Names and Faces

Sherin Devaskar, professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine and a neonatologist at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, has been selected by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council. She is executive vice chair of UCLA's Department of Pediatrics and director of the Newborn Research Center.

Michael E. Phelps, UCLA Pharmacology chair and Norton Simon Professor, received the 2007 Massry Prize for inventing the positron emission tomography (PET) scanner — the first technology enabling scientists and physicians to image the biology of disease in patients. Given by the Meira and Shaul G. Massry Foundation, the Massry Prize recognizes outstanding contributions to the biomedical sciences and to the advancement of health.

Ren Sun, professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, has been appointed associate dean for graduate studies. Sun will help guide graduate education for the School of Medicine and for UCLA ACCESS, a special program for first-year graduate students in the molecular, cellular and integrative life sciences. He will also help raise endowment funds for graduate education.