Dean’s Excellence Awards for Faculty are awarded to junior and senior faculty in each of the following categories: service, research, mentorship, teaching, and access & engagement. Awardees are selected in a peer-review process involving separate committees for each award category. Full-time faculty members may nominate a faculty colleague for any award, provided the nominee has not received a Dean’s Excellence Award during the past three years. Self-nominations are not accepted. Recent awardees are shown below.
New in 2023, the Dean’s Excellence Awards for Staff acknowledge the outstanding contributions of exceptional Heersink staff members across all mission areas: education, clinical care, and research.
Awardees for the Dean's Excellence Awards are selected through a peer-review process facilitated by Heersink School of Medicine leadership.
Faculty Honorees
Rachel Sinkey, M.D.
Mentoring
Senior Faculty
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
David LaFon, M.D
Mentoring
Junior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Elizabeth Worthey, Ph.D.
Service
Senior Faculty
Department of Genetics
Barbara Van Der Pol, Ph.D.
Service
Senior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Matthew Clark, M.D.
Service
Junior Faculty
Department of Pediatrics
Rachel Skains, M.D.
Service
Junior Faculty
Department of Emergency Medicine
Shivani Malhotra, M.D.
Regional Service
Associate Professor
Huntsville Regional Campus
Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D.
Research
Senior Faculty
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Ronald Lazar, Ph.D.
Research
Senior Faculty
Department of Neurology
Jerry Wang, Ph.D.
Research
Junior Faculty
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Kirstie Cummings, Ph.D.
Research
Junior Faculty
Department of Neurobiology
Inga Kadisha, Ph.D.
Teaching
Senior Faculty
Department of Cellular, Developmental and Integrative Biology
Ashita Tolwani, M.D.
Teaching
Senior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Winn Seay, M.D.
Teaching
Junior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Jonathan Kalehoff, M.D.
Teaching
Junior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Ronit Elk, Ph.D.
Access and Engagement
Senior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Mohammad Zain Hashmi, M.D.
Access and Engagement
Junior Faculty
Department of Surgery
Staff Honorees
Amy Dobelstein
Program Director
Department of Medicine
Stacy Gaither
Research Director
Department of Pediatrics
Regan Gaskin, MPA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Department of Neurosurgery
Lindsey Hageman, MPH
Research Operations Administrator
Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship
Liranda Howard
Senior Education Administrator
Department of Urology
Mary McDougal, MPA
Executive Administrator
Department of Surgery
Abigail Raczynski, MBA
Program Manager III
Department of Medicine
Lauryn Schultz, MBA
Senior Administrator
Department of Medicine
Stephanie Walters
Administrative Director
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Robert Witherspoon
Manager of Facilities and Standards
Heersink School of Medicine Dean's Office