Faculty

Peter Lawrence, MD

Dr. Peter Lawrence graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School. He completed his surgical residency and vascular fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He moved to the University of Utah in 1978 and became Chief of Surgery at the VA and Vascular Division chair. In 1998 he moved to UC Irvine as Associate Dean and in 2003 to UCLA as Chief of Vascular Surgery and Director of the Gonda Vascular Center. Dr. Lawrence has published over 200 articles, editorials, and book chapters related to aneurysms, limb salvage, and venous disease. His textbook, "Essentials of General Surgery and Surgical Specialties," is used at more than 70% of medical schools. He is the senior editor of the Journal of Vascular SurgeryJournals. He has been president of six societies, including the Society for Vascular Surgery. He is currently president of the SVS Foundation. In 2018 he received the Dartmouth Medical School Career Achievement Award (2018).

David Rigberg, MD

Dr. David Rigberg is the Program Director for the integrated vascular residency and fellowship at UCLA. He attended the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate and obtained his MD from the University of Arizona. Since that time, he has been at UCLA as a general surgery resident, vascular surgery fellow and as faculty since 2003. His interests include education and a wide range of clinical topics. Dr. Rigberg has served as the Chair of the Medical Student Resident and Outreach Committee of the SVS and teaches students and trainees nationally and internationally. His research interests have included NIH-funded biomaterials investigations, Clinical Outcomes work and more recently, quality improvement during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. His main goals are providing excellent care to his patients and the recruitment and training of the next generation(s) of vascular surgeons!

Scott Boynton, DPM

Dr. Scott Boynton is a board qualified surgeon by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery and a member of the Department of Vascular Surgery at UCLA, section of Podiatry. He completed his residency training at the DVA Greater Los Angeles and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center with a focus on limb salvage, diabetic wound care and amputation prevention. Dr. Boynton is also versed in lower extremity trauma / sports-related injuries to the foot and ankle. He attended Saint Mary's College of California, where he completed his undergraduate studies prior to receiving his medical degree from Barry University in Miami, Florida. His clinical expertise includes advanced diabetic wound care and limb-salvage techniques with complex reconstruction of painful joints in the foot and ankle. Because of his acute expertise, he is a select participant in a number of clinical research trials investigating novel diabetic wound care modalities.

Steven Farley, MD

Dr. Steven Farley is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Farley received his BA from Pomona College, MD degree from Vanderbilt University and completed his General and Vascular surgery residencies at UCLA. He joined the Vascular Division in 2011 and currently serves as the director of both the vascular lab and wound care clinic. Dr. Farley's practice is located in the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center and boasts an emphasis on general vascular care and additional work in vascular malformations. Dr. Farley is a member of local and national societies, including the Western Vascular, SCVSS and SVS.

Hugh Gelabert, MD

Dr. Gelabert is a Professor of Surgery in the Vascular and Endovascular Division at the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine. His clinical interest is in General Vascular Surgery, with special interest in Aortic Aneurysm disease, Dialysis Access, and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. A graduate from Georgetown University and the Sydney Kimmel Thomas Jefferson Medical College, he trained as a General Surgeon at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine. He completed Vascular Surgery Fellowship and Liver Transplantation Fellowship training at UCLA, and has been a member of the UCLA Surgery Faculty since1991. He maintains current Board Certification in Vascular Surgery, and additional certification in Vascular Ultrasound technology (RVT). His clinical appointments include the Ronald Regan, Santa Monica UCLA and the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Centers. As an academic researcher, he has been an investigator for several Aortic Aneurysm trials including ADAM, OVER, ANCONDA. He is currently one of the principal investigators for the BEST CLI NIH sponsored Trial. In his clinical practice, he has been recognized as a leader in Dialysis access surgery, including hemodialysis, AV fistula creation, and peritoneal dialysis. He has received recognition and awards for his care of dialysis patients. Dr. Gelabert is widely recognized as an authority in Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). He has presented multiple Regional, National, and International lectures on TOS. He is a collaborator on national and international TOS research. He is a co-editor of the leading TOS textbook and has written extensively in this area. A native of Puerto Rico with a bi-cultural background, Dr.Gelabert is a native Spanish and English speaker. Dr. Gelabert has been recognized as one of the Los Angeles Top Doctors in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Juan Jimenez, MD, MBA, FACS

Dr. Jimenez is a Clinical Professor of Surgery in the Division of Vascular Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He obtained a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994. He completed his General Surgery residency at the University of California, Irvine in 2005 and his Vascular Surgery fellowship at UCLA in 2007. Dr. Jimenez specializes in several areas of Vascular Surgery, including: aortic aneurysms, carotid disease, varicose veins, wound care and arteriovenous access. His research interests include minimally invasive treatment of venous ulceration and Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome. He has authored over 60 original research papers, 33 book chapters. As an editor, he has published three world-wide distributed textbooks of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Jimenez has held leadership positions in multiple medical societies and is Board-Certified in both General and Vascular surgery.

Wesley Moore, MD

Dr. Wesley Moore graduated from the University of California, San Francisco, where he completed general surgery training in 1964. He spent two years in the army in Germany before returning to San Francisco for specialty training in vascular surgery. Upon completion, he was appointed as assistant professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco and Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical center. In 1977, he went to the University of Arizona to start a vascular surgery program and was appointed Professor of Surgery. In 1980, he was recruited by UCLA to head the vascular surgery program at that institution where he has remained. Dr. Moore is a recognized expert in the surgical management of carotid artery disease. He has been a participant and leader in all the major clinical trials, including the CREST trial. He has edited the definitive textbook entitled Surgery for Cerebrovascular Disease. More recently, he became involved in the direct approach to carotid artery stenting (TCAR) and was the first on the west coast to perform that procedure. This is currently offered as an alternative option for carotid endarterectomy. Dr. Moore also developed an interest in stent-grafting of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms. On February 10th, 1993, he implanted the first commercially manufactured stent graft, Endovascular Technologies (EVT), worldwide. Since then, he has led the UCLA program to become a leader in aortic stent-graft clinical experience.

Pane (Aksone) Nouvong, DPM

Dr. Aksone Nouvong provides comprehensive medical and surgical care for a wide spectrum of foot and ankle conditions, including common to complex disorders and injuries that affect people of all ages. She is uniquely qualified to detect the early stages of diseases that exhibit warning signs in the lower extremities, such as diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Nouvong is also adept at managing foot conditions that may pose an ongoing threat to a patient's overall health. She is a leader in basic science and clinical research and is actively conducting ongoing multidisciplinary studies. She is very involved with local and national surgical organization committees and is the Associate Residency Program Director for a prestigious podiatric program at DVA GLA & Olive View-UCLA.

Jessica O'Connell, MD

Dr. Jessica O'Connell earned her M.D. degree with honors from the University of Texas at Houston. She completed her training in General and Vascular Surgery at UCLA. She then joined the faculty of the UCLA Division of Vascular Surgery. Dr. O'Connell is the Deputy Chief of Surgery and Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Hospital, and Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery. She specializes in endovascular and open vascular surgery and wound care. She has authored several book chapters, has presented at multiple national surgical meetings, and has original publications in numerous peer-reviewed journals. She had received multiple teaching awards and maintains an active role in education at DGSOM. She founded the UCLA Women in Surgery Program, was the first Diversity Officer for the Department of Surgery, and teaches in the UCLA Humanism, Healing Arts and Well Being Programs.

Karen Woo, MD, MS

Dr. Woo is a vascular surgeon, associate professor of surgery and a health services researcher with clinical practice and research focus on hemodialysis vascular access. She trained in general surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She went on to complete a fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of California San Diego and Scripps Clinic. To enhance her research skills, she completed a Master of Science in Clinical and Biomedical Investigation at the University of Southern California. She has received funding from the National Institute for Aging Resource Centers in Minority Aging Research and the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to study outcomes of vascular access. Dr. Woo is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

Jane Yang, MD

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