Join us for a discussion on the thriving transplant programs at UF Health with world-renowned surgeons and faculty members Tiago N. Machuca, M.D., Ph.D., surgical director of UF Health’s lung transplant program and chief of the division of thoracic surgery, and Thiago Beduschi, M.D., director of UF Health’s abdominal transplant program and professor of surgery. They will talk about how their landmark multi-organ surgery reversed a patient’s terminal prognosis.

Join us for a discussion on the thriving neurosurgery program at UF Health with Brian Hoh, M.D., MBA, Chair of Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery at UF. Dr. Hoh is an internationally known expert in treating brain aneurysms, brain arteriovenous malformations, and ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes

Join us for a discussion on the effects of the pandemic on mental health in children and adolescents. Hear from two experts: Mariam Rahmani, M.D. ’09 clinical associate professor training director, and Michael A. Shapiro, M.D. ’08 clinical associate professor medical director, in child and adolescent psychiatry at UF Health as they discuss warning signs, coping skills, and advice for families and clinicians.

Dr. Brian Taschner is a cardiologist in Fort Myers, Florida, and an avid athlete who completed the Spartan Beast obstacle course and race. Founder of Vibrant Beat, an educational platform that promotes healthy lifestyle habits, he hosts lecture at venues throughout the community to promote the benefits of a plant-based diet on cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Kavita Rajasekhar is a public health physician in NYC, serving as Associate Medical Director for a worker health protection program. She recently completed culinary school training at the Natural Gourmet Institute, a health-supportive, plant-based program, with an internship at Purple Kale Kitchenworks. Kavita enjoys learning and practicing knowledge on the healing properties of food and other lifestyle measures, especially yoga.

Dr. Wendie Moore is a retired Diagnostic Radiology Specialist in Ocala, FL, and has over 28 years of experience in the medical field. As a Triple Gator, Dr. Moore is also a past and honorary member of the Medical Alumni Association Board. She is a part of the interview process for new medical students. Dr. Moore has recently been inspired to shift to a vegetarian/vegan diet after attending the first-ever UF Culinary Medicine Conference. She is enjoying incorporating her conference’s knowledge to her Gator lifestyle.

Miranda Scalabrino graduated in 2016 from the University of Florida with a doctorate in medical sciences and a genetics concentration. Currently, Dr. Scalabrino is a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Her research focuses on developing gene therapies for inherited blindness, and she was recently awarded a science communication fellowship from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Dr. Scalabrino also co-owns the North Carolina liquor company Oak City Amaretto with her husband. She spends her free time making, bottling and advertising the almond-based liquor, as well as developing cocktail and dessert recipes. For Dr. Scalabrino, making food is an act of love as well as a tasty application of science!

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 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.