Name Droppers: Sutter scholars honored

Natalie and Claire Farver and Zack Hester, all of Davis, were this year’s scholarship recipients of the Van R. Johnson Sutter Scholars program at Sutter Davis Hospital. The scholarships are a portion of the 155 awards given to students of employees who work at Sutter Health affiliates and who are heading into the 2012-13 academic year.

Twenty-two-year-old Claire is in the master’s nursing program at University of San Francisco and will graduate soon as a registered nurse with a master of nursing degree. Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner. Prior to college, Claire attended Grace Valley Christian Academy in Davis and passed her California High School Proficiency exam after the ninth grade. Claire enjoys her work at a brain injury rehabilitation facility, and in her spare time she enjoys church activities and keeping active by swimming and running.

Her younger sister Natalie, 17, attended Grace Valley Christian Academy in Davis and also passed the CHSPE after the ninth grade. Natalie attends Cosumnes River College where she is majoring in culinary arts and management, and is on her way to reaching her goal of opening a restaurant one day. Natalie is very involved in her church, martial arts and working out, in addition to cooking.

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Gov. Jerry Brown has announced the appointment of Robert B. Westbrook, 43, of Hughson, to a judgeship in the Stanislaus Superior Court.

Westbrook, a graduate of the UC Davis School of Law, has served as a deputy public defender at the Stanislaus County Public Defender’s Office since 2004, where he also worked from 2000 to 2002. He served as a deputy public defender at the San Joaquin County Public Defender’s Office from 2002 to 2004.

Westbrook earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale University. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John G. Whiteside. Westbrook, a Democrat, will be paid $178,789 annually.

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Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Ellen Gold, 63, of Berkeley, as chairwoman of the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee, where she has served since 2005. Gold has been a professor at UC Davis since 1988 and has served as chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine since 2008.

She is a member of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, American College of Epidemiology and American Public Health Association.

Gold earned a doctorate degree in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Gold is a Democrat.

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Claire Priestley LeFlore, 56, of Davis, has been appointed chief counsel at the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Leflore has been deputy attorney at the California Department of Transportation since 2007. She was deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice from 2006 to 2007, and staff counsel at the California Department of Water Resources from 1989 to 2006.

This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $131,172. Leflore is a Democrat.

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A local woman is among three who have been awarded civic engagement scholarships from Drexel University in Sacramento. Leia Matern, who lives in Woodland and works in Davis, has received a $15,000 grant to attend Drexel’s graduate program.

Matern is a lab assistant for the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis. She has bachelor’s degree in biology and entomology from the University of Idaho, where she was captain of the swim team as a scholarship athlete. She does lab work for the museum and also manages and train interns.

Matern is enrolled in the master of public health program at Drexel. She began volunteer work as a teenager, doing search and rescue for a sheriff’s department. She currently is a volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Sacramento.

Drexel offers six master’s, one doctorate and one post-baccalaureate program designed for working professionals in the fields of entrepreneurial business, human resource development, higher education and public health. For more information, visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call 916-325-4600.

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Neal Van Alfen of UC Davis and Mary-Ann Warmerdam of Woodland were among five people honored Oct. 18 with leadership awards from the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.

Van Alfen, former dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the 2012 Honorary Fellow Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated consistent commitment and uncommon excellence in the furtherance of education and leadership in California agriculture. Recipients are also dedicated and longtime supporters of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

Van Alfen also is a professor of plant pathology at UCD. In his role as a CALF partner university dean, he served on the CALF board and on candidate screening committees.

Warmerdam received the 2012 Profiles in Leadership Award, which recognizes Ag Leadership Program alumni for their leadership actions resulting in the betterment of industry, community, business, government, education and/or the environment.

Warmerdam is the external regulatory affairs leader in the global stewardship and innovation division of the Clorox Company. She is a Class 17 alumna who was recognized for lifetime achievement in the agricultural industry and contributions to her community.

CALF operates the Ag Leadership Program, which is considered to be one of the premier leadership development experiences in the United States. Since it was first delivered in 1970, nearly 1,200 men and women have participated in the program and have become influential leaders and active volunteers in agriculture, government, communities, business and education.

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Three new providers have joined Woodland Healthcare’s medical offices in Woodland and Davis.

Corinne Case joins Woodland Healthcare’s family practice department at its Davis location as a physician assistant, after recently receiving her certificate of physician assistant studies at UC Davis.

Case completed her internship and residency training at Woodland Healthcare, where she trained under the direction of family practice physicians, nurse practitioners and pediatricians.

Cristian Dinescu, M.D., joins Woodland Healthcare’s internal medicine department at its Woodland location. Dinescu received his medical degree from the Carol Davila: Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania. He completed his residency training at the Huron Hospital/Cleveland Clinic in East Cleveland.

Prior to joining Woodland Healthcare, Dinescu worked as an internal medicine physician in private practice in Spokane, Wash.

David Kollhoff, M.D., joins Woodland Healthcare as a urologist in the Woodland Surgery Center, after recently completing his residency training in urology at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. Kollhoff received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City.

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CHP Assistant Commissioner Ramona Prieto of Davis received the the Trailblazer Award from the California Peace Officers’ Association while attending the Women Leaders in Law Enforcement Symposium in Irvine recently. The Trailblazer Award recognizes a woman in California who, by demonstrating outstanding achievement on the job and in the community, has enhanced the visibility and stature of women in law enforcement.

Prieto, who started her career with the CHP 36 years ago, has worked in seven field commands and three staff operations. She was the first female motorcycle officer for the CHP, riding a on patrol in Los Angeles for five years. In another first, on May 1, 2008, Prieto was appointed the first female assistant commissioner in CHP history, and oversees all CHP field and patrol operations from the agency’s headquarters in Sacramento.

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Charles DeCarli, director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center and an internationally renowned expert on behavioral neurology, degenerative dementias and neuroimaging, is the first Victor and Genevieve Orsi Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Research at UC Davis Health System.

A professor of neurology, DeCarli’s leadership and insights have significantly advanced hope for people around the globe with Alzheimer’s disease. His groundbreaking neuroimaging investigations are at the forefront of advancing understanding about the relationship between the structure and function of the healthy aging brain and changes in the brain associated with vascular and Alzheimer’s dementias.

Support from the more than $1.63 million endowed chair award will be used for a sustained fellowship in behavioral neurology at the UCD Alzheimer’s Disease Center beginning in September 2013.

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Maurice Kalisky of Upper Crust Baking Co. in Davis, took home the California Prize at the fifth annual America’s Best Raisin Bread Contest, the only professional baking competition in the United States. The contest is sponsored by the California Raisin Marketing Board and comes just in time to celebrate National Raisin Bread Month in November.
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Olivia Marie Campa, a third-year medical student at the UC Davis School of Medicine, is one of five students nationwide receiving a 2012 Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarship award today at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges in San Francisco. This is the third year in a row that a UC Davis medical student has been honored with the prestigious $5,000 award. The association’s scholarships recognize outstanding students who have shown leadership in efforts to eliminate inequities in medical education and health care and in addressing educational, societal and health-care needs of minorities.

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Rebecca Jung-Hee Sonu, a third-year pathology and laboratory medicine resident at UC Davis, received a 2012 Resident Representative Leadership Award from the American Society for Clinical Pathology on Nov. 2 at the society’s annual meeting in Boston.

The competitive award recognizes the career achievements of young pathologists and their efforts to advance the discipline through research and mentoring. It also provides grant funding to support attendance at the annual conference.