Two medical faculty honored for work in science
Annual awards financed with profits from UCLA Medical Center
gift shop
By Dina Burwell
Over 20 years ago, the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary expressed a
need to honor accomplished men and women in the field of health
sciences.
Despite the lack of funds, for the past two deacades they have
depended on the money they have received from a small gift shop in
the hospital lobby of the UCLA Medical Center to fund two annual
awards, The Woman of Science and The Golden Bruin.
The UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary is a non-profit group that
serves as a support group for the Center for Health Sciences and a
community liaison for the Medical Center. The Medical Center
provides patient assistance, grants for special projects, student
scholarships and annual awards such as those recently presented to
Dr. Yvonne Bryson and Larry Barcliff.
Bryson, who is the professor of pediatrics at the UCLA School of
Medicine, received The Woman of Science Award for her achievements
in research and teaching in the health sciences. She has done
extensive research in viral and immunological studies in the field
of pediatric AIDS.
Larry Barcliff, director of the Animal Surgery Laboratory in the
UCLA Department of Surgery, received the Golden Bruin Award for his
financial support to clinical care programs, research laboratories
and the medical school administration. He has also played a key
role in the development of the new nitrate oxide respiratory
therapy program for treatment of severe heart disease at the
Medical Center.
At the campus, Bryson has served as a faculty member of UCLA
Pediatrics since 1976 and has been a full professor in the health
sciences since 1989. Barcliff has served as an employee in the
Department of Surgery since 1975.
The UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary asks peers and supervisors in
the UCLA Center for Health Sciences to nominate who they consider a
worthy candidate for each award. The Auxiliary is unique in that
they must raise money in order to fund the awards given to the
recipients. These funds are primarily raised through a gift shop in
the hospital lobby in addition to a thrift shop in West Los Angeles
and the Medical Plaza newsstand.
Though additional monies come from special events and
contributions, the Auxiliary relies primarily on its own financial
ability to fund the awards. Even so, Auxiliary officials say they
are not intimidated by the small amount of funds coming in from the
gift shop.