Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni
• have distinguished themselves in the medical profession;
• are individuals of such integrity, stature and demonstrated ability that faculty, students and alumni will take pride in, and be inspired by this recognition;
• help better the lives of others through civic, community or church service;
• are contributors to medical education through teaching, research and/or publications and;
• are proud of the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Alumni Welcome
Jack H. Henry, MD, FACS, FAAOS, AOA (1964)
President, John Sealy School of Medicine Alumni Association
ASDA Award Recipient, 2019
UTMB Welcome
Charles P. Mouton, MD, MS, MBA
President, ad interim
Executive Provost and Executive Dean
Thomas N. & Gleaves T. James Distinguished Chair
The University of Texas Medical Branch
Jeffrey L. Susman, MD
Dean, ad interim, John Sealy School of Medicine
Senior Associate Dean for Educational Performance
The University of Texas Medical Branch
Presentation of the 2023 Award Recipients
C. Joan Richardson, MD (1970)
Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics
The University of Texas Medical Branch
ASDA Award Recipient, 2002
Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Michael A. Cohen, MD, FACR, FSBI (1974)
Philip L. Leggett, MD, FACS, FICS (1980)
Mark J. Lerman, MD, FACP, FASN, FAST (1973)
Bobby L. Limmer, MD (1968)
Gregory J. O’Shanick, MD, DLFAPA (1977)
Shilpen A. Patel, MD, FACRO, FASTRO (2001)
Board of Trustees & Ex-Officio Members
President: Jack H. Henry, MD, FACS, FAAOS, AOA
Immediate Past President: Hugh N. West III, MD, MBA
President-Elect: Kevin H. McKinney, MD, FACE
Board of Trustees:
Charles W. (Bill) Bailey, Jr., MD, JD
Shannon E. Cooke, MD
James L. Copeland, Jr., MD
Danny K. Corbitt, MD
Raetasha S. Dabney, MD
James R. Dinn, Jr., MD
Betty J. Edwards, MD
Gwen E. Fagala, MD
Daniel C. Finch, MD
John T. Fowler, MD
John J. Fraser, Jr., MD
Richard E. Helmer III, MD, FACP
Malone V. Hill, Jr., MD
Robert W. Hunnicutt, MD
Bernard M. Karnath, MD, FACP
James A. McCoy, MD, FACS
Larry D. Messer, MD
Stephen W. Ponder, MD, FAAP, CDCES
Billie R. Pugh, MD
Gwyn Richardson, MD
Gabriel Rodriguez, MD
Jeffrey Spier, MD
Sarah A. Stafford, MD
Christopher T. Stephens, MD
Cloyce L. Stetson III, MD
Molly M. Warthan, MD
Ex-Officio Members:
James A. Allums, MD
A. Nelson Avery, MD
Toni Funicella Craig, MD
Deborah A. Fuller, MD
R. Neal Green, MD
F. Parker Gregg, MD
Thomas D. Kimbrough, MD
John L. Mann, MD
Stephen L. Mark, MD
William F. Price, MD
Jack D. Ramsey, MD
J. James Rohack, MD, FACC, FACP
Ronald M. Rust, MD
Ned Snyder III, MD
Herbert L. Steinbach, Jr., MD
T. Lynn Warthan, MD
James R. Winn, MD
Bobby J. Wroten, MD
Charles P. Mouton, MD, MS, MBA
UTMB President ad interim, Executive Provost and Executive Dean
Jeffrey L. Susman, MD
Dean, ad interim, John Sealy School of Medicine
Senior Associate Dean for Educational Performance
Awards Committee
A special thanks to the Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee
Richard E. Helmer III, MD, FACP – Chair
Bruce M. Bauknight, MD
James L. Copeland, Jr., MD
Jeffrey Spier, MD
Ex-Officio Members:
Hugh N. West III, MD, MBA
Thomas J. Purgason, MD, FACP, PA
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Michael A. Cohen, MD, FACR, FSBI Class of 1974
Dr. Michael Cohen attended the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in zoology and graduating with honors in 1970. He then attended the University of Texas Medical Branch where he received his MD degree, graduating first in his class in 1974. Following medical school, he completed an internship and a year of residency in pediatrics at Harvard’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. While there, Dr. Cohen recognized the immense contributions to patient diagnosis and management rendered by the stellar group of academic pediatric radiologists and determined that radiology was his true calling. He crossed the street to begin his radiology residency at Beth Israel Hospital, becoming Chief Resident in his final year. He then joined the faculty at MD Anderson (MDA) Hospital and Tumor Institute as an Assistant Professor where he practiced both pediatric and interventional radiology. During his two-year tenure at MDA, he co-authored 12 peer-reviewed publications including the first authorship of a new method of successfully treating eosinophilic granulomas of bone with image-guided injections of steroids that remains the treatment of choice to this day.
Following a twelve-year stint in private practice establishing an interventional radiology program at a large district hospital in San Diego, Dr. Cohen returned to academic medicine as Medical Director of the newly established Guttman Diagnostic Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where he ascended to the rank of Professor of Radiology at Cornell University School of Medicine. This was followed by professorships at the University of Virginia and Emory University.
Toward the latter years of his private practice career, Dr. Cohen shifted his focus from interventional radiology to
breast imaging which was evolving into an interventional image-guided subspecialty. He devoted the remainder of his career to studying, teaching, and advancing this new and exciting subspecialty. During his years devoted to breast imaging, Dr. Cohen published an additional 32 peer-reviewed articles and became Division Director of Breast Imaging at Emory University, overseeing breast practices, research, and education at five academic hospitals.
In addition to his onsite academic endeavors, Dr. Cohen was active on committees in multiple professional societies including the American Board of Radiology (board examiner), the Radiology Society of North America (scientific committee), the Society of Breast Imaging (scientific committee and fellowship committee), and the American College of Radiology. He was awarded Fellowship in the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging. He was also a member of the editorial board of RadioGraphics Journal and a manuscript reviewer for several other journals.
Dr. Cohen served as co-Chairman of the Board of the New York Susan G. Komen Organization and was a board member of the Atlanta Komen Organization, the LifeLine Animal Rescue Organization, and the Westchester branch of the American Leukemia Society.
Dr. Cohen recently completed his professional career-long one lap of America, returning to UTMB to join the breast imaging division on a part-time basis while enjoying his family, playing the guitar, grilling, and fly fishing.
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Philip L. Leggett, MD, FACS, FICS Class of 1980
Dr. Philip L. Leggett graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1975 from The University of Texas at Austin. Subsequently he received his Doctor of Medicine from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in May 1980, and was a member of Phi Beta Pi Medical Fraternity.
He completed his internship and residency at Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation from 1980 to 1985, and served as Chief Surgical Resident 1984 – 1985.
Dr. Leggett was a pioneer in laparoscopic surgical techniques starting in 1989. He traveled the continental United States and Europe to learn innovative methods which he used as a springboard to progress to smaller and less trocars for more advanced procedures. Armed with these developments, he was asked to travel and teach his techniques around the world for Ethicon Endo-Surgery and was sponsored by Johnson and Johnson. This led him to develop one of the first laparoendoscopic fellowships in the United States in 1999. This fellowship has expanded to include four other programs and is now known as Minimally Invasive Surgery of Texas.
In 2010, Dr. Leggett was honored to work with another distinguished UTMB alum, Dr. E. Steve Woodle, at the University of Cincinnati to utilize laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as a precursor to organ transplant to decrease significant morbidity and mortality for their life-saving procedures.
In the mid 1990’s, Dr. Leggett was a member of the Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Trials which proved laparoscopic colon surgery for malignancy was superior to open surgery. His practice has been designated as a Center of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery from 2008 to the present.
Dr. Leggett served in various capacities at HCA Northwest Houston Hospital before being elected Chairman of the Board there in 2011. He is a Board Member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, The Richard Wallrath Educational Foundation, The Mary J. Hamilton con Dios Foundation, and an Honorary Lifetime Board Member for the Boys & Girls Country of Houston. Moreover, Dr. Leggett is also on the Advisory Board for HCA Healthcare Houston, Gulf Coast Region. He serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He has authored and/or co-authored over 50 scientific publications.
Dr. Philip Leggett and his wife, Janet, live in Houston and have a house in Galveston, one block from Sonny’s. He and his wife have three children, Philip II, Lauren, and Lindsey, and five grandchildren, Olivia, Sadie Rose, Cecilia, Barrett, and Hunter.
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Mark J. Lerman, MD, FACP, FASN, FAST Class of 1973
Dr. Mark Lerman graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors and special honors in Psychology. During his time at UT Austin, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
During his junior year in medical school at UTMB in Galveston, he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and served as a non-voting member of the UTMB School of Medicine selection committee. He graduated from the UTMB School of Medicine in 1973 with high honors.
By 1978, he completed his internship, a residency in internal medicine, and a fellowship in nephrology at the University of Texas Southwestern Health Science Center in Dallas. He became a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine (1975) and a diplomat in Nephrology (1978).
He joined the Dallas Nephrology Associates from 1978 to 2019 and practiced clinical nephrology and transplant nephrology. He participated in the training of medical students, house staff, and fellows in Nephrology.
Dr. Lerman started the HCA Medical City Dallas (MCD) kidney and pancreas transplant program in 1997. In preparation for intensive care and post-transplant medical/surgical nursing care to potential kidney transplant donors and recipients, he provided lectures to the hospital nursing staff. The first kidney transplant was in 1998 from a sibling living donor into a young woman (sister) with end-stage renal disease due to adult-onset polycystic kidney disease.
Dr. Lerman and his transplant team performed the first successful live donor ABO incompatible kidney transplant in North Texas in 2014 and established one of the few such programs in Texas.
He established a test center in collaboration with the nuclear medicine department at MCD hospital using Glofil-125 for directly measuring glomerular filtration rate to better assess the suitability of potential live kidney donors.
Dr. Lerman served as the program’s medical director and chairman of the program’s transplant selection committee until his retirement in 2019. The MCD program transplant volume progressively increased from 1998-2019 performing more than 150 kidney and/or kidney-pancreas transplants per year. The program is one of the largest transplant programs in Dallas, with more than 200 kidney and/or kidney-pancreas transplants in 2022.
Dr. Lerman is an active member and Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology and continues to serve as a community leader in transplantation and platinum’s most valuable member for the American Society of Nephrology online communities.
He continues to be a member and Fellow of the American Society of Transplantation (AST). He served as co-chairman and chairman of the AST Conflict of Interest Committee and is an at-large member of the AST Kidney-Pancreas Community of Practice (KPCOP) Executive Committee. He is leading a work group for the AST KPCOP executive committee on the role of molecular diagnostics in kidney transplantation.
Dr. Lerman has authored or co-authored many articles in peer review journals and has served as a reviewer.
Dr. Lerman was invited by the American Transplant Congress in Boston to review and score abstracts on the topic of kidney, cardiovascular and metabolic complications. He also co-moderated an Impact session on kidney paired donation at the American Transplant Congress.
Dr. Lerman volunteers his expertise in transplant medicine and nephrology. He gives online lectures to nephrology fellows in training at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and shares his expertise with the MCD kidney-pancreas transplant program.
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Bobby L. Limmer, MD Class of 1968
Dr. Bobby Limmer graduated with highest honors from Texas A&M University in 1964 with bachelor’s degrees in English and in Zoology. In 1968, he obtained his medical degree at the UTMB School of Medicine. He then went on to complete an internship at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and a dermatology residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in 1972. He remained there on faculty until 1974 and completed board certifications in both dermatology and dermatopathology.
In 1974, Dr. Limmer resigned from his U.S. Army Medical Corps commission to enter private practice in San Antonio. He continued to teach as a clinical professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center with appointments in both Dermatology and Plastic Surgery and developed techniques advancing areas of special interest in cryosurgery and hair loss and restoration. He is credited with becoming the first to introduce dissecting microscopic dissection into the production of naturally occurring follicular units to produce a completely natural cosmetic appearance. For this work, he received multiple international recognitions.
Dr. Limmer has served as Vice President of the Texas Dermatological Society, President of the American College
of Cryosurgery, President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and was a contributing editor of the Journal of Dermatological Surgery. His awards include induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, a U.S. Army Commendation Medal, and the Platinum Follicle Award from the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery for basic research in hair anatomy and physiology.
Dr. Limmer’s curriculum vitae includes over 40 national and international publications and over 80 such professional presentations.
He is especially proud of his family’s continued contribution to medicine. His two sons completed medical school and became board certified in dermatology, his daughterin-law is also a board-certified dermatologist, and his two granddaughters are currently doing residencies in dermatology.
Although Dr. Limmer is retired, he currently serves as President of the Board of Governors of the Llano Christian Academy in Llano, Texas. In his spare time, he enjoys serving his community and church, gardening, and ranching.
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Gregory J. O’Shanick, MD, DLFAPA Class of 1977
With nearly five decades of accomplishments in many disciplines, Dr. Gregory J. O’Shanick, a 1977 graduate of the UTMB School of Medicine, stands as a thoughtful leader, one distinguished by his desire not only to improve medical outcomes but also to impact the quality of life.
Dr. O’Shanick entered UTMB at age 19 after completing two years at Ohio State University. His post-graduate studies took him to another groundbreaking achievement at Duke University Medical Center where at age 26, he was named Chief Resident in psychiatry while simultaneously completing a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine. Since then, he has earned board certifications in brain injury medicine, psychosomatic medicine, behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry, and psychiatry.
In 1981, Dr. O’Shanick joined the Hauser Clinic in Houston where he became involved in the intersection of neuropsychiatry and neurorehabilitation – the emerging subspecialty called brain injury medicine.wThrough his return to academic medicine at UT Houston, his clinical and research efforts honed his expertise, reinforced by his service on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of the Transitional Learning Community in Galveston from 1983 to 1991.
In 1984, Dr. O’Shanick was recruited to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) to join the Departments of Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Medicine. He addressed many postneurotrauma issues there, such as the late development of hydrocephalus, neurobehavioral changes, the use of functional neuroimaging (SPECT), and community/vocational re-entry challenges for those with TBI. In 1991, he and his wife, Alison, a speech language pathologist, established the Center for Neurorehabilitation Services (CNS) in Richmond,
VA, providing outpatient brain injury medicine evaluations and neurorehabilitation to over 6,900 individuals across the US and internationally. Faculty positions at University of Virginia School of Medicine and University of Southern California provided opportunities to further expand his mentorship and leadership.
Dr. O’Shanick has not only served the brain injury community through medical care and academic research, but he has also led by volunteering with numerous professional organizations. For 16 years, he was the inaugural National Medical Director of the Brain Injury Association of America and was awarded the title of Medical Director Emeritus. A founding Board Governor of the Academy for Certification of Brain Injury Specialists, he currently sits on the examination committee for the sub-specialty of brain injury medicine overseen by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. O’Shanick has published three books, 15 academic textbook chapters and over 70 peer-reviewed publications. Featured as a subject matter expert on media outlets ranging from PBS, NPR, and CNN to the four major networks and even ESPN, he has been quoted on everything from TBI in the military to concussion in sports. His work with the CDC established the first federal diagnostic criteria for mild TBI in 2003.
Nothing can eclipse the gratitude and pride Dr. O’Shanick feels for his wife, his five children, and his seven grandchildren. On a lighter note, a 2012 national championship at the US Arabian Nationals on his horse “Ima Rock Star” proved that his talents span areas beyond medicine.
2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus
Shilpen A. Patel, MD, FACRO, FASTRO Class of 2001
Dr. Shilpen Patel has dedicated his life to his patients and the community as a radiation oncologist, researcher, and community leader. He currently practices at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos, CA, and leads global medical affairs for the oncology franchise as an Executive Medical Director at Gilead Sciences, based in Foster City, CA. In addition, he has an affiliate appointment as an Associate Professor at the University of Washington Department of Global Health as well as an affiliate appointment in the Division of Public Health at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He recently completed his Medical Justice Advocacy Fellowship at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and the American Medical Association (AMA).
A Texan at heart, Dr. Patel attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science and started his undergraduate degree at the age of 16. He majored in biology and political science at Houston Baptist University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1997. He then pursued his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch where he served as Vice President of the Class of 2001 and as Section 3 Chair for the American Medical Associate/Texas Medical Association. He was also an NIH Tropical Medicine Scholar, focused on vaccine development research in Peru, and coordinated earthquake relief in Asia which was highlighted in Texas Medicine. Dr. Patel went on to do his residency at the Greenebaum Cancer Center/University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, and then joined the faculty at the University of Washington.
As a leader in radiation oncology, Dr. Patel became the youngest fellow in the history of both the American College of Radiation Oncology and the American Society for Radiation
Oncology. He served as an oral and written examiner for the American Board of Radiology (ABR), served on the Board of Councilors at the American College of Radiation Oncology, and has served in various capacities at the American Society for Radiation Oncology. His appointments have included leadership in government and congressional relations, the education committee, the maintenance of certification, and the radiobiology council.
Dr. Patel is passionate about his community and has been an active member of the American Medical Association, serving as Chair of the Young Physician Section and of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee. As a faculty member of the University of Washington, he served as faculty advisor to Qmed and as Director of the Health Disparities Pathway for medical students. He was also previously the Director of the Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program for the Foundation for Health Care Quality for the State of Washington. Additionally, he has also served as either a board member or board chair of Equal Rights Washington, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Generations Aging with Pride, the Horizons Foundation, Phi Chi Medical Foundation, Radiating Hope, and RAD-AID.
Dr. Patel’s continued involvement in the community has garnered him numerous accolades, including more recently the board IQ Hall of Fame, Out and Equal Corporate Advocate Award, and the Yahoo Outstanding Leader Role Model. As an educator and mentor, he has also been awarded the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science Distinguished Alumni. Dr. Patel has also received numerous awards from the American Medical Association and has been identified as an Outstanding Doctor in both the Seattle Metropolitan and Seattle Magazine.
Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
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Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
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Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni Award
Recipients
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Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this program. If you notice an error, please contact (409) 772-5151 or email alumni@utmb.edu so that we can update our records. Thank you.
John Sealy School of Medicine Alumni Association