Class Notes

Mai-Lan Ho, MD08, was promoted to professor of radiology at the University of Missouri in 2022. This year, she was named vice chair of operations and innovation, medical director of radiology, physician director of radiology informatics, and division director of neuroradiology at the university. She lectures for national/international radiology societies and has served as a visiting professor in Sweden, Brazil, Vietnam, Ghana, Netherlands and Thailand. Ho is currently editing her fourth book on child neurology after publishing Neuroradiology Signs in 2014, The AAWR Pocket Mentor in 2021 and Pediatric Neuroimaging: State-of-the-Art in 2021.

Christopher Luna, BS07, LW10, has joined Foster Garvey as of counsel in their tax and benefits practice group. He advises clients on a wide array of income tax and transactional matters.

Michelle Smirnova, LA06, penned The Prescription-to-Prison Pipeline: The Medicalization and Criminalization of Pain (Duke University Press, March 2023). The book presents compelling data to examine how the relationships among trauma, physical pain, medical care, crime, drug use and incarceration are interwoven and
co-created. It tells stories that humanize those who are often demonized in popular imagination. Smirnova is associate professor of sociology and affiliate faculty of race, ethnic and gender studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Lauren (Miller) Hoye, SW06, a partner with Willig, Williams & Davidson, was named a 2023 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer. Hoye advocates for labor unions and individual employees before state and federal courts around the country. She is an arbitrator in the compulsory arbitration program of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas and is a volunteer with the Support Center for Child Advocates, representing abused children in the child welfare system.

Patricia Saleeby, SW05, helped develop courses for the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Program. The ICF is a health and functioning classification that works with the ICD (classification of diseases), used in every global health system. As a Washington University doctoral student, Saleeby began working with the World Health Organization in development of the ICF. Since then, she has continued to serve on committees to update and promote the use of these international health classifications.

Danielle Borrin Hertz, LA05, was appointed by President Joseph Biden to be a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the governing board of trustees of the museum.

Lynne R. Perkins, LW03, was retained as associate circuit judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court in the City of St. Louis by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in November 2020. Perkins has served the associate circuit bench since October 2017. Since the start of 2023, he has been one of two associate judges assigned to the St. Louis Circuit Court’s bond review divisions.

Kjell Erik Brekke, GR03, moved with his family in July from Nairobi, Kenya, to San Francisco to start a new diplomatic posting as a consul at the Norwegian Consulate General.

Jayson Johnson, LA01, was appointed to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission by Mayor London Breed. The commission advocates for human and civil rights and works in service of the city’s anti-discrimination laws to further racial solidarity, equity and healing. Johnson was also featured as a 2023 LGBTQ+ Biopharma Leader in Endpoints News.

Melissa Bloom, LA01, is in the planning stages of a journey from Maryland to California aboard her sailboat. She will be joined by first mate Matthew Pickar, LA01; her husband, Tom Spalding; and her loyal and enthusiastic pup, Ollie. The planned journey includes an initial sail to Delaware to pick up Ivey (Raymond) Helmick, LA01, and a daring trip through the Panama Canal before following the whale migration routes north to pick up Allison (Tannenbaum) Levy, LA01, in Long Beach and then concluding the epic journey with Elizabeth (Hazelton) Pearce, LA01, in San Francisco. To date, preparation includes a day sail from the vessel’s home port outside Baltimore during which first mate Pickar did a “really good job” steering the boat.