About Us

Why Choose UCLA Health for Rheumatology?

We provide expert care for patients across Los Angeles at our Westwood and Santa Monica locations, as well as community offices in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Downtown Los Angeles, Encino, Porter Ranch, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Valencia, and Westlake Village. 

We offer a range of services on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Highlights of our division include:

• Expertise and expanded treatment options: Our rheumatologists participate in a range of research studies and clinical trials. Not only does this expand our care options, but it ensures that our specialists stay at the top of their field.
• Holistic approach: We offer the most advanced medical treatments, as well as complementary therapies. Depending on the condition, we may recommend treatment strategies such as acupuncture or massage to improve your quality of life.
• Focus on education: Our education work has had a local, national and international impact. For example, we oversaw the preparation of national guidelines for preventing steroid-induced osteoporosis (bone disease). When patients come to us, they know they are receiving care from experts who pave the way in innovation.

Patient Care

We welcome referrals for consultative, diagnostic, and therapeutic services in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Our rheumatologists provide evaluation and treatment for a wide range of rheumatic conditions, including:

• Lupus
• Scleroderma
• Myositis
• Gout
• Osteoarthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Vasculitis

Specialty Programs

Our Division includes subspecialty programs and services. Our areas of care include:

• Connective Tissue Disease - Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD) Program: Our CTD-ILD program partners closely with the pulmonology team to provide coordinated, expert care.
• Gout Program: Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It affects about 8.3 million adults in the United States. Through our active gout research program, we are learning more about gout and finding strategies to improve quality of care.
• Vasculitis Program: The Vasculitis Program is the first of its kind in Southern California. Vasculitis includes a rare group of conditions in which your immune system attacks your blood vessels and causes inflammation. At UCLA Health, a comprehensive, multidisciplinary team works together to provide targeted, advanced treatment.

Research and Clinical Trials

Our Division maintains an active research program. We frequently participate in clinical trials testing innovative therapies for:

• Connective Tissue Disease-Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD)
• Gout
• Lupus
• Myositis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Scleroderma
• Sjögren's syndrome
• Vasculitis

We are grateful to all participants, whose contributions help us bring new, better treatments to our community, nation, and world.

For further information, please refer to the Rheumatology Research Website.

Recent Research Achievements

To name a few research achievements from recent years, we have discovered:

• New genes and gene regions that predispose to lupus, myositis, or rheumatoid arthritis; we are dedicated to understanding how they work.
• A novel set of biomarkers that predict accelerated atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Insight into how the hormone leptin (from fat cells) promotes autoimmunity.
• Ultrasound studies of joints identify people with hidden joint inflammation.
• A specialized cell in the skin can be manipulated to protect mice from severe lupus dermatitis.
• Novel methods for visualizing gout and pseduogout crystals.

Education

Education is a central focus of our Division. UCLA rheumatologists have chaired the preparation of national guidelines for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of rheumatic diseases, impacting local, national, and international communities. These guidelines have been published in the official journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

We continue to attract top graduates from medical schools and internal medicine programs to train with us as fellows. All Internal Medicine residents also study with our faculty. Several faculty members are currently preparing new editions of key textbooks in rheumatic diseases.

Advancing Care Together

UCLA Rheumatology continues to thrive in research, education, and clinical care. We sincerely thank our patients, participants, and colleagues for their support. To help advance our work, please consider making a contribution on our donation page.

Thank you for trusting UCLA Rheumatology with your care.