Dr. Rania Shammas is a board certified rheumatologist and an assistant clinical professor of rheumatology at UCLA. She was born and raised in Los Angeles. She completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA and then went to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for medical school, where she was part of the Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society and received the Joseph Garrison Parker Award for arts in medicine. She completed her internal medicine training at Albert Einstein and then her rheumatology fellowship at UCLA. She spent several years in private practice, while also actively participating in teaching and as an investigator for multiple clinical trials. In her spare time, she enjoys musical theater, playing the piano, tennis, and spending quality time with her family.