Yijun Chen, MD - UCLA Health West Los Angeles General Surgery

PhD, Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 2005 MD, University of California, Irvine, 2006 Internal Medicine Residency, University of California, Los Angeles, 2006-2009 Chief Resident, Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 2009-2010 Fellow, Hematology-Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, 2010-2013 Chief Fellow, Hematology-Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, 2012-2013 Patient Stories My Experience Battling Cancer

Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist with over 13 years of active practice. She is an accomplished surgeon and is skilled in gynecologic cancer surgeries (ovarian, endometrial, cervical, vulvar/vaginal cancers), robotic and minimally invasive operations. Compassionate and adept, she specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all gynecologic diseases. She serves patients at UCLA and also serves women Veterans at the West Los Angeles VA hospital.After the conclusion of her formal residency at the UCLA Medical Center, she continued at UCLA completing a specialized three-year fellowship training in gynecologic oncology. This fellowship is designed to meet the subspecialty requirements of the Gynecologic Oncology Division of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.Beyond clinical care of patients, Dr. Memarzadeh is dedicated to leading-edge research to discover new and more effective treatment options for gynecologic cancers. After completing her fellowship training, she went to earn a Ph.D. in the department of Molecular Biology at UCLA. In addition to being a skilled surgeon, maintaining an active clinical practice, and caring for her patients, she is the Director of the G.O. Discovery Laboratory in the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA. This independent research laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular pathways of gynecologic cancers and developing new, more effective therapies to help patients. This includes characterizing therapy resistant ovarian cancer tumor cells with the goal of therapeutic targeting of these tumors first experimentally and then implementation in clinical trials. She also has an interest in understanding the causes of uterine cancers including endometrial carcinosarcoma and uterine sarcomas. Her research team focuses on studying genetic pathways that can initiate these tumors, and ways to better target them. On the forefront of translating Gynecologic cancer research to the therapy of patients, she has been awarded multiple funding sources for her work, including the Reproductive Scientist Developmental Grant, the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Grant, a Gynecologic Cancer Foundation award, and the STOP CANCER award. Dr. Memarzadeh has authored many published articles in respected journals and textbook chapters.Dr. Memarzadeh is dedicated to teaching the next generation of physicians and scientists, holding a tenured position as a Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She has received acknowledgments for her capability as a teacher including the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award. She takes a personal role in helping all those who work with her to learn as much as they can with the goal of advancing the field of women's gynecologic cancer care.Dr. Memarzadeh currently maintains staff and operating room privileges at Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center. She is readily available for consultations and is accepting new patients seeking care in all aspects of gynecologic cancer or pre-cancerous diseases. If you are interested in making an appointment, please call (310) 794-7274 or (310) 794-9098.PositionsProfessor with Tenure and Gynecologic Cancer Surgeon, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA Ronald Reagan HospitalGynecologic Oncology Staff and Gynecologic Cancer Surgeon, VA Hospital, West Los AngelesDirector, G.O. Discovery Laboratory, UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research CenterAffiliate Oncologist, The Ovarian Cancer Circle Inspired by Robin BabbiniResearch LocationG.O. Discovery Lab, 3017 Terasaki Life Sciences Building610 Charles E. Young Drive EastLos Angeles, California 90095