Faculty honored for achievements during 2026 spring assembly
Awards included recognitions for lifetime achievement, clinical excellence and more
May 7, 2026 — Each spring, University of Florida College of Medicine leadership and faculty gather to celebrate the achievements of the clinicians, researchers and educators who have received accolades throughout the academic year.
During the 2026 Spring Faculty Assembly, held May 7 at the George T. Harrell, M.D., Medical Education Building, attendees heard from keynote speaker Diane W. Shannon, M.D., M.P.H., P.C.C., a professional coach and writer, and dozens of faculty were honored with departmental and college-level awards, as well as lapel pins for those celebrating 20, 30 and 40 years of continuous service to the college. Winners of the Faculty Council Lifetime Achievement Award and the David A. Paulus Award for Clinical Excellence were also announced.
View a list below of honorees recognized during the 2026 UF College of Medicine Spring Faculty Assembly.
David A. Paulus Award for Clinical Excellence
- Dawn-Christi Bruijnzeel, M.D., associate professor, Department of Psychiatry
Faculty Council Lifetime Achievement Awards
- Jean Cibula, M.D., professor, Department of Neurology
- Laurie Davies, M.D., professor, Department of Anesthesiology
- Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., professor, Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine
- Thomas Huber, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Department of Surgery
- Wayne McCormack, Ph.D., professor, Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine
- Mark Scarborough, M.D., professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine
- Peter Stacpoole, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Department of Medicine
Faculty Council College-Level Clinical Awards
Rising Star Award
- Tarik Benidir, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Urology
- Jessica Taylor, M.D., M.B.A., assistant professor, Department of Surgery
- Mayra Montalvo, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Neurology
- Steven Roth, M.D., assistant professor, Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery
Clinical Excellence Award
- Ibrahim Tuna, M.D., clinical professor, Department of Radiology
- Jean Cibula, M.D., clinical professor, Department of Neurology
- Olga “Kiki” Nin, M.D., associate professor, Department of Anesthesiology
- Martin Rosenthal, M.D., associate professor, Department of Surgery
Faculty Council Departmental Clinical Awards
Department of Anesthesiology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Olga “Kiki” Nin, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Michael Arnold, D.O.
- Rising Star Award: Timothy Feldheim, M.D.
Department of Community Health and Family Medicine
- Clinical Excellence Award: Danielle Nelson, M.D., M.P.H.
- Rising Star Award: Cody Brown, D.O.
Department of Dermatology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Kiran Motaparthi, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Taylor Gray, D.O.
Department of Emergency Medicine
- Clinical Excellence Award: Michael Marchick, M.D.
- Clinical Excellence Award: Colleen Gutman, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: John Bruno, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Noah Halpern, M.D.
Department of Medicine
- Clinical Excellence Award: Raed Al Yacoub, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Celine Cattier, M.D.
Department of Neurology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Jean Cibula, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Mayra Montalvo, M.D.
Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery
- Rising Star Award: Steven Roth, M.D.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Clinical Excellence Award: David Iglesias, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Sarah O’Connor, M.D.
Department of Ophthalmology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Casey Beal, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Beau Billings, M.D.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine
- Clinical Excellence Award: Andre Spiguel, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Miqi “Mimi” Wang, M.D.
Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
- Clinical Excellence Award: Peter Dziegielewski, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Jeffrey Johnson II, M.D.
Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine
- Clinical Excellence Award: Marie Rivera-Zengotita, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Deepak Donthi, M.D.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
- Rising Star Award: Matthew Lamagna, D.O.
Department of Psychiatry
- Rising Star Award: Kent Mathias, M.D.
Department of Radiology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Ibrahim Tuna, M.D.
- Clinical Excellence Award: Ensar Yekeler, M.D.
- Clinical Excellence Award: Walt Drane, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Arthur Groves, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Pratik Patel, M.D.
Department of Surgery
- Clinical Excellence Award: Martin Rosenthal, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Jessica Taylor, M.D., M.B.A.
Department of Urology
- Clinical Excellence Award: Alex Gomelsky, M.D.
- Rising Star Award: Tarik Benidir, M.D.
Service pins
20 years
- Mark Bleiweis, M.D., UF Health Congenital Heart Center
- Dawn Christi-Bruijnzeel, M.D., Department of Psychiatry
- Thomas George Jr., M.D., Department of Medicine
- Liam Holtzman, D.O., Department of Emergency Medicine
- Maria Kelly, M.D., Department of Pediatrics
- Tessy Korah, M.D., Department of Psychiatry
- Zuofeng Li, DSc., Department of Radiation Oncology
- Jianrong Lu, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- William Miles, M.D., Department of Medicine
- Sanjiv Samant, Ph.D., Department of Radiation Oncology
- Gurjit Sidhu, Ph.D., Department of Medicine
- Shireen Madani Sims, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Stephanie Wohlgemuth, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Aging
- Guilian Xu, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
30 years
- Ellen Bowser, M.S., R.N., Department of Pediatrics
- Petar Breitinger, MPAS, School of Physician Assistant Studies
- Carolyn Carter, M.D., M.S., Department of Pediatrics
- Josepha Cheong, M.D., Department of Psychiatry
- Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine
- James Resnick, Ph.D., Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
- Dietmar Siemann, Ph.D., Department of Radiation Oncology
- SergeZolotukhin, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics
40 years
- Laurie Davies, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology
- Ray Moseley, Ph.D., Department of Community Health and Family Medicine
Education awards
- 2025 Teacher of the Year Basic Science (Phase 1): Neal Holland, D.O.
- 2025 Teacher of the Year Clinical Science (Phase 2/3): Lauren Schmidt, M.D.
Research awards
- Dr. Mavis Agbandje-McKenna Distinguished Research Mentoring Award: Maurice Swanson, Ph.D., professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
- Outstanding Research Scientist Award in Basic or Translational Sciences: H. Lee Sweeney, Ph.D., eminent scholar professor, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- Outstanding Research Scientist Award in Clinical, Data or Artificial Intelligence Sciences: Todd Manini, Ph.D., professor, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics
- Outstanding Research Scientist Award in Clinical, Data or Artificial Intelligence Sciences: Philip Efron, M.D., professor, Department of Surgery
- Rising Star Award in Basic and Translational Sciences: Nancy Padilla-Coreano, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Neuroscience
- Rising Star Award in Clinical Science: John Ligon, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics
- Rising Star Award in Clinical, Data or Artificial Intelligence Sciences: Qianqian Song, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics
- Research Innovator and Pioneer Award: Ramon Sun, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
