1. < Message from the Chair

In our department’s strategic plan, our community engagement pillar articulates the following goal: As a public university, we seek to advance health and improve outcomes for our diverse communities. This week I share some examples of recent initiatives that exemplify how faculty and the department are advancing this mission. Importantly, these initiatives strengthen other pillars of our plan in the areas of research, education and clinical care. Collectively, these commitments exemplify what Leading In Innovation, Transforming Care and Advancing Health for All looks like in action.

"Grow Grant” for UCLA and Homeboy Industries Will Support Medical Education and Safety Net Capacity-Building Initiative

Kaitlyn Michelle Fruin, MD and Daniel M. Kozman, MD, MPH recently received $500,000 from the California Fund for Advancing Physician Education and Workforce Growth — also known as a “Grow Grant” — to support their work on a wide-ranging project with our community partner Homeboy Industries that will bolster the health care career pipeline, enhance medical education focused on caring for individuals who have experienced incarceration and building long-term capacity for critically needed specialty care services on site.

“Physician shortages in primary care, addiction medicine and psychiatry disproportionately affect the nearly 400,000 Californians returning home from prison and jail annually. Through the JustBelong collaboration, we hope to inspire justice-impacted youth to consider careers in medicine and to inspire UCLA medical students, residents, and fellows to pursue clinical careers advancing care for formerly incarcerated patients,” Dr. Fruin said. “Nearly one in two Americans has an immediate family member who has been incarcerated, and through this project we hope to better prepare our UCLA trainees to respond to the pervasive health harms of mass incarceration affecting our patients and communities.”

Homeboy Industries is a Downtown LA-based re-entry and gang rehabilitation organization that has grown to be the largest of its kind in the world. Its vast array of services range from helping newly released individuals secure housing, to education for college prep and job placement, to tattoo removal and trauma-informed mental health care. As one of Homeboy’s partners, the UCLA Department of Medicine (DoM) has collaborated with Homeboy to create a clinical experience for medicine-pediatrics and internal medicine residents to learn from Homeboy’s tattoo removal clinicians including DoM’s own Robert Reiss, MD. The Department further supports Dr. Fruin’s Bruin Scholar Award, focused on supporting Homeboy leadership in advancing their Wellness and Community Care vision. Her mentorship team includes Arleen Brown MD, PhD; Alejandra Casillas, MD, MSHS; Alice Kuo, MD, PhD, MBA; and Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD; in addition to Dr. Kozman. Our Homeboy colleagues also led deeply impactful sessions during our recent DoM Grand Rounds and DoM LA Summit sessions, sharing their holistic approach to building a community-centered space to foster full recovery and healing.

Now, under the leadership of Dr. Fruin and Dr. Kozman, our relationship with Homeboy will grow in many exciting ways. One of these is a pipeline program that engages young people enrolled in Homeboy’s Youth Re-Entry Center and Art Academy with education and mentorship experiences that connect them with UCLA’s longitudinal medical pipeline programs; there will also be new clinical experiences at Homeboy for our medical students, residents and fellows that will give them training in trauma-informed, re-entry focused care. A third initiative will embed addiction medicine and psychiatry faculty at Homeboy Industries to provide clinical care to justice-impacted patients.

As part of this effort, the team under the guidance of Jonathan Quach, MD, will also support Homeboy’s Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System program application. This will newly enable the organization to receive financial reimbursement from the state Medi-Cal program for their on-site multi-disciplinary substance use disorder treatment services.

“This is a core feature of the long-term sustainability plan for this project, building the foundation for a much deeper partnership that is stably positioned to serve our rehabilitating neighbors far beyond this initial funding period,” Dr. Kozman noted.

Dr. Fruin invites anyone who would like to take part in the medical pipeline program for Homeboy youth to reach out to her. Congratulations on securing this grant, and for your commitment to ensuring that all members of our community are given the opportunity to fulfill their potential!

Chelsea L. Shover, PhD Awarded New Grant to Conduct Research on Unregulated Cannabis Market

Last December I shared that epidemiologist and associate professor-in-residence Chelsea L. Shover, PhD received an award from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department acknowledging the success of Drug Checking Los Angeles, a harm reduction and research program that aims to reduce drug overdose deaths. I am pleased to share that Dr. Shover has now received a nearly $2 million grant to study the unregulated cannabis market in California, a major achievement that will advance our understanding of the impact of cannabis legalization on illegal markets in the interest of improving policy.

The research will bring together Dr. Shover’s team’s experience launching Drug Checking L.A. and emerging technology from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, where protein chemist Christopher Pudney has developed what has been dubbed a “spice device” that enables researchers to conduct field-based product testing of vape pens, edible drug products and plant material. The tool distinguishes between natural cannabinoids like THC and synthetic ones like “spice”, the effects of which can differ dramatically. The grant will also help Dr. Shover’s team expand cannabis testing at their Drug Checking L.A. sites as well as conduct fieldwork around the state to better understand differences between markets with more or less unregulated market share and to characterize the range of products available in unregulated markets.

“We will be using survey data to estimate the size of the unregulated cannabis market and pairing this with health data to examine potential public health impacts,” Dr. Shover explained. “We will also conduct legal epidemiology work to characterize the regulatory approaches throughout the state that may be related to larger or smaller unregulated markets."

Other UCLA leaders working alongside Dr. Shover include Ziva D. Cooper, PhD of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Philippe Bourgois, PhD. In addition to Dr. Pudney, they are joined by colleagues from USC and the University of Arizona.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Shover on this immense accomplishment!

DoM Education LEADERS Discuss Expanded Trainee Rotations at Olive View-UCLA

Olive View UCLA Medical Center has been an outstanding partner for internal medicine and subspecialty training of UCLA medical students, residents and fellows and is consistently rated as among the top educational experiences. On Jan. 26, our education leadership team visited Olive View UCLA Medical Center to discuss current and new training collaborations. The trip included Jodi L. Friedman, MD, executive vice chair for education; Lisa J. Skinner, MD, internal medicine residency program director; and Gregory Brent, MD, senior executive academic vice chair.

“It was so great to meet with our friends and colleagues at Olive View,” Dr. Friedman said. “UCLA and Olive View have had a longstanding partnership that has been invaluable in the training of our IM students, residents, and fellows to provide high quality care to a vulnerable patient population in a safety net hospital. We had a very productive meeting exploring ways we can strengthen existing training collaborations and forge new partnerships.”

The visit was hosted by Olive View faculty Soma Wali, MD, FACP, chair of medicine and vice chair for affiliate programs; she was joined by Laxmi Suthar, MD, FACP, designated institutional official and internal medicine program director; Nader Kamangar, MD, FACP, chief of the division of pulmonary and critical care and vice chair for research; Richard Tennant, MD, FACP, hospitalist division chief; David Bolos, MD, MS, hematology-oncology division chief; Jarred Reed, MD, hematology-oncology fellowship program director; and Golriz Jafari, MD, nephrology fellowship program director.

“It is exciting for me to see the strengthening of our long-term partnership for internal medicine and subspecialty training and to explore opportunities to grow and expand these programs,” Dr. Brent said. “Our trainees at all levels highly value the opportunity to work with the outstanding faculty at Olive View/UCLA and to learn to care for patients in a safety net setting.”

Olive View-UCLA is a major site for the UCLA medical student core internal medicine rotation, which recently expanded to accommodate more students. During the visit, leaders from the DoM education team and Olive View discussed adding new rotations beyond our existing ones for internal medicine residents in the UCLA and Olive View/UCLA programs. UCLA residents highly value a range of rotations at Olive View-UCLA as well as the opportunity to provide care in a safety net hospital setting.

“The strong relationship between UCLA and Olive View is a cherished feature of our training programs. Our residents and fellows get to serve patients who are living and working in a different part of our city,” Dr. Skinner said. “Being able to work in a referral center, a VA, and a county hospital sets our graduates up for success and broadens their awareness of the communities we serve.”

Our fellowship programs are also deepening their partnerships with Olive View to create new education opportunities. The Olive View-UCLA Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program plans to expand its rotations at UCLA beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year. Additionally, the education team is looking for opportunities to develop a more integrated fellowship program between the UCLA Nephrology Fellowship Program and the Olive View-UCLA Nephrology Fellowship Program, which currently exchange rotations at care sites.

Please joining me in thanking our education LEADERS for spearheading our mission to create more opportunities for trainees and medical students that will increase their exposure to caring for the diverse communities that make up our great city and region.

DoM and DGSOM LEADERS Visit Kern Medical to Strengthen Opportunities for Trainees and Faculty

The week of Jan. 26 was a busy one for Dr. Brent, who in addition to his trip to Olive View-UCLA traveled with a delegation of clinical department chairs and DGSOM Dean’s Office representatives to Kern Medical in Bakersfield. There they discussed opportunities to build and strengthen partnerships for training medical students, residents and fellows along with faculty development for the 35 Kern Medical-based UCLA faculty, the majority of whom have appointments in the DoM.

“It is a privilege to build relationships with the inspiring Kern Medical leadership team,” Dr. Brent said. “We have worked with them to expand our long-standing and successful partnerships in internal medicine and infectious diseases training to now include UCLA medical students rotating to Kern Medical and expanding rotations for Kern Medical residents and fellows at UCLA.”

Kern Medical and UCLA DGSOM have had a robust partnership since 1982. This partnership is centered on advancing medical education, research, and healthcare access in California's Central Valley, and together Kern and DGSOM train more than 250 medical students, residents and fellows. Kern and UCLA also conduct joint clinical trials and share curricula.

“We aim to enhance educational opportunities in the region. This will translate into increased service providers and ultimately improved healthcare outcomes in the region,” Joaquín (Quim) Madrenas, MD, PhD, FCAHS, vice dean for faculty, said.

Dr. Madrenas was one of several DGSOM leaders who joined the trip, including Steven M. Dubinett, MD, dean of DGSOM; Interim Vice Dean for Education Kathleen Brown, MD; Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs Jason Napolitano, MD; Edward L. Ha, MD, MEd, assistant dean for medical education; Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official (DIO) Nelson F. SooHoo, MD, and the chairs of the departments of surgery, family medicine and emergency medicine. Kern Medical leaders in attendance included CEO Scott Thygorsen; CMO Glenn Goldis, MD, MMM; and DIO Amir Berjis, MD.

The visit included a brief tour of the hospital and simulation center led by Mr. Thygerson, Dr. Goldis and Dr. Berjis and other graduate medical education and clinical department leaders. UCLA Dean’s Office leaders gave presentations during lunch and a town hall meeting at Bakersfield Country Club before an audience that included Kern Medical Department of Medicine faculty, Ralph Garcia-Pacheco, MD, department of medicine chair; Kasey Fox, DO, internal medicine residency program director; Sangeeta Chandramahanti, MD, FACE, division chief of endocrinology; Sabitha Eppanapally, MD, FACE, associate IM program director, medical staff president, and division chief of nephrology; infectious diseases specialist Carlos D’Assumpcao, MD; Royce Johnson, MD, FACP, chief of infectious diseases and department chair emeritus; and Marah Sukkar, MD, a physician in the department of general internal medicine. They discussed enhancing access to UCLA conferences, opportunities to expand resident rotations and newly planned fellowships in nephrology and endocrinology, which are slated for launch in the next couple of years. They also talked about opportunities for faculty development, including publishing scholarship in Proceedings of the UCLA Department of Medicine and DoM Clinical Insights.

“The visit was successful in identifying key areas for collaboration between DGSOM and Kern Medical, including strengthening undergraduate medical education, enhancing efficiency and communication in academic affairs processes such as promotion and advancement, and fostering greater exchange and cooperation at the graduate medical education level,” Dr. Madrenas said. “This shared commitment lays a strong foundation for continued partnership and mutual growth in medical training and academic development.”

Kern Medical leadership intends to visit UCLA in the near future for further discussions and status updates with UCLA colleagues. Additionally, efforts will be made to encourage Kern Department Chairs to engage with their UCLA counterparts to advocate for collaboration opportunities and support faculty applications for academic appointments based on eligibility and institutional needs.

Thank you to Dr. Brent, the DGSOM Dean’s Office leadership, and Kern Medical leaders for your dedication to taking our education partnerships and faculty career development opportunities to the next level!

Enjoy these pictures from the visit, courtesy of Marina Avalos-Kegley, department of medical education, associate director of medical education and associate DIO at Kern Medical.

Dale

P.S.

I also mentioned that I was in Jamaica last week to celebrate my mother’s 91^st birthday. Here is a picture with her on her special day. She is visiting us now in LA and seeing her great grandchildren and her grandchildren. I joined her on her daily 4-mile walk on Saturday. We walked/ran up in the San Vicente trail area.

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