UCLA has experts on Zika virus, sports medicine, concussions, doping and hormone levels in female athletes and the International Olympic Committee’s efforts to address this issue. Click an expert’s name to find a more detailed biography and contact information.
Zika virus
Dr. Karin Nielsen
Nielsen is a clinical professor of pediatrics and an expert on Zika virus, who in early 2016 joined a network of researchers investigating the Zika epidemic and the pathogenesis of mother-to-child Zika virus transmission in Brazil. Nielsen, who is from Brazil, is available to do interviews in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner
Klausner is a clinical professor in the division of infectious diseases and a frequent advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Klausner is available to comment on policies related to Zika virus.
Dr. Neil Silverman
Silverman is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and an expert on Zika virus and pregnancy. Silverman has been named the perinatal point person for the California Department of Public Health to handle questions related to Zika virus.
Sports injuries
Dr. Christopher Giza
Giza is director of the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and an expert on sports-related concussions, a person’s susceptibility to an additional concussion, recovery from trauma, post-traumatic epilepsy and brain development.
Dr. Meeryo Choe
Choe is the assistant director of the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and an expert in the developing brain and brain injuries, specifically related to equestrian sports, swimming and diving. Choe serves as an advisor for the Women’s World Boxing Council.
Dr. Daniel Vigil
Vigil is an associate clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery and an expert on sports injuries. Vigil serves as team physician for the UCLA women’s soccer and softball programs and as a medical consultant for the U.S. track and field team. In addition, he has served as a physician for the United States Olympic Training Center. He has advised athletes on drugs and the testing process, and he has conducted research on doping and nutritional supplements.
Gender
Dr. Eric Vilain
Vilain is a professor of human genetics and an expert on the genetics of sexual development, including gender identity and disorders of sex development. He has been quoted on the subject of athletes whose gender is ambiguous and on the International Olympic Committee’s efforts to address this issue. He is an advisor to the International Olympics Committee’s medical commission on issues of gender.
