Our Staff

Principal Investigator Gerald Levey, M.D., Dean of the School of Medicine, is the principal investigator of the UCLA-GCRC. His authority transcends departmental lines. Dean Levey has ultimate responsibility for the administration and operation of the UCLA-GCRC, and is the person with whom NIH communicates on broad institutional matters relating to the UCLA-GCRC. Dean Levey appoints the director and the members of the GCRC Advisory Committee. He is responsible for the development of the UCLA-GCRC as an institutional resource.

Program Director Isidro B. Salusky, M.D., Associate Dean of Clinical Research, is the UCLA-GCRC Program Director and has overall administrative and scientific responsibility for the operation of the UCLA-GCRC. He serves as a resource for investigators seeking to perform clinical research on the center. He maintains daily quality control of the research and patient care, assures financial solvency of the UCLA-GCRC, reviews all proposals for center use, and ensures adherence to guidelines of the IRB, the National Institutes of Health, and GCRC Advisory Committee policies. He reports directly to Dean Levey. In Dr. Salusky's absences, one of the Associate Directors takes overall medical responsibility.

Associate Program Director Ronald T. Mitsuyasu, M.D. directs the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education (CARE) and the CARE Clinic. He is involved in clinical studies of immunobiologics and vaccines used in treatment of cancer and HIV.

Associate Program Director Lin Chang, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine specializing in Digestive Diseases and Gastroenterology.

Associate Program Director Michael Irwin, M.D. is Norman Cousins Professor, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior at UCLA.

Administrative Director Helen Williams-Bayne, M.B.A is the UCLA-GCRC administrator and is responsible to the director for the day-to-day management of the center. She assists the director in attaining UCLA-GCRC goals, and in advising and supporting faculty investigators regarding conduct of clinical research. She provides grant information, manages the resources of the center, and maintains liaison between NIH and UCLA. She also collects and maintains data on research projects, financing, publication materials, patient census and billing, and other NIH-mandated record-keeping functions.

Administrative Assistant Sophie Ta is the UCLA-GCRC administrative assistant. She schedules reservations and outpatient appointments, is a receptionist to the patients, and is responsible for accurate recording of information and maintaining an efficient flow of patients through the unit. She is also responsible for tracking the UCLA-GCRC census and data associated with research protocols as well as secretarial service support for Director, Unit Director and Administrative Manager.

Clinical Director Stanley Korenman, M.D. Associate Dean of Ethics, is the Clinical Director of the GCRC. He is responsible for overall safety of the clinical functioning of the GCRC.

Research Subject Advocate (RSA) Laurie Shaker-Irwin, Ph.D., Research Subject Advocate, manages the Office of Research Participant Advocacy and is responsible for developing subject advocacy programs and policies, educating and assisting study teams, and addressing subject issues.

Unit Director Carolyn Borne, R.N., M.N., is the UCLA-GCRC clinical nurse manager. She is responsible for the administrative organization and management of the UCLA-GCRC nursing staff, for education and training, cost-effective patient care, nursing practice, and quality assurance. She collaborates with investigators to assure that research projects are carried out as approved by the IRB and the GCRC Advisory Committee(GAC).

Core Laboratory Director Anthony Butch, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology is the GCRC Core Laboratory Director. Dr. Butch is also the Director of the Clinical Immunology Laboratory that provides many specialized tests to the UCLA Research Studies.

Brain Imaging Core Directors Dr. John Mazziotta, M.D., Ph.D. is Chair of Neurology, Professor of Radiology and Pharmacology at UCLA, a member of the UCLA Brain Research and Neuropsychiatric Institutes as well as the founder and director of the UCLA Brain Mapping Center. Well known for functional studies of normal subjects evaluated with PET, he has also performed MRI, CT and PET studies in patients with a wide variety of neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Arthur Toga, Ph.D. is a Professor of Neurology at UCLA and the founder and director of the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Associate Director of the UCLA Brain Mapping Center and the founding editor of the journal, NeuroImage. Dr. Toga coordinates the BIC neuroimage analysis activities including a comprehensive super computer facility for Brain Mapping incorporating the latest technology and informatics technology in the analysis of structure and function of the brain in health and disease.

Biostatistician The UCLA-GCRC Biostatistician is Robert M. Elashoff, Ph.D. He assists UCLA-GCRC investigators in the design of their research projects, including power calculations to determine sample sizes needed for a study to have statistical validity. The statistical analyses needed should be described as part of the study design. Throughout the performance of the study, the Biostatistician assists in possible changes of design and may suggest additional analytic approaches. The Biostatistician reviews all proposals submitted to the UCLA-GCRC and is a member of the GCRC Advisory Committee. He encourages biostatistical consultation before the submission of proposals in order to avoid delays and deferrals by this committee. He also participates in ascertainment of clinical research quality.

Informatics Core Manager The UCLA-GCRC Informatics Core Manager Martin Lai, M.S., is responsible for the overall operation of the computer system which consists of a variety of workstations, servers, and data management and analysis software. He is also responsible for instructing and assisting clinical investigators and their associates in the use of the system; responding to queries from users about data collection schemes and Web database designs; ensuring adequate hardware, software and network maintenance. The system manager has the knowledge of basic concepts of computer programming and operation, is competent to assist in the organization and analysis of research data, and is familiar with the range of basic analytical methods in the available software.

Bionutrition Core Manager Patricia M. Jardack, M.S., R.D., is the Bionutrition Core Manager. She is responsible for the overall management and operation of the research bionutrition support services for investigative studies. In that capacity, Ms. Jardack plans, coordinates, and supervises all food service and clinical activities of the Bionutrition Core. Ms. Jardack is a Registered Dietitian and holds a Master of Science degree with education emphasis in nutrition.