Physician Directory

Arie Belldegrun, MD

Research Professor of Urology and Founder of the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program. Dr. Belldegrun also holds the Roy and Carol Doumani Chair in Urologic Oncology. His surgical expertise encompasses all aspects of urologic oncology, including kidney cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and testicular cancer. He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, books, and book chapters in the area of localized and advanced kidney and prostate cancer. Dr. Belldegrun is a world-renown expert in complicated kidney cancer surgeries, and has unique expertise in a variety of surgical approaches to small kidney tumors including open, laparoscopic, and robotic partial nephrectomy and cryotherapy. Dr. Belldegrun's research lab at UCLA focuses on the development of personalized cancer immunotherapy and targeted cancer vaccines for the treatment of kidney cancer. More >

Paul C. Boutros, PhD

Professor of UCLA Urology, Director of Cancer Data Science for the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Associate Director of Cancer Informatics at the Institute for Precision Health, Professor of Human Genetics, and an integral member of the Institute of Urologic Oncology and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Boutros received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo, his doctorate in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto, and his Executive MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Dr. Boutros, an internationally acclaimed cancer genomics researcher, will lead the cancer center’s efforts to use big data to optimize treatments for patients.

Albert J. Chang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Urology. He is the Vice Chair of Surgical Services and Brachytherapy Service Chief for the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Chang received his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine and M.D. degrees from the Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the Washington University School of Medicine, and then joined the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco as an Assistant Professor. His clinical focus is on malignancies of the genitourinary and gynecological systems and specialized in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy.

Alexandra Drakaki, MD, PhD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Urology and Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Drakaki completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Tufts University, and her Hematology/Oncology fellowship in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in genitourinary malignancies, primarily bladder, testicular and prostate cancer. Dr. Drakaki's research focuses on identifying the therapeutic potential of novel genes named micro-RNAs that are involved in bladder carcinogenesis. More >

Andrew Goldstein, PhD

Assistant Professor of Urology and Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology UCLA College, Life Sciences. Dr. Goldstein earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dartmouth College and his PhD in Molecular Biology from UCLA in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte. He went on to become the inaugural Fellow of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA focusing on epithelial stem cell and cancer biology as an Assistant Researcher in the Departments of Urology and Molecular & Medical Pharmacology. Dr. Goldstein’s research is focused on investigating the cell-types, signaling pathways and microenvironmental cues that influence epithelial progenitor cells and promote tumorigenesis and treatment-resistance. The long-term goals of his work are to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to cancer initiation, progression and treatment-resistance, particularly in prostate cancer. In addition to joining the scientific team of the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology and UCLA Prostate Cancer Program, Dr. Goldstein joins the faculty in the UCLA Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.

Nestor Gonzalez-Cadavid, PhD

Adjunct Professor of Urology, Director, Urology Research Laboratory LABioMed-Harbor/UCLA, and Professor of Endocrinology, Charles Drew University. Dr. Gonzalez-Cadavid received consecutive PhDs in Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires and London. Professor of Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Central University of Venezuela, Visiting Professor/scholar, MIT, Caltech, City of Hope, UCLA. His current research interests focus on the modulation of stem cell differentiation by nitric oxide/cGMP, and myostatin, and its application to the therapy of erectile dysfunction, diabetic nephropathy, urogenital disease associated with tissue fibrosis. Funded by NIH, Department of Defense, and other agencies.

Amar U. Kishan, MD

Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Urology. Dr. Kishan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Molecular and Cell Biology and Public Health. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where he graduated magna cum laude from the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. During medical school, he was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship to study tumor metabolism in the laboratory. He subsequently completed his internship training at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, where he was recognized as the H.H. Jones Intern of the Year. He then completed his residency training in radiation oncology at UCLA. He specializes in the utilization of radiation to treat genitourinary malignancies (particularly cancers of the prostate and bladder), as well as malignancies of the head and neck and central nervous system.

Sandy Ting Liu, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Liu completed her hematology/oncology fellowship at UCLA and Internal Medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from George Washington University in Washington D.C. and her bachelors of science in biology at University of Southern California. Dr. Liu practices general hematology and oncology and specializes in genitourinary (GU) cancers. Dr. Liu is passionate about advancing the field of cancer treatment and is involved in clinical trials, with research interests in immunotherapy and drug development. Liu is on staff at Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica UCLA Hospital and Providence Tarzana Medical Center.

Nicholas G. Nickols, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Urology. Dr. Nickols received his M.D. from UCLA and Ph.D from the California Institute of Technology through the UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program and completed his residency training in Radiation Oncology at UCLA. He specializes in radiotherapy for prostate cancer. He has conducted extensive basic science research on the optimization of small-molecule transcription modulators for prostate cancer. He conducts prospective clinical-translational trials for localized high-risk and metastatic prostate cancer patients. More >

Steven Raman, MD

Professor of Radiology and Urology. Dr. Raman is an expert in Urological Radiology, having published over 75 papers, 100 abstracts and several book chapters in this field. He has been the founding member of the UCLA Prostate Imaging Group, whose members include physicians and scientists dedicated to advancing the field of prostate imaging. Dr. Raman believes that MR imaging the best non-invasive solution for finding the most aggressive prostate cancer. More >

Matthew Rettig, MD

Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) and Urology and Medical Director of the Prostate Cancer Program of the Institute of Urologic Oncology at UCLA. Dr. Rettig received his medical degree from Duke University and internal medicine residency at the University of Washington, before going on to a hematology-oncology fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Rettig’s focus is on management of genitourinary malignancies, with a clinical emphasis on advanced prostate cancer and research emphasis on identifying biochemical targets for therapeutic translation in castration-resistant prostate cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Rettig also serves as the director of the clinical trials program in prostate cancer at UCLA. More >

Jonathan Said, MD

Professor of Pathology and Urology and Chief of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology at UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Said is an expert in the pathology diagnosis of urologic diseases, and has published extensively on neoplastic diseases of the kidney and prostate. More >

Christopher Tarnay, MD

Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Urology. As a urogynecologist, Dr. Tarnay focuses on the gynecological approach to urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapsed, and vaginal reparative surgery. Each year, he travels to Uganda, Africa to help lead a team of doctors and nurses, providing expertise and education to local physicians in an effort to reduce maternal deaths and treat one of the most debilitating consequences to childbirth, urinary fistulae. More >

Lily Wu, MD, PhD

Professor of Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Urology, and Pediatrics. Faculty member in Urology since 1998. Graduated, member of the inaugural class of Medical Scientist Training Program (M.D., Ph.D. program). Her education training ranges from clinical disciplines such as pediatrics and hematology/oncology to molecular and cellular fields such as adenovirus biology, transcription regulation, and gene therapy. Besides her research endeavors, a major part of her effort involves mentoring students at all levels, from undergraduates, graduate, postdoctoral fellows to clinical residents.

Huihui Ye, MD, MS

Associate Clinical Professor of Urology and Chief of Genitourinary Pathology. Dr. Ye received her medical degree from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China. She completed her residency in Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Pathology at New York University Medical Center. Before coming to UCLA, Dr. Ye practiced Anatomic Pathology and served as Director of Genitourinary Pathology in the Department of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ye's research focuses on the interplay of genetics and tumor microenvironment of genitourinary cancer including prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

Gang Zeng, PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor of Urology and Member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. His current work is focused on cancer immunodiagnosis, immunotherapy, and prostate cancer stem cell biology.