Reimagining the Future of Health, Fall 2017 UCI Magazine

Fall 2017

MAGAZINE

Reimagining the

Future of Health

SPOP Spirit Student Parent Orientation Program staffers lead incoming freshmen in a game during this year’s Peer Education Fair on Ring Mall, near the Student Center.

Fall 2017

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Steve SteveChang Zylius / UCI

Contents

Fall 2017 Vol. 2, No. 3

Reimagining the Future of Health

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14 Just What the Doctor Ordered: A $200 million shot in the arm from Susan and Henry Samueli aims to transform healthcare and UCI

Wellness Champion: Susan Samueli has been a longtime believer in integrative health

Plus: A profile of cardiologist Shaista Malik, director of the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine D E P A R T M E N T S FLAS H B ACK

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PRISM

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SPOT L IGHT

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S PEC T RUM

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About This Issue: In this edition of UCI Magazine, “Reimagining the Future of Health,” we focus on the announcement of a transformative $200 million gift – the largest in UCI history – by Susan and Henry Samueli to create a realigned College of Health Sciences. Our cover story, “Just What the Doctor Ordered” (page 14), explores how the gift will support a science-based integrated health approach, while “Wellness Champion” (page 24) follows Susan Samueli’s path to becoming an avid supporter of complementary care. In “A Picture of Health” (page 34), we showcase several evidence-based research efforts by UCI innovators, and finally, “Whole-Body Experience” (page 28) introduces four patients who have already benefited from UCI’s integrative healthcare practice.

On the Cover: Longtime UCI benefactors Susan and Henry Samueli. Photo by Steve Zylius / UCI 2

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Whole-Body Experience: A look at four patients who are benefiting from UCI’s integrative healthcare

P E R S PE CT I V E

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R E FLECTIONS

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A NT OURAGE

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A Picture of Health: Doctors and researchers share snapshots of how healthcare – as we know it – is changing

PA RT ING ZOT !

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Letters to the Editor Spring 2017: “The Literary Issue” I just turned the last page of the spring 2017 edition of UCI Magazine – so thoughtful, so lovely and a gift for those who receive it. Thank you for this wonderful focus on the storied UCI M.F.A. program and its mentors and alumni and their creative works. Some of the magazine’s stories took me down memory lane. Others had me eagerly looking up the availability of novels.

The poetry made me quiet in wonder of those magical words on the page.

“Facing It,” by Yusef Komunyakaa, is amazing. It’s almost like I’m in front of the memorial with him – and the closing sentence is so haunting, so quietly sad.

Thank you again.

Elaine Minami ’81, MBA ’86 Trabuco Canyon

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Winter 2017: “Let the Gaming Begin” Following up on your winter 2017 eSports issue, I’d like to fill in readers on some exciting updates (all in line with our four program pillars of competition, academics and research, community, and entertainment).

First, we have rebranded our program to UCI Esports. We’ve followed the debate on the capitalization of the word “esports” since our founding and believe that for “esports” to become a regular part of our lexicon, we should treat the word normally.

In addition to continuing our “League of Legends” scholarships, we’ve formed a scholarship “overwatch” team for the 2017-18 year and are continuing to support student-run club teams. During the last season, UCI’s “League of

Legends,” “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” “Heroes of the Storm” and “Super Smash Bros. Melee” teams all placed in the top four in their respective national tournaments.

On the research front, one of our favorite projects at the arena has been renewed. Stark Labs will continue exploring the relationship between 3-D video games and memory. And over the summer, we hosted our first girls’ summer camp, in which 17 high school students joined us to learn about inclusivity in esports and potential gaming careers, from game development to content creation to professional play.

We can’t wait to continue learning from our community and creating awesome experiences for students and local gamers. Here’s to another great year at UCI! Kathy Chiang ’16 UCI Esports Arena coordinator

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I was distressed to read in the winter 2017 UCI Magazine the article entitled “A Bold New Sports Franchise.”

While a university must be up-todate, resorting to games on government funds is a poor choice. UCI is merely succumbing to declining social mores by electing to teach computer games over real life.

Bruce Brewer ’78 Tulsa, Okla.

Editor’s note: No public funds were used to construct the UCI Esports Arena or pay for scholarships. The arena, scholarships, staff salaries and all other costs are paid through a combination of corporate sponsorships and arena revenue (fees charged to gamers who use the venue).

UCI Magazine Vol. 2, No. 3 Produced by the University of California, Irvine Office of Strategic Communications & Public Affairs Chancellor Howard Gillman Associate Chancellor, Strategic Communications & Public Affairs Ria Carlson Interim Director, Media Relations & Publications Tom Vasich Managing Editor Marina Dundjerski Design Vince Rini Design Visuals Steve Chang and Steve Zylius Copy Editor Kymberly Doucette Editorial Advisory Committee Jennie Brewton, Kate Klimow, John Murray (health), Will Nagel, Janna Parris (advancement) and Ryan Smith Contributing Writers Anna Iliff, Roy Rivenburg, Shari Roan, Alan Wechsler and Janet Wilson Digital Media Tonya Becerra and Kien Lai Contact Have a comment or suggestion?

Address correspondence to: UCI Magazine UCI Office of Strategic Communications & Public Affairs 120 Theory, Ste. 100 Irvine, CA 92697-5615 949-824-6922 • ucimagazine@uci.edu communications.uci.edu/magazine UCI Magazine is a publication for faculty, staff, alumni, students, parents, community members and UCI supporters. Issues are published in winter, spring and fall.

To receive the electronic version of UCI Magazine, email a request to ucimagazine@uci.edu.

UCI Magazine is printed with soy-based inks on a recycled paper stock certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Please recycle.

We Want to Hear From You When submitting a letter to the editor, please include your full name, UCI graduation year or affiliation (if applicable), mailing address, city of residence, phone number and email address. Submissions that do not include this information cannot be published. Contact information is for verification purposes only – not for publication or commercial use.

Letters should be 150 words or less and may be edited. They become the property of UCI/the UC Board of Regents and may be republished in any format.

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F L A S H B A C K

ctions & Archives UCI Libraries, Special Colle

A Focus on Free Speech

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n Jan. 23, 1967, UCI founding Chancellor Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. addressed a crowd of 1,500 gathered at Gateway Plaza to protest budget cuts and the firing of University of California President Clark Kerr in the aftermath of the UC Berkeley-led Free Speech Movement. It was UCI’s first large-scale demonstration, and, as documented in the 1967 yearbook, “a new generation of students would emerge, impatient with the status quo, committed to righting old wrongs through direct action and, in the process, shocking their elders and shaking institutions.”

Fifty years later, free speech issues continue to cause conflict at campuses nationwide. But the dynamics have changed.

“In the ’60s and ’70s, it was students who were insisting on broader free speech rights against administrators who were trying to limit what could be said,” says UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. “Today the impulse for censorship is coming largely from students.”

In Free Speech on Campus, a new book by Gillman and founding UCI law school Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, the constitutional scholars explore the impetus behind the student challenges while encouraging universities to foster inclusivity and a culture that embraces the protection of First Amendment rights. Says Gillman, “Both students and campus leaders can benefit from more exposure to the basic rationale for free speech and academic freedom.”

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“Sometimes silence is betrayal. Sometimes silence is consent. We must express ourselves.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking at the Irvine Barclay Theatre as part of the UCI School of Law’s “Hate in a Period of Political Turmoil” series Orange County Register Sept. 8, 2017

News

A Hispanic-Thriving Designation

Ready, Set, Go! Runners take off during UCI’s inaugural 5K Anti-Cancer Challenge in June at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The twoday event, in which more than 2,000 people ran, walked or cycled, raised over $600,000 to support cancer research at UCI’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. A concert celebrating the participants, volunteers and donors – featuring musician and cancer survivor Sheryl Crow – was scheduled for Oct. 21 at the campus’s Bren Events Center.

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“My sense is that geneticists are doing basic science to advance our understanding of human nature and that attorneys who are aware of this stuff and who are very clever will come up with ways [to] try and morph that into a legal argument.”

Nicholas Scurich, associate professor of psychology & social behavior and criminology, law & society Popular Science Sept. 19, 2017

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The U.S. Department of Education has named UCI a Hispanic-serving institution for 2017-18, meaning that fully one-quarter of undergraduates identify as Latino and that half of all students receive financial aid. The designation builds on UCI’s recognition earlier this year as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, demonstrating the university’s commitment to providing a world-class education to every qualified student.

UCI’s current Latino enrollment is 25.7 percent, double what it was a decade ago. “Latino students represent some of California’s most talented and promising high school graduates, chiefly from Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties,” said Douglas Haynes, UCI vice provost for academic equity, diversity and inclusion. “This impressive growth signifies the aspirations, dedication and achievement of Latino students, families and communities. We are a Hispanic-thriving institution, first and foremost.” Besides Latinos, UCI’s student population is 38.6 percent Asian, 14.1 percent white and 2.9 percent African American. Half of all undergraduates are the first in their families to attend college.

25.7%

The Rams Return Quarterback Jared Goff (in red jersey) leads the Los Angeles Rams during practice on Crawford Field. For the second consecutive year since relocating to Southern California, the team held its summer training camp at UCI. Fifteen practice sessions were open to the public, including a scrimmage with the renamed Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 9 (at top).

“Cheap speech has undermined mediating and stabilizing institutions of American democracy, including newspapers and political parties, with negative social and political consequences.”

Richard L. Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of law & political science Los Angeles Times Aug. 18, 2017

Skip That DMV Line What is that yellow machine? The first auto registration kiosk outside a California Department of Motor Vehicles office arrived at UCI earlier this year. Housed in the Transportation & Distribution Services office, above the Police Department, it processes payments and immediately provides updated registration cards and stickers to motorists. Other DMV kiosks have since been rolled out to a few supermarkets in Southern California, but according to the DMV, UCI was the first site to say yes to the pilot program.

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Anteater at Helm of USA Swimming Alumnus Tim Hinchey was appointed president and CEO of USA Swimming in July. A native of Danville, in Contra Costa County, Hinchey earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from UCI in 1991. He was a four-year letterman swimmer and, later, a graduate assistant swim coach. (UCI dropped its swimming program in 2009.) Since 2011, Hinchey has served as president of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids; he previously worked in the NBA and NHL. Hinchey also volunteers as a Special Olympics swim coach.

“What the surfer knows, in knowing how to ride a wave, bears on questions for the ages – about freedom, control, happiness, society, our relation to nature, the value of work and the very meaning of life.”

Aaron James, professor of philosophy The New York Times Aug. 18, 2017

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iRev It Up UCI’s two undergraduate improv teams, Live Nude People* (*with clothes on) and Improv Revolution, matched wits onstage at Winifred Smith Hall as part of the 2017 Coup de Comedy Festival in May. Students from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts organized the four-day celebration, which for the first time included the Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium, featuring speakers from 10 countries.

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S P O T L I G H T

Paul Kennedy / UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts

Puppet Masters

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rama students closed out the season performing the acerbic, Tony Award-winning coming-of-age parable “Avenue Q” to a sold-out house at the Claire Trevor Theatre in June.

Originally conceived as a television series and relying heavily on the use of puppets operated by unconcealed puppeteers, “Avenue Q” alludes to childhood classics such as “Sesame Street” and mocks the message fed to kids that everyone is “special” and able to do anything. As the characters in this world grow up, they meet life’s harsh truths one by one and realize that nobody is more “special” than anyone else.

Undergraduates Amy Tilson-Lumetta (left) and Connor Marsh (right) took on the puppet personalities for the “Bad Idea Bears,” while Eriel Brown (center) filled the role of “Gary Coleman.”

UCI senior lecturer and vice chair of drama Don Hill directed this playful and, at times, hard-hitting commentary on all of the ways in which we pass judgment on each other based on societal stereotypes and personal differences. Says Hill: “After doing a number of darker plays this season which grappled with issues such as bigotry and immigration, we’re happy to finish with a show that is lots of fun to watch while still addressing serious themes.”

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Bangalore, India

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Better Screening of Oral Cancer in India Worldwide, oral cancer is the sixth-most common cancerrelated cause of death, killing almost a quarter-million people each year. In low-resource nations such as India, which has the planet’s highest burden of oral cancer, the situation is more acute, primarily due to limited awareness of the issue and – for the poor – limited access to specialized care. In some parts of India, the disease kills more people than anything else. Yet survival rates are excellent if oral cancer is quickly identified.

To increase early detection, Dr. Petra Wilder-Smith of UCI’s Beckman Laser Institute has partnered with the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Center in Bangalore, India, to develop and test a low-cost, portable screening device that fieldworkers can use.

The technology is enabling people – many of whom rarely see dentists – to receive timely diagnoses and care to dramatically improve their outcomes.

Slightly larger than a shoebox, the device can create detailed laser images of oral lesions that are sent via mobile phone to the cancer center. Over the last year, UCI teams have traveled to India with a prototype to test on patients. They screened some 12,000 people, identifying 1,200 with or at high risk of imminently developing oral cancer. Wilder-Smith says these efforts are promising, and her group is gearing up for a larger campaign across the vast nation. “We’re in conversations with several foundations and government groups to explore ways of expanding this program quickly – with the goal of saving thousands of lives,” she says.

Amir AghaKouchak

Petra Wilder-Smith

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Q&A

P E R S P E C T I V E Adeline “Adey” Nyamathi Founding Dean, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing

Steve Zylius / UCI

Helping Others Help Themselves If there’s a theme to the impressive career of Adeline “Adey” Nyamathi, R.N., Ph.D., it’s about pulling people up. That’s what nursing is about really: caring for individuals who are vulnerable and then helping them maintain a new level of health. Founding dean of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing and a Distinguished Professor of nursing science at UCI, Nyamathi has done it all in her 40 years of service, from community nursing to teaching to research. She has more than 200 peerreviewed publications to her name and has traveled extensively, conducting research from Los Angeles’ skid row to rural India.

A nurse practitioner and a fellow of the American

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Academy of Nursing, Nyamathi brings that global perspective and roll-up-your-sleeves experience to UCI as nursing education enters an important new phase, transitioning from a program to a full-fledged school.

Supported by a $40 million gift from the William & Sue Gross Family Foundation, the school will more than double in size over the coming years.

But more than that, Nyamathi says, the school will empower the nurses of tomorrow to be the voices for those in need. She took time from her busy schedule – she still travels to India for research purposes twice a year – to speak with UCI Magazine contributor Shari Roan about her vision for the profession.

Q: What drew you into nursing?

Q: What will nursing be like in the future?

Nyamathi: Many of us aspire to become nurses because we want to care and express empathy for people who are suffering from illness as well as people who need advice and counseling on keeping healthy. What appeals to me the most is utilizing the skills we learned to help other people improve their health.

Nyamathi: The nurse of the future will be very technologically oriented. There are all kinds of mobile technology apps. There are so many ways to keep in touch with people in our communities to remind them about healthy behaviors and monitor them from a distance.

Community care and transitional care are becoming so important. The patient experience is another aspect.

When people do go into the hospital, we want to ensure that their stay will be wonderful, they will be safe, and their care will be high-quality. This is very important to all of us in the fields of nursing, medicine, pharmacy and population health.

Q: You’ve done many jobs, from bedside nursing to research to education. What do you enjoy most?

Nyamathi: I am most passionate about homeless individuals who live on skid row in Los Angeles. These people need help and support and are stigmatized by so many different entities, sometimes even by healthcare providers. I get much satisfaction from leading research teams that work with this vulnerable population. We have also worked with women and men who come out of jails and prisons. One of my favorite projects involves developing role models among people with histories of incarceration and homelessness. These role models are trained to be part of our team and learn the skills of conducting research. They have walked in the shoes of the participants we hope to enroll in our studies and teach our nurses and other team members about cultural sensitivity. We’ve done a lot to help them with re-entry into society.

Q: What do you do on your travels to rural India?

“What appeals to me the most is utilizing the skills we learned to help other people improve their health.”

Q: What do you tell nursing students about relationships with their patients?

Nyamathi: I work with a population of women who are HIV-infected and diagnosed with AIDS. We help them improve their health and quality of life, boost their nutritional status, better their parenting skills, and learn how to be sustainable. Once we’re gone, they continue to take their medication and maintain a livelihood for themselves and their families.

Nyamathi: I think it’s critical to be a good listener and show compassion and empathy. Treat every patient as if that person was a family member. That’s my motto.

We are all about the patient experience. Our physician colleagues may only be with patients briefly, but nurses are there 24 hours a day.

Q: Do nurses today have more opportunities to do jobs other than traditional bedside nursing, such as research or community nursing?

Nyamathi: At UCI, we’re one of the leaders in terms of developing nurse practitioners. Ours also take care of vulnerable people in the community. But in California, nurse practitioners are in a restricted practice. That means that doctors need to sign off on what they do.

In many other states, these restrictions have been released. I am hoping that California will be one of those states in the near future. We can do much more if nurses can practice at the top of their licenses. We need to keep working on that.

Nyamathi: We have a National Institute for Nursing Research; it’s one of the National Institutes of Health that’s solely dedicated to nursing. Many nurses receive funding to conduct their research through the NINR. Another aspect of nursing that’s often not talked about is working in the community. That’s where healthcare is going. For example, transitional care is critical today, helping people transition from the hospital and live healthy at home, without having to go back into the hospital or intensive care unit as often as they did before.

Nurses do so well with that. We can really manage chronic illness well.

Q: What changes would you like to see in nursing?

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JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED A $200 million shot in the arm aims to transform healthcare and UCI

By Roy Rivenburg

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pre-dawn bike ride inspired part of the plan.

Other elements surfaced in a firelit room lined with books by Mario Puzo and Dashiell Hammett. A few ideas even percolated inside Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

For more than a year, UCI officials have been quietly hashing out a boundary-pushing proposal to reshape the campus and refashion healthcare in Orange County and beyond. It’s Western-meets-Eastern medicine, backed by scientific research and 21st-century technology.

The epicenter will rise on what is now a patch of weeds and rocks along the southwestern edge of campus, near the corner of Bison and California avenues.

Thanks to a blockbuster $200 million gift to UCI from Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, a former holistic health practitioner, the parcel

will soon metamorphose into a realigned College of Health Sciences. Named after the couple and anchored by schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and population health, the college hopes to pioneer an interdisciplinary, integrative approach to health that shifts the focus from treating ailments to averting them.

Although a number of top universities house integrative medicine units, UCI aims to be the first to have its entire health network adopt the strategy, which involves analyzing multiple aspects of a patient’s life – from genetics to emotions to environment – and then prescribing conventional as well as carefully vetted nonconventional therapies to promote wellness.

“We’re in the midst of a healthcare crisis, and out-of-the-box thinking is needed,” says Dr. Shaista Malik, a cardiologist who directs UCI’s longstanding Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine, which will reemerge at the new location as the researchcentric Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.

Says U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California: “One of the root causes of our country’s healthcare challenges is our failure to focus on prevention and well-being.

We need to do better at preventing diseases rather than just treating them. UC Irvine is making much-needed investments in this area, and I congratulate them on this very generous donation.”

UCI’s future Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, depicted here in an architectural rendering, will be constructed near the corner of Bison and California avenues. Partly financed by the Samuelis, the 100,000-square-foot edifice is tentatively expected to open by 2021.

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Philanthropists Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, a former integrative health practitioner, pledged $200 million to help UCI pioneer a holistic approach to healthcare in the U.S. “Ideally, this is a model that will spread,” says Henry Samueli, shown here in the couple’s Corona del Mar office. Adds Susan Samueli: “My passion has always been to integrate conventional medicine with other methods.”

A Scientific Lens Details on how the new vision will unfold are still being crafted, but a general blueprint was unveiled Sept. 18 at a special event announcing the Samuelis’ gift. Of the $200 million pledge, $50 million – a sum to be matched

by UCI – is earmarked for construction of a five-story, 100,000-square-foot Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences building, projected to open by 2021.

One-third of that space will be occupied by the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, a hub for educational programs and research on nonconventional and complementary treatments, such as acupuncture to relieve pain and meditation to control stress.

Most of the remaining funds are pegged for an endowment to create integrative health scholarships and fellowships and 15 faculty research chairs. The new hires must devote at least half their time to the institute and will conduct cross-disciplinary research.

Dr. Howard Federoff, vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of UCI Health, says that several nonconventional treatments are “poised to go mainstream” but need further study before they’re “ready for prime time.”

Anecdotal evidence isn’t enough, he cautions. Citing aromatherapy as an example, he says the benefits described by patients must be confirmed by “rigorous” experiments.

Malik agrees: “The science for many of these remedies isn’t there yet, except in bits and pieces. Our mission in the next 10 years is to research not only whether a method works, but how it works.” Among other things, that entails taking steps to rule out “placebo effects.”

Once a treatment’s effectiveness is scientifically validated, UCI will offer it to all patients and think about incorporating it into the curricula, Federoff says.

Some students are already exploring integrative topics.

Last fall, for instance, UCI’s medical school debuted an elective course in “culinary medicine.” To avoid having future doctors just vaguely advise patients to eat more healthfully, Malik says, this kitchen-based class arms them with recipes and nutrition research designed to aid people with diabetes and other maladies.

For family medicine residents, UCI recently launched an optional three-year integrative track that covers acupuncture, mineral supplements, traditional Chinese medicine and similar holistic cures. About two-thirds of the department’s physician trainees enroll.

“One of the root causes of our country’s healthcare challenges is our failure to focus on prevention and well-being. We need to do better at preventing diseases rather than just treating them.”

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein

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“We can improve population health to levels never before seen.”

Dr. Howard Federoff, vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of UCI Health

Gift at a Glance Amount pledged: $200 million, the biggest gift in UCI history, to be be paid in four installments of $50 million by Dec. 31 of this year, 2020, 2023 and 2025.

Donors: Susan and Henry Samueli, whose previous contributions to the university total more than $70 million

S P E N D I N G

P R O G R A M

$50 million

(to be matched by UCI) toward construction of the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, which will encompass: n The School of Medicine

$5 million to outfit the institute with stateof-the-art labs and equipment

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$145 million for an endowment to fund:

n The Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing

n 15 Samueli research chairs in integrative health

n The School of Pharmacy (currently the Department

n Two dozen scholarships and fellowships for

of Pharmaceutical Sciences) n The School of Population Health (currently the Program in Public Health) n The Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (currently the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine)

undergraduate and graduate students planning careers in integrative health n Programming and administrative leadership costs for the institute

“We must change what we mean by healthcare and how we train all who provide care, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and population health specialists. Today’s health science students ask about integrative health from day one; harnessing that interest is key to turning our national system in a better direction.” Susan Samueli

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“The current generation of students is far more open-minded” than the medical establishment, Federoff notes. For that reason, it may take a decade or so for UCI’s approach to gain wide acceptance, he says.

Federoff, an exercise buff who formulated a few ideas for UCI’s new health paradigm during early morning runs and bike rides, says his own receptiveness to avant-garde therapies grew out of nearly 30 years as a neuroscientist.

Having watched one dogmatic theory after another get toppled by new discoveries, he says, “I came to believe there’s a lot we don’t know. You can’t look at the world through a lens that was ground 100 years ago and believe that’s the only way to look at the world.”

On the Road That outlook clicked with Anaheim Ducks owners Susan and Henry Samueli, longtime champions of nonconventional medicine and generous UCI benefactors.

“Susan has been passionate about this as long as I’ve known her,” says Henry Samueli during an interview with the couple at their business headquarters in Corona del Mar. At the turn of the century, after the Samuelis had made a fortune through Broadcom Corp., the semiconductor giant that Henry co-founded, “we decided to focus a lot of our philanthropy on integrative health,” he says.

Shortly thereafter, they created a Washington, D.C., research institute devoted to the field and donated $5.7 million to establish UCI’s Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. By 2016, they were raring to take the concept to the next level. So when UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman described his vision for a major expansion of the university’s health system, the Samuelis were all ears. “Of course, we had a vision of our own,” Henry Samueli notes.

Seated in an office adorned with classic books, a

glowing fireplace and a Rand McNally atlas of the body, Samueli says that he, his wife and UCI leaders spent a year hammering out a framework for the undertaking. The result, announced last month, was accompanied by the largest gift in UCI history and the seventh-biggest (tied) to a single public university nationwide, according to information compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“The Samuelis’ dedication, their vision for what is possible and their deep generosity will help UCI set a standard that, over time, other health centers can follow,” Gillman says.

Changes to UCI patient care, student instruction and research may be gradual, as the gift is set to be paid over eight years and the recruitment of 15 integrative health professors (six in medicine, three each in nursing, pharmacy and population health) figures to take a while.

To gather ideas for the program, the chancellor, Federoff, Malik and the Samuelis hit the road this summer to visit integrative health departments at the Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, the Cleveland Clinic (with a side trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and the University of Arizona. In addition, Federoff and Gillman plan to tour integrative centers overseas this fall.

Closer to home, UCI will invite national experts on health and wellness to attend a campus workshop in the next 12 to 18 months. Last but not least, administrators hope to enlist faculty and students from computer sciences, engineering, social sciences, business and other relevant disciplines to contribute research and technology to the expanded health mission. (Officials will also convert the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Program in Public Health to schools of pharmacy and population health, respectively.)

“UCI is the perfect young campus to take this leap into the future,” says Susan Samueli, referring to the university’s culture of innovation and collaboration.

“The Samuelis’ dedication, their vision for what is possible and their deep generosity will help UCI set a standard that, over time, other health centers can follow.”

Chancellor Howard Gillman

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“The science for many of these remedies isn’t there yet, except in bits and pieces. Our mission in the next 10 years is to research not only whether a method works, but how it works.”

Dr. Shaista Malik, director of the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine

DNA and Opioids UCI’s integrative initiative comes amid growing public interest in non-Western healing techniques, especially for pain and chronic conditions that don’t always respond to pills. Even the National Institutes of Health has joined in, with a research division dedicated to “systems, practices and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine.” Dr. Josephine Briggs, who leads the NIH effort, says that more than a third of U.S. adults rely on such remedies.

Some observers see integrative health and its emphasis on prevention as a way to curb the nation’s rising healthcare costs. “It’s the difference between a $30 nutrition class and a $100,000 heart bypass operation,” Malik says.

The key is to look at patients holistically, Federoff explains. By analyzing “what’s in a person’s cells, organs, family, lifestyle and environment,” it’s possible to thwart genetic predispositions to diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases, he says. “For instance, you may have the gene for a certain kind of cancer, but – depending on your behavior and your exposure to stress and environmental factors like pollution – you could turn that gene off.”

To help make that happen, UCI health providers will formulate individualized wellness strategies based on DNA tests, vital-signs data collected by Fitbit-type gadgets and biomarker monitoring. They can even predict adverse reactions to certain medications and prescribe nonpharmaceutical alternatives, Malik says.

If the concept is applied to entire groups and communities, “we can improve population health to levels never before seen,” Federoff adds.

Integrative methods also hold promise for combating dependence on opioid painkillers. Preliminary research indicates that acupuncture can reduce the need for

prescription narcotics, Federoff says. One case in point: A UCI neurosurgeon who offers acupuncture for postsurgical pain relief discovered that it typically shortens the length of hospital stays, according to Malik.

“Despite our technological advances, too many people still suffer from debilitating conditions such as heart disease and diabetes,” Susan Samueli says. “Preventive medicine is the best way to end this spiral.”

The Bigger Picture Along with trailblazing a fresh approach to healthcare, the Samueli gift sets the stage for transfiguring UCI’s landscape. Construction of the new College of Health Sciences edifice is part of a grander plan to erect an assortment of medical research, academic and clinical buildings along California Avenue.

An upcoming UCI fundraising campaign, with the Samuelis serving as honorary co-chairs, will partly focus on financing this effort.

“We see the intersection of Bison and California becoming a brilliant entry point to our growing campus, a physical and symbolic gateway to education, discovery, public service and health,” Gillman says. “Time and time again, we have learned as a university that you cannot copy your way to the top. Whether it was reorganizing the study of biology when UCI was founded or creating the first department of Earth system science, our creed has been to forge new paths and watch others follow us. The Samuelis’ gift helps us continue that tradition, positioning UCI as a bold new leader in population health, patient care, education and research.”

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D E F I N I N G H E A LT H With new fads and approaches to health popping up at every corner of the internet and in the media, it can be hard to know what’s what. Many people use terms such as complementary, holistic and integrative interchangeably, but their varied definitions are often lost in translation. Cut through the confusing medical jargon with our glossary below.

Health: A state of physical, social, mental, emotional and environmental well-being beyond the absence of disease, illness or injury; sometimes called optimal health

Conventional

.............................

Mainstream, Western medicine based on scientific research most commonly practiced by doctors with an M.D. or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree), often centered on disease treatment and prevention; sometimes called traditional

Holistic

Precision

.............................

The practice of applying a tailored, individual health plan to a patient’s specific needs based on his or her genome, environment and lifestyle

Healthcare focused on the whole person – mind, body and spirit – rather than just a particular illness, injury or symptom; it provides greater context to treating a patient’s ailments

.............................

“The future of health lies in an integrative approach that recognizes no two patients are alike. Our individual genomes, history, lifestyle and decisions make each of us unique and deserving of the best possible care. At UCI, doctors and allied health professionals will use scientific evidence, cutting-edge therapies and traditional medicine to pave the way for a healthier tomorrow.”

Dr. Howard Federoff Vice chancellor for health affairs and CEO of UCI Health

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TYPE OF CARE

Lifestyle and Self-Care

Complementary

.............................

Scientifically backed, non-mainstream health practices administered in conjunction with conventional medicine; sometimes called nonconventional

.............................

The practice of incorporating healthy, evidence-based behavioral and nutritional approaches to promote wellness

Integrative

.............................

Whole-person/whole-community care that is informed by scientific evidence and makes use of all appropriate preventive, therapeutic and lifestyle approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to promote optimal health

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A Heart for Healing Cardiologist’s family history inspires innovative program to prevent coronary disease

By Roy Rivenburg

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Steve Zylius / UCI

S

ince childhood, Shaista Malik has been surrounded by heart attacks. Four of her five aunts and uncles were felled by coronary disease. And when Malik was 10, her family was uprooted from Pakistan by a cardiac episode across the Pacific. She, her brother and their mother immigrated to Anaheim, where Malik’s grandma needed live-in care at home after bypass surgery.

“In my family, everyone gets heart attacks in their 40s and 50s,” she says. “That’s a big part of why I became a cardiologist.”

But Malik – a Savanna High School valedictorian who has two bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University (biology and history), an M.D. from UCI (’00), and a master’s and Ph.D. from UCLA – soon encountered a conundrum. After watching countless heart patients resume unhealthy habits after getting stents or other procedures, “I felt like I wasn’t making a lasting difference,” she recalls.

Hoping to break the cycle, Malik launched a cardiac prevention program at UCI five years ago. Over eight 90-minute sessions, participants conferred with a dietitian and an exercise physiologist on strategies to lose weight and restore their well-being.

The results were often dramatic, she says: “I could see the power of nutrition and lifestyle adjustments to improve people’s health trajectory.”

Another set of patients couldn’t take anti-cholesterol statin drugs because of side effects. Malik put them on herbal supplements – such as berberine (derived from barberry), artichoke extract and citrus bergamot, alone or in combination with decreased statin doses – and again achieved positive results, she says.

Overall, she notes, the cardiac prevention program’s success rate (loosely defined as long-term weight loss, regular exercise and lower cholesterol) rose from roughly 35 percent before integrative methods to nearly 55 percent after. About 300 people have been through the program, which also includes lab tests, genetic screening and cardiac imaging to assess heart disease risks.

“The mind-body connection is a very important aspect of our health and well-being,” Malik says.

A Research Mecca In 2015, Malik was named director of the Samueli Center, which opened in 2001 and will be elevated to an institute under UCI’s new integrative health plan. Upon moving into expanded quarters inside the future Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences building on campus, the institute will focus heavily on interdisciplinary research designed to nail down which nonconventional treatments work and why.

Artichokes and Acupuncture

“I had women with microvascular disease

Before long, a waiting list developed. But Malik wasn’t entirely satisfied. She realized a key element was missing from her regimen: stress reduction.

Because her team had no expertise in that subject, she sought help from UCI’s Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. Based in a sunlit, second-story Costa Mesa office outfitted with soothing background music, aroma sticks and a human brain poster, the clinic specializes in nonconventional therapies, including yoga and mindfulness to boost tranquility.

After noticing that her cardiac group exercised more and ate better while practicing stress management techniques, Malik started exploring other treatments offered by the Samueli Center.

“I had women with microvascular disease who were taking eight or nine medications but still showing symptoms,” she recalls. So Malik added acupuncture to their treatment plans and, she says, the symptoms cleared up.

who were taking eight or nine medications but still showing symptoms.”

Fifteen endowed professors will be hired for the endeavor, a number Malik calls unprecedented. “Most other integrative programs have only a handful of research faculty,” she says.

The Samueli Center is already known for acupuncture studies. And Malik is leading a five-year, National Institutes of Health-funded analysis of using biomarkers and DNA tests to better predict heart disease. As for her own family’s genetic tilt toward cardiac trouble, Malik is doing her best to keep things in check, but pockets of resistance remain. “I had my mother on all the right supplements and medications,” she says. “But she won’t listen to me on the lifestyle part.”

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Wellness

Champion

Susan Samueli has been a longtime believer in integrative health

By Janet Wilson

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S

usan Samueli has been ahead of the curve her entire adult life, first as a female engineer and computer programmer in the 1980s and then as a decadeslong advocate and practitioner of complementary medicine.

A UC Berkeley-educated mathematician and the mother of three girls, Samueli has for 38 years championed a full spectrum of treatment in American healthcare, from tailored exercise, stress reduction, nutrition and supplements to traditional surgery and chemotherapy. That integrated approach is taking hold in doctors’ offices and on university campuses, and she says it can’t happen soon enough.

Samueli’s dedication has now resulted in the largest gift ever to UCI, a $200 million contribution from her and her husband, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli, to fund the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, which will fully incorporate integrative health in treatment, research and coursework in the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and population health.

“It should be a universitywide goal that integrated medicine becomes mainstream throughout the United States,” she says. “That’s the only way we’re going to get our healthcare costs down. Preventive medicine is important to getting a healthy United States, so it’s really crucial that we do this.”

A Maverick in the Making Samueli says her life experiences, many of them unexpected, led her to become a powerful advocate and generous donor. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley in a middle-class Jewish home, earned a B.A. in mathematics at UC Berkeley, and – a rarity then and still at many firms – became a staff programmer and systems engineer at IBM. She and her future husband met more than 35 years ago at a singles dance at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles. He was a tall, shy engineer at TRW, and she was a tall, not-so-shy engineer who asked him to dance.

He was fascinated by both her and her first-generation personal computer, Samueli jokes.

Eventually, they married, moved to a comfortable San Fernando Valley home of their own and began a family.

She gave up her IBM career after 13 years. It was then that she began fully exploring her newfound passion for complementary care approaches.

“I started learning everything I could about what was then called alternative medicine,” Samueli says. “I was using a different side of my brain than I did with computer programming, and it felt great. And then my children were born.”

Steve Zylius / UCI

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When their first daughter became sick at 4 months old and was given antibiotics, she suffered side effects that troubled her mother.

Samueli discussed it with her husband and said, “I’m going to take her off the antibiotics and try alternative treatments.” He agreed, noting that the baby might have a virus anyway, rendering the antibiotics useless.

To her delight, their daughter was quickly restored to good health.

By now, they had three small children, and Samueli didn’t want to start a new business. Her husband decided it was important to recognize her interests in a different way. In 1999, they began funding what is now the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. Based in Costa Mesa, it has seen a surge in patients over the past two years, as integrative health and the center’s work have received media attention.

A New Career

“It should be a universitywide

That catapulted Samueli into a new career. She earned nutrition and naturopathy degrees and opened a nutrition business in Northridge. Her clientele grew, she recalls, as she guided other people weaning their children off antibiotics.

“Very often, they were hyperactive because of antibiotics, and so the parents were very, very thankful that we could get them off round after round and get them healthy,” says Samueli, who – working with doctors and their care plans – also was able to help adults going through chemotherapy avoid nausea and anxiety and help chronically ill individuals experience less stress and greater well-being.

She does not advocate shunning vaccines or traditional medical care but would like other proven therapies not always recognized to be included in treatment. “This is not an either-or; it’s both. When I broke my shoulder, as I was being driven to the emergency room, I was taking the right herbs to relieve pain and distress on the way,” she says.

“Most of the adults I saw had chronic illnesses that weren’t really being addressed properly. But I would work in conjunction with conventional doctors, and I saw a lot of changes in people. I had a lot of happy clients. They were not happy when I moved to Orange County and had to close up the practice.”

Philanthropy and the Future After Broadcom went public, making the Samuelis multimillionaires virtually overnight, they moved to Newport Beach to be near company headquarters.

“We love it here; we love Orange County. It’s a great place to live,” Susan Samueli says. She and her husband began giving to causes they believed in and establishing themselves as major local philanthropists, endowing UCI’s engineering school, buying the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, and supporting their local synagogue.

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goal that integrated medicine becomes mainstream throughout the United States. That’s the only way we’re going to get our healthcare costs down. Preventive

medicine is important to getting a healthy United States.”

As chair of the development and advisory board, Samueli has devoted countless hours to ensuring the success of the enterprise.

“She’s amazing,” says the center’s director, Dr. Shaista Malik, a cardiologist and associate professor at UCI who practices and studies medical approaches. “She truly believes in our mission and gives her time and energy, not just her philanthropic support.”

Moving forward, the center will become an institute at the heart of UCI’s new college, more fully dedicated to research as well as treatment.

“This is a blueprint for fixing what’s broken in American healthcare,” Samueli says of the integrative approach.

“We want this type of care to be mainstream.”

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844-227-3824

Steve Zylius / UCI

Dannie Cassell, of Costa Mesa, chats with Dr. Shaista Malik during a visit at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. Says Cassell: “I think we reached a tipping point as a society about these other avenues a long time ago, and the medical profession is just now starting to fully realize it. I feel very fortunate to have an open-minded doctor.�

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WHOLE-BODY

EXPERIENCE ..............................................................................................................

A look at four patients who are benefiting from UCI’s integrative healthcare

By Janet Wilson

O

n a muggy afternoon, a dozen cardiology patients arrive for checkups at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine in Costa Mesa. But this is no ordinary doctor visit. After their vital signs are taken, they sit around a big table and review what’s going on with their lives and their hearts.

“Hi, I’m Dannie. I’m good,” says Dannie Cassell, 64, softly. Then she opens up: “Well, I’ve actually been having problems. My blood pressure’s up, and I’ve been having chest pains, but I’ve been under so much extra stress, and obviously there’s a correlation.”

She’s been reliving a traumatic incident from decades ago, assisting a neighbor with a life-threatening illness and helping to care for her 94-year-old mother, who has dementia. It adds up.

UCI cardiologist and center director Dr. Shaista Malik, who’s leading the session, ascertains that Cassell’s chest pains lasted only a few seconds – not a cause for alarm – and offers some guidance. “Learning to manage stress is a lifelong process,” she says. “The more you practice at home, the more useful it will be.”

Cassell replies affirmatively: “I’m still walking. I still go to tai chi. So I’m doing all the right things.”

After everyone shares their experiences, they learn to prepare a healthy watermelon feta salad, then undergo mindfulness training. Those who need medical follow-up are pulled aside for in-depth consultations.

“We’re giving them more tools in their toolboxes to stay healthy,” Malik says. “And studies have shown behavioral changes are easier and become more ingrained if you have peers who are going through the same thing.”

After two hours, the group is energized. “It’s 100 percent fantastic,” Cassell says.

Patients across UCI’s vaunted medical system are beginning to benefit in large numbers from comprehensive wellness approaches – also known as integrative care – that not only save lives but boost long-term health.

Heart attack survivors may be referred to the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine for preventive cardiology sessions on nutrition and mindfulness.

Oncology patients at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center can receive recommendations on everything from art therapy to sexual health – helping them cope with crucial but highly invasive treatments and resume their lives afterward.

A groundbreaking Live Healthy OC integrative health initiative started at UCI’s Family Health Center in Santa Ana assists low-income individuals in tackling high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, obesity, diabetes, depression and other issues. Seven non-UC clinics across north Orange County are following UC Irvine Health’s lead, incorporating wellness instruction into group sessions.

“We’re trying to address the fundamental roots of what makes underserved patients sick,” says Dr. David Kilgore, head of the integrative medicine residency track and vice chair of UCI’s Department of Family Medicine. “While we’re ordering necessary tests and putting them on medications, we’re also working to improve their diets and helping them manage stress, eat and sleep better, and be more active. The blend of both these worlds is the key.”

The approach extends to nursing, pharmacy options and population-based research. As UCI prepares to ramp up integrative medicine and education via its new Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, one facet already shines through: People who’ve experienced major suffering are finding welcome relief.

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Walk This Way

..............................................................................................................

Dannie Cassell, a self-described child of the ’60s, battled metastatic cancer in her 30s and has experienced major health repercussions since then. She’s always had a hard time reconciling herself to the surgeries, radiation and myriad medications recommended by physicians. But she’s borne most of their requests in order to stay alive, even defying the odds and giving birth to her only child – a son – at age 45.

Still, by 2014, she was a tense, aching ball of nerves and had serious weight gain, skyrocketing blood pressure and advancing small-vessel heart disease. She had no desire to start the infusion treatments doctors wanted to try.

Concerned, her primary care physician referred her to Dr. Shaista Malik, a UCI cardiologist who directs the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine in Costa Mesa.

“I’ve been in preventive cardiology for three years,” Cassell says. “I’ve adopted a whole new lifestyle, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Roasted, spiced garbanzo beans have replaced her favorite potato chips and french fries. A longtime vegetarian, she became a vegan after Malik suggested she eliminate cheese. Vigorous daily walks, regular spiritual practice and tai chi taught by a UCI physician have helped her drop several clothing sizes, reduce stress, and scale back her dosages of statins and other drugs.

“We’re treating the whole body, not just one problem,” Cassell says. She adds that while she respects traditionally trained doctors, many think “alternative” therapies haven’t been proven and don’t belong in medical care.

Malik, she says, is different.

“I think we reached a tipping point as a society about these other avenues a long time ago, and the medical profession is just now starting to fully realize it,” Cassell says. “I feel very fortunate to have an open-minded doctor – and a cardiologist to boot. She’s my angel.”

“I’ve been in preventive cardiology for three years. I’ve adopted a whole new lifestyle, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

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“I went home and told my wife, ‘Oh, my God, it’s working.’”

We’ve Got Your Back

.....................................................

It all began during a weekend getaway in Mammoth in 2010. Mel Shubash and a buddy were lifting a heavy cooler when he felt something sledgehammer his lower back. “It was the worst experience I’ve ever had,” he says.

From then on, he was flattened by excruciating pain for days at a time, missing work, the gym and even the ability to bounce out of bed. He gained weight and lost his spirit as the nerves in his back degenerated. Meanwhile, one of his best friends had spiraled into opioid addiction.

That was on Shubash’s mind when he visited Gottschalk Medical Plaza’s Center for Pain Management and Dr. Rakhi Dayal asked him to try a prescription nerve medication. He took one pill, hated how it made him feel and worried about his inability to focus on work. Dayal, a UCI associate clinical professor of anesthesiology & perioperative care, said they could try other options.

“With every patient who comes to us, we do a really thorough evaluation to figure out a complete treatment plan,” she says, noting that the pain center’s doctors are researchers in an array of specialties, including physical

medicine, psychology and anesthesiology. “We want to return them to living as comfortable a life as possible.”

Teams explore the latest technologies – radiofrequency nerve ablation, genetic testing for efficacy of certain medications and, on the horizon, spinal cord stimulation – along with complementary approaches such as yoga and acupuncture, to devise customized care.

Shubash, 44, of Irvine, came to UCI’s Gottschalk facility after an acquaintance mentioned epidural treatments.

Long used by women in childbirth, they’re also employed to combat chronic pain, explains Dr. Brent Yeung, a pain medicine fellow. Shubash’s lower back discomfort has been enormously relieved by four of the steroid injections over the last 16 months. But his neck and upper spine still act up.

A UCI surgeon recommended inserting two bolts and a rod in his neck, but since Shubash is still relatively young, the bolts could sink over the decades, requiring more operations. So instead, he’s scheduled for a final epidural to try to soothe his inflamed upper nerves. He’ll know three to five days afterward whether it makes a difference.

If not, Dayal and her team will continue to research other options. And Shubash is consulting a UCI physical therapist too. Now, when he feels his upper body flare up, he performs specific stretches that help the nerves settle down.

Shubash recalls how much that first epidural helped him: “I went to the gym after a few days, because I couldn’t tell if it was my mind telling me I felt better or if I really did.” He was stunned to find that he could bench-press dumbbells. He tried situps, an old favorite, and did them for the first time in six years.

“I went home and told my wife, ‘Oh, my God, it’s working,”’ he says.

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A Community of Peers

.............................................................................................................. anti-anxiety medications, but nothing worked until she came to UCI. Dow, the clinic’s medical director, recommended that she try its group visits. Covered by insurance companies and federal funds, the sessions help patients prevent disease and avoid costly hospital stays.

Cortes – joined by her sister – began going in January and is now an avid attendee. A summer session, conducted in Spanish, exemplifies the complementary approach.

After vital signs are taken, there’s a lively lecture by a registered dietician. Coconut oil, diet soda and other items are debated. Halfway through, there’s a Zumba workout, and class concludes with restful meditation and deep breathing.

“It’s much better for my motivation to know that there’s people with cases similar to me. It feels like a family.”

For Justina Cortes, years of weight gain, insomnia and increasing anxiety after the births of each of her three children came to a head in December, when Dr. Emily Dow, her primary care physician at UCI’s Family Health Center in Santa Ana, told her that she was prediabetic.

“I was very frightened,” says Cortes, 38, of Fountain Valley. Her husband was already diabetic, and she despaired that their daughter and two sons would go the same route. Shy and soft-spoken, she had followed her husband to the U.S., emigrating from Mexico nearly 15 years ago.

“I think one reason for my anxiety is because we have a big family, and it’s only my sister and me here,” Cortes says, noting that she has 10 other siblings. “We don’t have a lot of support, and it’s a really big change for us.”

Poverty, isolation and mental health issues frequently affect immigrants’ well-being, says Dr. David Kilgore, director UC Irvine Health’s integrative medicine residency track.

Cortes suffered such severe panic attacks that she thought she was having heart attacks. She was prescribed

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“It’s the happiest part of my day,” says Dr. Elana Craemer, who tops off days of seeing 22 individual patients by supervising the group sessions. She says having family members participate reinforces good habits like making better choices while grocery shopping.

Cortes has learned to substitute tuna or grilled chicken for tacos with queso fresco and blends vegetable shakes for breakfast. “No more hot dogs for us, Mommy,” her daughter cheerfully tells her at home. She does research online and watches YouTube videos about staying healthy after the kids are put to bed. But it’s the classes that have transformed her, she says.

“It’s much better for my motivation to know that there’s people with cases similar to me. It feels like a family,” says Cortes, adding that she’s finally been given the tools she needs to maintain her health. She has lost more than 20 pounds and reduced her glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers to acceptable levels.

Her husband is making strides too.

“In April, my test results came that I was no longer prediabetic,” she exults. “Just my triglycerides left – and I’m still trying!”

Running the Gantlet

..............................................................................................................

A week after Lesley Ginsberg had placed first in her age category for the fifth time at the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in 2012, she noticed an unusual bloating in her abdomen. To her shock, she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, “a silent, awful thing,” she recalls.

Ginsberg, now 70, of Newport Beach, and her husband, Phillip, swung into action. They researched ovarian oncologists worldwide and found Dr. Robert Bristow, a widely recognized specialist “in our own backyard at UCI,” she says.

Bristow, director of gynecologic oncology services for UC Irvine Health, and two other two other surgeons performed 12 hours of complicated surgery. “It’s a big insult to the body,” Bristow says, “but the fact that she was in such good shape really helped.” After that, she endured nine months of chemotherapy.

Ginsberg’s determination to get back to being healthy was invaluable, Bristow says. A patient’s mental state is critical. “Lesley is tough as nails,” he says. “She was scared, but she made up her mind that she was going to beat this.”

Bristow says he treats people with a disease, rather than simply seeing a cancer he needs to cure: “Instead of sitting down with patients and running through numbers, you need to talk to them about their relationships and

support systems, about menopause and fertility, and what else they’re going through. It’s mentally intense for both the doctor and the patient, but it’s much better on the back end.”

Inquiring politely about their lives pays off, he says, by allowing him and his team to tailor the timing of treatments and to motivate patients to stick with grueling bouts of radiation and chemotherapy. In Ginsberg’s case, they delayed chemotherapy until after she and her family had enjoyed a long-planned Christmas vacation.

Ginsberg also appreciated the individual nurse assigned to answer questions via email or phone calls. She received counseling offered by the Queen of Hearts Foundation, a nonprofit ovarian cancer research and advocacy organization.

Bristow says he’s a “huge fan” of integrative health.

“For the most part, modern medicine is driven by clinical trial-based work that’s been proven and published in the New England Journal of Medicine,” he says, “but we can lose sight of other treatments that are also effective. We limit ourselves as doctors.”

He advocates everything from art therapy to acupuncture – not as a substitute, but to offer relief from highly invasive traditional cancer care. Painting classes, for example, could provide a beneficial routine for cancer patients also suffering from depression – and could be vital. If people can’t get out of bed, he notes, they’re not going to make it to chemotherapy.

“It’s great for my mind, it’s great for my body.”

For her part, Ginsberg willed herself to move day after day, taking just a few steps shortly after her surgery and eventually working back up to 5-mile jogs. She now runs every weekday morning with two close friends along the beaches of Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. “It’s great for my mind, it’s great for my body,” she says, “and it makes me start my day in the best way possible.”

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Daniel A. Anderson / UCI

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UCI Magazine

A Picture of Health Doctors and researchers share snapshots of how communication, lifestyle, data, innovation and scientific evidence are changing healthcare as we know it

H

By Anna Iliff

ow does one visualize something as complex as integrative health? Just look to some of the individuals who practice it.

At UCI, that includes an assistant physician who sees her patients as more than their diseases or ailments; a researcher determined to put technology to work for the greater good of human health; and a pharmacologist who longs for a day when people can live their longest, best lives free of the debilitating side effects associated with some prescription drugs.

A central component of integrative health is incorporating the best care science has to offer, whether that means using conventional medicine for diabetes or pioneering technology to help cure a rare disease. But it’s also an understanding that one size does not fit all when it comes to health and that patients sometimes need more than a traditional doctor visit can provide.

“One of the surprising things about healthcare is how much we don’t know and how much we need evidence,” says Dr. Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health, part of the National Institutes of Health. “That includes practices outside the mainstream – but also practices that are very much part of the mainstream.”

Across the UCI campus, physicians and researchers from a wide range of disciplines are investigating ways to enhance health via plants and botanicals, biomedical

engineering, cardiology, mind-body practices, information and computer science, radiology and neurology. While their individual expertise varies, each has the same intent: to make meaningful strides in medicine, therapies and healthcare delivery.

The Doctors Will See You Now When you first walk into Dr. Anna Monique Halbeisen’s office, you’re greeted by a kind face and a cup of tea.

Rather than sitting on a cold table in a paper gown under harsh fluorescent lights to get a quick diagnosis, you sit in a comfy chair and have an open, honest and eye-level conversation with a doctor who’s listening intently.

Halbeisen, an assistant clinical physician in UCI’s Department of Medicine with her own practice, makes an effort to get to know her patients on a deeper level. She doesn’t poke and prod and write a prescription right off the bat. She won’t even wear a white coat if she can help it.

“That’s how you really earn your patients’ trust,” she explains. “You have to get to the heart of the problem.

You can’t just hope they miraculously respect you and open up to you.

“Every person is unique, and they all come in with different mindsets of what they think will work for them.

I try to be open and receptive to that.”

Halbeisen practices neuromusculoskeletal/

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osteopathic manipulative medicine with an eye toward integration, working with a team of highly qualified health professionals to empower her patients to take a proactive role in their own care, particularly when it comes to managing stress.

“I don’t see a single patient with low back pain that doesn’t deal with stress,” she says. “But we all hold stress differently in our bodies, depending on our life experiences and our injury patterns. When times get tough, usually that’s when we see a lot more physical manifestations of issues. You really cannot separate the mind and spirit from the actual physical body.”

Most of her patients come to her after a string of bad experiences with other health professionals. She’s found that taking time to get to the root of an ailment – whether it’s an aching back or gastroesophageal reflux disease – and treating patients with compassion and respect can change lives.

“People want to be heard; they want to be listened to,” Halbeisen says. “Half the time, they know what’s wrong when they walk into the office, but they just need to be in a comfortable setting to process their problems and come up with an active solution.”

Integrative practitioner Dr. David Kilgore says he tries to expose patients to lifestyle choices that can make a profound difference in their overall wellness. “We help them manage stress, eat and sleep better, and be more active – all while ordering the necessary tests and putting them on recommended medications,” he says.

At the UCI Family Health Center in Santa Ana, Kilgore

sees many patients from low-income areas. He has found that they’re prone to stress caused by disruptive home environments and a lack of family support and access to resources, such as healthy food, fitness centers and transportation to regularly visit the doctor.

“Food is medicine, exercise is medicine, mind-body balance is medicine,” says Kilgore, UCI clinical professor and vice chair of family medicine. “These have real effects in reducing complications in chronic disease.”

The clinic offers free yoga and cooking classes, manages a healthy food pantry and hosts wellness workshops.

The aim is to teach healthy behaviors and instill a sense of community, decreasing isolation and stress and the problems that accompany them.

“Integrative health addresses some of the fundamental needs of patients living in our underserved communities,” Kilgore says. “It is not fluffy add-on therapy but powerful, evidence-based medicine that is critical in disease prevention.”

Rebooting Health Ramesh Jain, Donald Bren Professor of Information & Computer Sciences and director of the UCI Institute for Future Health, sees fertile ground when it comes to making advances in human health and healthcare delivery. With the advent of smartphones and wearable devices, he’s working on developing a one-of-a-kind technology to make health monitoring as common as checking your email.

Individuals practice their yoga in a class at the UCI Family Health Center in Santa Ana. “Food is medicine, exercise is medicine, mind-body balance is medicine,” says Dr. David Kilgore, UCI clinical professor and vice chair of family medicine.

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Ramesh Jain, Donald Bren Professor of Information & Computer Sciences, is developing the “Health Butler,” an app based on cybernetics that would monitor an individual’s health markers and provide real-time recommendations.

“We should be focused on health 24/7,” Jain says. “Current healthcare evolved in days when we did not have technology. It evolved in a time when infectious diseases were predominant. Those two things have changed. When you start dealing with chronic diseases, you have to rethink the healthcare system completely.”

That’s why he and his students are creating Health Butler, a mobile application that can measure and collect data on a variety of health markers, make real-time recommendations and provide assistance in times of distress.

Just as a thermostat works to keep a room at a comfortable 72 degrees, Health Butler constantly monitors a person and his or her external environment to maintain optimal health. The technology is based on cybernetics, the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and animals.

“Human bodies have very welldesigned cybernetic systems,” Jain says. “It’s what we commonly call homeostasis.”

He envisions a world in which he could order from a menu and his Health Butler would digitally communicate with restaurant staff to prepare the correct portion,

ensuring that he’s satiated but doesn’t overindulge. Jain also sees the application as a repository of health data – including blood pressure, heart rate, insulin and hormone levels, and sleep quantity and quality – that has the potential to alert a person to an impending heart attack so he or she can call for help.

unconcerned with the lack of scientific evidence to back up the observed healing powers of the ancient treatment.

“They would say, ‘We don’t really need to worry about that. It’s been around for so long. We just know it works.’ Well, that’s not how I practice medicine,” Longhurst says.

It wasn’t until he collaborated with Dr. Peng Li of Shanghai Medical University that the cardiologist had a change of heart. Li, now a project scientist at UCI, had published acupuncture-affirming findings in reputable scientific journals.

Decades of research later, Longhurst and his team have discovered that electroacupuncture – in which a weak electrical current is passed through the needles – can lower blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.

“Technology is important, but we have been poor about adopting it or using it. Technology can change healthcare.”

To accomplish this feat, he says, society must be willing to embrace technology and its capabilities to revolutionize life as we know it.

“Technology is important, but we have been poor about adopting it or using it,” Jain says. “Technology can change healthcare.”

Matters of the Heart UCI’s Dr. John Longhurst was skeptical when he first began investigating acupuncture more than 25 years ago.

On a trip to China in 1992, he met with traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who seemed

A recent UCI clinical study of 65 hypertensive patients found that 70 percent of those who had received electroacupuncture at particular spots on their inner wrists and below each knee experienced lowered blood pressure.

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Recently, their clinical study of 65 hypertensive patients found that 70 percent of those who had received electroacupuncture at particular spots on their inner wrists and below each knee experienced a drop in their blood pressure.

Now the lab is examining auricular acupuncture, which stimulates different points of the ear, to determine its effects on pain and hypertension. The team also is looking into how electroacupuncture might benefit menopausal women.

“Acupuncture is just one of many forms of therapy that activate our body’s own ability to heal itself,” Longhurst says. “It triggers endorphins, enkephalins and dynorphins – opiates that we produce naturally. We can demonstrate how acupuncture works down to the cellular level. When we do that, it changes people’s notions about it.”

In 2007, while studying the strengthening capabilities of bone cement in the hip and femur, she and Harry Skinner, now-retired chair of orthopedics at UCI, had a breakthrough. Mixing radioisotopes with bone cement and injecting it into a patient’s bone could precisely treat cancerous tumors while fortifying weakened or fractured bones.

“You can have this procedure and be done with it,” Keyak says. “And you can do it when the tumors are smaller and it’s easier to prevent bone damage.”

Theoretically, she says, the method wouldn’t have the same side effects as traditional radiation therapy. Because the injection directly targets the tumor, radiation doesn’t pass through other organs, such as the intestines or stomach, which is what causes the uncomfortable aftermath. Research on bone cement without radiation also has revealed that it can immediately reduce pain in the spine, potentially getting patients off strong opioid medications that could carry further side effects, Keyak says.

The Flowers of Youth

Joyce Keyak, UCI professor of radiological sciences, says that using bone cement without radiation can reduce spinal pain, a treatment that may have the potential to wean cancer patients off strong opioids.

Procedures With Precision In the 1980s, before Joyce Keyak finished her Ph.D. and became a professor of radiological sciences at UCI, her cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to undergo radiation targeting tumors that had grown in the bone of her spine. The stakes were high. If something went wrong and the adjacent spinal cord received too much radiation, she risked nerve damage and even paralysis.

“That stuck in my mind,” Keyak says. “Traditional therapy requires multiple visits for external beam radiation. It could mean going to a facility five times a week for several weeks. And on top of that, there’s nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and the general misery that comes with it.”

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Mahtab Jafari, UCI professor, Chancellor’s Fellow and vice chair of pharmaceutical sciences, may have found the elusive flowers of youth.

Her inquiry into how to extend lifespan and improve overall health led to an unbiased screening of pharmaceuticals, botanicals and additional natural products to see which could reduce mortality without negatively affecting important biological systems in fruit flies – a species that shares 75 percent of disease genes with humans.

The results? Two spices – cinnamon and curcumin (found in turmeric) – plus a beautiful rose species and Rhodiola rosea outperformed all other supplements, including pharmaceuticals.

“Fruit flies don’t lie,” Jafari says. “The plants did better.”

Rhodiola rosea, a golden flowering plant that grows in the Arctic and subject of her research for over a decade, extended the lifespan of fruit flies by nearly 25 percent.

She hopes to eventually run clinical trials on humans to determine if the plant can increase not only lifespan, but “healthspan.”

“When you slow the aging process, you slow the progression of disease,” she says. “The goal is to not just extend life, but improve quality of life.”

One might assume that a professor of pharmacology would be a staunch advocate for the medical marvel of drugs. But Jafari says she has learned better from her past life running the Cholesterol Clinic at UC Irvine Medical

Mahtab Jafari, professor and vice chair of pharmaceutical sciences, studies Rhodiola rosea, an Arctic flowering plant, and its potential to boost lifespan and improve quality of life. “When you slow the aging process, you slow the progression of disease,” she says.

Center and serving as a clinical pharmacist at UCI and UCSF. She often would encourage lifestyle changes, natural remedies and alternative medical modalities.

“I used to ask my clinic patients with high cholesterol, ‘Do you want to take a pill and have all of these side effects, or do you want to adopt a more plant-based diet and walk 30 minutes a day and be on a lower dose?’”

Today her research findings prompt her to tell her students to be open-minded to their patients’ needs, whether they desire to use natural remedies, conventional medication, meditation or a combination of all three.

“If you have pneumonia, I’m not going to say, ‘Let’s go meditate and hope that your infection will go away’ – you could die. If you have pneumonia, I’m going to recommend you antibiotics, but maybe you can meditate to get through it,” Jafari says.

Brain and Brawn At the UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, a clinical trial launched

in February is investigating whether exercise can slow the progression of cognitive impairment in seniors.

The local effort, led by UCI MIND’s Dr. Aimee Pierce, is part of the

injury or death and improves learning and memory.

Currently, there are no effective medications for mild cognitive impairment, Pierce notes. But exercise holds promise due to its multifaceted ability to stimulate insulin sensitivity, release endorphins, reduce inflammation, increase production of BDNF and protect against the development of diabetes.

Ultimately, the study aims to equip doctors to make the right recommendations for their patients, with a focus on prevention and intervention.

“Prevention is crucial,” Pierce says.

“It’s not enough to just vaguely say, ‘You should exercise.’ We want to be able to prescribe a specific type of exercise delivered at the right dose.”

“If you have pneumonia, I’m not going to say, ‘Let’s go meditate and hope that your infection will go away’ – you could die. If you have pneumonia, I’m going to recommend antibiotics, but maybe you can meditate to get through it.”

18-month, national EXERT Study.

Previous observational research has found that older adults who engage in aerobic exercise have a lower chance of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, the sixthleading cause of death in the U.S. But the EXERT Study is the first large-scale, randomized clinical trial of its kind.

The EXERT Study is the result of research conducted by Carl Cotman, UCI professor of neurology, who discovered that aerobic exercise triggers the production of brainderived neurotrophic factor, a protein that shields brain cells from

Pathway to Wellness

So how does one become the picture of health? While our individual paths to wellness may differ, it’s clear that research and innovation will pave the way.

“Scientific curiosity is often a very good reason to do research,” says Briggs, of the NIH center. “Sometimes the practical applications are farther down the road, but just learning about ourselves as humans can lead to new ways of solving some of the worst health problems.”

The key, she says, is integration.

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Bat Man Anteater Keston Hiura, whose .442 batting average led the nation at the end of the 2017 baseball season and broke a 46-year UCI record, was snapped up by the Milwaukee Brewers as the ninth overall draft pick – the highest MLB selection in UCI history.

Duke Loren / UCI Athletics

R E F L E C T I O N S

Different Shades of Innovator ..............................................................................................................

By Constance Iloh

I

grew up seeing the word “innovator� only associated with people who looked like they could be related to Steve Jobs. It was disappointing that a word representing so much possibility, creativity and complexity was limited by narrow applications. I was surrounded by overlooked innovators. Among my own peer group in a predominantly

black county in Maryland, I saw no shortage of ideas, talent and genius. But the most overlooked innovator I knew was my mother. I remember vividly her doing things such as organizing a hair care assembly line so that my sisters and I and several other girls in our neighborhood could get our hair washed, conditioned and styled in stages each parent was responsible for. This process saved time for already overworked parents while enabling a sharing of resources.

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“As a professor whose research focuses on college access for marginalized populations, I don’t worry about whether my work can be categorized as innovative by others. I do, however, spend a great deal of time crafting and investigating research questions that position underrepresented people as experts on their own experiences, with insights necessary for addressing educational inequities.”

While my upbringing allowed me to see new methods and approaches absent from mainstream discussions on innovation, the public library introduced me to a diverse array of thinkers, disrupters and problem-solvers.

My library card offered a guarantee of discoveries and information, but going to college was dependent on earning a full scholarship. I typed countless scholarship essays, including one for the Gates Millennium Scholarship, in the school library – often while my mom patiently waited in her car. When I learned that I had been selected as a GMS scholar, I could barely wrap my head around the blessing of spending four more years committed to the pursuit of knowledge.

Even today, as a professor whose research focuses on college access for marginalized populations, I don’t worry about whether my work can be categorized as innovative by others. I do, however, spend a great deal of time crafting and investigating research questions that position underrepresented people as experts on their own experiences, with insights necessary for addressing educational inequities.

And yet, somehow, the question of whether I personally see myself as an innovator continued to follow me. In a recent conversation with a scholar I greatly admire, she unexpectedly said: “What I love about you, Constance, is that you treat academia like Burger King: You are going to have it your way. … You continue to reinvent what it means to be an engaged scholar.” I thanked her for the affirmation, still uncertain about what to do with it.

Soon after that exchange, I was inundated with buzz surrounding September’s launch of singer Rihanna’s new beauty line. As both an interdisciplinary education

scholar and an anthropologist, I am always eager to learn about distinctive business cultures and how certain companies cater to specific populations. Many of the articles on Rihanna’s cosmetics discussed the novelty of its 40 foundation shades, including a rare selection of darker shades that stores could not keep in stock. I thought to myself, “Of course people across a variety of skin tones – especially those historically not given many options – want to see their complexion represented in a high-quality makeup line.”

These were the same sort of thoughts I experience after publicly discussing my research and receiving questions that indicate some people are genuinely surprised that underserved and underrepresented communities desire high-quality, welcoming and transformative educational spaces too.

In considering the excitement surrounding Fenty Beauty, which was called “gloriously inclusive” in the press, I realized the discussion was parallel to my reluctance to see myself as an innovator and the urgency of doing so.

Many of us don’t see ourselves represented in the limited shades the word “innovator” is packaged in. And there aren’t enough conversations that shine light on innovators hidden in plain sight. In the end, many institutions are unable to reach their full potential because they do not reflect a robust spectrum of innovators. While these biases remain, one small solution is fearlessly letting the world know my shade exists.

Iloh is an assistant professor in the UCI School of Education.

In 2016, she was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list.

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Seymour Says ‘20/20’ Elias Villagran, 5, of Ponderosa Elementary School in Anaheim undergoes a comprehensive eye dilation exam, one of more than 1,025 administered by the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute’s Eye Mobile for Children since it began rolling out to schools across Orange County last year. Affectionately dubbed “Seymour,” the UCI institute’s traveling unit has also provided over 4,860 screenings and 730 pairs of glasses to 3- to 6-year-olds – all free of charge.

To learn more, visit http://bit.ly/UCIMag_Fall2017_EyeMobile.

Steve Zylius / UCI

A N T O U R A G E

Alan Wechsler

From Missiles to Mountains Business school alum changes careers but finds military defense command and ski resorts have much in common ..............................................................................................................

By Alan Wechsler

When Greg Dallas was hired two years ago to run the Sugar Bowl resort in California’s Lake Tahoe region, he brought a background unique to the ski business: The former Air Force commander used to oversee the launching and orbital control of military satellites.

But as Dallas tells it, there’s not that much difference.

“Almost every aspect of the military is operational – communications, process and accountability, goal and standards,” he says. “At Sugar Bowl, there’s explosives to shoot after a snowstorm, parking lots to clear, lifts to operate, snow grooming equipment to direct, a hotel and concessions to run. When you bring all that together, my background really helps me.”

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Dallas, 49, is CEO at Sugar Bowl, a 1,650-acre resort where one of two base lodges is in a snowbound village – there are no cars; guests arrive by gondola or Sno-Cat – and which was home to California’s first chairlift. He came to the ski industry after more than a decade with the Air Force and credits UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business for easing his transition from the military to the business world.

“I was impressed with the professors there, as well as the students,” he says. “Every class I took there addressed how technology was leveraged in the business place.”

Dallas grew up in Pasadena and excelled at a sport not usually associated with Southern California: ice hockey. In

ninth grade, he moved to Michigan to live with an uncle so he could compete on an American Junior A hockey team, the St. Clair Shores Falcons. Dallas played 80 games a year against some of the best teenage players in the country, taking high school classes independently so he could compete across Canada and the U.S. He was recruited by the New York Rangers while still in high school, but Dallas had another ambition. His uncle had been a B-24 bomber pilot during World War II and spent time in a German prisoner-of-war camp before being liberated by soldiers under the command of Gen. George S. Patton. Dallas grew up enthralled by his uncle’s tales and enrolled at the Air Force Academy. His original plan was to become a pilot, but that didn’t work out.

“After I signed my life away, my eyes went bad,” he says.

“So I focused on engineering.”

Upon graduating, Dallas went into the Air Force Space Command. He spent 11 years working at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and the Space & Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

His work, top-secret at the time, involved controlling satellite orbits and looking for signs of missile launches around the world, as well as overseeing satellite launches via the Titan IV-B rocket and the Space Shuttle. Dallas provided defense support during the first Gulf War and managed defense contracts worth up to $100 million.

After leaving the Air Force, he looked for a university that offered combined study in business and computer science. He found The Paul Merage School of Business at UCI, where he earned an MBA in information technology and accounting in 1999. Dallas was drawn to the campus’s strong ties to the local business community, which gave him access to industry leaders and entrepreneurs in IT, biomedical and healthcare companies.

“Because I was in a transition from the military to the business world and wanted to focus on IT and mediumsized businesses, these connections were very attractive,” he says.

Another appeal was the way courses incorporated technology and its use in business. It was the dawn of the dot-com era, and some of the classes were spent trying to figure out how companies with no revenue could sell so much stock, Dallas recalls. Then the market crashed, and they found out. “They all went belly-up,” he says. “But it was so fun to be in school and exploring the early days of e-commerce.”

After receiving his MBA and taking positions in computer consulting and finance, Dallas was offered a management position at Mammoth Mountain in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada. Mammoth – with 3,000 employees – is one of the biggest ski resorts in the nation. He worked there for 14 years, eventually becoming one of the top executives. When Sugar Bowl called, he jumped at the

opportunity. “These types of jobs don’t come up very often,” Dallas says. “It was the right time.”

His first year at Sugar Bowl went smoothly, but he would soon face a trial – not by fire, but by snow. The winter of 2016-17 brought a record 26 feet of snow in January alone. Big dumps continued throughout the season – the most snow Tahoe had received in a century.

It required a nonstop work to control avalanches, dig out ski equipment and groom slopes through the winter and early spring. “Unbelievably challenging,” Dallas says.

With that winter finally behind him, he is now leading efforts to grow Sugar Bowl skier visits and turn the region into a year-round attraction. The resort is near the Pacific Crest Trail, one of the most scenic pathways in the country, and Donner Summit, named for trapped pioneers who had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive during the winter of 1846-47. Yet the area had not, in Dallas’ opinion, taken advantage of its storied history and potential for recreational activities.

“Because I was in a transition from the military to the business world and wanted to focus on IT and medium-sized businesses, these connections were very attractive.”

Using his business acumen, he is collaborating with local leaders to build opportunities for visitors to learn about its history, hike or otherwise enjoy recreational access to Donner Summit during the summer months.

At the same time, he has brought San Francisco chefs to the mountain to revamp the food, is growing the summer wedding business, and hopes to host events attracting athletes from the urban centers on the California coast.

That includes reviving the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort, which Sugar Bowl also owns, and making cross-country skiing appeal to a broader audience.

The slopes still draw Dallas, who learned to ski at age 3 at Mammoth and keeps a pair of super-wide powder skis in the corner of his office. But duty, as always, comes first.

“I don’t ski as much as I’d like,” he confesses. “There’s always something to be done.”

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Class Notes

Paul Brentson ’69, anthropology From peddling potato chips to toiling on the frontiers of animal medicine, Paul Brentson has followed a hopscotch career path. Part of UCI’s first freshman class, he originally considered the ministry but instead joined the Army after graduation, then sold Frito-Lay snacks, earned an MBA, and worked at a primate research lab before joining UC Davis as administrator of its renowned veterinary hospital, which treats everything from lizards to llamas. During his 26-year tenure at the center, he says, animal medicine’s focus shifted from farm critters to cats and canines. So part of Brentson’s job involved securing funding to purchase human medical equipment that could be adapted to perform MRIs, chemotherapy, dialysis, heart surgery and hip replacements on household pets. “It was a remarkable era in veterinary capabilities,” he says. Now retired, Brentson enjoys camping, kayaking, mentoring church youth and tending the orchard at his 3-acre home.

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Edith Gelles, Ph.D. ’79, colonial American history Planted in front of a microfilm reader in the early 1970s, Edith Gelles became transfixed by a collection of letters written

by America’s second first lady, Abigail Adams. The trove of correspondence offered a rare female perspective on the Revolutionary War and early American history. Gelles – who grew up in Lake Placid, New York, then moved to Irvine in 1965 as the wife of a founding UCI faculty member and later became a Ph.D. student – had found her calling. After graduating, her detective skills and scholarship produced several biographies and books about the pioneering first lady, including last year’s expansive Abigail Adams: Letters, which was named one of 2016’s top 10 nonfiction volumes by The Wall Street Journal. Based at Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Gelles is currently working on a new book and, in her leisure time, swimming with Rinconada Masters, an aquatic team she joined 34 years ago.

Ed Hernandez ’91, electrical & computer engineering Motorized shoes, an electric tricycle and a prosthetic hand are a few of the objects built by teens in Ed Hernandez’s Tustin High School engineering classes.

The hands-on lessons began in 2004, when Hernandez left the semiconductor industry to become a teacher.

Disenchanted with corporate life, he wanted to make a difference by guiding future generations. In addition to demonstrating practical applications for dry math and science concepts, he advises students on how to avoid the pitfalls he encountered in college. Born in Mexico and the first in his family to finish high school, Hernandez came to UCI utterly unprepared for the university’s “academic cauldron.” Almost immediately, he was put on academic probation. But he buckled down, surrounded himself with smart classmates and saw his grades steadily improve.

Today the self-described nerd makes his own golf clubs and electric guitars at home and racks up statewide teaching awards at work.

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Ivan Williams, Executive MBA ’96 A demon from Hades and a middle-aged spinster are two of the characters this former oilman has helped bring to life. After 31 years in the petroleum industry – with interludes as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer during Operation Desert Shield and as a grad student at UCI – Ivan Williams detoured into moviemaking. He and his wife joined a pool of investors who finance films and Broadway plays. So far, their production credits include three movies (“Knights of Badassdom,” “Big Stone Gap” and “M.F.A.”) and a musical (“First Date”).

They also helped bankroll a web television series, “Be Here Nowish.” Last fall, Williams left his job with an Australian energy engineering firm to devote more time to Hollywood.

The projects in his queue include an animated Noah’s Ark film and a possible “Caddyshack” sequel. “We have to make sure we have the gopher,” he says of the latter.

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Negin Singh ’08, drama

Michaela Holland ’16, literary journalism

Brokechella, a cheapskate alternative to Coachella’s famous music fair, is one of Negin Singh’s brainchilds. (It’s now called Broke L.A.) So is the No Budget Film Festival, which screens made-on-ashoestring movies, and the Living Room Tour, which stages plays in people’s homes. These and other projects are produced by cARTel: Collaborative Arts L.A., a multimedia event company that Singh began at UCI. Originally called the Ahimsa Collective, it sponsored experimental shows on campus. Singh, a Chicago native and Irvine High School alum whose Iranian dad and Indian mom launched the first Persian American beauty pageant, renamed and expanded Ahimsa after graduating and moving to Los Angeles. The results have won plaudits from local media outlets and a White House blog. The company’s newest endeavor entails creating “unconventional experiences and events” to help corporations and nonprofits promote their brands.

She can send you to Mars or transport you back in time – to a 1941 house where you can decorate a Christmas tree, tune in to FDR’s Pearl Harbor radio address or lift a ticking watch to your ear. As a 360-degree video producer for Life VR, the virtual reality division of Time magazine and its sister publications, Michaela Holland helps create immersive visual experiences of news events past, present and future. Viewers can watch via mobile app or HTC Vive goggles, which enable users to walk around a virtual reality environment and interact with what they see. Holland stumbled onto the field after UCI, where she had divided her time between campus journalism and professional dancing at Disneyland, SeaWorld and Legoland. Her work at Life VR has included covering President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 360-degree video, assisting on a “Star Wars” virtual reality experience for People magazine, and editing an immersive documentary on Mount Everest climbers for Sports Illustrated.

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Jessica Lin ’10, economics and anthropology As a San Diego Chargers cheerleader, Jessica Lin danced before legions of football fans, volunteered at charity events and posed alongside an F-101 Voodoo jet fighter for a calendar photo shoot. Nowadays, the Carlsbad-bred daughter of Taiwanese immigrants belongs to a different kind of spirit squad. As associate brand manager for Aliso Viejo-based Infinium Spirits, she has a hand in marketing imported tequila, whiskey, rum, vodka and various liqueurs.

In her spare time, Lin practices yoga, runs a summer dance program for children with HIV and AIDS, brushes up on her Mandarin language skills, and makes weekly pilgrimages to UCI’s Anthill Pub & Grille for Tuesday night trivia contests.

In Memoriam Roger F. Steinert, director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and chair of ophthalmology Dr. Roger Steinert, an international authority on corneal and refractive surgery, died June 6 after a two-anda-half-year battle with glioblastoma. He was 66. Steinert, who came to UCI in 2004 and was founding director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, remained professionally active during his illness and at the time of his death was the Irving H. Leopold Chair in Ophthalmology and a professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering, as well as director of the institute.

As a young ophthalmologist in the 1980s, Steinert became convinced that lasers then being developed to cut and reshape eye tissue could revolutionize vision surgery.

However, nobody had systematically explored how to use them safely or advance their potential. Steinert made it his mission to unlock the power of those lasers. Over nearly four decades, he paved the way for their use in ophthalmology and pioneered new laser surgery techniques to strengthen eyesight and stave off blindness. His early work while on the faculty at Harvard Medical School helped lay the foundation for LASIK refractive surgery. Later, at UCI, he improved corneal transplantation by replacing the existing hand-held surgical blade with the IntraLase femtosecond laser.

To submit or view additional class notes, go to engage.alumni.uci.edu/classnote.

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P A R T I N G

Z O T !

Eyes on the Skies Students wearing protective glasses gather in Aldrich Park on Aug. 21 to watch the moon partially cover the sun during the “Great American Eclipse.�

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Steve Chang / UCI

IRVINE BLVD. PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

What we do at FivePoint isn’t actually magic, but we use design and engineering and imagination to create the places for magic to happen.

We deliver on the promise of what great places can be.

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O.C. GREAT PARK SOCCER STADIUM

BEACON PARK SCHOOL