Faculty & Staff
Andrew L. Wong MD
Chief, Division of Rheumatology
Dr. Andrew L. Wong joined the UCLA-Olive View Rheumatology Program in 1990 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Chief of Rheumatology at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. He advanced academically studying: 1) the molecular characterization of autoantibodies (RF & anti-DNA Abs), 2) the clinical practice and referral patterns of care in early Rheumatoid Arthritis, 3) the clinical outcomes of new Biologic agents in the LAC DHS Healthcare system, 4) the implementation of Spanish arthritis empowerment programs, and became a Professor of Clinical Medicine with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA since 2003. Dr. Wong continues to serve as Chief of Rheumatology at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Director of Academic Affairs since 2014 (member of the UCLA MedCAP Committee since 2011), and previously served as the Program Director of the UCLA-Olive View Rheumatology Fellowship program from 2007-2015. Dr. Wong is a Governor appointee to the CA DHCS Medi-Cal DUR Board since 2001, nominated to the Loma Linda University Health Councilors to the President since 2003, nominated to the American College of Rheumatology Board of Director’s Committee of Corporate Relations (CCR) since 2015, and selected as a national grant reviewer for the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) since 2017.
Emil Heinze MD
Fellowship Program Director
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Dr. Heinze completed his BS in Chemistry at George Fox University and went on to complete his medical degree at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 2001. He then completed his internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. Deeply interested in continuing to care for the underserved population and training rheumatology fellows, Dr. Heinze joined the rheumatology faculty at Olive View UCLA in 2007 and is currently the fellowship program director. Dr. Heinze’s research interests include the role of FoxP3 in T-regulatory cells, and designing novel educational modules for rheumatology fellowship curriculum. Dr. Heinze enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter exploring the Eastern Sierras backpacking and camping.
Suncica Volkov MD
Fellowship Associate Program Director
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine
Dr. Suncica Volkov graduated from the University of Belgrade School of Medicine and finished her Rheumatology fellowship at the University of Chicago. After this, she joined the University of Illinois at Chicago as a clinician educator and later served as Rheumatology fellowship Program Director. She moved to California in 2021 and has been an essential member of the Division of Rheumatology at Olive View since. She enjoys teaching rheumatology and doing clinical research. Her areas of interest are Scleroderma, Rheumatoid arthritis, Seronegative Spondyloarthropathies, Lupus, and cardiovascular diseases in rheumatic conditions.
Philip Clements MD
Core Clinical Faculty
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Philip Clements, MD, MPH, is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine Rheumatology at UCLA who has devoted most of his 42-year career to the care of and management of patients with systemic sclerosis and to the scientific evaluation of managements and therapies for these patients. Specifically he has participated in the development, conduct and analysis of many clinical studies and trials in systemic sclerosis: 1) the clinical description of the various organ involvements in patients with systemic sclerosis (pulmonary hypertension, gastrointestinal involvements, interstitial lung disease, muscle and joint involvement) as witnessed in prospective longitudinal trials or cohorts; 2) the development and validation of clinical outcome measures (i.e. modified Rodnan skin thickness score, forced vital capacity, disability index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire, UCLA-SCTC Gastrointestinal Tract Questionnaire) to measure change over time; and 3) the evaluation of therapeutic strategies (i.e. D-penicillamine, chlorambucil, N-acetylcysteine, cyclosporine, rapamycin, imatinib, cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate) designed to improve the function and quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis. He continues to move forward in all these areas for the near future.
Karla Otero-Vo NP
Chloe Shin NP
Current Fellows
Jaclynn Levine DO
Residency Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, CA
Gretel D'Souza MD
Residency Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
Alumni
Recent Graduates
Dates of Fellowship | Name | Current Practice |
---|---|---|
2020-2022 | Faizan Ahmad, MD | Kaiser Permanente, San Leandro, CA |
2019-2021 | Poonam Manwani, MD | Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, Seattle, WA |
2018-2020 | Lukas LaSyone, MD | Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, CA |
2017-2019 | Natasha Zohuri, MD | Sutter Health, Sacramento, CA |
2016-2018 | Tamara Dahhan, DO | UCLA Health |
2015-2017 | Ramandeep Bains, MD | UCLA Health, Santa Clarita, CA |
2014-2016 | Richard Lau, MD | Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara |
2013-2015 | Aneeta Kiran, MD | Kaiser Permanente Fontana/Ontario Medical Centers, CA |
2012-2014 | Justin Kim Wu, MD | Arthritis and Osteoporosis Medical Center, La Palma, CA |
2011-2013 | Howard Van Gelder, MD | Facey Medical Group, Valencia and Mission Hills, CA |
2010-2012 | Niloofar Farmani, MD | Ventura County Health system, Thousand Oaks, CA |
2009-2011 | Sue Chung | Facey Medical Group, Mission Hills, CA |
2008-2010 | Rachel Mory, MD | Ventura County Health System, Camarillo, CA |
2007-2009 | Raz Khavari | Private practice, Van Nuys, CA |
2006-2008 | Quang Vo | Private practice, Anaheim, CA |
2005-2007 | Emil Heinze | UCLA-Olive View Rheumatology, Sylmar, CA |
2004-2006 | Emy Chen | Private practice, Arcadia, CA |
2003-2005 | Sherry Wu | Rockwood Clinic, Spokane, WA |
2002-2004 | Suchada Kwunyeun Shu | Kaiser Permanente South Bay, Harbor City, CA |
2001-2003 | Joanne Seunghee Kang | Kaiser Permanente Wildomar Medical Offices, Wildomar, CA |
2000-2002 | Swamy Venuturupalli | Faculty, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA |
2000-2002 | Antony Lin | Division Chief, Kaiser Permanente, Fontana, CA |
1999-2001 | Yoon Min | Private practice, Santa Clarita, CA |
Read what graduates say about Olive View Rheumatology Fellowship.