McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Monthly Message - May 2023 - Monthly Message Newsletter - News - $host.map.pageTitle
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Monthly Message

Volume 13, Issue 8
May 25, 2023

McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics
Celebrates Class of 2023
McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics

McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics honored our Class of 2023 graduates during the annual Commencement Ceremony on May 9. Over 50 graduates from summer 2022, fall 2022, and spring 2023 walked the stage. Here is a list of the graduates that walked the stage.


Phd Graduates  
    Surabhi Datta, PhD
    Zhao Li, PhD
    Carlos Pérez-Aldana, PhD
    Nina Smith, PhD
    Sarvesh Soni, PhD
    Yi-Ching Tang, PhD
    Jingqi Wang, PhD
    Su Wang, PhD
    Fangfang Yan, PhD
    Alexandra Zingg, PhD
DHI Graduates  
    Monica Coley, DHI
    Kathleen DeFigueiredo, DHI
    James Harris, DHI
    Angela Hayes, DHI
    Peter Kizza, DHI
    Stacy Weil, DHI
Master's Graduates   
    Banan Abuharb
    Priscila Acevedo
    Aya Alajrash
    Alejandro Araya
    Noelle Arenz
    Emily Bellusci
    Pradyumna Brahmandam
    Deepa Chaudhari
    Xinghan Chen
    Haaniya Dawoodally
    Chiamaka Diala
    Pragna Gaddamedi
    Mercedes Gonzalez
    Alfredo Gutierrez
    Sharmeen Hamid
    Rachel Hartley
    Carly Ho
    Jennifer Hooper
    Mehmet Enes Inam
    Danielle Kato
    Meron Kefyalew
    Eric Lee
    Christopher Ly
    Maryamsadat Mohtashamian
    Chinmay Mokashi
    Annette Mulkay
    Chun Wai Ng
    James Noriega
    Nelly Nwosu
    Veena Rajamani
    MAJ Leopoldo Rivas (United States Army)
    Jessica Root
    Hector Sanchez Macias
    Cayla Tatarin
    L'Tania Thompson
    Marc Veloso
    Terrell Williams
    Jorge A. Zamora

We also want to recognize two members of the SBMI Community who received accolades that were announced at the ceremony. Associate Professor Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer, PhD was named the 2022-2023 John P. McGovern Teaching Award winner. This is her third time winning the award in the past five years as she was selected by the students for her excellence in education.

The 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner and Commencement Speaker was John D’Amore, MS, ’11. D’Amore is an informatics entrepreneur who has worked with several organizations including Allscripts and Memorial Hermann Health System. John currently serves as the owner of More Informatics; a company dedicated to the development and implementation of health IT solutions to improve care quality and efficiency.

Please help us congratulate our awardees and the new group of McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics alumni. Our school is very proud of their achievements and it was an honor to recognize each graduate. Please visit the McWilliams Commencement website to find photos and the recording of the ceremony.

McWilliams Bragging Points

Members of the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Community have recently achieved noteworthy accomplishments. We want to recognize and applaud these individuals.

  • Assistant Professor Angela Ross, DNP was featured in a Nurses Month profile in early May by HIMSS. Dr. Ross is a retired Lieutenant Colonel and nursing professional with over 22 years of experience in the US Army Nurse Corps.
  • Several McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics researchers published a JAMIA article recently. The three authors are two-time Alumna Surabhi Datta, PhD '22, MS '18, Associate Professor Kirk Roberts, PhD, and Alumnus Sarvesh Soni, PhD '23.

    • spring 2023 Paul C. Boyle Award for Excellence in Student Research

  • The spring 2023 Paul C. Boyle Award for Excellence in Student Research winner is PhD Student Alan Pan. His poster titled "Utilization of Multi-Modal Data Sources for Stroke Outcomes Research: Integration of EMR and Claims Information for Observational Analysis” earned the highest score at the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics poster session on May 1.
  • Associate Dean Susan Fenton, PhD recently penned a blog post for Libman Education on generative AI technology.
  • Two-time Alumna Mirabela Rusu, PhD, ’11, MS, ’08 will present at MD Anderson Cancer Center on June 5th. Her presentation is part of the “Image Guided Cancer Therapy Research Program Seminar Series.” Dr. Rusu is an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and Director of the Personalized Integrative Medicine Laboratory at Stanford University.
  • The Year in Review video for this academic year is now available. Please take the time to watch it and recap many of the exciting moments we all experienced!
UTHealthLeads Fellowship Application

UTHealth Houston is currently accepting applications for the 2023-2024 cohort of the campus-wide student leadership development program UTHealthLeads Fellowship.

McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics will submit four names to participate in this cohort and represent our school. Please submit all application requirements (Application, CV/Resume, Letter of Recommendation, and Essay) no later than June 18, 2023.


Submit Application

Application materials must be submitted HERE. Questions regarding the program for the cohort can be directed to Elvis Parada, Assistant Director of Admissions and Student Affairs.

McWilliams In the News
  • Professor James Langabeer, PhD gave some tips on reducing medical bills for a MoneyGeek story.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Important Dates

May 29 Memorial Day – University is closed
June 19 Juneteenth Day – University is closed
Office of Academic Affairs
7000 Fannin, Ste. 650 Houston, TX
Phone: 713.500.3591
Email: McWilliams School of Biomedical [email protected]
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