UCSF to Honor Three With Chancellor’s Award for GLBT Leadership

06/02/2011, by Melanie Nathan,

Three members of the UCSF community will be awarded the 2011 Chancellor’s Award for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and/or Transgender (GLBT) Leadership on Monday, June 13. Included is my friend and fellow activist on immigration equality issues, Chris Waddling of the grassroots organization OUT4Immigration. 

Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, will present awards to three members of the campus community. They are Michael Reyes, MD, MPH, adjunct professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine; Chris Waddling, specialist in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics; and, Ilana Sherer, resident in the Department of Pediatrics.

E. Michael Reyes, MD, MPH

Reyes is a professor in family and community medicine and has been a compassionate and poignant leader in HIV/AIDS care, treatment and education training for more than 20 years and a champion for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues throughout his entire career.

As a member of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association since 1998, Reyes strives to provide leadership and mentorship to gay and lesbian physicians using his extensive background and experience working with the Health Resources and Services Administration and other government agencies in the funding, planning and implementation of HIV/AIDS education and training programs.

As principle investigator for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded Center of Excellence for Transgender HIV Prevention (NCoE), Reyes has championed education and training about transgender HIV and health issues not only at UCSF, but throughout the UC system and nationally. Reyes has served as an inspirational leader and mentor to many gay and lesbian individuals on campus, as well as those working on GLBT issues, advising them on their career, research and advancement issues.

Reyes also promotes GLBT and health and wellness issues on campus by participating as an executive committee member of the AIDS Research Institute, co-chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues, an advisory committee member of the National Clinician’s Consultation Center, a steering committee member for Global Health Sciences and an editorial board member for the Center for HIV Information.

But his involvement with GLBT issues and HIV/AIDS extends well beyond UCSF and into the greater community. He continues to serve as a board member for multiple organizations including: AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families and the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center. He is also President of National Association of AIDS Education and Training Centers; HIV Advisory Committee Member, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Centers; Advisory Committee Member, National Clinicians’ Consultation Center; and President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Palliative Care for HIV/AIDS Working Group Member, HRSA and CDC Global AIDS Program.

Christopher Waddling, PhD

As the crystallography facility manager in the Department of Biochemistry in Mission Bay, Waddling has brought his long history of involvement in UCSF’s GLBT community to UCSF’s newest campus.

While serving on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on GLBT issues, Waddling has spearheaded many efforts to expand GLBT awareness including developing a presence for the UCSF GLBT community on Facebook, participating in the Holiday Love program that performs charitable acts during the holidays and working on the advisory committee’s subcommittee for on-campus outreach efforts.

Waddling’s dedication to elevating the status of the GLBT community is seen in his many commitments across UCSF. He staffed the GLBT resrouce center’s table at the UCSF Mission Bay Resource Fair and updated the UCSF New Graduate Student manual to include information on GLBT immigration and GLBT legal rights.

Additionally, Waddling co-founded the Mission Bay GLBT weekly coffee hour at the Genentech Hall cafeteria to advance the visibility of GLBT people at the Mission Bay campus and to foster a supportive GLBT environment. The gathering has further evolved into a monthly happy hour and a Facebook link that are inclusive to the whole UCSF community.

Always a strong advocate for raising diversity at GLBT gatherings, Waddling actively sought out venues that would be friendly to a broad segment of the community, including staffers, students, women and minorities. His efforts to create a friendly and social environment for the UCSF community at Mission Bay has prompted the start of a similar coffee hour on the Parnassus campus.

Waddling is also the Bi-national Couples Outreach Director at Marriage Equality USA, where he works closely with Out4immigration on strategy, media coordination and community outreach.

Ilana Sherer, MD

The third-year pediatric resident has been a dedicated advocate for gender variant youth, after immersing herself in understanding the needs of this population early in her residency. After realizing that gender variance is poorly recognized and understood by pediatricians, Sherer set out to execute a three-pronged vision that included creating a setting where gender variant children could receive culturally appropriate care for their needs, educate pediatricians and other health care providers, and teach gender variant children and families the necessary tools to self-advocate within a medical setting.

Networking and creating partnerships with UCSF and with local community agencies, Sherer has had a critical role in establishing a UCSF medical home for gender variant youth, the Bay Area Youth Gender Acceptance Project (BayGap). She serves on the steering committee for BayGap and has presented their experiences at local and national forums. Additionally, she has developed health care provider modules related to caring for GLBT and gender variant youth and presented at local and national forums including a workshop at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting.

Recently, Sherer was invited to be a member of the Editorial Board for the national Trans Bodies, Trans Selves book project, a resource guide for the transgender community. She also created a brochure for families titled, “Finding a Pediatrician for your Gender Variant Child.”

  The UCSF community is invited to the awards ceremony from noon to 1 p.m., in the School of Nursing, room N 225, on the Parnassus campus.

Source: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/05/9905/ucsf-honor-three-chancellors-award-glbt-leadership