Empowering Healing
Eilish and Dan Hathaway will bequeath $300,000 of their $2.1 million estate to UCLA Health Operation Mend to support the highest clinical and research priorities under the guidance of Dr. Kodi K. Azari (FEL ’04), one of the medical directors of Operation Mend’s specialized surgical care program. In addition to supporting Operation Mend, the funds will establish a research endowment at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and a medical scholarship endowment at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Eilish Hathaway had a career at UCLA spanning more than 30 years, including as manager of the management services organization of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Allergy. She volunteers once a week at the hospital, distributing snacks and personal care items to staff and patients through the Kindness Cart program. Dan Hathaway, an engineer in the private sector, is also involved with UCLA, and both are extremely thankful for everything UCLA has provided them.
For more information, contact Benjamin Johnson at: 424-467-5012
Dedicated UCLA Donors Fund Cerebral Palsy Studies
UCLA Anderson School of Management alumna, Marie Williams Shipman, and Alexander Shipman, longtime supporters of the UCLA Orthopaedic Hospital Center for Cerebral Palsy (CP), have made a $1 million pledge to advance cerebral palsy muscle disease research. Under the direction of Dr. Kristen Stearns-Reider, assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and associate director of the Kameron Gait and Motion Analysis Laboratory at UCLA, the gift will support investigations into the biologic basis of CP muscle dysfunction to develop new treatments. Studies include the analysis of the biochemical and biomechanical properties of CP muscle biopsies, and the isolation of skeletal muscle cells from these biopsies, to understand the interactions that cause fibrosis and failed regeneration of muscle tissue. The team also will study the role of gene expression in disease progression. The muscle biopsies will be cataloged in a biobank of healthy and CP-diseased tissues to represent the affected population of children facing various manifestations of the disease.
For more information, contact Gretchen McGarry at: 310-794-4746
Advancing Integrative Adolescent Care
The UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine has received a generous donation from Almas and Roland Tellis to support the Integrative Adolescent Program under the guidance of Dr. Katie Hu. The gift will enable Dr. Hu, East-West Medicine Fellowship Program Director; Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, (MD ’75, RES ’78), founder and director of the center and Wallis Annenberg Endowed Chair in Integrative East-West Medicine; and Dr. Sara Ptasnik, internal medicine/pediatrics specialist, to collaborate with national and global pain/mental health experts to design curricula targeted to adolescents. It will also provide access to integrative health services for adolescents and their families at UCLA Health and its community health partners. The center blends conventional and traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and integrative medicine, to provide a patient-centered approach with individualized integrative treatment plans. In addition to their current contribution, the Tellises will underwrite and chair a fundraising event in December at a restaurant he co-owns in Santa Monica, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the center. Beth Friedman, another Center for East-West Medicine supporter, will serve as co-chair.
For more information, contact Nicholas Middlesworth at: 310-227-5670
Providing Comfort for Wounded Warriors
The Fisher House Foundation has made a donation to UCLA Health Operation Mend that addresses some of its most pressing needs. Operation Mend provides advanced surgical treatment and comprehensive care focused on the physical and psychological wounds of war for post-9/11 service members, veterans and their families. All services, including transportation and lodging while receiving treatment, are offered at no cost. Fisher House Foundation builds comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in the hospital. It also operates the Hero Miles program, using donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members, and the Hotels for Heroes program that enables family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge through donated hotel points. This gift includes Hero Miles for up to 100 flights for patients to travel to UCLA for care and up to $100,000 toward lodging at The Tiverton, a hotel offering the comfort and warmth of a “home away home” for Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center patients and their families. “Fisher House Foundation is pleased to offer this contribution to Operation Mend,” said David A. Coker, foundation president. “The UCLA Health program aligns perfectly with our mission to support our nation’s veterans and their families.”
For more information, contact Benjamin Johnson at: 424-467-5012
