Four UC San Diego ‘Achievers’ are Named
in San Diego Metropolitan’s Special Edition

September 3, 2008

By Pat JaCoby

Three University of California, San Diego faculty members and one administrator have been recognized in San Diego Metropolitan magazine’s annual “40 Under 40” special edition listing the region’s exceptional young business and civic leaders.

Named among the 40 honorees, selected by a panel of judges independent of the magazine, were:

• Lihini Aluwihare, 36, an assistant professor of marine chemistry at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. A native of Sri Lanka, Aluwihare earned her doctorate in chemical oceanography from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and now is researching the chemical, biological and physical processes controlling the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the ocean. She anticipates that understanding these modern-day biogeochemical processes can lead to better predictions of how the planet will respond to climate change in the future.
• Chris Searles, M.D., 38, assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the UCSD Combined Family Medicine & Psychiatry Residency Program. A native San Diegan, Searles earned his undergraduate degree at UC San Diego and his medical degree from UC Davis. Searles’ interest is the primary care of underserved communities, so his practice takes him out in the field with the mobile medical unit, or to St. Vincent DePaul Family Health Center and Clinic, Hoover and Southwest high schools, or the Scripps Family Medicine Residency program in Chula Vista.
• Davey Smith, M.D., 37, assistant professor of medicine, director of the Early Intervention Program at the Antiviral Research Center, and physician in UCSD's Division of Infectious Diseases. His focus is the transmission of HIV and his mission is to find ways to interrupt it. His duties also include clinical teaching at the VA Medical Center and the Tuesday Night Clinic at Family Health Centers of San Diego. His collaborations include AIDS projects in India and Lesotho in southern Africa.
• Melanie Cruz Walsh, 32, director of development for UC San Diego’s Division of Physical Sciences, is charged with fostering relationships among the university division and the community, potential students, business interests and possible benefactors. Walsh has been instrumental in developing and funding “Cal Teach,” a math and sciences outreach to local high school students; has spearheaded undergraduate and graduate recruitment activities, and has worked on behalf of the Arthritis Foundation of San Diego and Imperial County.

The “40 Under 40” will be honored at a Sept. 25 luncheon at the San Diego Convention Center. Proceeds will benefit the YWCA of San Diego County.

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858 534-7404