Class Notes

Classes of 1980 - 1989

Paula J. Pearlman, M.D.’81

I have been an emergency medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles for nearly 30 years. Every time I step into the Emergency Department, I am exposed to the vast and fantastic cultural and ethnic diversity in this city. I meet and intimately interact with people of every color and from every socio-economic stratum. We are different, yet we are the same. It's a gift to know and embrace this truth - a gift that comes from this great city.

Compelled to give something back, about eight years ago, I started volunteering to do tattoo removal at Homeboy Industries. The organization was founded by Father Gregory Boyle and is recognized as the largest gang intervention and re-entry into society program in the county. Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job and Jobs Not Jail are their mottos. Click here to read more.

Carlos Ayala, M.D.'82

I am an Air Force Lt. Colonel. Currently I am in deployed in Bagram, Afghanistan with the 455th Expeditionary Medical Group as the Chief of Ear Nose Throat, Facial Plastic Surgery. I am the only ENT surgeon who specializes as a facial plastic surgeon in the country of Afghanistan. Read my complete story here.

Martin Frederick Welsh, M.D.'80

On Thursday October 28, 2010 Dr. Martin Frederick Welsh, 56, passed away at his Camino home surrounded by his family. This gentle man’s remarkable spirit will be sorely missed. In 1980 Martin graduated from UCLA medical school, and conducted his residency at the Ventura County Family Practice program where he was also Chief Resident. Martin’s dream was to become a small town family doctor. He wanted his life s work to be centered in a rural community, serving the health and wellness of generations of families. Marty's amazing philosophy about facing the end of life inspired a film maker to include him in his work about death and dying (www.considertheconversation.org). Martin is survived by his loving wife Maureen, his beloved children Carey, 31, and Kevin, 28, his daughter-in-law Kristen and one-year-old granddaughter Alexis, and his five siblings (Katie Allen, Melinda, Tony, Greg and David.)

Eva Ritvo, M.D. '87

It is hard to believe it has been over 20 years since I graduated from UCLA medical school. After finishing my psychiatry residency at Payne Whitney Psychiatric Hospital, Cornell Medical Center , I joined the faculty of the University of Miami , Miller School of Medicine. I am currently the vice chair of and associate professor in the department of psychiatry and I have a secondary appointment in the department of dermatology. Ties to UCLA continue as the new psychiatry chair at UM came to us from UCLA. I am also the chairperson of the department of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach.

I am excited to share the news about my new book - The Beauty Prescription: the Complete Formula for Looking and Feeling Beautiful - released this month by McGraw Hill. My co-author is a UCLA trained dermatologist and clinical faculty, Dr. Debra Luftman. Our message it that all women are beautiful and each woman must cultivate her inner beauty, good health and outer beauty to reach their maximum potential. We wanted to reach a larger audience then we could reach in our respective offices with this message, and between the book and our website www.thebeautyprescription.com we are able to do so. We are pleased that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a medical student scholarship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

John Chuck, M.D.'86

Hello to all. I've been thinking about UCLA a lot recently as my son is a high school senior looking at colleges. UCLA is on his top 3 list along with Cal (Go Bears) and Pomona College (Go Sagehens??).

I've been with The Permanente Medical Group in Northern California for 18 years. Half time clinical; the rest is administrative work related to health promotion, IT innovation, and physician health & wellness. Founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit called Serotonin Surge Charities that raises money for safety net clinics, scholarships, and breast cancer research. Find out more at www.serotoninsurge.org I would love to hear from you by email at john.chuck@kp.org

Nancy L. McQueen, Ph.D. '86

The California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) recently presented me its 2008 Biotechnology Faculty Research Award. Each year, the award honors one professor from throughout the 23-campus CSU system for outstanding scientific achievement in molecular life science and biotechnology research. The award is based on my work, collaborating over nearly two decades with a string of roughly 60 (mostly graduate) students, in identifying the mutations in genes that alter the pathogenicity or disease-causing strength of Sendai virus, a rodent-infecting organism similar to the human influenza virus.

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