Students recognized for leadership and excellence
The 10th Annual NEOMED Campus Leadership Awards ceremony was held in the NEW Center Ballroom on April 17.
The awards ceremony, sponsored by the Office of Student Services, recognizes students for their co-curricular achievements and transformational leadership in service outside of the classroom. Regan Strine, assistant director of student services, served as MC for the event.
A total 21 awards were presented, including some with multiple recipients.
“Today’s nominees, finalists and award winners are a perfect reflection of the kind of leadership NEOMED has fostered over the years as health profession educators,” Strine said in her introductory remarks. “Thank you for your commitment as growing leaders, innovators, educators and health advocates as demonstrated through academic excellence and extracurricular involvement.”
Before the presentation of the first awards, for Peer Tutor of the Year, Craig Theissen shared some statistics from the past year in the Learning Center:
- 45 tutors provided 288 sessions, totaling 462.5 hours of tutoring support to our medical students.
- 57 tutors provided 90 sessions, totaling 114.25 hours of tutoring support to our pharmacy students.
- Peer tutors combined to support 489 students this year.
Amy Lane presented Special Recognition to Eshan Choudhary and Porter Snowden for their work on special projects that they completed for our Learning Center this year.
Medicine Peer Tutor of the Year
Emma Chufar
Pharmacy Peer Tutor of the Year
Cameron Mackowski
Dentistry Peer Tutors of the Year
- Mutasem Daineh
- Alayna (McKay) Gordon
- Rebekka Hall
- Benjamin Zinke
Ethical Leader Award
Catherine Hord
NEOMED Free Clinic Awards
Executive Board Members of the Year
- Jared Hinton (2025-2026 President of Administrative Affairs)
- Andrew Fiorentino (2025-2026 President of Clinical Affairs)
Lab Manager of the Year
Hyun Jin Shin
Team Leads of the Year
- Katie Chong
- Catherine Hord
- Dayna Nguyen
Pharmacy Leadership Award
Alyssa Sanders
Outstanding Volunteer – Platinum Level Award
- Shivani Agarwal
- Julie Centofanti
- Katie Chong
- Henyah Dardir
- Madeline Evan
- Ethan Johnson
- Quan Lu
- Dayna Nguyen
- Matthew Price
- Alyssa Sanders
- Hyun Jin Shin
- Ethan Sontz
- Connor Spera
- Cameron Terzian
VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR
M1 Volunteer of the Year
- John Saghir
- Kate Taliaferro
M2 Volunteer of the Year
Sanjana Nallapaneni
M3 Volunteer of the Year
Hunter Block-Beach
M4 Volunteer of the Year
Erik Lamb
Heart of the Clinic
Andrew Fiorentino
STUDENT ORGANIZATION AWARDS
Outstanding Advisor of the Year
Sara Dugan, Pharm.D.
New Student Organization of the Year
Pre-Med Club
Student Organization of the Year Award
Industry Pharmacists Organization
Outstanding Student Leader of the Year Award
Dean Spyers
DEPARTMENT AND COLLEGE AWARDS
The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Student Service Award
Adeline K. Whaley
John P. Schlemmer, M.D., Memorial Family Practice Award
Joie Watterson
Ross R. Black II, MD, Endowed Family Medicine Scholarship Award
Joie Watterson
The Drs. Elbert and Martha Magoon Primary Care Leadership Award
Ethan Mardovin
Outstanding Students in Geriatrics Award
Brianna Love
Outstanding Student in Palliative Care Award
Joie Watterson
Peter Burg Award for Palliative Care
Cole Thompson
College of Graduate Studies Dean's Award
Noorullah Malik
College of Graduate Studies Dean's Award for doctoral students
Gabrielle Robinson
Photos
From left: NEOMED Free Clinic volunteers Katie Chong, Hyun Jin Shin and Connor Spera
Cameron Mackowski (center) was recognized as Pharmacy Tutor of the Year
At left, Rhea-Gabrielle Diaz accepted the award for Student Organization of the Year on behalf of the Industry Pharmacists Organization
Ph.D. candidate Gabrielle Robinson (center) received the College of Graduate Studies Dean's Award for doctoral students
Dean Spyers, left, was recognized as Outstanding Student Leader of the Year
Adeline Whaley, right, received the AHEC Student Service award
Benjamin Zinke, center, was recognized as a Dentistry Peer Tutor of the Year