Dr. Rachel Sarnoff is a physician-scientist and board-certified internist at UCLA whose work focuses on Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI) — exceedingly common conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome that exist at the intersection of the gut, microbiome, immune system, nervous system, and psychological health. As both a primary care physician and gut-brain specialist, she brings a prevention-oriented lens to digestive health. Her clinical and research interests center on understanding how digestive function and long-term wellbeing influence one another.

Dr. Sarnoff’s work bridges emerging science with whole-person clinical care. Recognizing the need for rigorous translational training in the gut-brain space, she secured departmental funding to create a physician-scientist training pathway focused on DGBI. Through this program, she earned a Master of Science in Clinical Research to deepen her expertise in clinical trial design and translational methods, while also completing a dedicated year of advanced interdisciplinary clinical training under DGBI expert gastroenterologists, GI psychologists, GI dietitians, and Integrative Digestive Health practitioners. Her research has explored brain-gut-microbiome signaling, sex differences, and immune mechanisms that characterize chronic digestive disorders. As a Career Enhancement Core Scholar within the NIH-funded Chang-Mayer SCORE grant, and with additional support from the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center, she designed and led investigations into sex-specific cellular immune responses in irritable bowel syndrome. One of the most fulfilling parts of Dr. Sarnoff’s career is educating others: she given regular lectures to faculty and trainees at UCLA as well as multiple national and international conferences. Dr. Sarnoff launched UCLA’s inaugural DGBI–Internal Medicine Clinic in 2024, where she serves a central role within an interdisciplinary model of digestive care. Her ongoing work evaluates how collaborative, integrative approaches may improve patients’ symptoms, quality of life, and patterns of healthcare use — with the goal of building scalable models for a new standard of digestive care.

By marrying preventive primary care with gut-brain science, she seeks to help patients achieve not only symptom relief, but durable digestive and overall healthspan optimization. Dr. Sarnoff graduated with honors from Brown University and completed medical school at NYU School of Medicine, where she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She completed her residency and chief residency at UCLA, receiving multiple teaching and young investigator awards.