Stephanie Smooke Praw, MD Appointed Interim Chief of the UCLA Division of Endocrinology
The UCLA Department of Medicine is delighted to announce that Stephanie Smooke Praw, MD has been appointed interim chief of the UCLA Division of Endocrinology, expanding upon her current role as clinical chief.
Dr. Smooke Praw is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and serves as director of education for the UCLA Division of Endocrinology, as well as director of the UCLA Thyroid Center. She maintains a busy clinical practice with a focus on patients with thyroid disease and thyroid cancer. She previously led the UCLA Endocrine Fellowship Program for a decade, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to education and mentorship.
As the division’s clinical chief, Dr. Smooke Praw has guided significant growth and innovation within the division. During this time, the division expanded its clinical faculty by more than 20%, developed an in-patient consult service at West Valley Hospital, improved patient access through scheduling work flows, revised referral order panels, expanded e-consult services for both general endocrine patients as well as a specialized bone health e-consult program. Dr. Smooke Praw developed sub-specialty specific onboarding materials for new faculty members and continues to hold office hours in order to strengthen communication between clinicians and division leadership.
Dr. Smooke Praw has further encouraged faculty participation in leadership and university service opportunities through the development of committees focused on patient education, wellness, and scholarly activity. In addition, she continues to lead Endocrine Grand Rounds and the Multidisciplinary Endocrine Tumor Board, supporting coordinated care for patients with complex conditions requiring input from multiple specialties. In her expanded role, she looks forward to fostering engagement between research and clinical faculty across the division, and advancing the division’s clinical, research, and education goals
A nationally recognized leader in endocrinology, Dr. Smooke Praw is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Endocrine Society, the Association of Program Directors in Endocrinology and Metabolism (APDEM), and the American Thyroid Association (ATA). She serves as co‑director of the APDEM Curriculum and Milestones Committee and as a member of the ATA Patient Care Committee. Her clinical research has been published in leading journals such as The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and Thyroid. Most recently, she published an Executive Summary of the 2025 American Thyroid Association Guidelines on the Management of Well-Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in the journal, Thyroid.
As we welcome Dr. Smooke Praw to this expanded leadership role, we also extend our appreciation to Anthony Heaney, MD for his service as interim chief of the endocrinology division since December 2022, with his leadership contributing to the division's continued growth and success.
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