David H. Watson, M.D. ’57 – Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Watson has dedicated his life to practicing family medicine. In 1958, he and his family moved to Yoakum, Texas, where he began a private clinical practice that provided a full range of services, including surgery, obstetrics and emergency care. At times, he charged patients only $3 for an office visit and $5 for a house call. When patients could not afford the fee, he accepted in-kind payments of sausage, pies or a bushel of pecans. He was the first Texas physician to receive Staff Care’s Country Doctor of the Year Award and continued seeing 20 to 30 patients a day until his retirement in 2012.
Christie M. Ballantyne, M.D. ’82, Fel. ’88 – Distinguished Alumnus Award
Dr. Ballantyne is Baylor’s Vice Chair for Research, Chief of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research and Director of the Lipid Metabolism and Atherosclerosis Clinic. An internationally renowned expert in lipids, atherosclerosis and heart disease prevention, his studies led him to become an established investigator for the American Heart Association. Since joining Baylor’s faculty in 1988, he has been a continuous recipient of NIH funding. As evidence of his lasting achievements in the field of cardiology, he earned numerous awards, including being named one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” by Thomson Reuters.
John M. Oldham, M.S. ’66, M.D. ’67 – Distinguished Alumnus Award
Dr. Oldham serves as Chief of Staff at The Menninger Clinic and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor. He previously served as Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Chief Medical Officer of the New York State Office of Mental Health and the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry and the Law at Columbia University. Over three decades, his pioneering work on borderline personality disorder (BPD) shifted the study of this condition to the mainstream as a focus for modern psychiatric research. He is past president of numerous professional associations, including The American College of Psychiatrists.
C. Frank Bennett, Ph.D. ’85 – Distinguished Alumnus Award
Dr. Bennett is a founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. He is co-recipient of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his contributions to the development of SPINRAZA® (nusinersen), the first approved drug for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. He received the 2018 Hereditary Disease Foundation's Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science for his commitment to developing antisense therapies for Huntington's disease. Dr. Bennett has published more than 230 papers in the field of antisense research and development, and he is an inventor on more than 175 issued patents.
Stacey R. Rose, M.D. ’07, Res. ’10 – Young Alumnus Award
Committed to the education and wellbeing of medical trainees, Dr. Rose joined the Baylor faculty in 2015 and serves as Assistant Dean of Clinical Curriculum in the School of Medicine. Through her work in the Section of Infectious Diseases, she provides high-quality healthcare to patients with general infectious diseases, HIV and related conditions and risk factors. A Fellow and Wellbeing Champion of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Rose completed her medical degree and served as Chief Medical Resident at Baylor before pursuing an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the NIH.
Kristina P. Marsack, M.S., PA-C ’04 – Young Alumnus Award
Plastic Surgery Physician Assistant Kristina Marsack is Assistant Director of Clinical Operations for the Surgical Advanced Practice Providers and Academic Director for PA Surgical and Orthopedic Fellowships at Texas Children’s Hospital. She also serves as Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. She began her plastic surgery career in 2005 and later joined the Pediatric Plastic Surgery team at TCH, where she cares for patients with general plastic surgery needs, including facial, hand and vascular anomalies. View video.
Ignatia B. Van den Veyver, M.D., Fel. ’93 and ’96 – Distinguished Faculty Award
Dr. Van den Veyver serves as Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. She also is Director of Clinical Prenatal Genetics, Maternal Fetal Medicine/Genetics, and is a faculty member in the Fetal Center at Texas Children’s Hospital. Globally renowned for her translational research concerning the genetic basis of molar pregnancies and Rett, Goltz and Aicardi syndromes, she is extensively published in her fields of expertise.
Biykem Bozkurt, M.D., Ph.D. ’09, Res. ’93, Fel. ’96 – Distinguished Faculty Award
Dr. Bozkurt serves as Chief of Medicine at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center. An expert in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation, she has been recognized for excellence in clinical care, education and leadership. She is President of the Heart Failure Society of America and is involved in a number of other national professional organizations. Dr. Bozkurt teaches and mentors medical students, residents and fellows in clinical and translational research and leads a care line comprising 12 sections, 114 faculty members and 450 nurses.
Robert B. Parke, M.D. '73, Res. ’79, M.B.A. – Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Parke is Professor in the Bobby R. Alford Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and has devoted his career to medical service at Baylor. In 1993, he became the first physician to complete an M.B.A. at Rice University and was instrumental in starting the dual M.D./M.B.A. program delivered through Rice and Baylor. He has trained more than 200 residents and fellows, and many have gone on to fill leadership positions including 13 department chairs, 12 section leaders and one medical school president.
Ami E. Waters, M.D., Res. ’14 – Humanitarian Award
Dr. Waters is being recognized for her dedication to ensuring remote communities have access to healthcare. She spent six months of each year of a two-year fellowship working in rural Liberia with Last Mile Health. She contributed to the organization’s Ebola response and facilitated infection prevention and control trainings for healthcare workers. Dr. Waters currently treats patients of all ages at Parkland and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and serves as Medical Director for Last Mile Health in Liberia, where she continues to spend six months of each year delivering healthcare to the underserved.
Jed G. Nuchtern, M.D., Res. ’95 – Humanitarian Award
Dr. Nuchtern is being recognized for his commitment to providing pediatric surgical care to children with cancer. He heads the Global Surgery Division at Texas Children’s Hospital, which is devoted to improving surgical access and outcomes for children in medically underserved countries, with a special emphasis on Malawi. In addition to holding the William J. Pokorny, M.D. Professorship in Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Nuchtern leads a collaborative research program that includes translational and clinical studies to develop new treatments for pediatric solid tumors, particularly neuroblastoma.
2020 Lehmann Outstanding Student Award Recipients
Ashley N. Anderson, M.D. ’20, Lehmann Outstanding Student Award – School of Medicine
Dr. Anderson earned her M.D. from the School of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Outside of her studies, Dr. Anderson contributed to the Baylor community by leading the Peer Resource Network and Orientation Retreat and serving on the Admissions Committee as a student interviewer. She also volunteered at several Houston-area clinics focusing on ophthalmology, healthcare for the homeless and women and children’s health. She plans to practice ophthalmology with a focus on providing care to the underserved.
Alexandra Chang-Graham, Ph.D. ’19, Lehmann Outstanding Student Award – Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Chang-Graham earned her Ph.D. in Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. There, she joined the lab of Joseph M. Hyser, Ph.D., and received numerous accolades for her groundbreaking work targeting rotavirus, an enteric virus that causes life-threatening diarrhea in children worldwide. As a graduate student, Dr. Chang-Graham worked as a teaching assistant in histology and infectious diseases. She also serves on the Student Operating Committee for Baylor’s M.D./Ph.D. program and contributes to the Trainee Advisory Subcommittee for the Gastrointestinal and Liver Section of the American Physiological Society. Currently, Dr. Chang-Graham is finishing her remaining year of medical school at Baylor. She plans to enter a pathology residency with a long-term goal of becoming a practicing pathologist and principal investigator studying the molecular pathogenesis and physiology of gastrointestinal infections.
Toyin Ogbebor, D.N.P. ’19, Lehmann Outstanding Student Award – School of Health Professions
Glen Thompson, M.S., LPO ’19, Lehmann Outstanding Student Award – School of Health Professions
Mr. Thompson earned his M.S. from the Orthotics and Prosthetics Program in the School of Health Professions at Baylor College of Medicine. He currently is a board-eligible orthotist and prosthetist at Alabama Artificial Limb & Orthopedic Service, Inc., in Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Thompson is excited to begin his career in what he believes is a rewarding profession that allows him to provide care to those who are in need. Outside of his work, he enjoys staying engaged in professional organizations and taking advantage of his downtime through different sports and other physical activities.
Justin Young, M.S. ’19, Lehmann Outstanding Student Award – School of Health Professions
Mr. Young earned his M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies from the School of Health Professions at Baylor College of Medicine, where his research focused on the long-term renal function of children who have undergone liver transplantation at Texas Children’s Hospital. Outside of his studies, he enjoyed volunteering with children with genetic disabilities, organizing intramural activities with classmates and playing basketball. He currently is completing a postgraduate fellowship in Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pinnacle in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He hopes to become involved in academics and active in healthcare policy soon.