Three members of the campus community have been named winners of the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Awards.
Each year, UCSF recognizes three individuals who are manifesting King's vision of a noble civilization of diversity by honoring them with the UCSF MLK award. Awards are given to one faculty/academic member, one staff member and one student/resident/postdoctoral scholar who have furthered the goal of achieving ethnic diversity within the UCSF community.
The recipients of the 2008 MLK awards are:
- • Faculty: Eliseo J. Perez-Stable, MD, Department of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine,
- • Staff: Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, MPA, RN, CS, FNP, Academic Services/Diversity Enhancement, UCSF School of Nursing and
- • Student: Brandon Davis, PhD, Division of Child Neurology, UCSF School of Medicine.
Chancellor Mike Bishop, MD, invites the campus community to attend the MLK awards ceremony from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in Cole Hall on the UCSF Parnassus campus. Light refreshments will be served. The awards ceremony is part of UCSF's celebration of the life and legacy of the slain civil rights leader. See other events below.
Eliseo J. Perez-Stable
Beginning his UCSF career in 1979 as an intern in internal medicine, Perez-Stable is considered an internationally recognized expert on Latino health and health disparities. In both his research and interactions with staff, patients and colleagues, he has been an advocate of racial diversity.
Today, as a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Perez-Stable is instrumental in addressing the issues of health disparities from a global perspective, specifically those affecting Latinos. He has led programs that expand cultural understanding and the relationship between UCSF and Latin America.
Perez-Stable has served as the program director for the UCSF Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Program and as a member of the Medical School Admissions Committee.
"Eliseo is widely recognized as one of UCSF's most important career mentors for underrepresented trainees and faculty," said Robert Baron, MD, associate dean, professor of clinical medicine and chair of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Diversity.
In founding and developing a training program specifically designed for minority faculty at the Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (MERC), Perez-Stable has served as a mentor to dozens and advanced UCSF's goal of supporting the development of minority principal investigators interested in improving the health of vulnerable populations.
As one of the organizers of the recent inaugural UCSF Health Care Disparities Research Symposium, part of UCSF's annual Diversity Celebration, Perez-Stable was instrumental in providing a forum for UCSF faculty to present their findings on health care disparities to the campus community. Perez-Stable presented his own research on how the Internet can be used as an effective tool to address health issues in underrepresented groups.
Judy Martin-Holland
Since 2003, Martin-Holland has served as assistant dean of Academic Services and Diversity for the School of Nursing. To drive forward UCSF's goal of creating a more diverse pool of applicants, she has led and revamped numerous programs. These include fostering partnerships with Howard University and John F. Kennedy University, and organizing the Inside UCSF program for doctoral students and the Summer Academic Enrichment Program for future master's students.
One of Holland-Martin's most successful programs is the Master's Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN), which directly aids in increasing the number of underrepresented groups in the nursing profession. Diversity in the entering MEPN class increased from 18 percent in 2005 to 48 percent in 2007.
Martin-Holland's nursing career also includes nursing research. She completed her PhD degree in nursing at UCSF with a research emphasis on health care disparities and asthma.
"Judy lives by the motto 'Live so that when children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you,'" said Dorrie Fontaine, RN PhD, associate dean for academic programs in the School of Nursing.
Brandon Davis
As a student in UCSF's MD and PhD programs, Davis has founded and led numerous outreach activities to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in the health professions. He is recognized for promoting the mutual respect, understanding and appreciation for the cultural and ethnic diversity within the campus community, including serving as vice president of the Black Student Health Alliance and coordinating the UCSF Student National Medical Association (SNMA) trip to Ghana to address health disparities.
Davis also has helped advance the recruitment of underrepresented ethnic groups in the campus community, spearheaded the retention of underrepresented groups through mentoring, and encouraged the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups in campus committees, activities and events.
Celebrating MLK
The campus community is invited to attend these events:
Thursday, Jan. 17: Film: God Sleeps in Rwanda, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Cole Hall Cinema, Medical Sciences Building, Parnassus campus. This is a documentary about five women whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the circumstances in Rwanda. A short discussion will follow the film.
Tuesday, Jan. 22: Lecture: "Inside the African-American Experience: Story, Agency, and the Cultural Construction of Death and Dying" presented by La Vera Crawley, MD MPH, Stanford University, 5 p.m., Toland Hall, Parnassus campus.
Wednesday, Jan. 23: Keynote address: "Activating Activism," by Glynn Washington, a community activist who offers inspirational insight, from noon to 1 p.m. in School of Nursing, room 217 on the Parnassus campus. Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday, Jan. 23: Concert: Arts and Events presents the local jazz trio Who We Are, from noon to 1 p.m. in the San Francisco General Hospital cafeteria. Light refreshments will be served.
Thursday, Jan. 24: Concert: Arts and Events and the Staff Council at UCSF presents the jazz quartet, Latitude from noon to 1 p.m. at the View Café, second floor, Laurel Heights. Light refreshments will be served.
Thursday, Jan. 24: Choir: Arts and Events and the Staff Council present the UCSF Gospel Choir from noon to 1 p.m. at Herbst Hall, Mount Zion. Light refreshments will be served.
Friday, Jan. 25: Choir: Orbit Music Series presents Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir from noon to 1 p.m. at Cole Hall on the Parnassus campus.
Saturday, Jan. 26: Volunteering: UCSF Day of Service at Glide Memorial Church, 330 Ellis St., San Francisco. This event is being coordinated by the Associated Students of UCSF. To sign up, email.
All programs and events are planned by the 2008 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Commit¬tee, funded through the Chancellor's Cultural Enrichment Fund, and supported by Arts and Events, Associated Students of UCSF, Center for Gender Equity, Council of Minority Organizations, Office of Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Staff Council, and the Student Activity Center.
Related Link:
MLK 2008 Events Flyer (PDF)
