1. < Message from the Chair

I am constantly inspired by the dedication and drive that I see in our department each day. In reviewing comments submitted by faculty regarding the positive aspects of working in the department of medicine (DoM), a consistent theme is deep respect for each other as colleagues. I believe this reflects our shared commitment to excellence, whether in the hospital, community practice, lab, classroom, or in our community, representing the DoM’S commitment to being a beacon for transformative patient care. It is not difficult each week to find examples that highlight the many accomplishments of our faculty and staff, which illustrate our leadership in research, education, and patient care.

This week, I am proud to celebrate our collective accomplishment by highlighting that UCLA Medical Center has been named the #1 hospital in Los Angeles and California and is among the leading hospitals in the United States, according to the US News Best Hospitals rankings.

The rankings continue to emphasize our department’s strengths across multiple specialties. Out of the 14 specialties ranked by US News, an impressive seven DoM specialties were highly ranked. Six specialties achieved the distinction of being named in the top 10 specialties nationwide, all seven specialties ranked in the top 20. Additionally, our colleagues in nephrology earned the distinction of being recognized as high performing. Across all the specialties that make up the DoM, our impact is felt far and wide.

Additionally, I am pleased to note that our collaborative efforts have bolstered the success of our colleagues across the health system which includes our partners in urology who achieved a #4 national ranking. In the US News rankings, there are 20 clinical conditions that were analyzed, and UCLA Health was high performing in all. I have highlighted below the ones that involve DoM faculty and demonstrate our collective abilities to excel at the highest level.

This achievement is a representation of your hard work and commitment to our values, missions, and the patients we serve. It is because of you that our clinical programs can rank among the best in the nation and allows us to say that we are the #1 hospital in Los Angeles and California.

As we celebrate this milestone, I extend my deepest gratitude to you. I hope that you will take a moment to reflect on your journey with us and celebrate your contributions to our collective success. It is an honor to lead such an extraordinary community of LEADERS.

It is important to note, that some specialties such as primary care are not included in these rankings. However, I am aware of other surveys that underscore the quality of our primary care programs relative to our peers and will be the subject of future posts. You are the quarterbacks supporting and setting up many of our subspecialists for recognition such as the recent US News Hospital rankings that we celebrated last week.

Now to other leaders in our department whose accolades we celebrate this week.

Elinor Lee, MD, PhD Breaking New Ground in Pulmonary Medicine

Join me in celebrating Elinor Lee, MD, PhD who has been awarded a K08 career development grant to support cutting edge research focusing on the role of surfactant in lung diseases. Dr. Lee shares that as a pulmonary and critical care physician, she has experienced the challenges and frustrations of properly and promptly diagnosing patients with lung disorders to initiate appropriate treatment and prevent disease progression to advanced stages, which can be debilitating, and in many cases, fatal. There is a paucity of safe and effective therapies available for certain pulmonary diseases, and this is especially true for rare lung diseases such as pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP). This is due to a limited understanding of the causal mechanisms that drive disease pathogenesis. Patients with PAP accumulate too much surfactant, a lipid-rich substance that normally helps the air sacs in our lungs to stay open.  The goal of her grant is to understand how lipid dysregulation leads to surfactant accumulation within the lungs as a result of impaired granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling in PAP. This will be the first step leading to the development of new treatment strategies for PAP and ultimately restoration of surfactant homeostasis.

Congratulations Elinor!

Tarling-Vallim Lab Assume Leadership Roles at the Prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Lipoprotein Metabolism

Our faculty and staff have a rich history of LEADERShip at national conferences and meetings. From presenting posters, speaking on panels, or serving on committees, our community members are at the forefront of facilitating and leading these important research discussions. This is evident at the annual Gordon Research Conferences (GRC), an international forum for the presentation and discussion of research in the biological, chemical, physical and engineering sciences. DoM LEADER Alan Fogelman, MD co-chaired the Gordon Conference on “Atherosclerosis,” served as a session chair and was an invited speaker to a number of Gordon Research Conferences on atherosclerosis, lipid metabolism, and vascular biology. Linda Demer, MD, PhD also served as a chair of the GRC on “Atherosclerosis.” She was also an invited speaker to a number of other Gordon Research Conferences on vascular biology, lipid metabolism, cartilage, bone, and biomineralization. Aldons J. Lusis, PhD continued to build upon the DoM's LEADERShip by also chairing the conference and actively participating for over 15 years.   

Now, I am pleased to congratulate members of the Tarling-Vallim Lab who are stepping into prominent leadership roles at this prestigious annual event following their recent participation. Six members of the Tarling-Vallim Lab represented the DoM at this Gordon Research Conference (GRC) last month in New Hampshire, which focused on the latest advances in lipoprotein metabolism. Among them were Dr. Elizabeth Tarling, Dr. Thomas Vallim, Dr. Kelsey Jarrett, Dr. Heidi Schmidt, Dr. Madelaine Brearely-Sholto, and Emily Smith. At this year’s conference, Dr. Thomas Vallim served as vice chair elect for the 2024 GRC, Dr. Elizabeth Tarling was invited to serve as a distinguished speaker, and Emily Smith and Dr. Kelsey Jarrett were selected to give oral presentations at the meeting, receiving inaugural poster awards.

Emily Smith presented on her work detailing peroxisomal peroxin (PEX) family import proteins. Peroxisomes are key cellular organelles required for the oxidation and catabolism of fatty acids and reactive oxygen species. Emily discussed her findings on the role of individual PEX proteins in orchestrating the repertoire of peroxisome functions in the liver.

Dr. Kelsey Jarrett presented studies investigating the role of bile acids in cardiovascular disease. Kelsey has discovered that when we disrupt the gene that controls bile acid synthesis in male and female mice, they are either protected or have exacerbated atherosclerosis, respectively. These sex differences are likely due to different, yet specific, redundant pathways for bile acid synthesis in males and females, which they continue to investigate. These findings likely have repercussions for how humans may develop or be protected from cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Elizabeth Tarling was invited to deliver remarks and discussed published and unpublished studies detailing post-translational and post-transcriptional regulation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR). Previous work from the lab, highlighted by DoM in 2023, detailed post-translational regulation of this key lipoprotein receptor by the E3 ubiquitin ligase, RNF130. In exciting new unpublished and recently funded studies, Dr. Tarling described important regulation of LDLR function through mRNA stability via RNA binding proteins.

Looking ahead, several members of the Tarling-Vallim lab are set to have integral leadership roles in organizing this premiere conference in the coming years. Dr. Vallim has been elected vice chair for the meeting in 2026, alongside Dr. Mark Brown from the Cleveland Clinic. Drs. Smith and Jarett were elected vice chairs and will be co-organizing the GRC in 2026. Dr. Elizabeth Tarling was elected vice chair for the 2026 GRC, and will be co-chairing the meeting in 2028, with Dr. Sean Davidson from the University of Cincinnati.

Reflecting on their involvement, Drs. Tarling and Vallim noted, “the GRC Lipoprotein Conference is a historical lipid meeting, steeped in tradition, where many key discoveries were first presented before being published. It is a conference that promotes extensive trainee and faculty interactions in an informal setting, and traditionally requires unpublished data to be presented. We are both excited and honored to be chairing this conference for the editions, ensuring UCLA will continue to be well represented at this meeting in the future.”

Thank you for carrying on this tradition of leadership, Liz and Tom!

Tannaz Moin, MD, MBA and Debika Bhattacharya, MD Awarded 5-Year Renewal for GLA NODES Program Leading VA Clinical Trials Advancements

The Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) is fundamental to VA’s strategic mission of conducting research to advance the care of Veterans and funds the largest multi-site clinical trials in the VA. The CSP Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites (NODES) have helped advance VA CSP clinical trial execution since their inception in 2012. Drs. Tannaz Moin and Debika Bhattacharya led the first VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) CSP NODES award in 2022 and their team was just awarded a competitive five-year renewal (FY2025-2029). Under their leadership, the GLA NODES Program has established a growing clinical trials unit that has more than doubled its clinical trial portfolio in the last two years with several new trials on the way. 

The overarching goal of GLA NODES Program is to deliver equitable, efficient, safe and high-quality trials across the GLA service area of 1.4 million Veterans. GLA NODES aims to dismantle local silos to create a collaborative clinical trial culture with all internal and external partners (e.g., investigators, staff, leadership and Veterans), to standardize activities to ensure the high quality and safety of clinical trial conduct, and to provide mentorship opportunities to research teams, including junior investigators. GLA CSP Site-PIs who can receive up to 25% salary support for research, to help lead some of the largest and highest priority VA clinical trials, ranging across medical and surgical subspecialties. As such, GLA NODES continues to engage some of the best DGSOM physician scientists from all levels and disciplines. Dr. Tannaz Moin also serves on the NODES Executive Steering Committee (ESC), which provides national guidance for all CSP NODES sites across VA.

Outstanding work Tannaz and Debika! I extend my congratulations to you on behalf of the department.

Raphael Landovitz, MD Named Incoming HIV Prevention Trials Network Principal Investigator

Established in 2000, the HIV Prevention Trials Network is a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network which unites investigators, community members, and other partners to develop and test the safety and efficacy of interventions designed to prevent the development and transmission of HIV.

Congratulations Raphy!

Dale

P.S.

We are well into summer, and I hope that you will all have some time off to spend with family and friends. We are looking forward to our grandkids visiting us for a couple of weeks. Summer brings different things for each of us. For us, this year brings tomatoes! We got some home-grown heirlooms last year from a colleague and my wife decided to conduct an experiment and rather than eating one, took some of the seeds and planted them in pots! We reaped our first ripe ones a couple weeks ago and many more are on the way!

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