September 2004
Michael Deiner
“When the faculty and staff of Ophthalmology were asked if the Department
had a candidate for the Great People Award,” says Diana Hicks, “it
was nearly unanimous: ‘Mike’.” Mike started his career
in Ophthalmology as a Post Doc in one of the labs. Then, four years ago,
he accepted a position with the Department of Ophthalmology. He changed
his career from hands-on research to administration where, inspired by
research ideas from the Department’s Principle Investigators, he
finds the essence of the research subject, works with PIs to find new
sources for grants and assists them in all pre-award activities. His dedication,
determination and long hours in grant submission led to the successful
award of an NIH CORE grant.
Mike was given formal recognition of his Great People Award on September
27th at a surprise breakfast reception in his honor in the Chairman's
Office. Creig Hoyt, MD, Chair, recognized Mike for his achievements. He
was most appreciative of the honor and “in true modest Deiner style,
incredibly embarrassed by the event.”
Syramany Ngin
Derek Ngin received a tall stack of nominations from co-workers grateful
for his many contributions to the AIDS Health Project and their various
fundraising activities. Jennifer Jones says that “For our annual
Art for AIDS alone, Derek serves as a customer service representative,
a mover, a rental agency, an event planner, a security guard, a volunteer
organizer, an inventory manager, an art dealer, a wine taster, a contract
manager, a design specialist and a janitor!” Jennifer remarked that
“the ease with which Derek flies between these roles, as well as
the constant upbeat and smiling attitude he has really makes him a special
employee.”
Derek is one of the central players in the AIDS Health Project “lunch
club,” an open-to-all group of co-workers who share lunch and build
relationships. Among the many other accolades from nominators, he “is
a joy to work with,” “a complete dream of a guy to work with
and, last but not least, “he “rocks.”
Samira Soleimanpour
Samira Soleimanpour currently directs three multi-site, multi-method evaluation
studies: 1) Bridge to Employment Evaluation in San Jose, Milpitas, Los
Angeles and San Diego; 2) West Oakland Initiative Evaluation; and 3) the
Student Research Team component of the Alameda County School-Based Health
Centers Evaluation.
Nominators commented on Samira’s skill, dedication, professionalism,
teamwork and collaboration. When Gorette Amaral was unable to make a presentation
at a session of the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting,
Samira “cheerfully and generously’ agreed to fill in, even
though she already had an oral presentation and a poster session to prepare
for at the same conference.
“Samira is a gracious, diplomatic and highly skilled evaluator
… and a ‘rising star” at IHPS” says Sara Peterson
Geierstanger.
Sophia Vinogradov, M.D.
Dr. Sophia Vinogradov, Associate Professor in Residence, Department of
Psychiatry, is being singled out for her commitment to serving as a mentor
and role model for rotating students as well as for her patients. “Her
unyielding humanity puts people at ease and her ability to separate out
the person from the disease, day-in day-out truly deserves recognition”
says nominator Shenly D Glenn.
As a member of the Haile T Debas Academy of Medical Educators, Dr. Vinogradov
is a part of a select group recognized as the most accomplished teachers
of medical students at UCSF. She has been described as “an innovative
and collaborative program designer” and is playing a key role in
the development of the Brain, Mind and Behavior block of courses for medical
students.
Not only does she serve as a role model and receive awards for performing
with distinction, she is described as “generous in thought and spirit.”
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