The UC Riverside School of Medicine presented its annual Faculty, Staff, and Student Awards at a dinner on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at the UCR Alumni and Visitors Center.

Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education Pablo Joo, MD, was the host of the event. Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Mark and Pam Rubin Dean of the School of Medicine Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, provided opening remarks.

"Over the 10 years that I’ve served as dean, we’ve welcomed many talented individuals to the School of Medicine family, and with each passing year we worked together to elevate the expectations and standards by which we measure excellence.  Tonight’s honorees have truly raised the bar for what it means to excel in their respective endeavors and embody the values of the School of Medicine," Deas said.

In addition to Joo, presenters included:

• Moazzum Bajwa, MD, LACE program director and associate clinical professor, health sciences
• Iryna Ethell, PhD, associate dean of the Office of Academic Affairs and professor of biomedical sciences 
• Daniel Teraguchi, EdD, executive associate dean for student affairs

The 2025-26 awards recipients are:

Outstanding Year 1 Instructor

Erica Heinrich, PhD

Outstanding Year 2 Instructor

Michael Basch, MD

Outstanding Clerkship Instructor

Lynsey Lakin, NP

Outstanding Clerkship Instructor

Kevin Wethey, MD

Outstanding Clerkship Instructor

Jean Russell, MD

Outstanding Specialty (Year 4) Instructor

Hanh Nguyen, MD

Outstanding LACE Doctor Year I

Theodore Caspe, MD

Outstanding LACE Doctor Year 2

Hadia Ashraf, MD

Outstanding LACE Doctor Year 3

Javier Sanchez, MD

Alumni Recognition Award for Excellence

Jonathan Scott, MD

Award for Excellence in Patient Care

Kathy Calderon, MD

Award for Healthcare Innovation

Nanaefua Afoh-Manin, MD, MPH

Professionalism Award

Emily Dubina, MD

Outstanding Community Service Award

Brandon Brown, PhD

Faculty DEI Award

Michelle Porche, PhD

Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award Basic Sciences

Meera Nair, PhD

Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award Clinical Sciences

Denise Martinez, MD

Research Achievement Award in Biomedical or Basic Science Research 

Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, PhD

Research Achievement Award in Clinical Research 

Michelle Bholat, MD

Research Achievement Award in Population Health Research

Ann Cheney, PhD

Basic Science Educator of the Year Award

Iryna Ethell, PhD

Clinical Faculty of the Year Award

Peter Ureste, MD

Community Educator of the Year Award

Paul Salama, MD, MPH

Lifetime Achievement Award

Lawrence Loo, MD

Distinguished SOM Service to UCR Cross-Campus Community Award 

Scott Pegan, PhD

SOM Junior Faculty (Assistant Professor) Distinguished Service Award

Natalie Zlebnik, PhD

Cancer Research Scholars Award

Yash Mehta

Outstanding LACE Student MS1

Aya Soler

Outstanding LACE Student MS2

Carl (Paul) Gerhardt

Outstanding LACE Student MS3

Christian Park

Outstanding Clerkship Student MS3 

Arturo Chavez

Outstanding Clerkship Student MS3 

Melody Zaki

Outstanding Clerkship Student MS4 

Lucia Hong

Outstanding Clerkship Student MS4 

Helen Setaghiyan

Thomas Haider Clinical Award of Excellence

Anh-Thy Phuoc Nguyen

Stewart and Elaine Shankel Award

Rachel Kamran

Dean's Mission and Values Award

Helen Setaghiyan

Dean's MS4 Social Justice Award

Zayan Maliha Musa

Outstanding Graduating Student: Ob/Gyn

Kelly Muller

Outstanding Graduating Student: Pediatrics

Nolan Langford

Outstanding Graduating Student: Emergency Medicine

Sophia Potalivo 

Outstanding Graduating Student: Internal Medicine

Sophia Potalivo 

Makhlouf Bannoud 

Lucia Hong 

Helen Setaghiyan 

Darby Graham 

Outstanding Graduating Student: Psychiatry

Andre-Philippe Sam

Rhiana Bakhit

Outstanding Graduating Student: Surgery

Millennie Chen

Outstanding Community Service Award

Herlinda Bergman

STAFF DEI Award

Velika Patterson

Staff Mission Award - Education

KA Aguilar (pictured at right

Kay Monteith

Staff Mission Award - Clinical

Sasha Whitaker

Zina Jubrael

Staff Mission Award - Admin

Angeline Vanle

Christine Hollis-Nist

Staff Mission Award - Research

Montrice James

Herlinda Bergman