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Before joining UCLA, Giza worked on the Yosemite Search and Rescue team. In 2011, he traveled to Afghanistan as a civilian advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense. He co-chaired the American Academy of Neurology committee that developed an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of sports concussions from 2009-2013. He currently serves on advisory committees for traumatic brain injuries/concussion with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer Federation. He has been a clinical consultant for the National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer.

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Donald B. Kohn, M.D., studies the biology of blood stem cells, which are located in the bone marrow and have two important properties: they can duplicate themselves and they can create all types of blood cells. Over the course of 30 years of research, Kohn has developed new clinical methods to treat genetic blood diseases using blood stem cells that have been modified to remove genetic mutations. Kohn’s blood stem cell gene therapy method collects some of a patient’s own blood stem cells and either adds a good copy of the defective gene or fixes the broken genes to eliminate disease-causing mutations. The patient then receives a transplant of their own corrected stem cells, which will ideally create an ongoing supply of healthy blood cells. Importantly, this method eliminates the risk of rejection associated with receiving a bone marrow transplant from a different person, meaning the patient doesn’t have to take a lifelong supply of anti-rejection drugs. Kohn’s clinical trials for adenosine deaminase-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (also known as ADA-SCID or bubble baby disease), a condition where babies are born without an immune system and often don’t survive past the first two years of life, have cured more than 40 babies to date. Babies with the condition and their families have traveled to UCLA for this life-saving treatment from as far away as Lebanon and a new company was formed in 2016 to further develop the therapy and make it available at other centers and to more patients. Kohn is now applying similar blood stem cell gene therapy techniques in clinical trials for two other diseases. One of these diseases is X-linked chronic granulomatous disease, a rare inherited immunodeficiency disorder that prevents white blood cells from effectively killing foreign invaders such as bacteria, fungi or other microorganisms. If untreated, patients often succumb to chronic granulomatous disease within the first decades of life. The second disease is sickle cell disease, the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States. This disease causes abnormal ‘sickle-shaped’ red blood cells that block small blood vessels and do not provide the appropriate amount of oxygen to the body, resulting in debilitating pain and organ damage. Kohn’s clinical trial seeks to overcome or repair the genetic mutation that causes this devastating disease, which impacts millions worldwide. Kohn earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School Of Medicine. He completed a pediatric internship and residency in Wisconsin followed by a medical staff fellowship in the Lymphoid Malignancies Branch (formerly the Metabolism Branch) of the National Cancer Institute. Kohn began working on gene therapy as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health in 1985 and then began practicing as a pediatric bone marrow transplant physician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 1987. While practicing at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, he started his own lab focused on stem cell research and has continued this work, advancing new therapies from the lab to the clinic.

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Dr. Maidenberg has been teaching and supervising clinicians and psychiatry residents for over 25 years. He provides cognitive behavioral therapy for a variety of anxiety disorders and depression.

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Isaac Yang, M.D., is a nationally renowned neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors, superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD), and skull base brain surgery at UCLA. Yang is a board-certified neurosurgeon and director of medical student education for the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery; an associate professor of neurosurgery, head and neck surgery, and radiation oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and a principal investigator at the UCLA brain tumor laboratory. Yang is highly sought out by peers, patients and the media for his expertise in neurological diseases and brain health. He has made multiple TV appearances on Good Morning America, CBS' The Doctors, Dr. Drew LifeChangers, and several national news outlets. Originally from Lodi, Calif., Yang developed an interest in neurobiology as an undergraduate. He earned his bachelor’s degree with Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley. His training followed with a medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Yang completed a neurological surgery residency at the University of California San Francisco, as well as an NRSA NIH-funded F32 postdoctoral brain tumor research fellowship. Yang’s clinical focus has been primarily on brain tumors, both glioblastoma and skull base tumors. His research efforts have examined antigen expression and manipulation of the immune response to glioblastoma. His work was recognized by a UCSF Clinical and Translational Scientist Training Award and the CNS Dandy Clinical Research Fellowship. Yang has been the recipient of several distinguished regional and national awards, including the UCSF Medical Center 2010 Exceptional Physician Award, the AANS Integra Brain Tumor Research Award, San Francisco Neurological Society Edwin Boldrey Award for Basic Science Research, American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons Research Award, Kaiser Award for Clinical Research, the national AANS Leksell Radiosurgery Award, and the Tumor Section Ronald L. Bittner Award on Brain Tumor Research. Yang has published more than 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals and authored more than half a dozen book chapters. At UCLA, he is investigating the use of nanoparticles and nanotechnology for their application in brain tumor immunotherapy and vaccines. Dr. Isaac Yang is dedicated to improving the care and treatment of all patients undergoing neurosurgery. If interested please follow Dr. Yang on Facebook at Isaac Yang UCLA Neurosurgery or find his most recent book, Service Minded Physician, on Amazon.

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Media email : eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu

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Dr. Jeffrey Klausner is an expert in infectious disease prevention and control. He is a frequent advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO). From 1998-2009, Klausner was a deputy health officer, director of STD prevention and control services at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and from 2009-2011 was branch chief for HIV and TB at the Centers for Disease Control, South Africa. Dr. Klausner research interests are in applied epidemiology and the prevention and control of infectious diseases of public health importance like HIV, STDs, TB and cryptococcus. Dr. Klausner has a particular interest in the use of technology—information, digital, and laboratory—to facilitate access to treatment for disadvantaged populations. Dr. Klausner has been funded by the NIH, CDC, private pharmaceutical and test manufacturers to study the benefits of new ways to find and treat infectious diseases. He has been a leading advocate in the use of medical male circumcision for HIV and STD prevention.

Media email : erivero@mednet.ucla.edu

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Dr. Larissa Mooney is a board certified addiction psychiatrist with expertise in the treatment of substance use disorders and psychiatric comorbidity. After obtaining residency training at New York University, she completed a fellowship in addiction psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Mooney is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and Director of the UCLA Addiction Medicine Clinic, where she teaches psychiatrists in training in the clinical management of dual diagnoses. Dr. Mooney serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP). She has conducted research on treatment interventions for addictive disorders, including methamphetamine, cocaine and opioid use disorder and has received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study clinical outcomes in individuals with cannabis use disorder.

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Dr. Tan is a clinician, researcher and educator. He maintains his clinical practice at the UCLA Medical Plaza in Westwood and at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He performs epidemiological research at the Framingham Heart Study and education/quality improvement research at UCLA. His studies on brain aging and memory have been published in major medical journals and featured in the New York Times, Time, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other national publications. Dr. Tan holds the Philo Van Wagoner Endowed Chair in Geriatric Medicine and is the Associate Chief for Education at the UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine.

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