CPRS) and the Pathology Research Portal (PRP). Dr. Magyar will continue to partner with the faculty Directors overseeing these Cores, Dr. Dawn Ward and Dr. Samuel French.
Dr. Clara Magyar earned her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Southern California studying the acute and chronic hypertension on renal sodium transporter regulation. Her postdoctoral training began at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pharmacology, studying the role of parathyroid hormone on the regulation of renal calcium transport and continued at the UCLA School of Dentistry studying parathyroid hormone regulation of various molecular mechanisms involved in bone development and differentiation. Dr. Magyar joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in 2008. Since that time she has served as the Manager of TPCL, directing the Image Analysis/ Virtual Microscopy division of the core as well as overseeing all operations of TPCL and the UCLA Biobank. Dr. Magyar has over 15 years of experience in advanced microscopy and immunofluorescence staining of both human and animal tissues. Since March 2021, Dr. Magyar has served as the Interim Manager of PRP and CPRS.
We are please to announce Dr. Bita Naini is the department's new AP Division Chief! Please join us in welcoming Dr. Naini into her new role.
The Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine’s EDI Committee Co-Chairs are pleased to invite Shola Richards, nationally acclaimed EDI Speaker, to provide an introductory training on Courageous Civility for the newly established EDI Committee on 6/14/21. The presentation and training will lay the foundation for the Committee’s future initiatives within the department and beyond.
Congratulations to Drs. Corey Arnold and Anthony Sisk on their manuscript “Optimizing Spatial Biopsy Sampling for the Detection of Prostate Cancer” being featured in The Journal of Urology. Read more here.
Congratulations to Drs. Trang Lollie, Jian Yu Rao, and Esteban Gnass on having their “Notification of Molecular Sendout Test Results for Pathologists” project to move forward for presentation to health system leadership and colleagues at the 8th Annual UCLA Health Resident Informaticist Project Virtual Symposium!
We welcome you to join the Symposium on Tuesday June 8th, 5:00 – 7:00pm. Registration in advance is available here.
Congratulations to Dr. Bita Naini on being selected to participate in the 2021-22 system-wide UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI)! This competitive process included applications from faculty and senior level staff from all 10 UC campuses.
Since 2016, over 500 UC professionals have completed the program. UC WI continues to be well received internally and recognized as award-winning and leading-edge by external organizations. Participants consistently rate it amongst the most valuable professional development programs they have completed.
We are delighted that Dr. Naini will participate in this year-long program. We look forward to Dr. Naini’s future achievements!
We are delighted to announce that UCLA’s Dr. Omai Garner and Stephanie Horiuchi are featured in the latest release from ASCP on Clinical Laboratories’ response to COVID-19. This 8 minute segment, which prominently features Stephanie, focuses on the intense physical and psychological stresses of the past year, and the associated burnout, as our staff stepped up in so many ways to help us meet the myriad challenges of COVID.
This series follows an ASCP series last year on COVID and the lab, in which Dr. Garner, Stephanie and Dr. Ziman were featured.
This is a good reminder for all of us to recognize the amazing work we all have done, particularly over the last 14 months. We encourage everyone to take a few moments this week to thank a colleague for their effort, dedication, professionalism and support. We are so proud of the work we have done, and so happy that your efforts have been celebrated by UCLA Health leadership and ASCP.
Watch the video here.
We are pleased to announce that the One Lab Committee has selected Tom Callahan as the new Chair of the Committee! As Chair, he will work alongside the committee members in developing staff engagement activities, host educational lectures, create our quarterly newsletter, and coordinate Lab Week. Additionally, we thank Daisy Villa for her service on the committee. She helped create the foundation for the committee’s work toward improvement, dedication, and continuity within our laboratory structure. We look forward to the One Lab Committee’s future innovations! Congratulations, Tom!
We are delighted to announce Dr. Wayne Grody has been selected as one of the 2021 recipients of the David Geffen School of Medicine’s Serge & Yvette Dadone Clinical Teaching Award!
This award, as well as the Kaiser-Permanente Award for Excellence in Teaching, are peer-reviewed awards established to recognize outstanding dedication, innovation, and sustained excellence in clinical and classroom teaching. Dr. Grody is one of only 4 faculty who will receive the 2021 Dadone Clinical Teaching award.
Dr. Grody has taught Medical Genetics to 33 consecutive medical school classes. He started teaching on this subject when we, as a profession, were just starting to understand how to use molecular diagnostic testing clinically. Dr. Grody taught not only about the biologic details of this testing, but also shared with our medical students his deep passion for ethics and insistence that we all think carefully about the current and future ethical implications of genetic testing decisions – discussions that have proved increasingly important as our technological capabilities have expanded.
The Awards for Education Reception will be held virtually on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM. DGSOM will be sending out an invitation soon.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Grody for his outstanding educational leadership and contributions! We are so proud to have Dr. Grody as a member of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine!
Congratulations to Dr. Carrie Butler, and co-authors Drs. Michelle Hickey, David Gjertson, Gregory Fishbein and Elaine Reed along with the UCLA Heart Transplant team and collaborative researchers, for being selected as the recipient of the 2021 American Journal of Transplantation Outstanding Article award for their paper “Discovery of non-HLA antibodies associated with cardiac allograft rejection and development and validation of a non-HLA antigen multiplex panel: From bench to bedside.” AJT is the top journal in the field of transplantation and notably, this award was created to recognize and honor meritorious manuscripts published in the prior year.
KCRW-FM interviewed Omai Garner, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Microbiology, on COVID-19 risks after vaccination.
Read more here.
Reveal the Masked Faculty – Answers
Raffle was held with all those that answered everything correctly
Divine Grace Kabigting
Maria Millie Zurbano
Thuy Nhi Nguyen
Patrick Ravelo
Janet Karschamroon
Janet Baez
Lissette Ortega Garcia
Carolynn Maravilla
Victoria Anikst
Shih-Mao Teng
Jesada Mathiyakom
Raffle was held with all those that answered everything correctly
Jessica Campbell
Aiza Gotidoc
Jacqueline Monreal
Kazi Rahman
Jennifer Nguyen
Aida-Rae Manansala
Leslie Aranda
John Muramoto
Jose Nolasco
Jamie Baldoza
Unscramble Word Game – Answers
Raffle was held with all that completed the word search correctly
Matthew Fournier
Mario Hakim
Gil Gungab
Maria Millie Zurbano
Patrick Ravelo
Olfat Abuadas
Lissette Ortega Garcia
Allyson Terry
Patricia Dellosa
Catalina Vasquez
Raffle was held with all those that answered everything correctly
Stephanie Dominquez
Precious Cawed
Shirlene Leongson
Marc Punongbayan
Rafael Garcia
Shih-Mao Teng
Teddy Salle
Suttida Parnpromeagustaf
Steven Zuniga
Reina Blanco
Randomly selected staff that attended Talks/Trivia
Jena Galasso
Lilian Baldwin
Edwin Kamau
Daniel Cardoza
Natalia Liu
Esteban Gnass
Daisy Polanco
Precious Forte
Nicolas Pantejo
Ed Griffin
Adriana Saucedo
Larry Campos
Alexander Hernandez
Thomas Callahan
Carlos Garibay
We also entered all the staff that participated in events to a raffle, below are the four winners:
Svetlana Di Meo
Allison Nomura
Eric Rosen
Elizabeth Pacheco
Congratulations Drs. Travis Price, Suki Chandrasekaran, Omai Garner, and Shaun Yang on their publication Performance Characteristics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 RT-PCR Tests in a Single Health System: Analysis of >10,000 Results from Three Different Assays. The manuscript highlights a performance comparison of several widely used COVID-19 PCR tests, as well as clinically significant characteristics of COVID-19 molecular testing. Read more here.
We are honored to announce this year’s recipients of the 2021 Distinguished Career Award, the Excellence in Leadership (EXCEL) Award, and the Rising Star Award. Each year, the Administrative Management Group (AMG) shines the spotlight on employees who have been dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in their careers at UCLA. We received many outstanding nominations this year.
Congratulations to the following 2021 AMG award recipients:
For the Distinguished Career Award:
Ronke Epps, Chief Administrative Officer, Mathematics
For the Excellence in Leadership (EXCEL) Award:
Mark Ramseyer, Program Director, Business Management & Legal Programs, UCLA Extension
For the Rising Star Award:
Alexander Martin, Director of Operations for Anatomical Pathology, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
All award nominees will be recognized at the virtual AMG event scheduled for April 21, 2021, from 12 – 1 p.m. If you would like to attend please RSVP. To view the list of nominees, visit the AMG website.We look forward to celebrating the extraordinary achievements of this year’s recipients of the 2021 AMG Awards.
We extend congratulations to the Division of Transfusion Medicine on their two recent collaborations and publications.
Congratulations to Drs. Alyssa Ziman, Andrea McGonigle, and Dawn Ward and UCLA collaborator Jennifer Nguygen on their manuscript How do we implement pathogen reduction technology, while maintaining an adequate platelet inventory for our patients? This manuscript highlights their experience with pathogen reduction for platelet products. In addition to the manuscript, this study was selected as an oral abstract presentation at the 2018 annual American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) meeting.
Congratulations to Drs. Dawn Ward, Alyssa Ziman, and Shohei Ikoma along with collaborators, Meg Furukawa, Ashely Busuttil, Jeff Mayne, Robin Clarke, and Kevin Baldwin, on their manuscript Optimizing Inpatient Blood Utilization Using Real-Time Clinical Decision Support. This manuscript highlights the collaborative effort between transfusion medicine, hospitalists, and physician informatics to improve RBC utilization. This project was recognized as an ASCP 2019 Choosing Wisely Champion and was one of the case studies when UCLA Health was named a 2018 HIMSS Davies Enterprise Award recipient.
We are grateful for the division’s continued innovation and look forward to their future work.
Congratulations Dr. Bogdan Pasaniuc, along with UCLA collaborators Drs. Daniel Geschwind, and Manish Butte on receiving OCRC funding to study genetics’ role in COVID-19 susceptibility, and for publishing their first paper on their results! By partnering with the University of California’s five other medical centers, they will be able to analyze genetic data from thousands of COVID-19 patients with diverse backgrounds. The results of their findings could generate tools to identify the most vulnerable and COVID-19 treatments tailored to an individual’s particular genetic risk. We are excited to see these important and interesting results. Please see the paper and/or read more here.
Congratulations to Drs. Ting Zhang, Shino Magaki, and Harry Vinters on receiving funding for their project, Understanding the Molecular Neuropathogenesis of COVID-19. This project will use novel and valuable autopsy brain specimens to provide unique insights on the potential disease mechanisms as well as therapeutic avenues for the neurological deficits of COVID-19. We look forward to seeing their results.
We are grateful for the creativity and productivity of these and all our faculty and trainees.
Congratulations to Dr. Scott Nelson and Dr. Sarah Dry on being named to Los Angeles Magazine’s 2021 list of “Top Doctors” in Los Angeles! The results are obtained via a Los Angeles Magazine survey which asked physicians in Los Angeles County to identify doctors they considered to be at the top of their fields. Respected by their colleagues throughout Los Angeles and around the world, our physicians are trusted by patients and the community for their expert and compassionate care.
To view the Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top Doctors” list, visit lamag.com/top-doctors.
Dr. Elaine Reed and Dr. Michael Yeaman of Harbor-UCLA were featured in an article from the UCLA Newroom on their study regarding antibiotic resistance in MRSA “superbug” infections.
Read the full story here.
Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Sosa, Clinical Post Doctorate Immunogenetics Fellow, and co-authors Dr. Bita Naini, Dr. David Gjertson, Dr. Elaine Reed, and Dr. Maura Rossetti, on their article “Disulfide High-Mobility Group Box 1 Drives Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Human Liver Transplantation” being featured on the cover of Hepatology.
Read the full article here.
Congratulations to Dr. Scott Nelson on his honorary doctorate from Thammasat University! The University’s medical school has been in operation for over 20 years and Dr. Nelson has remained active with the University since its inception. Additionally, the UCLA Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine has hosted fellows from this institution.
In the last two years, Dr. Nelson was also made an honorary member of the Thai Royal College of Orthopaedic Surgery, as the only pathologist to have received the distinction, and the Thai Royal College of Pathology.
PhD candidate Jiayun Li, along with Drs. Corey Arnold (mentor), Anthony Sisk, and Huihui Ye, recently published an article in Computers in Biology and Medicine, describing an artificial intelligence (AI) technique for diagnosing and grading prostate cancer, titled “A multi-resolution model for histopathology image classification and localization with multiple instance learning.”
The Computational Diagnostics lab, led by Dr. Arnold, has developed an AI system that automatically detects prostate cancer and can distinguish between Grade group ≥2 and Grade group 1 tumors. The algorithm analyzes tissue at multiple magnifications and does not require any microscopic-level annotations from a pathologist to train. The model obtained an average precision of 99.8% for cancer detection on an external dataset.
This high-throughput analysis technology has the potential to add clinical benefit by enhancing diagnostic capabilities as well as easing the overall workload burden in busy reference centers by screening slides to detect potentially missed small foci of cancer, standardize grading accuracy, and ensure diagnosis of high risk malignancies. Congratulations Jiayun Li and Drs. Arnold, Sisk, and Ye!
Read the full article here.
Dr. Shaun Yang, Assistant Clinical Professor and Assistant Medical Director, Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, was featured in a UCLA article regarding back to school safety in LA County.
Read more here.
Congratulations to Dr. Elena Stark and Dr. Zhen Mei on their new appointments as Specialty Advisors for Career Exploration! In this role, they will lead the efforts for medical student advising for the Department of Pathology. We are appreciative of their future work and representation of our department.
Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, on his new position as the Vice President & Treasurer on the 2021 Board of Trustees of the American Board of Pathology!
Read the full press release here.
Congratulations to Tiffany Tran, a student in the Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology Interdepartmental Ph.D. Program and researcher, on winning an American Society of Hematology (ASH) Abstract Achievement Award! Her award is for her ongoing thesis project examining the role of the RNA binding protein, IGF2BP3, in acute leukemia. The abstract achievement award is a merit-based award that recognizes the highest scoring abstracts at the ASH Annual Meeting.
Dr. Precious Fortes, Pathology Resident, was featured in a UCLA Health news article as a research subject volunteer for a NIH-funded UCLA-based project.
Check out the article here.
The UCLA Transfusion Medicine team packed 100 units of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma for distribution to patients across the country. Thank you to our TM faculty (Drs. McGonigle, Mei, Ward and Ziman) and the entire team for their tremendous efforts over the past year. Their inspired and innovative work will not only heal, but save lives from coast to coast.
Congratulations to Dr. Alyssa Ziman for being featured on the UCLA Instagram page, talking about the importance of blood donations!
Check it out here.
