August 14, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: UCSD Cancer Center Foundation Jason Foster, foster@mail.sdsu.edu

(858) 822-0023 (619) 594-2585

UCSD CANCER CENTER LUAU & LONGBOARD INVITATIONAL GIVES

RELL SUNN ‘QUEEN OF MAKAHA’ AWARD TO DR. MARK RENNEKER
Bay Area Physician and Big-Wave Hunter Who Helped Treat Sunn

Honored for Extraordinary Cancer-Fighting Efforts

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 14, 2001 — The planning committee of the eighth annual UCSD Cancer Center Luau & Longboard Invitational is pleased to announce that physician and renowned big-wave surfer Dr. Mark Renneker will receive the 2001 Rell Sunn "Queen of Makaha" Award. "Doc," as he is known in surfing circles, will accept the award at the event on Sunday, Aug. 26, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

The award is named in honor of one of surfing’s most devoted and influential women who died of cancer in 1998. It is given each year to the person or persons who best display the qualities shared by Rell and the UCSD Cancer Center Luau and Longboard Invitational — the battle against cancer combined with unselfishness, compassion, and a true "aloha" spirit. Renneker, now an assistant clinical professor in UC San Francisco’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, has put forth extraordinary efforts to combat cancer in the United States and abroad for more than a quarter-century. Highlights include:

Serving as principal investigator for a three-year, $600,000 national American Cancer Society demonstration project that provided cancer education and screening services to low-income patients at the West Oakland Health Center.

Spending 13 years (1984-1997) as an attending physician at the South of Market Health Center, an inner-city clinic in San Francisco.

Giving more than 25 years of volunteer service with the American Cancer Society, serving on numerous committees, councils, task forces and divisions.
Organizing more than 20 conferences on cancer and preventive medicine, presenting cancer information at more than 100 colleges and universities, and serving as an editorial board member of many scholarly journals, including "The Journal of Cancer Education."
Founding the Surfer’s Medical Association, which has sought to improve health conditions of often-poor populations near surf destinations around the world. An outgrowth of its work is an ongoing community health project in the Fijian village of Nabila, in which association efforts led the population to stop smoking cigarettes in 1990. Their cessation has lasted for more than a decade, and a scientific paper on the project eventually won international awards and was featured on ABC’s "World News Tonight" in 1999.

"Doc is a highly respected surfer, but his dedication to help others at home and abroad is what makes him so deserving of the Rell Sunn ‘Queen of Makaha’ Award," said Steve Blank, chairman for this year’s Luau & Longboard Invitational. "He has touched countless lives in his career already, including Rell Sunn herself."

Renneker, working with another physician and Rell’s husband, Dave Parmenter, helped treat Rell over the last months of her 15-year battle with cancer.

"We pursued every imaginable therapy to help her, ranging from mainstream and experimental therapies to alternative and esoteric treatments, and finally to optimizing home hospice care," Renneker said. "It was an honor to have worked with Rell Sunn."

The 8^th Annual UCSD Cancer Center Luau & Longboard Invitational, title sponsored by Ericsson, brings together surfing legends, local celebrities and business executives to surf in friendly competition followed by a private Polynesian luau, where the Rell Sunn "Queen of Makaha" Award will be presented. Proceeds from the event benefit the UCSD Cancer Center Foundation. For more information, call the UCSD Cancer Center at (858) 822-0023, or visit http://luau.ucsd.edu.

ABOUT THE UCSD CANCER CENTER

Founded in 1979, the UCSD Cancer Center is one of just 60 centers in the United States to hold a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. As such, it ranks among the top centers in the nation conducting basic and clinical cancer research, and providing advanced patient care. The center’s mission is to translate promising scientific discoveries into new and better options for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and the amelioration of pain. For more information, visit http://cancer.ucsd.edu.

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Editors Please Note: Photo of Mark Renneker and bio information on Rell Sunn available by contacting Jason Foster at 619-594-2585 or foster@mail.sdsu.edu.