Our Doctors

Dr. Aung graduated from the Institute of medicine (1) Burma, in 1998 and later trained in Internal medicine and Geriatric medicine in Liverpool, United Kingdom. There she specialized in Orthogeriatrics for years with strong interest in Osteoporosis, while receiving Master of Science in Geriatric medicine from Keele University School of Medicine, MRCP and FRCP titles from the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; and subsequently worked as a consultant physician at the Nottingham University Hospitals. After 13 years of patient care, teaching, clinical research and service development activities in the United Kingdom, she perused her career path in the United States. She completed residency training in Internal medicine at St May medical center, Long Beach, California and Rheumatology fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Aung is interested in the wide range of the rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, pseudo-gout, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, lupus, anti-phospholipid syndrome, polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, osteoporosis and various autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Kristal Choi is a general rheumatologist who practices in Santa Monica. She enjoys treating the full spectrum of rheumatic diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, vasculitis, myositis, scleroderma, gout, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. She is also skilled in musculoskeletal ultrasound and ultrasound-guided joint and soft tissue injections. She earned her medical degree from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and then completed her internal medicine residency training at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and her rheumatology fellowship at Loma Linda University.

Medical Board Certifications - Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2017
Fellowship - Rheumatology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2017-2019
Residency - Internal Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, 2014-2017
Degree - Jefferson Medical College, MD, 2014

Dr. Marian Kaldas is a Southern California native and has been part of the UCLA family since her high school years when she won a scholarship for doing over 1000 hours of hospital volunteering. She received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at UCLA, her medical degree from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and completed her internship, residency and fellowship in Rheumatology all with UCLA. She joined the UCLA Faculty practicing Rheumatology and Hospitalist medicine and is now excited to join UCLA Health practicing Rheumatology full-time. Dr. Kaldas is interested in the treatment of the full spectrum of the rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, lupus and over 100 other conditions. Her other interests include humanism in medicine and teaching. Dr. Kaldas is board certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. In her spare time Dr. Kaldas enjoys reading, beach walks, singing and spending time with her husband and children.

Medical Board Certifications - Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2017
Fellowship - Rheumatology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, 2017-2019
Residency - Internal Medicine, Allegheny General Hospital, 2014-2017
Degree - Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill, DO, 2014

Dr. Martin grew up in Washington State. He attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Upon graduation, Dr. Martin was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania for two years where he taught high school chemistry and biology. Later Dr. Martin attended medical school at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/Chicago Medical School, in North Chicago, Illinois, graduating in 2006. He completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and Rheumatology fellowship at UCLA.

Dr. Geraldine Navarro earned her medical degree from UCLA School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. She completed her fellowship in rheumatology at UCLA School of Medicine.

Medical Board Certifications: Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1985
Rheumatology, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1988
Fellowship: Rheumatology, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 1983-1985
Rheumatology, Southern California System of Clinics California, 1985-1986
Residency: Internal Medicine, St. Mary's Medical Center, 1979-1983
Degree: University of North Dakota Medical School, MD, 1979

Dr. Taylor received her M.D. degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila in Bucharest, Romania, and completed her rheumatology fellowship at Loma Linda in June 2004. She practices general rheumatology, taking care of a variety of rheumatology conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, connective-tissue disorders, crystal arthritis such as gout and pseudogout, myofascial syndromes, polymyalgia rheumatica, and vasculitis. She performs ultrasounds of the joints and performs injections with hyaluronic acid for osteoarthritis. Her interests is in musculoskeletal sonography.

Dr. Chen Xie practices general rheumatology in downtown LA and at the Veterans Affairs Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center. He enjoys caring for patients with all types of autoimmune and joint conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, spondyloarthropathies, lupus, vasculitis, and scleroderma.

Dr. Xie grew up in the Pacific Northwest and received his medical degree from University of Washington. He completed his internal medicine residency at Northwestern University, followed by his rheumatology fellowship at UCLA. When he’s not working, he enjoys picnics, hikes and beach time with his spouse and toddler son.

Dr. Lisa Zhu is a general rheumatologist who practices in Encino. She enjoys treating the full spectrum of rheumatic diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, vasculitis, myositis, scleroderma, gout, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis.

Born and raised in San Diego, Dr. Zhu received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College. She received her medical degree from UCLA, then completed her Internal Medicine residency at Stanford. She returned to UCLA to complete her Rheumatology fellowship. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine.

Outside of the office, Dr. Zhu enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, hiking, baking, and reading.

Dr. Brahn received his MD degree with Honors from the University of Chicago in 1978, and did his internal medicine residency at the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco. He then completed a rheumatology & immunology fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital, and continued on as a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty prior to joining UCLA in 1986. Dr. Brahn runs a biomedical research laboratory in molecular immunology as well as a clinical research program primarily interested in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. He is the chair of the Clinical Laboratories Executive Committee at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Dr. Grossman's general interests include lupus, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, spine, spondylolisthesis/spondylolysis and vasculitis.

Dr. King graduated from Harvard Medical School, and completed her internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed her rheumatology fellowship and PhD (STAR) at UCLA. She has received multiple patient service awards for excellence in clinical care, diagnostic acumen, and bedside manner. Dr. King is a translational researcher with a special interest in B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases, including Sjogren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, and undifferentiated connective tissue disease. Her research focuses on defining new diagnostic markers to predict treatment responses and disease flares in autoimmune conditions.

Dr. Ranganath is a native Los Angelean. After graduating from Drew/UCLA Medical School and completing her residency at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in internal medicine, she returned to UCLA for Rheumatology Fellowship in 2003. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2005 and obtained a Masters in Clinical Research at UCLA in 2010. Dr. Ranganath has a strong interest in rheumatoid arthritis research. Her specific research goal is to develop a model to predict early response to therapy in RA with biomarkers, imaging markers (ultrasound and MRI), and clinical measures.

Dr. Volkmann graduated from Pomona College where she majored in Neuroscience and minored in Dance. She received her medical degree from UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and subsequently completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Rheumatology at UCLA. During her fellowship, she participated in the Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program and earned her Master of Science degree in Clinical Research. Her clinical interests include systemic sclerosis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and systemic lupus erythematosus. Dr. Volkmann is an active clinical and translational researcher with a special focus on systemic sclerosis, and in particular, she investigates the pulmonary, gastrointestinal and vascular dimensions of this condition. She strives to provide humanistic and compassionate care, and she embraces complementary and alternative approaches to healing, in addition to traditional modalities.

Dr. Clements conducts clinical trials in scleroderma, and his research interest includes analysis of clinical features and response to therapies in scleroderma: emphasis on pulmonary interstitial disease and pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Hahn received her M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she later trained in rheumatology. She trained in internal medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Hahn heads research groups that do basic studies in the immune abnormalities that cause systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and is developing interventions that help restore the immune response to normal. She also heads a group that studies clinical problems in patients with SLE, including accelerated atherosclerosis and potential new therapies (clinical trials).

David Yu MD is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine. He specializes in two areas. The first area is spondyloarthritis which includes ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). For his decades of study, he has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (APARTAN). The other area of his interest is fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia can exist by itself or in association with various arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Yu specializes in non-pharmacological and non-procedural therapy. This is especially useful in patients who have failed multiple drugs or multiple procedures. Treatment by Dr. Yu will start with a detailed explanation of the neurobiological basis and psychological basis of central pain.

Bench Research. Basic science research in monocytes in rheumatic disease.