Gator Grub | Gator Arts & Medicine

Dr. Anthony J. Pizzo, a plastic surgeon from Tampa, Florida, shares valuable lessons from his time as a student at the UF College of Medicine and how a phrase from today’s headlines has led to a deeper understanding of events in his medical career, presented in one of the many forms of art — an essay.

Dr. Kyle Seifert is a professor and associate department head in the department of biology at James Madison University, a primarily undergraduate institution in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Dr. Seifert is a firm believer in work/life balance, using his time away from the classroom and lab to build boats. He’s built a variety of kayaks, canoes, and a paddleboard, with plans to make many more in the near future.

Wendy Welch, MD ‘90, MBA, CHCQM, is the Chief Medical Officer at Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, a specialty behavioral health plan serving Medicaid beneficiaries across 20 counties in North Carolina. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Atrium Health, where she teaches managed care literacy to faculty and residents. Dr. Welch shares her passion for beautiful surroundings like this photo captured by her camera lens.

Dr. Dempsey S. Springfield is a retired orthopaedic surgical oncologist after receiving his medical degree, completing an orthopaedic residency, and a musculoskeletal oncology fellowship at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine. He lives in Palm Coast, Florida, with his wife of over 50 years, Deanna Saltzman Springfield. Dr. Springfield shares his story of how the musical interest stimulated him to make musical instruments.

Dr. David Westfall is a retired Family Medicine Specialist in Gainesville, GA, and has over 49 years of experience in the medical field.  He graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine medical in 1972. A few years later, Dr. Westfall and his wife moved to Gainesville, GA, where he established a private family medicine practice. He became active in the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and the medical staff of Lanier Park Hospital and Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). Northeast Georgia Health System recruited him in 1993 to help develop the Primary Care Network (the precursor to Northeast Georgia Physicians Group). He became the hospital’s first physician executive as vice president of Medical Affairs and the PCN medical director. Dr. Westfall is enjoying his active retirement by hiking and mastering the woodturning technic.

Dr. Tammy Euliano is a UF lifer and Triple Gator. Dr. Euliano has served on faculty since 1996, rising to full professor and honored with multiple teaching awards, several patents for simulation and maternal-fetal monitoring devices, and served as director of both the medical student clerkship and the residency program. Now that her three kids have moved on (one a third-generation Gator), she writes medical mystery/thrillers as an encore career. Dr. Euliano continues to work part-time at UF and lives in Gainesville with her husband and two dogs, who all enjoy intermittent visits from the children.
To enjoy an excerpt from Dr. Euliano’s novel, “Fatal Intent,” click below.

Christa Matrone, M.D. ’12, is a neonatologist at Mednax and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Children in Orlando, Florida. In the NICU, she is the director of therapeutic hypothermia and a member of the Complex Care Unit. She helps take care of and plan discharge for babies with special medical needs, including long-term reliance on mechanical ventilation.
Dr. Matrone enjoys many different arts and crafts, especially when her two daughters can join to participate. For Dr. Matrone, painting has always been the most meditative and calming practice. Her painting recently has been nature and biology-inspired, and it tends toward the abstract. She also loves plants of every kind, and her garden reflects that. Her particular interest in collecting plants that look alien—the weirder, the better!

John Chase is a recently retired orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Chase attributes his values to growing up in Iowa and his solid fund of knowledge from receiving his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and his medical degree from the University of Iowa. After that, he completed the Orthopaedic residency at the University of Florida and graduated in 1986. During his fourth year of residency, Dr. Chase received the Hugh Hill award at the UF. Orthopaedic residency at the UF rounded out his academic and surgical preparation for a career in orthopaedic surgery in Orlando, focusing on knee and ankle problems. Dr. Chase wanted to pass along humorous stories from his medical journey to those in medicine, insights for those who are not in the medical field, and lessons for young people just starting down the medical path. His recent book, “You What?!” rounded out about 35 years of orthopaedic surgery. To enjoy some of the stories from Dr. Chase’s book, click below.

Robert “Bob” Dein, M.D., is a retired pathologist-turned-philanthropist who’s bringing hope to others by supporting fundamental research at UF and candidly sharing his own trials as a long-term caregiver.
From that dark place bloomed a determination to ease others’ burdens. His experience caring for the loved ones with Parkinson’s disease led in 2017 to endow a UF professorship for Parkinson’s research in his wife’s name by Dr. Dein.
When Dein entered medical school at the University of Florida, he was the youngest in the class. After receiving his medical degree in 1970, Dr. Dein also completed his residency at the University of Florida.
Back home in Venice, Florida, Dr. Dein is enjoying remarried life. He also developed a new passion. Dr. Dein is evolving in street portrait photography.
To admire Dr. Dein’s lens capture, please click below.

Dr. Lealani Mae (Leah) Acosta is an associate professor of neurology and a board-certified neurologist specializing in neurodegenerative memory disorders. Currently, she serves as co-editor of the Humanities section of the journal Neurology. Dr. Acosta joined the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty in 2013. She completed graduate studies, obtaining a master’s in public health at Vanderbilt, with her research focused on error frequency and quality in a task of semantic fluency in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Her interest in this topic stems partly from her hobbies of poetry, drawing, and calligraphy. Her publications reflect these varied interests, including peer-reviewed research articles and creative writing, primarily poetry. Dr. Acosta’s humanities pursuits also extend to the fiber arts, as she has crafted several hats along a medical theme