Four UF College of Medicine faculty named distinguished professors
Faculty recognized for groundbreaking research and mentorship
July 22, 2026 — Four University of Florida College of Medicine professors have been named distinguished professors at the university, the highest faculty honor at UF.
Distinguished Professors at UF are named based on an exceptional record of achievement in teaching, research and publication as well as for professional and public service, both nationally and internationally. The title signifies a rare and special accomplishment, acknowledging a candidate’s preeminent standing in their discipline.
Azra Bihorac, M.D., M.S., FCCM, FASN
Azra Bihorac, M.D., M.S., FCCM, FASN, is the college’s senior associate dean for research, the R. Glenn Davis Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering, director of the UF Intelligent Clinical Care Center (IC3) and director of the AI for Health Institute at UF.
In 2025, Bihorac was inducted into the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida, where she was recognized for pioneering the use of AI in clinical applications and advancing evidence-based approaches to acute kidney injury prediction and management, enhancing patient outcomes in acute and critical care. In 2026, she was appointed chair of the NIH Center for Scientific Review’s Clinical Informatics and Digital Health (CIDH) Standing Panel (2026-2028) and selected as a Fellow of the AAMC Council of Deans Fellowship Program (2026-2027).
Through her leadership in national organizations, including the NIH peer-review system and the AAMC Council of Deans, she is a strong advocate for the development of the next generation of clinician-scientists and healthcare leaders.
Robert McKenna, Ph.D.
Robert McKenna, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and director of the Center for Structural Biology. McKenna studies adeno-associated virus, or AAV, to understand its molecular mechanisms, modulate the virus and improve targeted gene therapy treatments.
He has been a faculty member at UF since 1999 and displays unwavering dedication to advancing scientific research and mentoring the next generation of scientists. In 2025, he won the UF College of Medicine Outstanding Research Scientist Award in Basic or Translational Sciences and was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the UF College of Medicine Faculty Council.
Elizabeth Shenkman, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Shenkman, Ph.D., serves as chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, co-director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and director of the UF Institute for Child Health Policy.
With a journey at UF spanning decades as a student, researcher, professor and leader, Shenkman has changed the research landscape at the university and opened doors for the College of Medicine to apply AI and other leading-edge methods to improve healthcare.
Shenkman’s pursuit of solutions through large electronic data sets led to another major role as a leader of the nationwide OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network, which curates protected data from more than 30 million patients. As a co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, she has led pragmatic clinical trials and observational studies focused on child and adolescent health and the advancement of entire health systems to improve care.
Maurice Swanson, Ph.D.
Maurice Swanson, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and associate program director of the UF Center for NeuroGenetics.
Swanson has spent more than three decades researching nuclear RNA processing, the roles of RNA-binding proteins in gene expression and how disease-associated mutations in genomic repetitive elements results in the development of neurological and neuromuscular diseases. His work led to the identification of RNA toxicity as the disease mechanism associated with multiple hereditary diseases caused by the expansion of DNA short tandem repeats or microsatellites.
In 2026, he received the UF College of Medicine Dr. Mavis Agbandje-McKenna Distinguished Research Mentoring Award for his impact on his graduate and postdoctoral students.
