Dr. Gabriel Danovitch is retiring as medical director of Azusa-based nonprofit OneLegacy. He does so while receiving one of the most prestigious awards in the field of organ transplants.
Danovitch was announced last week as the recipient of this year’s Medawar Prize from The Transplantation Society, considered among the world’s highest awards for contributions to organ transplantation.
“It has been a privilege for me to be associated with OneLegacy and its marvelous staff for over two decades,” Danovitch said in a statement. “It is an extraordinary organization that takes the tragedy of sudden death and turns it into a life force in a manner that gives years of health to long-suffering patients with organ failure and gives solace to grieving families.”
OneLegacy is the largest organ and tissue recovery organization in the country and facilitates nearly 2,000 organ transplants and 150,000 tissue transplants across 200-plus hospitals and eight transplant centers serving 20 million people each year.
Danovitch has spent more than 20 years with the nonprofit, which during that time launched transplant and recovery centers in Azusa and Redlands. A nephrologist, Danovitch oversaw an 81% transplantation rate at OneLegacy.
• • •
Los Angeles County was well-represented at CalCPA’s Members Club Summit in San Diego this summer.
Burbank-based Miller Kaplan took home the organization’s Most Innovative Firm Award, for “embracing innovation and forward-thinking strategies that are helping shape the future of accounting.” Meanwhile, Claremont-based Gray, Salt & Associates received the Cultural Leadership Award for “fostering an inclusive, people-first workplace culture that supports employees and strengthens the profession.
Outside of the business office, Debbie Johnson at Cerritos College was recognized with the Outstanding Accounting Education Award. CalCPA heralded Johnson for 30-plus years of teaching at the college and developing innovative, practical curricula that prepared students for technology “long before spreadsheet and accounting software proficiency became industry standards.”
