This award celebrates Tan Nguyen, MD, Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, and Jessica de la Cruz, MBA, Department Operations Manager, for establishing a department-based faculty mentoring program to support Assistant and Associate Professors in their career development. Dr. Nguyen, has demonstrated commitment and innovation in mentoring throughout his academic career for medical students and residents.  Based on his leadership and experience as a senior faculty advisor and mentor to residents and medical students, Dr. Nguyen was chosen to be one of six Dean-appointed faculty members for the Faculty Resource and Mentorship Program in 2019.  With continued interests and creative ideas, Dr. Nguyen and Jessica organized this program to match junior with senior faculty for regular meetings, career guidance and coaching.  This mentoring program has supported our faculty to pursue their interests and progress in their career ladders.

This award celebrates Lisa Gibbs, MD, UCI Geriatric physicians and staff for their pathbreaking research to improve the care and wellbeing of our most vulnerable diverse older adults in Orange County and across the United States. Dr. Gibbs is Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, the Chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, and holds the Ronald Regan Endowed Chair in Geriatric Medicine. She also serves as the Medical Director of the UCI Health Senior Health Center in Orange, and Director of the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect. She has served as the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Director for UCI Health since 2017 with a focus on addressing social determinants of health for vulnerable seniors. She spearheaded the Age-Friendly Health System designation recently received by UCI Health. Dr. Gibbs has a long and outstanding career in clinical research excellence, having secured over $16M in extramural funding from major foundations, pharmaceutical clinical trials, PCORI, and federal funding from HRSA, NIH, and ACL. She continues to advance the aims and priorities of the School of Medicine to Discover-Teach-Heal.