UCR SOM Holds 2024 Celebration of Medical Education Gala

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For the second year in a row, a sold-out crowd attended the UCR SOM’s Celebration of Medical Education Gala to support the school’s Mission Award Scholarship.

Monica Carson, PhD, chair of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and S. Sue Johnson Presidential Endowed Chair in Glial-Neuronal Interactions, welcomed the attendees, noting the role of the biomedical sciences division in providing the foundation for the School of Medicine and acknowledging the division’s 50th anniversary. “It is gratifying to have so many alumni, friends, colleagues, and students here with us tonight as we celebrate what a difference your support of our medical students and biomedical scientists means to the future of our community,” Carson said.

Monique Dozier, vice chancellor for University Advancement, reminded the audience that the School of Medicine also celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. “We are now boldly charging into the future to take UCR and the School of Medicine to new heights,” she said.

“I am continually humbled and inspired by the vision of those who fought to create a simple yet powerful mission for our school: to train a diverse workforce of physicians and biomedical scientists, and to develop innovative research and healthcare delivery programs to improve the health of the people in Inland Southern California,” said Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the vice chancellor for health sciences and the Mark and Pam Rubin dean of the School of Medicine.

Deas shared several of the School of Medicine’s recent accomplishments, including its recognition as the seventh most diverse medical school in the country in 2024 by the U.S. News & World Report, the fact that it has graduated 454 MD’s since becoming a four-year medical school, and the addition of a new Master of Public Health program.