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Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University

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Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University

Although it was officially incorporated in 1932, the Alumni Association started when alumni gathered informally in 1917.

The Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University is a nonprofit organization composed of both alumni and affiliate members, organized to support the School, to promote excellence in world-wide health care, and to serve its members. Learn more about our history on our website at www.llusmaa.org/history.

09/16/2026

We had a great time with our alumni and their families in Boise this past weekend! It was a wonderful evening of reconnecting, sharing memories, and spending time together.

A big thank-you to Joe ’87 and Desiree Verska for graciously hosting, and to Jon Kattenhorn ’74 for representing the Alumni Association.

We loved seeing everyone and bringing our alumni community together in the Boise, Idaho area.

Next stop: Kettering, Ohio! We’re looking forward to our next Alumni Gathering on September 26. If you’re in the area, we’d love to see you there! RSVP at https://www.llusmaa.org/e/alumnigatheringkettering/

09/15/2026

The electrical infrastructure at Malamulo Adventist Hospital (MAH), located in Makwasain, Malawi, is being upgraded with support from a $34,000 contribution from Alumni in Mission Service (AIMS), a mission council of the Alumni Association.

Together with Build Health International (BHI), MAH is upgrading the hospital’s electrical infrastructure. A new microgrid system at the hospital will integrate solar and battery storage along with generator backup so that MAH will, after decades, be free from unreliable power. In total, the project is slated to cost approximately $1.4 million.

Malamulo Adventist beginnings predate the founding of Malamulo Mission in 1902. In 1914, a medical ministry began when a nurse named Irene Fourie began treating patients in an old farm building, leading to the establishment of Malamulo Adventist Hospital.

09/11/2026

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. Mark Bolton ’94, shares a personal reflection on a colleague whose life was lost aboard United Flight 93 that day.

“The USAF Reserve co-pilot serving on United Flight 93 that day, Lt. Colonel Lee Homer, was a comrade in my USAF Reserve squadron based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

As you may recall, the flight crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania near the town of Shanksville. The field was a relatively short drive from my home in eastern Ohio at the time, so I was to become one of the first members of our Air Force squadron to visit the site a few days after the crash.

After arriving at the crash site, I stood behind the crime scene boundaries and watched a small group of federal investigators. These investigators were still marking objects as they walked through the plane’s debris field on that cold, clear fall day. I felt incredibly sad—and angry.

At the time Lee’s baby daughter, Laurel, was less than a year old, and his beautiful young wife, Melody, was now a widow. On that fateful day these ‘ordinary Americans’ were each presented with a choice—to be victims or to fight. They chose to fight.”

Photograph in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

09/09/2026

September marks Hispanic Heritage Month, recognizing the contributions and presence of Hispanic and Latino American medical professionals.

“Hispanic Heritage Month is meaningful to me,” said Diana Alvarez (’27), “because it reminds me where I come from, and that my heritage is part of the foundation that brought me here.”

Diana is half Colombian and half Dominican. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. when they were in their twenties. Her earliest memories of medicine come from her father, whose dream was to become a physician. “From a young age, he shared his passion for medicine with me and that planted that seed in my heart.”

For Diana, medicine provides an opportunity to serve others and reflect Christ’s love through compassionate, whole-person care.

Her service with Fusion Homeless Ministry in San Bernardino is helping to define her path into medicine. Her experience working with the homeless “has profoundly shaped the physician I want to become,” she said. “I initially thought I was going to help others, but I quickly realized how much my unhoused friends have changed me. They have taught me to slow down, listen, build relationships, and see people as God sees them, as His precious children.”

The Paying It Forward Scholarship has also been an important part of her medical school journey, easing financial stress and connecting her with an alumnus who provides mentorship as she considers her future in medicine.

As Diana reflects on the meaning of Hispanic Heritage Month, she hopes the next generation will remember the sacrifices and courage of those who came before them, and carry that same perseverance forward.

Her dream is to become a physician who brings compassion and presence into each patient encounter, while continuing to serve communities that are often overlooked.

09/04/2026

We celebrate Women in Medicine Month and the amazing work our women physicians do around the globe.

Vanessa Miller ’96, for example. Miller is the only full-time OB-GYN specialist at Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic in Tamuning, where she provides care on one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.

For women facing high-risk pregnancies or cancer, Guam’s geographic isolation makes access to specialized care challenging. Even with the availability of temporary relief, “The clinic’s capacity is much more than one permanent OB-GYN physician can provide,” she said. In addition to a full schedule, at least one patient each week requires complex gynecologic care.

Working in Guam Adventist Clinic, Miller has experienced some of the greatest fulfillment of her career. She also appreciates the island’s beauty, which reminds her of her childhood home in the Bahamas.

Miller’s service extends far beyond Guam. She has practiced women’s health medicine in the U.S. and the Bahamas, and has served on medical mission trips to Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico. She also sponsored 20 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to attend a Seventh-day Adventist secondary school in Rwanda.

Her dream is to one day establish a lifestyle center offering disease prevention and treatment, continuing Christ’s healing ministry through education and compassionate care.

In this photo, Miller is filming a segment on HPV prevention for a local education campaign at the Clinic’s Women’s Health Offices.

Miller pauses atop Fort Soledad, a historic site overlooking the village of Humatak (Umatac) and the bay where Magellan landed on Guam.

Vanessa Miller ’96, is the only full-time OB-GYN specialist at Guam Seventh-Day Adventist clinic in Tamuning.

09/03/2026

September is Women in Medicine Month when the leadership and lasting contributions of women physicians are honored. One of the School of Medicine’s earliest women graduates, Olive Smith, class of 1915 forged a remarkable medical career.

Smith was a member of the College of Medical Evangelists’ (now Loma Linda University) second graduating class. She became Loma Linda University’s first physician alumni to serve the Seventh-day Adventist Church in an overseas mission appointment. She traveled to Chuharkana, India (now Pakistan), where she was assigned to care for women and children. When the hospital director left on furlough, Smith was entrusted with leadership of the entire medical facility.

She later served in Bangalore and Vellore, India, before retiring and returning to Loma Linda. She lived on Prospect Avenue until her death on April 28, 1946.

Recently, a personal connection to Smith found its way to the Alumni Association.

At an estate sale, Michael Boyko SD’75, assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the School of Dentistry, discovered a piece of ephemera that caught his attention: a diploma bearing the original wax seal of the College of Medical Evangelists, now Loma Linda University.

The diploma had belonged to Olive Smith. As Boyko examined the document, he was fascinated by the signatures of Drs. Newton Evans, Edward Risley, John Burden, and Alfred Shryock, whose names would later be honored on buildings across the Loma Linda campus.

Boyko acquired the diploma, and more than 100 years after it was awarded to Smith, it was donated to the Alumni Association.

One additional detail stands out: the diploma measures 18 inches wide by 14 inches tall, making it far too large to fit in a modern diploma holder.

09/01/2026

On August 12, at 8:30 p.m. local time, a group of alumni, spouses, family, and friends experienced the total solar eclipse off the coast of the island of Mallorca, Spain.

The idea for the journey began with a conversation during the Alumni Association’s lifetime experience trip to Norway in 2024. During the cruise, a few alumni from the class of ’86 began talking about traveling together to witness the eclipse. Word spread through email, mail, and during 2025 and 2026 class reunions.

From the deck of a cruise ship, the group watched the moon cover the sun, revealing its luminous corona against a darkened sky. “It was breathtaking to witness the total solar eclipse,” said Marilene Wang ’86. “It was an unforgettable experience.”

Twenty-nine alumni experienced the eclipse together: 20 classmates from the class of ’86, six from the class of ‘84, two from the class of ’74, and one from the class of ’91, along with spouses, family members, and friends.

Eclipse notes: The path of the solar eclipse totality crossed northern Spain. A partial eclipse was visible across parts of the U.S. and Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa. The eclipse was Spain’s first total solar eclipse since 1905. It was the first total eclipse visible from central and western Europe since 1999.

08/28/2026

Leah Tudtud-Hans, MD-Fac, associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine received, the 2026 Whole Person Care Legacy Award at the Gold Humanism Reception. While accepting the award, she provided insight into the meaning of wholeness.

She said that wholeness is at the heart of healing, and that whole-person care goes beyond treating a diagnosis. “In the Gospels, healing was never limited to treating disease alone. It included compassion, presence, dignity, and restoration of the whole person to seeing the person behind it and responding with compassion, dignity, attentiveness, and presence.”

“Yet, as physicians,” she emphasized, “we must also care for ourselves and intentionally seek wholeness. ‘Physician, heal thyself’ is a necessary discipline. We provide whole person care best when we ourselves are whole.”

She acknowledged that at Loma Linda, whole person care is more than a mission statement; it is a calling to continue Christ’s teaching and healing ministry. She expressed her gratitude for being part of a community that integrates faith, service, and scientific excellence in providing patient care.

In addition to her faculty appointment, Tudtud-Hans is an internal medicine hospitalist at Loma Linda University Medical Center and serves as associate chair of continuing medical education for the department of internal medicine. She has been a part of LLUH for more than 30 years.

read the full story in the summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. Link in Bio.

08/26/2026

A new library is opening doors to opportunity for hundreds of children in a rural Maasai village in Tanzania, made possible by Briana Greene ’23.

Through her nonprofit, Hearts 2 Hands, Greene created Lendikinya Children’s Library in Monduli, Tanzania. The library is an educational center for more than 800 students at the local primary school and for families in the community.

At the library there are spaces to read, study, create, explore science and music, and access computers and the internet. More than 4,000 pounds of books were collected through donations and traveled 8,000 miles from the United States to fill its shelves.

The library, which opened its doors on July 17, is a daily resource for the community, with a permanent librarian.

Hearts 2 Hands is a partner mission organization of the Alumni Association.

Read more in the Summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL.

08/25/2026

Loma Linda University medical student Stephen Dwumfour ’26, co-founded AI-HEAL (Artificial Intelligence for Health, Education, Advocacy, and Leadership), a university-wide club.

Since its creation in April, 2025, AI-HEAL membership has grown to more than 100 students from Loma Linda’s schools who are collaborating to discuss and learn more about the place AI can have in healthcare.

With mentorship from Christopher G. Wilson, PhD-FAC, and Fred Armstrong, education technology services director of learning innovation, AI-HEAL has organized numerous educational and networking events, including Artificial Intelligence for Health, Education, Advocacy and Leadership seminars; The Fall 2025 AI Symposium; faculty presentations and panel discussions; interactive workshops; and educational sessions on emerging AI technologies.

Read the full story in the Summer 2026 ALUMNI JOURNAL. Link in bio.

Address

11245 Anderson Street, Ste 200
Loma Linda, CA
92354

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 12pm

Telephone

+19095584633

Website

http://www.llusmaa.org/

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