Los Angeles 2018

  • The Bruin (1984) by Billy Fitzgerald, gift of the UCLA Alumni Association
  • UCLA Westwood campus in 1929.
  • UCLA from Hedrick Hall with Royce Hall in the foreground and Los Angeles in the background.
  • Groundbreaking in 1951 for the UCLA Medical Center
  • Los Angeles City Hall

The American Association for the History of Medicine will hold its 91st annual meeting in Los Angeles, California, May 10-13, 2018 at the UCLA Meyer & Renee Luskin Conference Center.

Program

The program is available here.  

Registration

Advanced registration is closed. Please register onsite in Los Angeles.  Registration opens at 12 noon on Thursday, May 10th.

Meeting Hotel

Lodging will be at the beautiful new Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center hotel. There are no longer rooms available for Friday, May 11th. See alternative hotels below.

(425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles CA 90095: http://luskinconferencecenter.ucla.edu/about/), located 12 miles from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and 15 miles from Burbank Airport.  The hotel is located in the middle of campus, adjacent to Pauley Pavilion (home of Bruins basketball and women’s gymnastics, and one of the sites of the 1984 and 2028 Summer Olympics) and Ackerman Union (the student activities center with a department store, food courts, a post office, and permanently-installed artworks commissioned from students in annual competitions).

AAHM has negotiated a group rate of $230 per room per night at the Luskin. Please note that the $230 group rate will NOT be charged any additional transient occupancy tax or sales tax – it is the inclusive rate, which one pays. Attendees have until Monday, April 9, 2018 to make their reservations and get this group rate.

The Luskin Conference Center’s reservation system is available to take accommodation reservations. Visit the website at http://lcc.ucla.edu/reserve or call 855-LCC-UCLA (855-522-8252) to make reservations. Use the code “AMER0509” (A-M-E-R-zero-five-zero-nine) to get the “American Association for the History of Medicine” rate. Please note that valid credit card information must be provided to guarantee attendee reservations.

The “AMER0509” accommodation price is good for Wednesday (May 9) through Monday (May 14), if you want to come a little early or stay a little late.

Check-in time is 4:00 pm; check-out time is 12:00 noon. Wifi is included. There are no routinely-installed in-room refrigerators, but these may be requested ahead of time for special circumstances (if needed for medications, infant formula, etc.). The bar and restaurant are cashless, credit-card-only facilities; there are no cash concessions on-site.

In Spring 2018, UCLA will celebrate 5 years as a tobacco/smoke/vapor-free campus, and continues to be cannabis-free (both smoking and edibles). Please be advised that this applies to all indoor and outdoor areas, including the Luskin Conference Center patios and sidewalks. This “Breathe Well” program is part of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative.

Overnight parking is available onsite at the Luskin and is charged at $24 per car/per day.  Local drive in parking is available in Lot 8, which is adjacent to Luskin. All day parking is $12 per day. Payment is made at the kiosks in he parking area.

Alternate Hotels

Hotel Angeleno (2 miles from the Luskin Conference Center)
170 Church Lane, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Reservations Line at (866) 264-3536 to book reservations. Please the “American Ass for the History of Medicine or AAHM” room block in order for them to receive the special discounted rate of  $185 per night, plus tax. Block cutoff date: April 15th, 2018.

Guests can also use the booking link below to make their reservations on line: https://tinyurl.com/ydya45z4 The link works best using Firefox/Google Chrome and is not mobile friendly so best to use on a tablet or PC.

Kimpton Hotel Palomar (1.2 miles from the Luskin Conference Center)
10740 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

A room block for AAHM at $289 per night, plus tax, is available until Monday, April 9, 2018

Reservations may be made by calling Hotel Palomar LA- 1-800-472-8556 or CAReservations@kimptonhotels.com

Or direct online booking from this link: AAHM 2018

Mobile App

The official conference mobile app, “Guidebook”, will be back for its third year. The guide again will include local maps, information about restaurants and places of interest, and the ability to create a personal conference itinerary. Look here, at the conference website, in April for instructions on downloading and using the app.

Getting Here

LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) is a hub or direct-flight destination for more airlines than we can count. The advantage, coming to a conference on the west coast, is that you will have tailwinds in both directions. But, seriously – it’s not the best, but is a good airport that is getting better.

Leaving baggage claim areas on the Arrivals (lower) level, you will find taxicabs (around $40 to $50 per ride) and shared vans such as SuperShuttle and PrimeTime curbside at the closest curb. Look for color-coded signs on the outer curb (be sure to cross only in crosswalks; jaywalking tickets may be issued) for: FlyAway shuttle ($10 one-way, credit card only, arriving at Lot 32 in Westwood Village, about a 6 block walk to the Luskin); Rental Car shuttle vans and buses; and Lot C or Lot G (Green Line) shuttle. See more detailed instructions for Uber and Lyft.

The most economical transportation: take the Lot G shuttle at the LAX Courtesy Shuttle stop to the Aviation Green Line (Metro) station (its only stop). From there, ride Culver City bus #6 or #Rapid 6 ($1.00) to its final destination, one block away from the Luskin! To return to LAX, take the same Culver City bus line to the City Bus Terminal (en route to the Green Line station); walk next door to the LAX “Lot C” Shuttle, and ride the free shuttle to the upper (Departures) level at your airline’s terminal.

If you are coming early, staying over, or have an accompanying person or family who will do sightseeing, you may want to rent an automobile from any major rental car firm at LAX or Burbank Airport. Be sure to make a reservation before you arrive in Los Angeles. Parking is at the Luskin or next door in Parking Structure 8, Level 4. See driving and parking directions for the Luskin Center.

Pre-Conference Tours and Workshops

Tour 1: Plants, Books, and Medicine at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Thursday, 8:30am-5:00pm (assemble at Luskin Center at 8:30, depart at 9:00, arrive at the Huntington by 10:30; depart Huntington at 3:00 to 3:30, returning to Luskin by 4:30 to 5:00)

    Huntington Library By Aaron Logan – from http://www.lightmatter.net/gallery/albums.php

  • Fee: $20 (this is a small contribution to transportation and admission expenses)
  • Number of participants: 40 maximum
  • Admission to the Huntington will be complementary.
  • Transportation: We will organize a coach bus.
  • Program: Half of our group will spend the morning with Alain Touwaide (Institute for the History of Medical Traditions) on a tour of the Herb Garden; the other half will have the morning to stroll the grounds, art galleries and library exhibits. Lunch will be on your own at one of the Huntington’s dining facilities. In the afternoon, Daniel Lewis (Dibner Senior Curator, History of Science & Technology) will lead two groups, for an hour apiece, through an exhibition in the Dibner Hall of the History of Science; Alain Touwaide will reprise his morning tour for up to half our group.

Tour 2: Anatomy at the Getty Research Institute

  • Thursday, 2:00-4:30 pm (assemble at Luskin Center at 1:00; depart Getty at 4:30, returning to Luskin by 5:30)
  • Fee: $10 (to offset transportation)
  • Number of participants: 18 maximum
  • Admission to the Getty is free.
  • Transportation: We will organize a shuttle bus or Lyft/Uber.
  • Program: Monique Kornell and institute curators will host an afternoon visit at the Getty Research Institute (GRI) to examine their lifesize Antonio Cattani anatomical engravings based on Hercules Lelli’s wax sculptures, and other anatomical works in GRI collections.

Tour 3:  Sony Pictures Studios

  • Thursday, 2:00-4:00 pm (leave Luskin Center at 1:00; arrive Sony at 1:30; tour from 2:00-4:00; leave Sony at 4:00 to 4:30; return to Luskin by 5:30)
  • Fee: $45 (includes studio tour fee and transportation; refundable if a minimum group size of 20 is not recruited by April 9)
  • Number of participants: 80 maximum
  • Children age 12 and older are welcome
  • Transportation: We will organize shuttle buses.
  • Scope of the walking tour (from the Sony tour website): “Walk through the famed gates and you’re behind the scenes at one of the most historic and exciting studio lots in the world. Our two-hour guided walking tour will give you the real experience of a working studio. Visit soundstages once home to iconic films like The Wizard of Oz, Men in Black, and Spider-Man. Swing by smash-hit games shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. You might even catch a glimpse of the Barbra Streisand Scoring stage or a set from the hit comedy, The Goldbergs. Keep your eyes open… You never know what – or who – will be around the next corner.”

Tour 4: Rarely Seen Period Rooms in the Jules Stein Eye Institute

  • Thursday, 4:00-5:00 pm (depart Luskin Center at 3:30; return to Luskin by 5:30)
  • Fee: None
  • Number of participants: 15 maximum
  • Transportation: Walk from the Luskin Center.
  • Program: The Jules Stein Eye Institute contains a number of stunning period rooms that are unknown to most of the UCLA community and little seen by people outside the Jules Stein Eye Institute. These include:

a room designed by the 18th-century Scottish architect Robert Adam
a room formerly part of an 18th-century townhouse in London, once the home of the Earl of Dudley and later the British Foreign Office
a room from the Santa Monica beach home of actress Marion Davies
a room created by Walt Disney as a gift to Jules Stein designed by Mary Blair, creator of the Small World attraction at Disneyland

Curator emerita Victoria Steele will lead a lively, fast-paced walking tour. There will be a few surprises along the way, too (sliced books! an Oscar statuette!).

Self-Guided Walking Tours

  • Tour of the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden, profiling the medicinal herbs garden and perhaps including the Herbarium. We will determine when docents are available during the conference, and have sign-ups at the AAHM registration desk.
  • Self-guided walking tours of UCLA’s grounds—with specimen trees from around the world, the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden with blooming jacaranda, and architecture for every taste—may be supplemented with docent-led tours of the Fowler Museum of global arts and cultures, and the dynamic Hammer Museum (a public art unit of the School of Arts and Architecture).
  • Teaching with Rare Materials in the History of Medicine: An exhibit by UCLA Library Special Collections (LSC), in the LSC lobby on the A (lower) level of the Charles E. Young Research Library.

Please select activities that you will attend. If your attendance plans change before the conference, let the organizers know so that people on wait lists may be accommodated on tours or in workshops.

Getting Around

L.A.’s public transit systems are working to meet the needs of residents and visitors. A walk of a few blocks from the Luskin Center gets you to the stop for Los Angeles Metro Bus 234, which goes past the Getty Center and Museum stop on its way to the San Fernando Valley.  Take a relatively short bus ride southbound (Culver City #6, or Santa Monica/Big Blue Bus #Rapid 12 directly opposite the Luskin Center in the Gateway Plaza bus turnaround) from the UCLA campus to the Westwood/Rancho Park Expo Line station on the Metro rail system, from which you may use a transfer or buy a pass to connect to go west to Santa Monica Pier, beach, and restaurants; or east to Exposition Park’s Museums (Natural History and California Science Center) and the main campus of University of Southern California (USC). Transfers on Metro rail and subway lines lead all the way to Pasadena’s Old Town, East Los Angeles, and even the Long Beach Aquarium.

We are investigating the particulars of the new campus and community bicycle renting/sharing programs and will have this information available in the Guidebook app.

A Foodie City

Food Bowl, organized by the Los Angeles Times, will return for a second year in May, 2018 as “a month-long festival celebrating the Los Angeles region’s dynamic and influential food scene. The festival will bring together the best in local dining experiences while promoting social awareness about food waste and hunger.” Local restaurants, food trucks, farmers’ markets, and pop-up events will host special menus and cooking & tasting programs to celebrate the diversity and abundance of California produce and products. Love him or hate him, foodies use Jonathan Gold’s reviews to find interesting and unusual eating experiences. Within Westwood Village itself, the business neighborhood adjacent to UCLA, highly-rated Italian, Indian, Korean, Chinese, Brazilian, Mexican, Californian, vegetarian, sushi, and seafood restaurants offer many choices for your daily dining.

From Dudamel to Disney

From The Getty Museum and Research Institute (near UCLA) and Villa (on the coast) … to the Griffith Observatory (think Rebel Without a Cause) in the Hollywood Hills … to the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Petersen Automotive Museum, and LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art in mid-Wilshire) … to Gustavo Dudamel’s Los Angeles Philharmonic at downtown’s Disney Hall, we hope you will enjoy some of the many venues, activities, and experiences that Los Angeles has to offer.  To help you create the best itinerary for your visit, we recommend going to the online visitor’s guide website (http://www.discoverlosangeles.com). This comprehensive guide is a great way to find out about L.A. (and Southern California) museums, cultural sites, theaters and concert halls, tours, amusement parks, restaurants, L.A. heritage neighborhoods, and so much more.

“What is the one thing a visitor must see/do while in Los Angeles/Southern California?” Consider:

City of Angels

Of course, the most important factor always is you, the members of AAHM. Come to the City of Angels in May, 2018, and enjoy your annual meeting!