EMBARKING ON A NEW ERA - UCLA School of Nursing

Charles Griffis, Ph.D. ’05After graduating in 1981 with a Master’s in NurseAnesthesia from the UCLA School of Medicine, Griffisspent the next two decades working as a clinician andclinical educator for the UCLA Nurse Anesthesia Program,part of the Department of Anesthesiology. In2001 he entered the UCLA School of Nursing’s doctoralprogram and the following year, under the guidance ofhis adviser and committee chair Dr. Peggy Compton,he began research into some of the mechanisms bywhich pain may influence the immune system and theentire human organism. Since graduating in 2006 hehas sought to apply his knowledge and research skills tohelping patients. In addition to his continuing researchand clinical activities, Griffis teaches nurse anesthesiastudents as well as nurse practitioner and B.S.N. studentsat the School of Nursing as an assistant clinicalprofessor in UCLA’s Department of Anesthesiology.Sarah L. Miller, M.S.N. ’05While a student in the M.S.N. program at the school,Miller served as class president and president of theGraduate Students in Nursing Association. She is amember of the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Societyand has achieved her national board certification asa critical care clinical nurse specialist and acute carenurse practitioner. Miller is currently working as anacute care nurse practitioner and clinical educator atValley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, Calif. Sheremains active in various nursing organizationsthroughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Miller recentlycompleted her term as president of the UCLASchool of Nursing Alumni Association, during whichshe was instrumental in the association’s revitalization.She is a past membership chair and current presidentof the California Association for Nurse Practitioners,West Los Angeles Chapter. Miller is also an associateclinical professor in the UCLA School of Nursing.