Dr. Marjorie Mau, director of research for the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health, has been named a fellow in the Royal College of Physicians, a British professional body founded in 1518.

She is one of only 25 U.S. physicians to receive the honor.

Mau, a professor and founding chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, is also the first woman from Hawaii ever ranked a master physician by the American College of Physicians. She was the first Native Hawaiian woman to be board-certified in both endocrinology and internal medicine.

The Kalani High School graduate serves as principal investigator for multiple grants at JABSOM, where she has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 25 years. Her research interests include health disparities, with a special emphasis on diabetes, heart disease and obesity. She has cared for patients in rural communities on Molokai as well as urban Honolulu, and served as medical officer on the Hokule‘a.

KAUAI

Rapozo joins race for mayor

Lenny Rapozo has officially filed nomination papers to run for the mayor of the County of Kauai.

Rapozo Jr. currently serves as director of Kauai County’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

He had publicly announced his run for mayor in October, before a crowd of several hundred at Niumalu Park pavilion, according to a story in The Garden Island.

Other contenders for the mayoral position include County Council Chairman Mel Rapozo and County councilmember Derek Kawakami. Current Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is running for lieutenant governor.