LA BioMed Honors its Legends and Celebrates its Future

Three Distinguished Physician-Researchers to be Recognized May 7. Groundbreaking Ceremony Set for May 6.

LOS ANGELES – (April 28, 2015) – Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) will honor its past by recognizing three distinguished physician-researchers as “Legends” on May 7, and it will celebrate its future with a groundbreaking ceremony May 6 for a campus transformation designed to foster a more collaborative research environment.

The Legends reception will honor Drs. John E. Edwards, Samuel W. French and William Oh. At the reception, LA BioMed also will dedicate a donor wall to celebrate the success of the campaign to honor the career of another LA BioMed Legend, K.R. Tanaka, MD, with the K.R. Tanaka, MD Endowed Chair of Medicine.

The groundbreaking ceremony will mark the launch of a campus transformation that will provide linkages among the research institute’s facilities by creating new walkways, greenspace, a pavilion and other amenities. The project is designed to create a more unified campus and encourage more interaction among researchers.

“We are celebrating LA BioMed’s ability to build on the incredible achievements of its legendary researchers by creating a new research environment that will encourage collaboration to improve healthcare both here and around the globe,” said David I. Meyer, PhD, LA BioMed president and CEO. “Creating a modern campus environment that is worthy of LA BioMed’s renowned research enterprise is long overdue. We thank Richard and Melanie Lundquist for their leadership in making this transformation possible.”
The campus transformation is a first step in a long-term plan to modernize the campus. The long-term plan calls for replacing dilapidated World War II-era Army barracks with state-of-the-art research facilities. The completion of a new long-term master lease with the County of Los Angeles earlier this year cleared the way for the campus transformation.

The May 7 Legends reception will honor current and former LA BioMed researchers who have been leaders in their fields. Dr. Edwards is an infectious disease specialist at LA BioMed and the lead scientific founder of NovaDigm Therapeutics, which is developing a vaccine to prevent infections caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and Candida albicans. Dr. French is an LA BioMed researcher who has specialized in hepatopathology and alcoholic hepatitis for more than 60 years.  Dr. Oh is one of the founders of the field of neonatal medicine and has developed much of the current knowledge on newborn metabolism.

“We congratulate these three distinguished physician-researchers on a lifetime of accomplishments in the field of medicine and research,” said Dr. Meyer. “Each has been a leader in his field of medicine, and each has built a legacy of innovation and discovery.”

The Legends reception will begin at 5:45 p.m. May 7 in a tent located near the Walter P. Martin Research Center on the LA BioMed campus. The program honoring the Legends will begin at 7 p.m. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. May 6 at the same location on the LA BioMed campus. To RSVP for both events and to purchase tickets or sponsorships for the Legends event, please contact Lisa Bosnich, 310-222-4240, ext. 3, or lbosnich@LABioMed.org.