WHAT'S NEW

• Moving Day! June 29, 2008, was a most remarkable day. The entire UCLA Medical Center, patients and all, was moved into the brand new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in a carefully choreographed, seamless transition that took less than 7 hours. More than 300 patients were moved, one patient every 2 minutes. The pediatric patients were very happy with their new hospital rooms, but they were especially delighted with the outdoor terrace and other child-friendly facilities for play and other diversions. To see a video of the move, and feel the palpable excitement of the children, go to http://streaming.uclahealth.org/moveday.

• In a small ceremony in July, a portrait of Nejat Munisoglu, Jr. was presented to Dr. Kathleen Sakamoto by Elizabeth Munisoglu. It is now hanging in the Conference Room of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Wing of Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA. A representative of the Turkish Consulate, Vice Consul Batu Kesmen, was present for the ceremony, along with Amy Albin of UCLA’s Media Relations Dept. and Burcu Biterge of Bilkent University (Ankara) an intern in Dr. Sakamoto’s leukemia laboratory under the sponsorship of the Society.

(Photo: Vice Consul Kesmen, Elizabeth Munisoglu, and Dr. Kathleen Sakamoto.)

• In 2008 the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology physicians continued to be recognized for their outstanding clinical and basic science research. Areas of research that received special recognition included research on lung stem cells, translational research on brain tumors and tumor vaccine, and targeted therapies for acute myeloid leukemia and other pediatric tumors.

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