Colleen L. Channick, MD & Reza Ronaghi, MD Appointed Leaders of Interventional Pulmonology Section
The UCLA Department of Medicine (DoM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Colleen L. Channick, MD as chief of the UCLA Interventional Pulmonology (IP) Section. Dr. Channick will be supported in her role by Reza Ronaghi, MD, who will serve as associate chief.
“As chief of the program, my vision is to provide cutting-edge technology, perform practice-changing research and educate the next generation of providers with the ultimate goal of improving patients’ lives,” Dr. Channick said. “I hope to continue to foster an environment where teamwork across specialties drives both innovation and excellent patient care. By pushing the boundaries of what is possible in interventional pulmonology, the UCLA IP Program will set new standards of excellence both locally and nationally.”
Dr. Channick was raised in Southern California and attended Harvard Medical School. Her residency in internal medicine took place at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, where she also completed a fellowships in pulmonary and critical care medicine and training in interventional pulmonology. Prior to being recruited to the DoM in 2018 as the director of interventional pulmonology at Ronald Reagan Medical Center, Dr. Channick established and directed the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Interventional Pulmonology Program and helped establish the MGH-Beth Israel Hospital interventional pulmonary medicine fellowship program and the MGH interventional pulmonary program.
Dr. Ronaghi grew up Montreal, Canada before moving to the United States when he was in college. He is a graduate of Saba University School of Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine residency through the University of California San Francisco Medical Education Program, including a chief resident year, and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at LAC+USC Medical Center, during which he was a chief fellow. He then completed an interventional pulmonary fellowship at UCLA and stayed on as faculty. In his years as faculty, he has helped lead the growth of the pleural program and the robotic program at UCLA.
“We have an incredible IP faculty and pulmonary and critical care faculty that have allowed the growth of IP at UCLA. We look forward to continuing to stay one of the strongest IP programs in the country, and to continue to train the strongest future IP physicians,” Dr. Ronaghi said. “Our goal is to grow our IP faculty and section over the next several years.”
The IP program in the UCLA Department of Medicine offers minimally invasive diagnoses and treatment for chest diseases. It is among the top-ranked in the country and performs nearly 550 robotic lung biopsies per year — the most in California — and is in the process of expanding its suite of technologies to improve the care of advanced lung disease patients. The team is currently composed of four interventional pulmonologists — Dr. Channick, Dr. Ronaghi, Tao He, MD, PhD and Brian J. Rosenberg, MD, PhD — nurse practitioner Shana E. Race, NP, and advanced IP fellow Jonathan Munoz, MD.
“We each bring different backgrounds and strengths, but we are united by our energy, compassion, and commitment to providing high-quality care around the clock. We are a very collaborative group that values multidisciplinary partnership, ensuring seamless, patient-centered care,” Dr. Channick said. “Our commitment to innovation keeps us at the forefront of emerging technologies and techniques, and we take pride in supporting one another as we work to improve outcomes for our patients and their families.”
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Channick and Dr. Ronaghi to their new roles!
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