April 14, 2026 — Jack Figg, a third-year University of Florida medical student and soon-to-be Ph.D. graduate, has spent his time as a Gator developing novel cures for diseases and creating innovative ways to improve access to health care for underserved patients. 

Honoring his tangible impact on medicine and patient care, Figg has been selected as a recipient of the U.S. Public Health Service Physicians Professional Advisory Committee Excellence in Public Health Award. This award is a testament to the education provided by UF, and he was nominated by Lucy Guerra, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, a professor and the associate chair of the Department of Pediatrics, who worked closely with him to improve UF’s free, student-run Equal Access Clinic Network during Figg’s tenure as executive director. 

“Together, we developed targeted outreach efforts, partnering with local public and private schools, as well as churches and community organizations, to distribute healthy foods at back-to-school events, health screenings and educational programs,” Guerra said. “He is poised to make a meaningful impact in medicine and public health by integrating rigorous scientific inquiry with a deep commitment to underserved communities. His ability to translate research into practical, community-focused solutions will drive improvements in health access and outcomes.”

Figg, who is from St. Louis, discovered an interest in medicine during his second year of undergraduate studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Volunteering with patients in a hospital setting motivated him to pursue a career in science and medicine, where he found enjoyment in applying his scientific knowledge to help patients with debilitating illnesses. 

“I read a book in college called ‘The Transformed Cell,’ which basically talks about how the immune system can be used to attack cancer, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Figg said. “I want to spend my life researching this and studying it in patients because it’s revolutionized care, especially for patients with melanoma.”

He was inspired to pursue a dual degree through the M.D.-Ph.D. program by his mentor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, who modeled how to make scientific discoveries relevant to her patients. And he was drawn to continue his education at UF because of the UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, where he could focus on the exact therapy he was interested in making more accessible to patients. 

Figg became involved with the UF Equal Access Clinic Network in 2022, during the first year of his Ph.D. studies, where he began by taking vital signs and learning about clinical operations to gain a broader perspective on delivering health care in underserved areas. His peers then nominated him for the executive director role, where he led the creation of a mobile food pharmacy to address food insecurity in Alachua County. 

“It was basically a crash course in leadership and health care administration,” Figg said. “I feel like I have an unofficial Ph.D. in administering health care in a very resource-limited setting. There was no guarantee of funding every grant cycle. It’s a very short-term approach to providing long-term care to patients.” 

There, he discovered barriers patients face, including access to private health insurance and transportation to and from a clinic. It broadened his awareness of the larger community’s needs and led him to find unconventional ways to address them, while also teaching him how to apply for and secure grant funding to support patient care and scientific discovery.

Drawing on his experience at the Equal Access Clinic Network, Figg secured a $243,000 NIH National Cancer Institute Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F30  for his Ph.D. research, “The role of adoptive cellular therapy on myeloid-derived suppressor cell depletion in glioma,” boosting his confidence that his work is significant and worth pursuing. 

“A Ph.D. is kind of like a blank canvas,” he said. “You don’t have a lot of instruction or structure. I think as someone who’s used to being in a classroom, the Ph.D. is a challenging environment because it’s all about self-determination and self-responsibility toward making novel discoveries that benefit patients.”

Figg aims to leverage the skills he has developed to help close the health care gap. He believes that winning the Excellence in Public Health Award, along with his previous experiences, demonstrates that achieving meaningful change in health care requires the ability to scale initiatives to a wider audience.

“My advice would be to stay curious,” Figg said. “Follow your curiosity when you notice something unusual, pay attention and take an interest in that and then work harder than you think you need to.”