February 2021  12th Edition
A Message from the Dean

Welcome to 2021!  A new year and a fresh start for us all. I hope you had a restful holiday season with family and friends.

This year started off with several very important events, two of which had significant importance to us and the community we serve. The much-anticipated arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, which we have been hard at work administering, and the UCI announcement of plans to build a first-class hospital on the campus in Irvine.
 
Discover Row 1
UCI team at work on preemptive vaccine for all coronaviruses
Several vaccines to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 have been developed with unprecedented speed. But what if there were a vaccine that would thwart a new coronavirus before it got a chance to begin spreading widely around the world?
 
Candice Taylor Lucas, MD, receives Inclusive Excellence Spirit Award
Candice Taylor Lucas, MD, Department of Pediatrics with the UCI School of Medicine was recognized for her Work of HEArt (Health Equity & Art): Increasing Awareness about Black Maternal and Infant Health Disparities through Theatre and Reflection."
 
Discover Row 2
Susan Huang, MD, honored at 37th Annual Athalie Clarke Awards
Susan Huang, MD, professor of infectious diseases at the UCI School of Medicine, was awarded the 2020 Athalie Clarke Achievement Award in Medical Research at a ceremony in November, 2020.
 
Nine UCI researchers named AAAS fellows
Alan Goldin, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, was one of nine UCI researchers named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science fellows.
 
Discover Row 3
445 UCI faculty in top two percent of scientists in the world
In an update to a Stanford University-led study, 445 UCI faculty have been identified among the top two percent of scientists in the world.
 
Funds Secured for an Endowed Chair in Urologic Surgical Oncology
In gratitude for the treatment her late husband received for kidney cancer, Marilyn Vitek recently gifted the remaining $1 million needed for an Endowed Chair in Urologic Surgical Oncology to the UCI School of Medicine.
 
Teach Row 1
Carol Major, MD, and Charles Vega, MD, speak on bias in healthcare
Carol Major, MD, and Charles Vega, MD, were highlighted on the AAMC podcast, "Beyond the White Coat.”
 
School of Medicine student named KNX hero of the week
Dania Maldonado, KNX Hero makes it her mission to keep SoCal Latino community safe with Covid-19 resource guide.
 
Teach Row 2
2020 Physiology & Biophysics Department Annual Awards
Stephen Halley White, PhD, past chair of the Department of Physiology & Biophysics was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Albert La Spada, MD, named associate dean of research development
Albert La Spada, MD, distinguished professor and director of the UCI Institute for Neurotherapeutics, has been named the new associate dean of research development.
 
Teach Row 3
LEAD-ABC: The First Program of it's kind
LEAD-ABC was founded by faculty members Dr. Carol Major and Dr. Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin, along with current medical student Kaosoluchi Enendu, who will graduate in 2021.
 
Remembering B. Dwight Culver, MD
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of B. Dwight Culver, MD, professor emeritus of the Department of Medicine, who passed away peacefully on January 24. He was 99 years old.
 
Heal Row 1
UCI to build world-class hospital on Irvine campus
Plans to build a world-class, acute care hospital on the northern edge of the University of California, Irvine academic campus advanced significantly, as the University of California Board of Regents granted approval of the project’s 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center and cancer center.
 
UCI Health receives COVID-19 vaccine and gives more than 10,000 doses to frontline workers
More than 10,000 doses have been given to frontline healthcare workers. An estimated 40 million doses (enough for 20 million people) is being made available by manufacturers, with some shipments arriving in December of 2020, and continuing shipments arriving this year.
 
Heal Row 2
2021 Physicians of Excellence
UCI Health is home to 174 doctors who have been named 2021 Physicians of Excellence by the Orange County Medical Association, more than any other health system in Orange County.
 
UCI campus COVID-19 patient vaccination site opens
UCI Health administers vaccines to patients 65 and older.
 
Heal 1 Article Rows
Brain cancer patient beats the odds in a big way
Lorin Jensen remembers the exact day his cancer battle began — July 1, 2007. He was country line dancing and his arm kept going numb.
 
SOM in the News

Biden picks coordinators for Covid-19 response

Capital Hill riot could prove to be super-spreader event, experts say

The difference between CBD and THC and the health benefits of each

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout faces a two-shot problem

The meaning of The Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday holiday in 2021
 
Calendar

Feb 16 – 2021 Health Care Forecast Conference

March 3 – 40th Annual Mammoth Mountain Emergency Medicine Conference

March 19 – Match Day

April 21 – 13th Annual Gastroenterology and Hepatology Symposium
 
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