Linked by what President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, called a common “desire for excellence,” 20 members of the faculty and staff were honored March 22 with Presidential Awards from the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
“Our Presidential Research Awardees are outstanding in their fields, but also make time to give back by encouraging the next generation of health professionals,” Dr. Henrich said. “Every one of our Teaching Excellence Award winners goes out of their way to engage their students. They set high standards, but use creativity, encouragement and a strong love for the subject matter to help our students and residents achieve success.
“Our outstanding clinical award winners take time to listen to their patients and allay their fears, as well as to provide outstanding clinical care.
“And our Employee Excellence in Service Award winners work behind the scenes, rolling up their sleeves to accomplish our mission-critical activities, often without much recognition.”
The winners were acknowledged with a congratulatory Senate Proclamation from the State of Texas by state Sen. Jose Menendez of San Antonio as well as a monetary gift.
The winners are:
Distinguished Senior Research Scholar:
- Alan L. Peterson, Ph.D., ABPP, professor, Chief, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine
Distinguished Service to the Institution:
- Gary Guest, D.D.S., associate dean, Patient Care, School of Dentistry
Distinguished Junior Research Scholars:
- Patti G. Grota, Ph.D., CNS-M-S, CIC, assistant professor, infection prevention and patient safety consultant, Department of Health Restoration and Care Systems Management, School of Nursing
- Helen M. Parsons, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine
Teaching Excellence Awards:
- Adelita G. Cantu, Ph.D., RN, associate professor, Department of Family and Community Health Systems, School of Nursing
- Daniel Lawrence Dent, M.D., clinical professor, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine
- Kristy Y. Kosub, M.D., Professor, director of student education, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
- Y. W. Francis Lam, Pharm.D., FCCP, professor, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine
- Andrew E. Muck, M.D., associate professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, associate program director, Emergency Medicine Residency, director, Global Health Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
- Brent Shriver, Ph.D., associate professor and academic coordinator, Physician Assistant Studies, School of Health Professions
Clinical Excellence Awards:
- Ildiko Agoston, M.D., FACC, FASE, associate professor/clinical, medical director, Cardiology Clinic at the MARC, medical director, Women’s Comprehensive Health Institute, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
- Katy Dondanville, Psy.D., ABPP, assistant professor-research, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, director of research, chief of psychology- Fort Hood Site; STRONG STAR Research Consortium, Consortium to Alleviate PTSD, School of Medicine
- De De Gardner, Dr.(c)P.H., RRT, FAARC, FCCP, chair, Department of Respiratory Care, chair ad interim, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Stephen Lloyd Barshop Endowed Professor in Respiratory Care, School of Health Professions
- Lizette Gomez, M.D., associate professor/clinical, Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine
- Steven G. Venticinque, M.D., professor of clinical anesthesiology & surgery, program director, Anesthesiology Critical Care Fellowship, director, TRISAT Critical Care Consortium, director, Audie L. Murphy VA Surgical ICU, Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine
Employee Excellence Awards:
- Richard Gallardo, M.B.A., senior payroll manager, Payroll Services
- Michael Hamilton, work control coordinator associate, Facilities Management
- Wendy M. Malone, B.A., quality assurance analyst, Graduate Medical Education, Office of the Dean, School of Medicine
- Robert Merrill, Manager, video production/photography, Creative Media Services, Marketing, Communications & Media
- Sam Pardo, senior research core facility technologist, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine