Pride in People and Partnerships: UT Health Science Center’s Clinical, Research and Administrative Impact on the City, State

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center's clinical, research, and administrative excellence and impact on the Memphis community was on display last Thursday night at the Memphis Business Journal's 2024 Health Care Heroes Awards.

Three of the six winners are UT Health Science Center faculty members. Additionally, 17 of the 26 overall finalists (65%) are associated in some manner with the university.

"The awards ceremony made all of us in attendance so proud and grateful for the outstanding work done by our faculty members every day," said Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD. "Our vision is Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities. The work of these stellar health care professionals illustrates that we are making excellent progress toward this goal and making a major difference in the health care landscape in the communities we serve."

The annual awards honor organizations, companies, and individuals for their contributions to health care in Memphis and the Mid-South. Awards are presented in the categories of Administrative Excellence, Community Outreach, Health Care Innovations, Health Care Provider-Physician, Health Care Provider Non-Physician, and Lifetime Achievement.

The 2024 Health Care Heroes winners affiliated with UT Health Science Center are:

Community Outreach: Andrea Sebastian, DNP, APRN, assistant professor in the College of Nursing and a nurse practitioner on the CARES (Child Advocacy Resource and Evaluation Services) Team at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Dr. Sebastian was honored for her work as the principal investigator on a major Health Resources and Services Administration grant to train Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.

Health Care Innovations: Shyam Sathanandam, MD, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Health Science Center and an interventional cardiologist, medical director of the Interventional Cardiac Imaging and Interventional Catheterization Laboratory at Le Bonheur. Dr. Sathanandam was recognized for his work to repair heart defects in newborns and fetuses through minimally invasive procedures.

Health Care Provider, Physician: Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology at UT Health Science Center, West Cancer Center & Research Institute, director of Clinical Research/Medical Oncology West Cancer Center. Dr. Vidal was honored for his cancer research.

We also salute the other winners, who also represent health care excellence at hospitals and clinics in Memphis. These inspirational leaders are:

Health Care Provider, Non-Physician: Randolph Potts, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Administrative Excellence: Eric Gibson, ClearlyMD LLC.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Cato Johnson, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Finalists in each category were honored during the awards ceremony. Finalists affiliated with UT Health Science Center and partner institutions include:

Administrative Excellence:

Martin Croce, MD, professor of surgery in the Division of Trauma/Surgical Critical Care at UT Health Science Center, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Regional One Health.

Austin Dalgo, MD, associate professor of Medicine, medical director for the UTHSC Health Hub: Soulsville, medical director of the Wellness and Stress Clinic of Memphis.

Balaji Krishnaiah, MD, associate professor in the Department of Neurology, program director, Neurology Residency at UT Health Science Center, medical director of the Methodist Comprehensive Stroke Program.

Community Outreach

David Richardson, MD, professor Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Health Science Center, Campbell Clinic.

Health Care Innovations

Kevin Foley, MD, professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at UT Health Science Center, Semmes Murphey, MERI.

Monica Jablonski, PhD, professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Anatomy and Neurobiology at UT Health Science Center.

Ramesh Narayanan, PhD, professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Muirhead Endowed Professor of Pathology, director of the Center for Cancer Drug Discovery, and interim assistant dean of Research in the College of Medicine.

Health Care Provider, Non-Physician

Michael Dejos, PharmD, assistant professor College of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science at UT Health Science Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Emily Jennewine, DNP, APRN, instructor in the College of Nursing, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Lifedoc Health.

Mark Temme, PT, teacher for College of Health Professions, Department of Physical Therapy, OrthoSouth.

Health Care Provider, Physician

Dale Criner, MD, assistant professor Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine at UT Health Science Center, vice president and chief medical officer Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Germantown.

Terri Finkel, MD, PhD, professor and the interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UT Health Science Center and Pediatrician-in-Chief at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, adjunct faculty in the Department of Pediatric Medicine at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Michael Neel, MD, assistant professor Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, OrthoSouth and St. Jude.

David Spence, MD, PhD, assistant professor Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomechanical Engineering, Campbell Clinic, Le Bonheur.

Through its six colleges - Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy - UT Health Science Center educates and trains the next generation of health care professionals for Tennessee.

At the same time, UT Health Science Center reaches throughout the Memphis community with physicians and health care professionals from all the colleges who provide clinical care for patients at partner hospitals and perform cutting-edge research. These include Regional One Health (the university's primary adult affiliate partner), Le Bonheur Children's Hospital (the university's primary children's affiliate partner), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Baptist Memorial Health Care, LT. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. (Memphis) VA Medical Center, and Saint Francis Hospital.

UT Health Science Center physicians and other health care professionals are also privileged to serve on the staff at clinical practice partners in Memphis, including Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute, West Cancer Center & Research Institute, University Clinical Health and Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics.

All told, 65% of the finalists for the Memphis Business Journal's Health Care Heroes Awards are affiliated with UT Health Science Center. Similarly, a report earlier this summer in Memphis Magazine on the annual Top Doctors listing from the national health care research firm Castle Connolly showed that of the 429 local physicians on the Top Doctors in Memphis list 265 or 62% are affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

"The awards ceremony made all of us in attendance so proud and grateful for the outstanding work done by our faculty members every day."

Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD

The university also provides outstanding clinical care across the state. UT Health Science Center physicians and other health care professionals are among the staff at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, and West Tennessee Healthcare - Jackson Madison County General Hospital in Jackson.

UT Health Science Center's College of Medicine campus in Knoxville also had 33 faculty physicians and 27 affiliated faculty physicians listed among Castle Connolly's Top Doctors ranking for Knoxville.

Additionally, two faculty members from the College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga, Harish Manyam, MD, interim chair of the Department of Medicine and Erlanger chief of cardiology, and Nick Pumilia, MD, assistant professor, recently received the Champions of Health Care Award from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

"Collectively, these outstanding clinicians, researchers, and administrators serving in our vital partnerships all across the state of Tennessee exemplify UT Health Science Center's mission in action as we strive toward our vision of Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities," Chancellor Buckley said. "We celebrate their accomplishments, and we are ever grateful for the partnerships through which they excel."

"We also appreciate Memphis Business Journal's commitment to raising the awareness of the excellence in health care in our Memphis community," the chancellor said.

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