Dr. Abbas Ardehali, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the UCLA Heart and Lung Transplant program, and Dr. David Ross, professor of pulmonology and medical director of the UCLA Lung Transplant program, were honored by State Senator Sharon Runner (R-Antelope Valley) during a special ceremony at the State Senate Chamber in Sacramento on Aug. 21.
Sen. Runner, who suffers from limited scleroderma and underwent a successful double-lung transplant at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in February, presented each doctor with a Resolution that recognized them for their lifetime achievements in medicine and significant contributions to humanity.
Runner also honored her local physician, Dr. Roblee Allen, a pulmonologist with the University of California at Davis.
"With their warm smiles and encouraging words, these UC doctors give patients hope," said Sen. Runner. "These doctors and their teams are talented and generous individuals."
With its cutting-edge technology, UCLA's heart and lung transplant programs offer aggressive treatments in an effort to expand the horizon of transplant patients who can be served.
Runner added, "Doctors Ross, Ardehali and Allen and their devoted teams push for state-of-the-art technology for the care of their patients. If it were not for their passion and dedication to operate on patients with complex medical conditions, UCLA and UC Davis medical centers would not be the successful programs that they are today."