2004 RELL SUNN AWARDEE

Dr. Jon Greif has dedicated his career to helping physicians get better access to the latest information, techniques and research on cancer, allowing them to provide ongoing and evolving guidance while optimizing patient care and outcomes.

Dr. Greif is an attending surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Diego, where he chairs the Area Cancer Committee. He is Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at UCSD. Over the past decade, he has quietly and persistently worked to improve the mechanisms by which patients are screened for cancer and by which those with cancer receive care. Recognition of the excellence that he has created in this arena has thrust him into a leadership role statewide and nationally. Although difficult to quantify, the impact of his work touches thousands of patients.

For his program for the care and treatment of uninsured and underinsured women with breast cancer, the Mayor of San Diego declared May 13th to be "Dr. Jon Greif Day," and the San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services awarded Jon its "Public Health Champion" award for 2004.

Jon chairs numerous boards, task forces, and working groups for cancer research and action. Currently, he heads the Minority Work Group of Kaiser San Diego's Cancer Committee in cooperation with the San Diego Regional Chapter of the American Cancer Society. This group's goal is to ease the burden of cancer in our minority communities. This work has already seen significant success in the areas of breast and prostate cancer in the San Diego African American community and is being expanded to the Latino communities of San Diego to help spread the word about cancer prevention, screening and early detection.

In addition, Dr. Greif is currently the California State Chair for the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. He is also the Chair of the Cancer Control Section and President-Elect of the California Division of the American Cancer Society. Besides these responsibilities, when not seeing patients Jon regularly travels to Sacramento where he is serving as a member of the working group that is developing the State's Cancer Plan.

Jon is married and has a son in college. He can regularly be seen surfing the waves of La Jolla - exclusively on Skip Frye boards!

The Board of Authority of the 2004 Luau & Longboard Invitational and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are pleased to recognize the life, work and aloha spirit of Dr. Jon Greif by awarding him the 2004 Rell Sunn "Queen of Makaha" Award.

Mahalo Jon!

Thank you to our 2008 or 2009 Luau & Longboard Invitational’s title sponsor, Pfizer La Jolla.