Jennifer Anger, MD
Jennifer T. Anger, MD, MPH (she/her) is a board-certified female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery expert who has dedicated her career to improving the quality of surgical care for patients with pelvic floor disorders. She is the only physician in San Diego who performs gender affirming pelvic or "bottom" surgery, including vaginoplasty (penile inversion, peritoneal and intestinal), vulvoplasty (zero or shallow depth), metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, and robotic hysterectomy with vaginectomy and non-binary options.
The field of transgender care is very new, and new surgical and medical treatments have emerged rapidly. Dr. Anger has expertise in providing gender-affirming care to transgender and nonbinary patients and is dedicated to assuring that transgender individuals receive the highest quality, evidenced-based surgical care. She also serves patients who have had surgery previously but need repeat, or revision, surgery.
Dr. Anger is professor of urology and vice chair of research in the UC San Diego Department of Urology. She leads the new program in gender affirming pelvic surgery and is part of a large multidisciplinary transgender care team which provides comprehensive care for both adults and adolescents.
Dr. Anger was assistant professor of urology at UCLA until 2010, where she gained expertise in robotic-assisted pelvic floor reconstruction. She then joined the faculty at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to build a new residency program in urology. In 2018 she founded and directed the ACGME-accredited Cedars-Sinai fellowship in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.
She received a career development award from the National Institutes of Health to develop and test quality-of-care measures for women with urinary incontinence. This led to a long track record of independent funding in several clinical areas. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Urology Care Foundation. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Her current research focuses on improving the quality of care for transgender individuals, reducing disparities in care, and improving medical and surgical outcomes for transgender adults and adolescents.
Dr. Anger has largely focused on improving quality of care and access to care for underserved populations, including aging women with pelvic floor disorders. She has also sought to reduce language-related barriers to care for underserved Latinas. She has mentored numerous trainees, including faculty, fellows, residents, medical students, and even high school students. Many of her mentees come from underrepresented backgrounds and have pursued academic careers in urology and female pelvic medicine & reconstructive surgery, and genitourinary reconstruction.
She is a dual fellowship-trained reconstructive urologist. She spent her first fellowship in urologic reconstruction with Dr. George Webster at Duke University Medical Center. This was followed by a second fellowship in urological health services research, in which she completed a master's degree in public health at UCLA under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Litwin. She completed residency training in urology and surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Anger earned her medical degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Dr. Anger is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Urological Association (AUA), the Society for Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU), the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS), and the Genitourinary Reconstruction Society (GURS).
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children. She loves Latin dancing and teaches Zumba in her spare time.