CENTER FOR INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES
“This is an exciting time for our center,” says Jenny Sauk, MD, the center’s director of clinical care and health sciences associate clinical professor of medicine in the division. “With the addition of our new IBD physicians, we have a team of experts highly committed to delivering the best-quality care for IBD patients as well as expanding access to specialty care. Working together in the same space, our priority is to serve patients at every life stage and provide an IBD home for patients — a place where all of their IBD care needs can be addressed.” Given the complexity of IBD care, the center has established clinics where dedicated providers with expertise in subspecialty areas are able to offer more nuanced treatment, Dr. Sauk explains. This includes: • A Pediatric-to-Adult Transition Clinic, under the leadership of Hassan Hamandi, MD, director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program and one of two recent additions to the center’s faculty; • A Preconception, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Clinic, under the leadership of Nirupama N. Bonthala, MD, director of Women’s Health in IBD and the second recent faculty addition; • An IBD Nutrition Clinic, under the leadership of Berkeley Limketkai, MD, PhD, the center’s director of clinical research; and • A Medical-Surgery Clinic to address
within the team and with the community. In addition to the core team members, the center has dedicated IBD physicians in community practices throughout Southern California who participate in biweekly conferences to consult on difficult cases and potentially refer for subspecialty care. The center is also attuned to the specific needs of the LGBTQIA+ population — including those who are receiving hormones for gender-affirming care, which can potentially interact with certain IBD medications. “Many of these patients have experienced poor access to care because of their discomfort or negative experiences with the healthcare system, and we want to make sure to provide a welcoming environment as well as high- quality, individualized care in partnership with their primary care provider,” Dr. Bonthala says. For all patients, a GI psychologist and integrative care nurse practitioner help to optimize wellness. By conducting cutting-edge research, the center continually improves the care it can offer to patients. This includes an increasing number of translational research practices, led by Dr. Limketkai, as well as a growing array of clinical trials in IBD. “It’s important for IBD patients to receive longitudinal care, and that’s something UCLA is particularly well suited to deliver,” Dr. Sauk says. “Patients can utilize local community practices and care centers around the Los Angeles area while still having access to our subspecialty IBD clinics in Westwood. We pride ourselves in this team approach that offers both convenience and access to subspecialty care as needs develop throughout the patient’s life course.”
patients’ peri-surgical needs and postsurgical management, under
the leadership of Mary R. Kwaan, MD, MPH, health sciences clinical professor of surgery, specializing in colon and rectal surgery. Dr. Sauk notes that the center’s IBD clinicians are highly collaborative — both
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Beyond the Scope
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