Our Team
Comprehensive Health Program (CHP) physicians are all experienced members of the UCLA Faculty who are specialists in Internal Medicine. Each physician is expert at disease prevention and performs in-depth patient testing and evaluation - the hallmark of the program.
Our Physicians: Benjamin Ansell, MD, FACP/FAAC | Camelia Davtyan, MD FACP| Brian S. Morris, MD | Karen Cheng, MD | Daryl Lum, MD
Benjamin J. Ansell, MD FACP/FACC
Director, UCLA Comprehensive Health Program
Benjamin J. Ansell, MD, received a dual undergraduate degree with distinction in Biology/Genetics and as a College Scholar in Music from Cornell University, followed by his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He subsequently performed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Ansell currently serves as Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in the Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Cardiology. He is Director of UCLA Individualized Healthcare and Co-Director of the Cholesterol, Hypertension, and Atherosclerosis Management Program (CHAMP).
Dr. Ansell has been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology, and the National Lipid Association. He is a member of the American Heart Association Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, and certified by the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Clinical Lipidology. Dr. Ansell is the founder and director of the Cardiovascular Discovery Fund, which supports promising novel developments in heart disease and related conditions. He has also served as a director of the Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) since 2009, and its lead director from 2013-2019.
Listed among US News & World Report and Castle-Connolly's "America's Top Doctors" and chosen by Town & Country magazine as one of the "Best Physicians in America," Dr. Ansell has a range of clinical and research experience relating to cholesterol treatment strategies in preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases. He has been principal investigator of the hs-CRP and HDL Effects of Statins Trial (CHEST), the Statins/HDL Increased Function Trial (SHIFT), and the Statin Anti-Rheumatic Activity (SARA) Trial.
He has delivered more than two hundred invited lectures, as well as published 40 peer-reviewed papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, Archives of Internal Medicine, and the American Journal of Cardiology, among others. His publications have focused on HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and inflammation, cholesterol management, stroke reduction, cardiovascular risk reduction in women, and cholesterol treatment guidelines. He is on the review boards of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, The American Journal of Cardiology, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine, among others. He has also been featured by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, Glamour Magazine, ABC World News Tonight, MSNBC, and Dateline NBC. He can be followed on Twitter @drbenansell.
Previously from New York state and Colorado, Dr. Ansell has lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years. He is married with three grown sons. He supports the performing arts and is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dr. Ansell's medical philosophy favors evidence-based practice, early disease detection and prevention. It is his professional goal to translate the frontiers of medical knowledge into benefits for patients today.
Camelia Davtyan, MD FACP
Women's Health Director, UCLA Comprehensive Health Program
Dr. Davtyan is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at UCLA and Faculty at the Iris Cantor UCLA Women’s Health Center, one of the 14 Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health in the United States. She serves as the Director of Women’s Health of the Comprehensive Health Program at UCLA and Associate Medical Director of the UCLA Medical Hospitality Program.
She received a Baccalaureate in Chemistry and Biology in her native Romania where she became a Doctor of Medicine in 1988. She was awarded a World Health Organization scholarship in 1990 in “Human Resources for Health” at the University of York, England. She pursued her post-graduate specialty training in the United States, at the University of Texas Houston, where she completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine in 1996.
Women’s health has been the primary focus of her practice since 1996. She has published and lectured on Women’s Health topics for health professionals and the general public and was featured on Lifetime Television and CNN. Dr. Davtyan is Board certified as a Diplomate in Internal Medicine. She has received many teaching awards at UCLA, where she is involved in medical student teaching as well as teaching in the Internal Medicine residency program and various continuous medical education programs. She serves as a reviewer for medical journals in the field of contraception.
Dr. Davtyan has consulted for International Women’s Health projects in Romania and Armenia. She serves as a member of the UCLA Healthcare Utilization Review Committee and Quality Management Committee. She is a member of the American Medical Women’s Association and the American College of Women’s Health Physicians and has been elected Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Davtyan is fluent in five languages. She is married to a surgeon who specializes in weight loss and cancer surgery and she has two children. She is interested in classical music and classical ballet.
Her practice goals are to individualize the principles of preventive medicine to the needs of her patients and provide excellent primary medical care.
Brian S. Morris, MD
Associate Director, UCLA Comprehensive Health Program
Brian Morris, M.D. earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. In 1992, he received his Doctorate of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where he graduated with distinction. He then completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Morris is board certified as a Diplomate by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Morris practiced for five years in the Harvard Medical School system at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center serving as Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Clinical Director of his full-time clinical practice. While there, he created a lifestyle management program to help patients adopt healthy nutritional and exercise changes. In 2001, Dr. Morris joined the Harvill-Tschumy Clinic, a widely respected internal medicine practice in Dallas, and became a full partner in 2005. In Dallas, Dr. Morris was recognized as an expert in preventive care and was often sought by specialists to help their most challenging patients lose weight and develop healthy lifestyles.
In 2008, Dr. Morris, his wife, and their four children moved to Los Angeles and he joined the Faculty of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Morris was appointed Associate Director of the Comprehensive Health Program and Asst. Professor of Medicine at UCLA in its Division of General Internal Medicine. For many years, he has been selected by peers and patients as one of "America's Top Doctors" as recognized by both U.S. News & World Report and Castle Connolly. He has been selected as a "Top Doctor" by The Hollywood Reporter and as one of "America's Top Physicians" by the Consumers' Research Council of America.
Dr. Morris is the author of the national bestseller The Wellness Code: The Evidence-Based Prescription for Weight Loss, Longevity, Health and Happiness. The book, which reached #1 on Amazon, is a practical guide to why diets don't work and how to effectively lose weight, improve health, and find lasting happiness. He also teaches the principles of The Wellness Code to companies, organizations, and individuals. He previously authored a chapter for the premiere edition of the textbook "Primary Care: A Multidisciplinary Approach" (which was selected as book of the year by the American Journal of Nursing).
Dr. Morris is also the author and host of the award-winning iTunes podcast Five Minute WellCast which teaches important topics related to nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and other healthy lifestyle practices. The podcast was named by iTunes as one of the best new podcasts of 2014 and has ranked as the #1 most listened to medical program on all of iTunes. In addition, he is the author and host of the iTunes podcast Five Minute DocCast which teaches optimal patient care practices for the medical community. This podcast was named by iTunes as one of the best new podcasts of 2014. His third health podcast, Five Minute WeightCast launched in late 2015. All of the podcasts are also featured on SoundCloud.
Dr. Morris has written and consulted on numerous articles in the lay press including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Know More TV, Men's Health, UCLA Healthy Years, The Saturday Evening Post, The Robb Report, and Delta Sky Magazine. These articles have focused on educating and empowering patients about the practices of healthy living.
In order to teach children about healthy lifestyle practices, he created the "Healthy Habits for Children Educational Outreach Program" which is a community outreach program for elementary schools. This program teaches basic healthy lifestyle principles related to nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management to help children. Dr. Morris teaches this program at elementary schools throughout Southern California.
Dr. Morris is passionate about working in partnership with patients to design individualized, comprehensive healthy lifestyle programs that allow them to optimize their health and wellness.
Karen Cheng, MD
Associate Director, UCLA Comprehensive Health Program
Karen Cheng, M.D. completed her undergraduate training at Princeton University and graduated cum laude with an AB degree in Molecular Biology. She then started her medical training at Tufts University and received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1991. Family ties drew her to southern California where she completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the UCLA Medical Center. To further round out her medical expertise, she chose to do an Internal Medicine fellowship for an additional year focusing on sports medicine, dermatology, and women’s health. Dr. Cheng is Clinical Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Her practice focuses on primary care and preventive medicine.
Dr. Cheng translated her extra training into teaching workshops for other physicians. Workshops on the evaluation of shoulder pain and the evaluation of knee pain were featured at the Society of General Internal Medicine’s Annual Meeting. “Shoulder Pain – The Generalist’s Approach” won a faculty education award. She continues to teach sports medicine workshops to residents, fellows, and other colleagues. She authored two chapters in the book Women’s Health – Principles and Clinical Practice on ankle sprains and knee pain.
Nominated by her peers, she was voted one of the best doctors in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Magazine. She is a medical consultant on a series produced for the National Geographic Channel. Dr. Cheng has volunteered at the Westside Women’s Health Center and abroad for Medical Ministries International.
She was named a 2014 "Best Doctor" based on peer selection, an honor that fewer than 5% of practicing physicians attain.
Dr. Cheng is married with three children. Her husband is a wealth management advisor. Her goal is to practice evidence based primary care and preventive medicine.
Daryl Lum, MD
Dr. Daryl Lum graduated from Stanford University, with a degree of Honors in Biology in 1991. He subsequently obtained his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine, graduating in 1995. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical enter. His clinical interests include primary care and cancer screening, and during residency, obtained additional training in flexible sigmoidoscopies. He subsequently joined the faculty at UCLA in 1998, where his practice has focused on primary care and he presently serves as Professor of Clinical Medicine.
At UCLA, Dr. Lum has been involved in medical student and house staff education. Since 1998, he has been a highly sought-after instructor physical examination in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been a preceptor in the UCLA internal medicine residency training program, and has served as ward attending at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Originally from Central California, Dr. Lum enjoys swimming, running, and biking during his free time. He is also a competitive triathlete. His goal is to provide medical care and education to his patients to allow them to live healthy and productive lives.
Originally from Central California, Dr. Lum enjoys swimming, running, and biking during his free time. He is also a competitive triathlete. His goal is to provide medical care and education to his patients to allow them to live healthy and productive lives.