Sections

1960s

Robert C. Smith (62MD, 68R) will publish Has Medicine Lost Its Mind? in March 2025. His book describes the poor state of mental health care in the U.S. and political strategies for addressing these issues. 

1970s

Kathryn Edwards (73MD) is the Achievement Award recipient as part of the 2024 University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Alan Fisher (78MD) retired his medical license on Dec. 31, 2023, after 44 years. 

Dennis Knudsen (76MD) joined Southwest Medical Center in Liberal, Kansas, as an obstetrician-gynecologist. 

Michael Richards (74MD) announced in January 2024 that he was stepping down as president of the Iowa Board of Regents and resigning his seat on the board at the end of April. Richards had served as president of the board since 2017. 

1980s

John Callaghan (83R) is a Faculty Award recipient as part of the 2024 University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Awards. 

M. Eric Dyken (88R, 90F) joined Iowa Public Radio's River to River to discuss the connection between nutrition and sleep.  

Charles Jennissen, MD (89R), was interviewed by the Des Moines Register for a story on lawn mower safety and injury prevention around children. 

Paul McCray (81MD, 84R, 88F) was awarded an $850,000 grant from Emily's Entourage to fund research on new targeted treatments for cystic fibrosis.  

Keith Vollstedt (87MD, 92R) was elected to the Iowa Medical Society board of directors. He has been a surgeon in the Sioux City, Iowa, area for over 30 years and currently serves as chief medical officer for MercyOne Western Iowa. 

1990s

Deema Fattal (99F) discussed causes and treatments of vertigo for the American Medical Association’s "What Doctors Wish Patients Knew" series. She also contributed to an AMA story, “Top health tips neurologists want you to know.” 

Timothy Holtz (91MD) serves as chair of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at George Washington University.  

Peter Kaboli (94MD, 00F) was appointed executive director of the Office of Rural Health, a division of the Veterans Health Administration, effective Jan. 14. 

Deborah Loney, MD (92R, 96R), was elected to the board of trustees at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital. 

David Muller (90MD) was awarded $10,000 by the Iowa Medical Society for his work launching ophthalmology services at the Community Health Free Clinic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2008.  

Lance Van Gundy (95MD), an emergency medicine physician in Marshalltown, Iowa, was profiled in the Marshalltown Times Republican regarding the fourth novel in his fantasy series, The Rune Fire Cycle

2000s

Jonathan Birdsall (20MD) joined the emergency medicine department at Winona Health in Winona, Minnesota. 

Toni Biskup, (08MD-MPH), FAAP, FACP, started a nonprofit institute and co-authored a landmark study to understand anti-Palestinian racism. She formed a group with other U.S. pediatricians that is working with universities, medical schools, and organizations to write policy.  

Jeanne Lackamp, MD (07R), was selected to serve as chair of the Department of Psychiatry and director of the Behavioral Health Institute at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. 

Nathan Lepp (01MD, 07F), MPH, was selected as medical director for Med Flight Neonatal Critical Care Transport. Lepp has over 15 years of transport experience and is engaged in outreach and improving the care of infants in Wisconsin.  

Benjamin Lewis (08MD) received the New Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute in Park City, Utah. 

David Lott (04MD) was a part of the team at Mayo Clinic in Arizona that performed the third known total larynx transplant in the U.S., and the first on a patient with active cancer. 

Ben Miller (03MD) joined Iowa Public Radio's Talk of Iowa to discuss the 20th annual Courage Ride in Iowa City, which has raised over $865,000 for sarcoma research. 

Jeremy Nelson (09PA) and his husband were profiled by Colorado Mesa University, where they both majored in music theatre, about their life and family.  

Brent Owen (08MD) was selected as Community Preceptor of the Year by the University of Iowa Department of Family Medicine.  

Stephanie Radke (09MD) was interviewed by KCRG-TV9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about her efforts to educate rural patients on topics related to maternal health amid growing care shortages.  

Joel Ryon (04MD) was elected to the Iowa Medical Society board of directors. He serves as chief medical officer at Great River Health System in Burlington, Iowa. 

Andrea Swenson (07R) joined Iowa Public Radio's River to River to discuss new research on delays in ALS diagnosis for rural patients.  

Chad Torstenson (01MD) began work at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, as an emergency medicine and critical care physician. 

Moshe Wald (05F) discussed the safety and efficacy of vasectomies for the American Medical Association’s “What Doctors Wish Patients Knew” series. 

2010s

Daniel Cook (18MD, 18PhD), instructor in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is the recipient of an ASCI Emerging Generation Award in recognition of his potential as a physician-scientist at VUMC.  

Ronda Farah (14R), associate professor of dermatology at the University of Minnesota, was profiled by Minot Daily News for her work in hair loss medicine. 

Peter McCunniff (14MD) joined the Pain Center of Arizona as an orthopedic spine surgeon.  

Kyle Merrill (16MD, 19R) and Kathi Anderson (95PT) were featured in a segment on Iowa Public Radio about the benefits of organ donor networks. Anderson shared her experience donating a kidney.  

Nathan Nicholson (12MD, 17R) joined Pella (Iowa) Regional Health Center as a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. 

Charles Paul (17MD, 23R) began providing urology care to patients twice a month through a new outreach clinic with Boone County Hospital in Boone, Iowa. 

Brian Privett (11R) shared tips on managing digital eye strain with the Cedar Rapids Gazette

Padget Skogman (14MD, 17R) wrote an editorial for the Des Moines Register on the negative effects of social media for mental health and well-being in young people, based on her observations as a pediatrician. 

Ryan Steinberg, MD (18R), a urologist with UI Health Care, discussed kidney stones for the American Medical Association’s for an article on “What Doctors Wish Patients Knew” series. 

Alex Tomesch (17MD, 20R) is an assistant professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine. 

Jeff Zavala (17MD, 21R), an allergist and immunologist with UI Health Care, spoke with KCRG-TV9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about the dangers of nasal spray dependency. 

2020s

John Lensing (20MD) is the Recent Graduate Award recipient as part of the 2024 University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Awards. 

Adeyinka Taiwo, MBBS, MSc, FRCP (20F), received a $150,000 grant from the NIH Diabetes-Docs: Physician-Scientist Career Development Program to study metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in persons with Type 1 diabetes. 

Alix Sharp (24MD) shared her concerns with the Cedar Rapids Gazette on the topic of Iowa's looming physician shortage. She will stay in Iowa for residency training. 

Anna Wilcox (23MD), currently a resident physician at Genesis Health System in Davenport, Iowa, was profiled by Iowa State University, her undergraduate alma mater, about her path to medicine and passion for diabetes research and care. 

In Memoriam

Frank Beran (60MD) practiced for more than 50 years in Atkinson, Wisconsin, before retiring in 2009. Beran died Dec. 22, 2023

Robert Cadwell (66MD) joined the Wausau (Wisconsin) Medical Center staff and later helped establish Wausau Family Physicians, for which he served as residency program director until retirement. Cadwell died Jan. 6, 2024. 

Roger Cunningham (60MD, 68R) served as a captain in the Air Force Medical Corps and returned to Iowa for residency training in cardiology. He practiced at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, until his retirement in 2006. Cunningham died March 10, 2024. 

Fred Dee (67MD) attended residency training at the University of Minnesota, then served in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Hospital. Upon discharge with the rank of major, he returned to Iowa, where he was a professor in the UI Department of Pathology. Dee died March 4, 2024

Gerald Fogarty (68MD) served in the U.S. Navy before starting his 40-year career as a family medicine physician in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Dallas, Texas. Fogarty died Feb. 20, 2024. 

Richard Haugen (59MD) served in the U.S. Air Force before moving to Eugene, Oregon, to start a private practice. He was an obstetrician-gynecologist in Eugene for 30 years. Haugen died May 23, 2024

John William “Bill” Holtze (76MD, 80R) practiced dermatology in Des Moines, Iowa, for 42 years before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be closer to his grandchildren. Holtze died June 1, 2024. 

James Johnson (77MD) became one of the founding orthopedic surgeons at Wisconsin River Orthopedics, where he practiced for 37 years. Johnson died Jan. 28, 2024. 

Thomas McIntosh, MD (70R), practiced internal medicine in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from 1970 to 2002, when he retired and began volunteering his time and later became medical director of the Community Health Free Clinic. McIntosh died Jan. 31, 2024. 

Meenal Menezes (72R), wife of Arnold Menezes (74R), served as an adjunct clinical professor with UI Health Care and Mercy Hospital in Iowa City for over 35 years. Menezes died May 26, 2024. 

Sergio Rabinovich (65F) served as chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Southern Illinois School of Medicine for 14 years and as division chief of infectious diseases and residency program director. Rabinovich died May 26, 2024

Thomas Schroeder (59MD) served as an officer in the U.S. Navy before settling down in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where he practiced obstetrics and gynecology at Wilkinson Clinic and Memorial Hospital. Schroeder died March 31, 2024

John Spellmeyer (66R) served in the U.S. Navy before becoming a staff radiologist at Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond, Indiana, and the Peter Christensen Health Center in Lac Du Flambeau, Wisconsin. Spellmeyer died Dec. 24, 2023

John Tamisiea, MD (70R), was one of three physicians who established Wilmington Health Associates in Wilmington, North Carolina. Tamisiea was known to make house calls and share his time with those in medical need. Tamisiea died July 1, 2024