Edison High School alumnus Robin L. Whitney named director of research for the Hillblom Center on Aging at UCSF Fresno

Edison High School alumnus Robin L. Whitney has been named director of research for the Hillblom Center on Aging at University of California at San Francisco, Fresno (UCSF Fresno).

Whitney's interest in public health was sparked in 1999 while a student at Edison when she participated in the Fresno Summer Biomedical Research Internship Program at UCSF Fresno.

She worked that summer investigating cancer in children exposed to pesticides.

Seventeen years later, Dr. Whitney is overseeing research related to the care of older adults in the San Joaquin Valley with the goal of improving access for local patients to cutting-edge clinical studies. She also will evaluate outcomes of new, collaborative models of care for older patients in the region.

After graduating from Edison High, Whitney earned bachelor's degrees in English and German, graduating magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Mass.

She earned a bachelor's degree of science in nursing, graduating magna cum laude from University of Southern Maine in South Portland. She earned a doctorate in nursing from University of California, Davis.

Since the Summer Biomedical Research Internship Program was established in 1988, more than 200 high-achieving students have graduated from the program.