Rachel Mandelbaum, MD
Dr. Rachel Mandelbaum is an Obstetrician, Gynecologist, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Specialist. She is dedicated to helping her patients navigate their fertility journeys through evidence-based practice, utilizing the most cutting edge technology and science. She believes in a holistic approach to fertility, with a focus on nutrition and both physical and emotional well-being during treatment.
With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Mandelbaum has contributed significantly to the field of reproductive medicine and women’s health. Both her personal experience growing her own family and helping other patients through the IVF process has motivated her passion for and commitment to research. To this end, Dr. Mandelbaum created “Needle-Free IVF,” a brand-new way to administer IVF medications using a subcutaneous catheter without home self-injections. She pioneered this method after witnessing how injections compounded the various stressors of fertility treatments in hopes of making the process easier and more approachable for patients. This technology has made a positive impact not only on her own journey but also those of many patients to date. She also has published on new protocols for ovarian stimulation and frozen embryo transfer, with the aim of optimizing pregnancy rates while minimizing injections.
Dr. Mandelbaum also has an active collaboration with Dr. Magdalena Zernicka Goetz at the California Institute of Technology, where she supports translational research on the early stages of embryonic development. She believes that this research is key to understand the science behind implantation, pregnancy, and miscarriage.
Dr. Mandelbaum remains clinical faculty at USC, where she spent seven years of her training. She is extremely passionate about teaching residents, fellows, and medical students. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Dr. Mandelbaum is a native Angeleno and attended The Archer School for Girls for high school education followed by Washington University in St. Louis for her undergraduate degree where she majored in Anthropology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She then completed medical school at UCLA and her post graduate training at USC. She is the mother to two boys that she shares with her husband Dr. Landon Polakof, an orthopedic surgeon.