Thanda Aung, MD, MS
- Rheumatology
About
Dr. Thanda Aung is a general rheumatologist with expertise in a broad range of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus, myositis, scleroderma, osteoporosis, Sjögren’s syndrome, and crystal arthropathy. She has a special interest in auto-inflammatory eye diseases.
Originally from Burma, she earned her medical degree from the Institute of Medicine (1) and a Master’s in Geriatric Medicine from Keele University in the UK, where she focused on osteoporosis and ortho-geriatrics. She spent over a decade as an internist and geriatrician in the UK and holds Fellowship status with both the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP) and the American College of Physicians (FACP). She later completed her internal medicine residency at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California, followed by a rheumatology fellowship at UCLA.
Dr. Aung has authored and co-authored numerous publications, available on PubMed, and regularly contributes Burmese-language health articles to the Myanmar Gazette. She has been recognized as a Top Doctor by Los Angeles Magazine and listed among Southern California Super Doctors for multiple years. Outside of medicine, she enjoys tennis, crochet, swimming, traveling, writing, and spending time with her family and four cats.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certifications
Fellowships
Residencies
Internship
Degrees
Recognitions
- Super doctors, Southern California, 2025
-
Top doctors, Los Angeles Magazine's Top Doctors 2025
- Super Doctors® Southern California 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021, 2024, 2025
- Member of Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom (MRCP)
- See More
Locations
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
Areas of Focus
Research
Interests
- General rheumatology
- Crystal Arthropathy (gout, pseudo-gout)
- Osteoporosis
- Inflammatory eye diseases (uvetiis, scleritis, ocular pemphigoid)
Publications
Dr. Aung has authored and co-authored multiple published papers and case reports, which can be accessed through PubMed.
- Worse COVID Outcomes Seen With Gout, Particularly in Women - Mdedge - Oct 24, 2022. (Dr. Thanda Aung's comments)
- Monica Zell, Thanda Aung, Marian Kaldas, Ann Rosenthal, and John Fitzgerald. Calcium Pyrophosphate Crystal Size and characteristics. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open, Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2021
- Ben Tiong, Bevra Hahn, Thanda Aung. Chapter 71 Treatment of autoimmune diseases The autoimmune diseases (6th edition) published October 2019 (Book Chapter)
- Thanda Aung, Myung G, Fitzgerald JD. Treatment approaches and adherence to urate-lowering therapy for patients with gout. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2017 Apr 19; 11:795-800. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S97927. eCollection 2017
- Thanda Aung, L. Sahakian, B. Skaggs, J. Grossman, M. McMahon. Fatigue is associated with HS-CRP in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. EULAR, June 2017.
- Thanda Aung, G Miller, G Karpouzas. Anti beta 2 glycoprotein IG A antibodies independently and differentially contribute to thrombotic risk in systemic lupus erythematosus above and beyond anti-cardiolipin and lupus anticoagulant, from a contemporary multiethnic patient cohort. Ann Rheum Dis 2016; 75:316-
UCLA Proceedings, Department of Medicine
- Thanda Aung, MD, MS and Kevin Sung, MS, MS4. Olfactory hallucination in a young woman. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare Volume 23 (2019)
- Thanda Aung, MD, MS. Headache and blurry vision in a patient with uncontrolled gout. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare Volume 24 (2020)
- Thanda Aung, MD, MS. A challenging case: Rapidly progressive vision loss in an elderly man. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare Volume 24 (2020)
- Thanda Aung, MD, MS. A Challenging Patient with Prolonged Nightly High Fever. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare. Volume 25 (2021)
- Yaqoot Khan DO, Thanda Aung MD MS. Blue toes-unusual presentation after covid-19 vaccination. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare. Volume 26 (2022).
- Thanda Aung, MD, MS, Yaqoot Khan, DO. A Rare Cause of Shoulder Pain. Clinical Vignette Proceedings of UCLA Healthcare. Volume 27 (2023)
In the News
- Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis? (Source: HealthDay News)
- Dr. Thanda Aung, an assistant clinical professor in UCLA’s Division of Rheumatology, explains there haven’t been enough studies to explain the mechanism behind the cracking noise. However, she says there are two hypotheses. The first is the popping noise “could be from the movement of all the structures” in the finger such as the bones, tendons and ligaments.
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- Medicare Advantage
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change.
Please contact your benefits coordinator or health insurance company directly to verify coverage.
Visit our health insurance information page for more details.
Recognitions
- Super Doctors® Southern California 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021, 2024, 2025
- Member of Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom (MRCP)
- Fellow of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Scotland (FRCP)
- Fellow of American College of Physicians (FACP)