Moon S. Chen, Jr., professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center, has been appointed co-chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Trans-HHS Cancer Health Disparities Progress Review Group.

The appointment was made by Andrew C. von Eschenbach, director of the National Cancer Institute.

The group is charged with integrating all agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services in a collaborative effort to eliminate disparities in cancer awareness, prevention, early detection, incidence and treatment nationwide. The agencies include the Administration on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, and the National Institutes of Health.

One of the nation’s foremost investigators into the cancer burden of ethnic minority groups, Chen is also the principal investigator of an $8.5-million NCI-funded project to eliminate disparities in cancer incidence, awareness and early detection among Asian American populations. Chen also heads the UC Davis Cancer Center’s Cancer Control and Prevention Program.

David Gandara, professor of medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine and director of clinical research at UC Davis Cancer Center, has been elected secretary/treasurer and appointed to the board of directors of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who treat people with cancer.

A prominent lung cancer specialist, Gandara chairs the Lung Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group, a National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials cooperative research group comprising 283 institutions in the United States and Canada. Under his leadership, UC Davis for the past two years ranked first among the 283 group's sites in the number of patients enrolled in clinical trials.

UC Davis School of Medicine Dean Joseph Silva, Jr. received an honorary degree from the Belarusian State Medical University for his efforts to enhance educational and research programs at the university. He is the 11th recipient of this award.

Established in 1911, the medical university is the oldest and largest school of higher education in the Republic of Belarus. It was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt. The university has 5,000 students, 18 research laboratories, 55 chairs, 700 professors and lecturers, and 150 researchers. Areas of training include general medicine, pediatics, military medicine, dentistry and preventive medicine.

John M. Boone, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, recently accepted an appointment by the International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements (ICRU) to chair a committee on Image Quality and Patient Dose in CT.

The committee consists of scientists and physicians from North America, Asia and Europe, and its charge is to define the international standards for characerizing CT scanner image quality performance, and for assessing the radiation dose from CT procedures to patients.

The ICRU is an international body commissioned in 1925, and is sponsored by numerous governmental agencies, organizations and corporations from Europe, Japan and North America. Its recommendations, which take the form of ICRU publications, become the de facto international standards in the radiology community and in other industries where radiation is used. The work of the committee is expected to take five years.

UC Davis Medical Center was recognized for its pivotal role in helping to improve the image of Stockton Boulevard.

The Stockton Boulevard Business Partnership, an association of property owners and businesses on Stockton Boulevard between Second Avenue and 48th Avenue in Sacramento, presented to the medical center its "Stars on Stockton" award in the Community Partner category.

"The medical center has been a significant, contributing partner in efforts to improve Stockton Boulevard. It has contributed resources to improving its physical appearance and image, and has improved security through its police department. All of this helps in our efforts to improve the boulevard overall," said Richard Greene, executive director of the partnership.

John P. McVicar, director of the UC Davis Medical Center's Liver Transplant Program, has been appointed to the 2003-04 Executive Committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing Board of Directors.

McVicar is regional councillor representative for UNOS' Region 5, which consists of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. He has been on the UNOS Board of Directors since 2002. McVicar serves on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)/UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee and its policy compliance subcommittee. He has served on the OPTN/UNOS Liver and Intestinal Organ Transplantation and Scientific Advisory Committees.

Susan Murin, UC Davis associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, is among 45 senior women faculty from medical and dental schools in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada selected as 2003-04 fellows by the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women.

ELAM is the only in-depth national program that prepares senior women faculty for leadership positions at academic health centers. The 2003-04 class consists of women from 41 U.S. and Canadian medical and dental schools.

Murin is director of the UC Davis Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program, and vice chair for clinical affairs for the Department of Internal Medicine.