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.

 

Apply for Fellowship