School of Medicine Alumna and Faculty Receive Lauds & Laurels

For this year’s Lauds & Laurels awards, the UCI Alumni Association recognize School of Medicine alumna Geraldine Taplin, MD (’72) and UCI alumna, Zainab Saadi, MD, (’06), assistant professor in the Department of Medicine. Both have demonstrated a commitment to keeping people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic in their professions as physicians.   

Dr. Taplin worked as an infectious disease specialist for most of her career at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, Calif. She was a leader in the field during the AIDS and HIV pandemic. Because of her leadership, the Outpatient Immunology Service remains the center for HIV care in the Monterey Peninsula. 

After she retired in 2019, Dr. Taplin had plans to teach at a medical school in Uganda but plans changed when the COVID-19 pandemic started. She was invited to return to work at Community Hospital and assist their infectious disease specialist in the fight against COVID to educate people on prevention and mitigation protocols. Because of her work, she received the Outstanding Women Event (OWE) honor for the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women. 

Dr. Taplin remains highly involved with the School of Medicine’s Alumni Association and is a generous supporter of future UCI medical students. 

Zainab Saadi, MD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Internal Medicine & Primary Care for the Department of Medicine. Dr. Saadi is one of six campus honorees and is receiving the Distinguished Young Alumna award. 

Dr. Saadi is a UCI alumna who earned a bachelor’s in neurobiology and behavior and a minor in digital arts. She earned her medical degree at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, and completed an internal medicine residency at the LAC+USC Medical Center (now known as the “Los Angeles General Medical Center”). 

Before she joined UCI and UCI Health in 2021, she provided urgent care services at a clinic in East Los Angeles and primary care services at a medical practice in downtown Los Angeles, where she was also part of a team of doctors focused on COVID-19 care at the onset of the global pandemic. 

Dr. Saadi wrote an op-ed article published in the Los Angeles Times, calling for a unified national public health approach and continued her community involvement with public education sessions around Orange County including Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar and throughout Irvine. She is also active with the California Medical Association (CMA), Orange County Medical Association (OCMA), and is one of five appointed City of Irvine Commissioners on the Senior Citizens Council.

The UCI Alumni Association will celebrate 24 accomplished Anteaters at the 2023 Lauds & Laurels ceremony on Oct. 26, at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Now in its 52nd year, Lauds & Laurels is UCI’s oldest tradition recognizing outstanding individuals for their service to the community, professional excellence and campus involvement.