March 2025 – June 2025
Kaleab Abebe, PhD, was awarded the 2025 Pitt Scientist Well-being Award, reflecting his exceptional commitment to fostering well-being and making a meaningful impact on the lives of others in the School of Medicine and across the University.
William Bain, MD, received the ATS Assembly on Allergy, Immunology & Inflammation International Early Career Achievement Award.
Kiran Bambha, MD, MSc, and Scott W. Biggins, MD, MAS, are recipients of this year’s “You Make a Difference Award” from the Community Liver Alliance (CLA).
Marta Bueno, PhD, was awarded Carol Basbaum Award for her outstanding scientific achievement as a junior investigator.
Megan Cavrak, MD, Michelle Chisdak, MD, Adam Eibel, MD, Alberta Negri Jimenez, MD, and Madeline Simon (Sharp), MD, have been selected as Chief Medical Residents for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, has been elected the Vice President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). In this capacity, he will serve on the ASCI council for 4 years, and he will assume the role of President in the 2027-2028 cycle.>> Read more
Mary Connolly, MD, Adam Eibel, MD, Cody Kelso, MD, and Jordan Safran, MD, were recently named Pitt Med Professionalism Accolade Awardees.
Carlos Cosme, Jr., a student in the Razani Lab, was awarded this year’s Monga Family Cardiovascular Research Award at Pathobiology25.
Charles Dela Cruz, MD, PhD, received the 2025 Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishments from the American Thoracic Society at this year’s conference. >> Read more
Wei Du, MD, PhD, has been selected for a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Career Development Program award.
Michael Elnicki, MD, received the Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award in recognition of his exemplary performance in safeguarding the scientific accuracy of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Domenic J. Filingeri, Do, MS, received the “fan favorite” award at the 18th annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium, hosted by the Office of Academic Career Development.
Will Garner, MD, has been named the new Transplant Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program Director, effective July 1, 2025.
Danielle Heffner, MD, and Ben Sprague, MD, MS, were awarded the William I. Cohen Award for Excellence in Clinical Skills Instruction by the SOM Office of Medical Education.
Matt Hensley, MD, MPH, was selected the 2024-2025 Outstanding Subspeciality Attending Teaching Award by the Internal Medicine interns and residents.
Qianjiang Hu, PhD, received the 2025 ATS Public Advisory Roundtable Scholarship Award.
Sarah Jones, MD, and Kathryn Leyens, MD, were named Clerkship Preceptors of the Year for providing outstanding clinical instruction in the clerkship setting for UPSOM medical students.
Urvashi Mitbander Joshi, MD, has received a 2025 ASCO Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award for her research project,”A Study of the Effects of Anti-PD1 Adjuvant Checkpoint Blockade Immunotherapy on Features of Atypical/Dysplastic Nevi in Patients with Stage IIB-IIIC Melanoma” (John Kirkwood, MD, mentor).
Alison Kohan, PhD, and Shari Rogal, MD, MPH, were selected as two of this year’s Health Sciences Ascending Star Award winners. Established in 2022, the honor recognizes highly productive and creative midcareer faculty in Pitt’s six schools of the health sciences.
Stephanie Maximous, MD, MS, was selected as Deputy Editor of ATS Scholar.
Sarah Merriam, MD, received the ICRE Excellence in Teaching Award, an honor selected by students and trainees that highlights her outstanding dedication to education, mentorship, and academic leadership.
Alex Mieczkowski, MD, MS, is the 2025 recipient of the MPPDA Alex Djuricich, MD, Award, which recognizes a Med Peds program director who demonstrates a notable record of individualized advocacy for each trainee, excellence in program leadership, and innovations in curriculum, teaching and medical education.
Gina Piscitello, MD, MS, was elected as a one of two new faculty representatives to University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPSOM) Admissions Committee of the Faculty
Shivdev Rao, MD, was named as one of the most influential people in health by TIME. The TIME100 Health list features Rao for utilizing AI to transcribe conversations with patients, reducing the burden on physicians. >> Read more
Anuradha Ray, PhD, was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) for her distinguished career and outstanding scientific contributions as well as their service to AAI and the immunology community.
Prabir Ray, PhD, was recognized as a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society (ATS).
Alfred Shoukry, MD, was the recipient of the Social Justice Education Award for his outstanding work advancing equity and inclusion at the 30th School of Medicine Annual Curriculum Colloquium.
Michael Simonson, MD, MS, and Rachel Vanderberg, MD, MS, were honored with the Carl R. Fuhrman Clinical Educator of the Year Award for their dedication to training the next generation of clinicians.
Carla Spagnoletti, MD, MS, is the recipient of the Dr. Ann Preston Women in Medicine Award from the Pennsylvania-American College of Physicians.
Ravy Vajravelu, MD, MSCE, was named the new Associate Program Director for the Research Pathway in the Gastroenterology Fellowship Program.
Chief cardiology fellow, Brad Very, MD, was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Fellow Award by the Internal Medicine Residency.
The Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine recognized its faculty, trainees, and staff at their annual Rogers Day Award ceremony on June 13, 2025. Award recipients included Sandy Dunbar, RN – Lorenzetty Outstanding Nursing Award; Michele Bellisario – Outstanding Clinical Service Award; Paula Consolaro and Andrew Craig – Outstanding Technical Service Award; Dacia Mace – Outstanding Administrative Service Award; Rachel Givelber, MD – John W. Kreit Outstanding Educator Award; Sanjay Patel, MD, MS – Outstanding Sleep Medicine Educator Award; Charles Dela Cruz, MD, PhD – Outstanding Research or Clinical Mentorship Award; Ricardo Pineda, PhD – Outstanding Research Prefix Faculty Achievement; Richard Ramonell, MD – Bernie Pennock Outstanding Young Investigator Award; Kassandra Allbright, MD, and Amanda Moale, MD – Robert M. Rogers Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement; and Alison Morris, MD, MS – PACCSM Legacy Award.
2025 Avant Garde-Health Healthcare Research All-Stars
The physicians named to the All-Star lists are honored in recognition of the quality and quantity of their published research. To be included as an All-Star, physicians must be among the top 5% of those publishing leading-edge healthcare research.
Top 1% by Subspecialty
Rohit Aggarwal, MD, MS // Top 1% Rheumatology
Stephen Chan, MD, PhD // Top 1% in Cardiology
Diwakar Davar, MD // Top 1% in Hematology
Robyn Domsic, MD MPH // Top 1% Rheumatology
Janel Hanmer, MD, PhD // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Manisha Jhamb, MD, MPH // Top 1% in Nephrology
Georgios Kitsios, MD, PhD // Top 1% in Pulmonology
Robert Lafyatis, MD // Top 1% Rheumatology
Jane Liebschutz, MD, MPH // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Jason Luke, MD // Top 1% in Hematology
Jing Luo, MD, MPH // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Jessica Merlin, MD, PhD, MBA // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Matthew Muldoon, MD, MPH // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Aimee Pickering, MD, MS // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Thomas Radomski, MD, MS // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Bruce Rollman, MD, MPH, MBA // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Daniella Schwartz, MD // Top 1% Rheumatology
Kenneth Smith, MD, MS // Top 1% in General Internal Medicine
Sally Wenzel, MD // Top 1% in Pulmonology
Dhiraj Yadav, MD, MPH // Top 1% in Gastroenterology
Top 3% by Subspecialty
Leonard Appleman, MD, PhD // Top 3% in Hematology
Dana Ascherman, MD // Top 3% Rheumatology
William Bain, MD // Top 3% in Pulmonology
David Binion, MD // Top 3% in Gastroenterology
Marcio Bittencourt, MD, MPH, PhD // Top 3% in Cardiology
Timothy Bober, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Jodie Bryk, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Gregory Bump, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Andrea Carter, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Jennifer Corbelli, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
William Doerfler, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Anna Donovan, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Pouneh Fazeli, MD, MPH // Top 3% in Endocrinology
Gary Fischer, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Daniel Forman, MD // Top 3% in Cardiology
Nikola Gligorijevic, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Matthew Harinstein, MD, MBA // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Sandeep Jain, MD // Top 3% in Cardiology
Jillian Kyle, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
David Levinthal, MD, PhD // Top 3% in Gastroenterology
Jared Magnani, MD, MSc // Top 3% in Cardiology
John McDyer, MD // Top 3% in Pulmonology
Tanya Nikiforova, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Anna Phillips, MD, MS // Top 3% in Gastroenterology
Richard Ramonell, MD // Top 3% in Pulmonology
Samir Saba, MD // Top 3% in Cardiology
Anwaar Saeed, MD // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Jane Schell, MD // Top 3% in Nephrology
Rockey Schoen, MD, MPH // Top 3% in Gastroenterology
Frank Sciurba, MD // Top 3% in Pulmonology
Bryant Shuey, MD, MPH // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Natalie Stokes, MD, MPhil, MSc // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Eloho Ufomata, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Eleanor Valenzi, MD // Top 3% in Pulmonology
Margaret Zupa, MD, MS // Top 3% in General Internal Medicine
Top 5% by Subspecialty
Jason Becker, MD // Top 5% in Cardiology
Jaideep Behari, MD, PhD // Top 5% in Gastroenterology
Kathryn Berlacher, MD, MS // Top 5% in Cardiology
Aditya Bhonsale, MD, MHS // Top 5% in Cardiology
Randall Brand, MD // Top 5% in Gastroenterology
Thuy Bui, MD // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Raquel Buranosky, MD, MPH // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Aravind Cherukuri, MBBS, PhD // Top 5% in Nephrology
Rene Claxton, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Malamo Countouris, MD, MS // Top 5% in Cardiology
Chadi Hage, MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Krishna Kancharla, MBBS // Top 5% in Cardiology
John Kirkwood, MD // Top 1% in Medical Oncology
Agnes Koczo, MD // Top 5% in Cardiology
Dennis McNamara, MD // Top 5% in Cardiology
Bryan McVerry, MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Matthew Metzinger, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Yana Najjar, MD // Top 5% in Hematology
Enrico Novelli, MD, MS // Top 5% in Hematology
Sanjay Patel, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Ann Perrin, MD, MPH // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Joseph Pilewski, MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Chethan Puttarajappa, MD, MS // Top 5% in Nephrology
Kristen Raffensperger, MD // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Priya Rastogi, MD // Top 5% in Medical Oncology
Mike Risbano, MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Anum Saeed, MD // Top 5% in Cardiology
Faraaz Shah, MD, MPH // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Michael Simonson, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Harkirat Singh, MBBS // Top 5% in Gastroenterology
Mark Snyder. MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Prem Soman, MD, PhD // Top 5% in Cardiology
Carla Spagnoletti, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Patrick Strollo, MD // Top 5% in Pulmonology
Roderick Tan, MD, PhD // Top 5% in Nephrology
Jeremy Tilstra, MD, PhD // Top 5% Rheumatology
Sarah Tilstra, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Frederick Toledo, MD // Top 5% in Endocrinology
Rachel Vanderberg, MD, MS // Top 5% in General Internal Medicine
Timothy Wong, MD, MS // Top 5% in Cardiology
Anna Zemke, MD, PhD // Top 5% in Pulmonology