Twenty-six students, residents and a fellow share in DOM 2025 Education Awards

Congratulations to the 26 winners of the 2025 Department of Medicine Education Awards presented April 29, at a ceremony hosted Tuesday evening at the Arizona Inn. A number of awardees invited parents, friends and one entertaining child to attend to share in the celebration.

“It was a true honor hosting this year’s DOM annual education awards ceremony for student and resident trainees. It was a night of celebrating not only the hard work, academic excellence, and humanism that our trainees bring to work every day, but also the dedication and passion we all share for medicine. It was a night to remind faculty why we truly love what we do,” said Amy Sussman, MD, DOM vice chair of education, Internal Medicine Clerkship director and Nephrology Fellowship program director.

Added Laura Meinke, MD, DOM associate vice chair of education and program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program in Tucson, the largest such program in the state: “The annual awards ceremony is always one of my favorite nights of the year. It is a pleasure to see our hard-working students and residents be recognized by our Department for their efforts in the College of Medicine’s tripartite mission of patient care, education and research.”

Of the 27 awards presented, two went to Internal Medicine third-year resident Mateo “Matthew” Arnel Ibarrola Mendoza, MD, who was recognized by both the Division of Cardiology and Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, or PACCS.

Image

Dr. Meinke said of him, “He’s a neat, hardworking guy who has worked very hard to achieve his current successes.” 

Top honors went to Hanna Rosch Newton, a fourth-year medical student (MS4) and this year’s winner of the J.W. Smith Award for Outstanding Student in Medicine; Tyler Gloe, DO, winner of the IM Residency Program Director’s Outstanding Humanism & Professionalism Award; and Marni Sarazen, MD, winner of the Outstanding Medicine Fellow Award as a PGY-6 in the Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program.

Dr. Meinke noted Dr. Sarazen will graduate from her fellowship in June, is a former IM resident in the program Dr. Meinke leads and will be staying on as faculty in the Pulmonary division.

“She is friendly, diligent, organized, and very good at her job. She was selected for the award by the residents themselves, as they feel she has provided excellent support, mentorship and teaching in our busy Medical ICU,” Dr. Meinke added. “I greatly look forward to continued collaboration with her as faculty after working with her for six years.”

The lone researcher award went from the Division of Infectious Diseases on behalf of Fariba Donovan, MD, PhD, a physician scientist in the U of A Valley Fever Center for Excellence, to an undergrad student Leah Friedman, an undergrad student who works in Dr. Donovan’s lab and plans to attend the College of Medicine – Tucson in the fall.

Image

“Since joining our Valley Fever Center for Excellence research team in November 2023, Leah Friedman as well as Rachel Wu, Mehraneh Mohseni and Karolina Perez have demonstrated an extraordinary passion for inquiry and unwavering commitment to advancing medical knowledge. Under my mentorship, they’ve immersed themselves in a challenging research project exploring innovative approaches to improving outcomes in autoimmune patients at risk for Valley fever. And their meticulous attention to detail and boundless curiosity have driven that research forward,” Dr. Donovan said.

Other awardees include winners of the Doctors Dilemma competition at last fall’s Scientific Meeting of the Arizona Chapter of the American College of Physicians – Curtis Josephs, Jacob Ref and David Mintz, all MS4s.

For more photos, DOM faculty and staff can click here to view.

See who all won, their awards and their presenters below:

Cardiology

Presented by Hesham Sadek, MD, PhD, professor and division chief, director, Sarver Heart Center, and the Allan C. Hudson & Helen Lovaas Endowed Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine
Zenas B. Noon MD Award of Excellence in Cardiology
•    Jacob Ref
Charles W. Hall Jr. & Virginia C. Hall Memorial Award for Outstanding House Officer on the Coronary Care Unit
•    Hoang Nhat (Nelson) Pham, MD
•    Mateo (Matthew) Arnel Ibarrola Mendoza, MD
•    Ikeotunye (Ike) Chinyere, MD, PhD

Dermatology

Presented by Clara N. Curiel-Lewandrowski, MD, professor, division chief and program director, Advanced Dermatology Residency; co-director, Skin Cancer Institute; and the Alan and Janice Levin Family Endowed Chair for Excellence in Cancer Research, U of A Cancer Center
Outstanding Medical Student
•    Sheyda Mesgarzadeh (Unable to Attend)

Endocrinology

Presented by Stephanie Giffin, DO, assistant professor and staff physician, Southern Arizona VA Health Care System
Outstanding Resident
•    Ryan Weyker, DO

Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Presented by Joshua Melson, MD, professor and director, High-Risk Clinic for Gastrointestinal Cancers, U of A Cancer Center, and Sasha Taleban, MD, associate professor, program director, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Fellowship, and director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program
Outstanding Medical Student
•    Joseph Gunderson

Outstanding Resident
•    Samuel (Sam) Hoyong Cheong, DO

General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, & Palliative Medicine

Presented by Mindy J. Fain, MD, professor, division chief, co-director, Arizona Center on Aging, and the Anne & Alden Hart Endowed Chair in Medicine
John T. Boyer Award: Outstanding Medical Student in Geriatric Medicine
•    Missy Tran (Unable to Attend)
Bonnie Lasky and Irv Rothenberg Award: Outstanding Medical Student in Palliative Medicine
•    Hannah Johnson

Presented by Julia B. Jernberg, MD, associate professor, director, DOM Ambulatory Medicine Clerkship, and director, Health & Societies Thread, College of Medicine – Tucson
Lois Estok Award: Outstanding Resident in General Internal Medicine
•    Clinton Wu, DO

Hematology & Oncology

Presented by Akshay Amaraneni, MD, assistant professor, program director, Hematology & Medical Oncology Fellowship, and director, U of A Hemostasis & Thrombosis Center
Outstanding Medical Student
•    Iliana Cosio
•    Megan Kathleen Taylor
Outstanding Resident
•    Tom Marco, DO (Unable to Attend)

Infectious Disease

Presented by Monica Hinestroza Jordan, MD, assistant professor and associate program director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship
Outstanding Researcher
•    Leah Friedman
Outstanding Resident
•    Catherine Louise Anania, DO

Nephrology

Presented by Amy Sussman, MD, professor; program director, Nephrology Fellowship; director, Internal Medicine Clerkship; and vice chair, DOM Office of Education
Outstanding Student
•    David Mintz
•    Curtis David Josephs

Presented by Ryan Wong, MD, assistant professor and director, DOM Internal Medicine Sub-Internship
Outstanding Resident
•    Rosemarie (Rosie) Turk, MD
•    Allysha Yasuda, MD (Unable to Attend)

Image

Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Presented by Laura Meinke, MD, associate professor, director, Internal Medicine Residency Program – Tucson, and associate vice chair, DOM Office of Education
Outstanding Medical Student
•    Laura Tran (Unable to Attend)
Outstanding Resident
•    Mateo (Matthew) Arnel Ibarrola Mendoza, MD

Rheumatology

Presented by Ernest Vina, MD, associate professor, interim division chief and program director, Rheumatology Fellowship; and member, U of A Arthritis Center
Outstanding Medical Student
•    Christopher Trapani
Outstanding Resident
•    McKenzie B. Cummins, DO

Image

Internal Medicine Residency Program – Tucson 

Presented by Laura Meinke, MD 

Program Director’s Outstanding Humanism & Professionalism Award, Banner – University Medical Center Tucson
•    Tyler Gloe, DO
Outstanding Medicine Fellow, BUMCT
•    Marni Sarazen, MD

Vice Chair of Education Office

Presented by Amy Sussman, MD
J.W. Smith Award for Outstanding Student of Medicine
•    Hannah Rosch Newton

EXTRA: Double Winner Talks about Inspirations at DOM

“I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. After graduating from Vassar College, I worked as a jazz musician prior to attending medical school at the University of Cincinnati. This year, I matched into pulmonary/critical care medicine fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles – a true full-circle homecoming!

Image

“My interest in both cardiology and pulmonology originated early in my training. This interest only grew with help from my excellent mentor, Dr. Franz Rischard, director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program here who I met on an ICU rotation during my intern year as a resident. He helped foster my intellectual curiosity for cardiopulmonary physiology and gave me quite a bit of scientific autonomy on several large original research projects related to pulmonary hypertension. While rotating in the cardiac ICU during my PGY-2 year, I took advantage of the many learning opportunities to care for patients with cardiogenic shock — many of whom required varying forms of mechanical circulatory support. This is also the rotation where I met my now-fiancé!

“I am incredibly grateful to be recognized by both division this year and I plan to continue my scholarly work in pulmonary hypertension — a field which (uncoincidentally) requires expertise in both cardiology and pulmonology. This year, I plan to publish research focused on right ventricular dysfunction in chronic lung disease. I will also be presenting preliminary findings from a study that aims to refine how we identify and diagnose pulmonary hypertension related to left-sided heart disease at the annual American Thoracic Society conference, May 16-21, in San Francisco.”

— Mateo Mendoza, MD

ALSO SEE:
“Twenty-three share in honors at 2024 Department of Medicine Awards Ceremony” | Posted April 30, 2024
“Twenty-three Split Honors at 2023 DOM Awards Ceremony” | Posted May 2, 2023
“Thirty-three Students, Physicians Recognized at 2019 DOM Awards Assembly” | Posted April 30, 2019
“Honors Come Early for Those Recognized at 2018 DOM Annual Awards Assembly” | Posted April 12, 2018
“Forty Honored at 2017 DOM Annual Awards at Arizona Inn” | Posted May 6, 2017
“DOM Annual Awards Honor Forty at Arizona Inn” | Posted May 18, 2016