Kelley DeLeeuw comes to us from Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico having grown up in the San Diego area. She earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University in Latin American Studies and Health Policy and her MPH from the University of North Carolina. Her research has focused on addressing ethno-cultural factors in preventive health strategies among disadvantaged youth and she has written extensively in this area. She has excelled throughout medical school and was an Alpha Kappa Pi inductee. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese and enjoys the outdoors and teaching Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form that makes a ritual of movements from martial arts, games, and dance.

Dorothy Liu will earn her medical degree from the University of California at Irvine and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dorothy has a strong interest in international health and has worked and volunteered in clinics and orphanages in Honduras and Gutaemala where she also did research in the area of diabetes education. She loves music and has played piano since she was 4 and composes music as well. In medical school, she formed “Bamboo Smoothie” a band playing locally and at weddings.

Congratulations to Dr. Luis Sandoval who recently received the John Majda Foundation Award in recognition and support of his ongoing research looking at the impact of the therapeutic relationship and specific interventions on the part of the caregiver on patients who present with active suicidal ideation.  Dr. Sandoval has taken it upon himself to explore this important element of suicide prevention and we are incredibly proud of his initiative and the well-deserved recognition and support that this award brings. 

Dr. Searles and the RecreationRx.org initiative have been awarded a Physicians for Healthy Communities Mini-Grant by the California Medical Association Foundation to support obesity prevention advocacy and outreach programs that enhance the well-being of California’s communities. The grant will be used to develop and enhance “starter kits” to help communities develop recreation prescription programs in their area for underserved families!

Click Here to read about the RecRx program in the San Diego Union-Tribune...

Click Here to read an article about the RecRx program in San Diego Physician magazine...

Congratulations to our own Dr. Katie Hirst, the recipient of this year’s prestigious 2008 Wyeth Fellowship of the Association of Women Psychiatrists! The AWP-Wyeth-Ayerst Fellowships offers just two one-year fellowships per year to outstanding women residents who have demonstrated leadership and a contribution to women’s health. The fellowship is designed in keeping with AWP goals of developing leadership in women psychiatrists as well as contributing to the overall mission of improving the personal and professional future roles of women.  Katie is the first combined resident ever to receive this honor... Well done!

Read more about Katie…

Vanessa Lauzon will graduate from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California where she has excelled academically and demonstrated not only a strong commitment to the underserved, but also a strong leadership skill-set in organized medicine. Vanessa is an AOA member, two-time Dean’s Scholar, and a USC Trustee Scholar. She is the National Director of the Medical Education Leadership Institute of the American Medical Student Association and coordinated AMSA’s effort to train medical student fellows to bring important medical education principles to their home institutions. She has strong experience in free clinics and non-profit humanitarian organizations based in the Los Angeles area and volunteered with Healing Hearts Across Borders providing healthcare to indigent patients in Tijuana, BC, Mexico. She also designed and fully implemented Keck School of Medicine’s medical Spanish program. In her free time she enjoys Latin American literature, cooking, and gardening.

Kristy Lamb will graduate from the Georgetown University School of Medicine where she demonstrated strong interest in working with patients struggling with substance dependence, as well as at-risk women. She volunteered with Prevention Works in Washington, DC to facilitate a needle exchange program in her region and sought out additional experience in dual diagnosis out-patient rehabilitation. In her first year of medical school, Kristy worked at Casa de Gabriella, a women’s shelter with a focus on victims of domestic violence as a health educator. Her interest in international health brought her to Costa Rica where she participated in the set-up of a free clinic in the small town of Quesada. Her own interest in personal fitness has lead her to run several marathons and triathlons and fueled her interest in promoting preventive health through fitness and integrative medicine. Aside from time spent staying active, Kristy is a movie buff and tries to take in a film festival whenever she can.