Rumsey receives Distinguished Service Award

Former Davis resident Elissa Rumsey was honored recently with a prestigious award at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Rumsey received the Distinguished Service Award from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for her work on one of the largest and most complex regulatory projects in the Justice Department’s recent history.

Rumsey’s contributions resulted in a comprehensive set of national standards aimed at the elimination of sexual abuse in U.S. jails and prisons. The final regulations advance several major Department of Justice goals, including the protection of civil rights, the prevention of crime and the safekeeping of vulnerable citizens from harm.

Rumsey is the daughter of Davis residents Tom and Jill Rumsey and has worked in Washington at the U.S. Department of Justice since 1997.

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Donald Bers, the Joseph Silva endowed chair for cardiovascular research and chairman of the department of pharmacology at UC Davis, was recognized as a distinguished scientist at the American Heart Association’s 2012 scientific sessions, which were held in Los Angeles Nov. 3-7.

With this recognition, Bers joins a group of 75 scientists and clinicians whose overall work has significantly advanced the association’s mission of “building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

Bers is an expert on the intricate physiological factors that regulate cardiac contractions and identifying treatment targets for correcting abnormal heart rhythms. By using unique research models, focusing on quantitative techniques and synthesizing results across biological studies, his work has dramatically expanded the understanding of heart muscle-dynamics.

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Isaac Pessah and Catherine Vande Voort, both of Davis, have been appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the state of California Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee.

Pessah has been a professor at UC Davis since 1996 and has served as chairman of the department of molecular biosciences since 2006. Vande Voort has been professor-in-residence at the California National Primate Research Center at UCD since 2009 and has served as chairwoman of the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Graduate Group since 2007.

These positions do not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation.

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Ligaya Park successfully passed the board certification examination American Academy of Osteopathic Dermatology on Oct. 7. Park graduated from Davis High School in 1997 and from UC Davis in 2001. She completed her dermatology postgraduate training at University Hospitals of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in June and now practices with Redwood Family Dermatology in Santa Rosa.

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Karl D. Mulloney-Radke graduated with distinction from New York University’s School of Law in May. After taking the New York Bar Exam in July, he began work in Manhattan as an assistant district attorney for the county of New York. Prior to his legal studies, Mulloney-Radke graduated from the University of Chicago and then worked for three years in Washington on Congressman Mike Thompson’s staff.

Mulloney-Radke is a Davis High School graduate, and the son of Brian Mulloney and Kathryn Radke.

— Do you know of someone who has won an award or accomplished something noteworthy? Send it, preferably by email, to newsroom@davisenterprise.net, or to Name droppers, The Davis Enterprise, P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617.