Twelve members of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine’s (Katz) esteemed faculty were recognized for their achievements in the classroom and beyond during the school’s annual Faculty Educational Excellence Awards reception on May 21.
The awards were launched in 2018 to honor faculty for exceptional work across various phases and categories of teaching, mentorship, and service throughout the Katz community.
The Faculty Educational Excellence Awards Committee solicits nominations from Katz medical and graduate students, residents, fellows, program directors, and clinical and graduate faculty, as well as the North Philadelphia community at large. Faculty are also welcome to nominate themselves. The award winners are selected by the committee.
“These individuals are not only extremely talented, but they also work tirelessly for the benefit of our students, trainees, patients, and the communities we serve. They contribute to education, clinical care, and research, often exceeding their required duties.” stated Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean, Katz School of Medicine. “These individuals are not only extremely talented, but they also work tirelessly for the benefit of our students, trainees, patients, and the communities we serve. They contribute to education, clinical care, and research, often exceeding their required duties.”
Eight awards were presented during the reception, which Dr. Goldberg presided over.
William Robinson, DPT, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Education and Data Science, received the Medical Program Teaching Award (Phase 1), which recognizes a faculty member for their contributions to the education of medical students.
His students span the medicine, physician assistant, dentistry, and podiatry programs. Students and colleagues alike describe him as passionate, engaging, and a “force of positive energy.”
Kathleen Fane, MD, MS, Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, was presented with the Medical Program Teaching Award (Phase 2/3).
She is the Clerkship Director for Emergency Medicine and the Site Director for the Emergency Medicine clerkship at Temple University Hospital - Episcopal Campus. She also oversees the clerkship’s didactic program, held in the Lewis Katz School of MedicineInstitute for Clinical Stimulation.
Each year, Dr. Fane spends more than 500 hours precepting and teaching fourth-year medical students. She’s especially passionate about mentoring women in medicine and advocating for equity and inclusivity in academic and clinical settings.
Dr. Fane’s dedication to improving the learning process led to a mobile-friendly evaluation system for Emergency Medicine rotation students that allows for real-time feedback to guide their professional growth.
Megan Healy, MD, Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency and Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, and Sara Keely Schultz, MD, FACP, Vice Chair of Medicine for Academic Affairs, Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship, and Assistant Professor of Medicine, received the GME Program Teaching Award, which recognizes excellence in the Katz School’s residency and fellowship programs.
The Emergency Medicine chief residents said that Dr. Healy was “supportive” and “collaborative” while encouraging them to push themselves. They also admired her for championing meaningful curriculum changes, as well as for her dedication to patients, both as a physician and through her work at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Center for Health Justice and Bioethics.
During Dr. Schultz’s three years at Katz, she’s helped trainees and medical students publish five peer-reviewed papers and present 11 abstracts at high-impact national conferences.
She describes her teaching philosophy as “radical horizontalism,” a model that respects trainees as equal and critical members of the clinical team. Student evaluations praise her for creating a warm, welcoming environment and being a calming presence.
Sean Thatcher, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Education and Data Science, was presented with the Graduate/Non-MD Professional Program Teaching Award.
Dr. Thatcher has won three Teacher of the Year awards from the podiatry school, and in 2023 was awarded a Kornberg School of Dentistry Teaching Award.
In student evaluations, he’s been lauded for his interesting lectures and for connecting course material to potential clinical scenarios.
Silvia Fossati, PhD, Director of and Associate Professor at the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple (ACT) and Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences and Neural Sciences, as well as at the Lemole Center for Integrated Lymphatics and Vascular Research; Avrum Gillespie, MD, Professor of Medicine-Nephrology and at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Center for Asian Health; and Isaac Russell Whitman, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, received the Research Mentoring Award, which recognizes excellence in the mentoring of non-faculty and non-staff research trainees across different career levels, from undergraduate students to postdoctoral fellows.
Dr. Fossati mentors underrepresented minorities in science and women researchers. Two such mentees have received an NIH Pathway to Independence Award. And several of her trainees have earned predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships.
Her trainees said that Dr. Fossati helped them improve their scientific thinking while still honoring their ideas and perspectives.
Under Dr. Gillespie’s mentorship, more than 30 trainees have been published in nephrology journals and presented at local, national, and international conferences. Former trainees said he nurtured their curiosity and provided actionable feedback while striving to show that answering research questions could be fun.
Dr. Whitman says he views research as a joint venture, believing that it should foster community. He’s known for telling his trainees “Red is love,” meaning that his revisions should be interpreted as encouragement, not criticism.
His trainees have described their time with him as “transformative,” and were particularly grateful for his constant willingness to listen to both academic and personal concerns.
Stacey Jeronis, MD, FACOG, FACS, Professor and Associate Chair of Clinical Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science and Program Director of the Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences Residency, was presented with the Educational Service Award, which recognizes a faculty member for the essential educational activities they performed beyond their required duties.
In the early years of the Covid pandemic, Dr. Jeronis served as Chair of the Practitioner Wellness Committee, a group dedicated to improving physician wellbeing, addressing burnout, and fostering a culture of support within Temple University Hospital. She worked closely with residents, faculty, and leadership to develop wellness programs, promote mental health resources, and implement work-life balance strategies.
Carly Sokach, MD, Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, received the Educational Scholarship Award, which honors a faculty member for driving any number of a broad swath of activities that relate to the education of students or residents and fellows.
Dr. Sokach teaches about topics such as “the myth of work-life balance,” emotional intelligence, and empathy as part of a new “Personal Sustainability” curriculum she developed within the Internal Medicine program.
Additionally, she coauthored a study that will be published in Southern Medical Journal which analyzes the words used to describe the patient satisfaction levels of female primary care physicians compared to their male counterparts. She and the study’s other authors presented their research at the Society of General Internal Medicine’s national meeting in 2022.
Laura Igarabuza, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine and at the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics, and Maura Sammon, MD, Director of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Department of Global Health and Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, were presented with the Community Outreach Award, which recognizes outreach on behalf of Katz within North Philadelphia and, more specifically, a faculty member’s dedication to improving the lives of others through leadership, social responsibility, community engagement, and mentorship.
Dr. Igarabuza spearheaded a collaboration between Temple Health and the Lutheran Settlement House’s bilingual domestic violence program. Currently, she’s working with community members to prepare for the Temple Family and Community Medicine Clinic’s move to the Reverend Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center next year. Through community feedback sessions, she developed a trust-building model for improving patient-physician communication and, ultimately, health outcomes.
As Co-Medical Director of the Covid-19 Surge Facility, Dr. Sammon worked closely with city health officials to transform the Liacouras Center in 2020. In 2021, she helped develop a health clinic at Philadelphia International Airport that cared for more than 1,000 Afghan evacuees in the wake of Kabul’s fall.
In 2024, she co-founded PhillyHealth Cares, a nonprofit free clinic and advocacy center for people unable or unwilling to access traditional healthcare, including members of the local undocumented and LGBTQA+ populations.
Also recognized during the reception were Nicole Griffin, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Education and Data Science; Steven Popoff, PhD, Chair and Professor of Biomedical Education and Data Science, the John Franklin Huber Chair and Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine; and Grace X. Ma, PhD, Associate Dean for Health Disparities, Chair and the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Urban Health and Population Science, and Founding Director of the Center for Asian Health, all of whom were honored at the annual Temple University Faculty Awards Ceremony in April.