This year’s top stories highlight USF Health as an academic medical center.  Stories of patient gratitude, innovative research and development, and affirmation that the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is truly the fastest rising medical school in the country.

Take a look at the top USF Health stories of 2022.

1. USF Health and Weill Cornell Medicine earn funding to further develop artificial intelligence that uses voice to diagnose disease. 

2. A USF Health patient had very few answers to her condition until she met with Dr. Jolan Walter.

3. Congratulations to our USF Health physicians who made the 2022 list of the country’s top doctors. 

4. The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is on the rise faster than any medical school in the country. 

5. A USF Health psychiatry expert explains how the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased number of patients with Social Anxiety Disorder.

6.  No medical school in the country does Match Day like the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 

7. USF Health and Tampa General Hospital neurosurgeons are the first in Tampa Bay to offer game-changing ultrasound. 

8. USF Health was awarded $3.2 million to develop blood tests designed to detect Alzheimer’s Disease. 

9. Researchers begin to unlock how gut and oral microbiomes are linked to brain health in older adults. 

Hariom Yadav, PhD, (standing) and Shalini Jain, PhD, were recently recruited to research on the gut-brain connection (gut-brain axis) in relation to cognitive function.

10. Take a look at all of the USF Health physicians who made the Tampa Magazine list of Top Doctors in 2022. 

USF Health doctors are among the best and listed as such in the Top Doctor® list by Castle Connolly.

The list, released earlier this year, includes over 400 local physicians among 55 medical specialties – 82 of them are with USF Health.

USF Health Neurologist Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz.

For more than 25 years, Castle Connolly has conducted the survey that provides the Top Doctors list.

The annual survey involves nominations from peer physicians, who are asked “Where would you go if you needed care?” The process is anonymous and confidential, and doctors cannot nominate themselves. The resulting list, based on merit and inclusion cannot be bought, provides a collection of trusted resources for quality health care.

On this year’s list, 82 physicians on the list are with USF Health. The following list is of USF Health faculty physicians currently practicing medicine within nearly three dozen clinical sites, specialty care centers and affiliated hospitals throughout the region.

Allergy & Immunulogy
Mark C Glaum, MD, PhD
Richard F Lockey, MD
Mandel R Sher, MD
Jolan E Walter, MD/PhD

Cardiac Electrophysiology
Bengt Herweg, MD

Child Neurology
Sagarika Nallu, MD

Colon & Rectal Surgery
Jorge E Marcet, MD
Jaime E Sanchez, MD

Dermatology
Basil S Cherpelis, MD
Nishit S Patel, MD

Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Madeline Candelario-Cosme, MD
Yevgeniya Kushchayeva, MD

Family Medicine
Eric E Coris, MD
Eduardo C Gonzalez, MD
Kira K Zwygart, MD

Gasterenterology
Patrick G Brady, MD
John W Jacobs Jr, MD
Jay J Mamel, MD
Joel E Richter, MD
Pushpak Taunk, MD

Gynecology Oncology
Diana Peta-Gay English, MD
Thomas J Rutherford, MD, PhD

Infectious Disease
Sally Fathi Alrabaa, MD
Beata C Casanas, DO
Ambika Eranki, MD
Charurut Somboonwit, MD

Internal Medicine
Nathan A Brinn, MD
Denise K Edwards, MD
Lucy Guerra, MD
John D McCormick, MD
Hugo J Narvarte, MD
Kevin E O’Brien, MD

Interventional Cardiology
Fadi Matar, MD

Maternal & Fetal Medicine
Jan M Lanouette, MD
Charles J Lockwood, MD
Judette M Louis, MD
Stephanie Teresa Ros, MD

Neurological Surgery
Thomas B Freeman, MD
Donald A Smith, MD
Harry R Van Loveren, MD

Neurology
William Scott Burgin, MD
Rossitza I Chichkova, MD
Clifton Gooch, MD
Robert A Hauser, MD
Juan R Sanchez-Ramos, MD
Tuan H Vu, MD
Theresa A Zesiewicz, MD

Obstetrics & Gynecology
Shelly W Holmstrom, MD
Catherine M Lynch, MD
Dawn Palaszewski, MD
Odalis Sijin, MD

Ophthalmology
Ramesh S Ayyala, MD
Mitchell Drucker, MD
Lewis Groden, MD

Orthopaedic Surgery
Roy W Sanders, MD

Otolaryngology
Mark H Tabor, MD

Pediatric Endocrinology
Ellen Verena Jorgensen, MD
Henry Rodriguez, MD
Dorothy Shulman, MD

Pediatric Infectious Disease
Carina A Rodriguez, MD

Pediatric Nephrology
Valerie M Panzarino MD

Pediatrics
Sharon Dabrow, MD
Carol M Lilly, MD
Jennifer C Takagishi, MD

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Naomi A Abel, MD

Plastic Surgery
C. Wayne Cruse, MD
Michael Harrington, MD
Nicholas J Panetta, MD
David J Smith Jr, MD
Paul D Smith, MD

Psychiatry
Jean Fils, MD
Amanda G Smith, MD

Pulmonary Disease
Kapilkumar N Patel, MD
Ricardo Restrepo-Jaramillo, MD

Rheumatology
John D Carter, MD

Surgery
Michael H Albrink, MD
Christopher G DuCoin, MD
Paul C Kuo, MD

Urology
David J Hernandez, MD

Vascular Surgery
Murray L Shames, MD

Colon & Rectal Surgery
Robert D Bennett, MD

Urology
Kevin Heinsimer, MD

This year’s Top Doctors list is out, and many USF Health physicians earned spots on the list.

Tampa Magazine surveyed nearly 11,260 physicians across the Tampa Bay area, asking them to nominate peers they consider the best in their specialty.

The final 2022 Top Doctors list of 300 physicians in 68 specialties includes 55 USF Health physicians in a diverse range of specialties voted on by their peers. They are:

ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY

Farnaz Tabatabaian, MD

CARDIAC ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

Bengt Herweg, MD

CARDIOLOGY

Joel Fernandez, MD

Fadi Matar, MD

CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY

Erol Belli, MD

CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY

Kristopher Kaliebe, MD

Saundra Stock, MD

COLON/RECTAL SURGERY

Jorge Marcet, MD

Jaime Sanchez, MD

COSMETIC SURGERY (FACE)

Abraham Marcadis, MD

DERMATOLOGY

Basil Cherpelis, MD

Lilia Correa, MD

Lewis Frank Glass, MD

Nishit Patel, MD

DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICS

Tanuja Kothinti, MD

Carol Lilly, MD

EMERGENCY MEDICINE/URGENT CARE

David Wein, MD

ENDOCRINOLOGY

Yevgeniya Kushchayeva, MD

Dorothy Shulman, MD

FAMILY PRACTICE

Eduardo Gonzalez, MD

Karim Hanna, MD

Kira Zwygart, MD

FERTILITY

Anthony Imudia, MD

GENERAL SURGERY

Michael H. Albrink, MD

Thomas J. Herron, MD

Adham R. Saad, MD

GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY

Amanda G. Smith, MD

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY

Diana English, MD

Thomas Rutherford, MD, PhD

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Olga Klinkova, MD

INTERNAL MEDICINE

John McCormick, MD

NEUROLOGY

Alfred Frontera, MD

NEUROSURGERY

Siviero Agazzi, MD

Puya Alikhani, MD

Harry Van Loveren, MD

OBSTETRICS/GYNECOLOGY

Bri Anne McKeon, MD

OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Rachel Williams, MD

OTOLARYNGOLOGY

Tapan Padhya, MD

PALLIATIVE CARE

Howard Tuch, MD

PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY

Racha Khalaf, MD

PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY

Maria Gieron-Korthals, MD

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY

Yanerys Colon Cortes, MD

Marisa Couluris, DO

PEDIATRICS

Vinita Kiluk, MD

PLASTIC SURGERY (FACE)

Michael Harrington, MD, MPH

PSYCHIATRY

Kimberly E. Hartney, MD

RADIOLOGY

Ryan D. Murtagh, MD

RHEUMATOLOGY

John Carter, MD

SPORTS MEDICINE

Eric Coris, MD

Byron Moran, MD

UROLOGY

Trushar Patel, MD

Lucas Wiegand, MD

VASCULAR NEUROLOGY/STROKE

David Z. Rose, MD

VASCULAR SURGERY

Konstantinos Dean John Arnaoutakis, MD

Aurelia Calero, MD

Brad Johnson, MD

Tampa Magazine surveyed nearly 9,000 physicians across the Tampa Bay area, asking them to nominate peers they consider the best in their specialty.

The final 2016 Top Doctors list of 331 includes 36 USF Health physicians in a diverse range of specialties, including 12 voted #1 by peers. They are:

Siviero Agazzi, MD: Runner-up for Neurosurgery

Michael Albrink, MD: Voted #1 for General Surgery

William Anderson, MD: Runner-up for Sleep Medicine

Lawrence Berk, MD: Runner-up for Radiation Oncology

Basil Cherpelis, MD: Runner-up for Dermatology

Charles E. Cox, MD: Runner-up for Breast Cancer Surgery

Mitchell Drucker, MD: Runner-up for Ophthalmology

Patricia Emmanuel, MD: Runner-up for Pediatrics

Maria Gieron, MD: Voted #1 for Pediatric Neurology

Harvey Greenberg, MD: Voted #1 for Radiation Oncology

Bengt Herweg, MD: Runner -up for Cardiac Electrophysiology

Ernesto Jimenez, MD: Runner -up for Cardiovascular Surgery

Vinita Kiluk, MD: Runner-up for Pediatrics

Dennis Ledford, MD: Voted #1 (tied) for Allergy and Immunology

Carol Lilly, MD: Vote #1 (tied) for Developmental Pediatrics

Richard Lockey, MD: Voted #1 (tied) for Allergy and Immunology

Jorge Lockhart, MD: Runner-up for Urology

Catherine Lynch, MD: Runner-up for Obstetrics and Gynecology

Jorge Marcet, MD: Voted #1 for Colon/Rectal Surgery

John McCormick, MD: Voted #1 (tied) for Internal Medicine

Anthony Morrison, MD: Runner-up for Endocrinology

Tanya Murphy, MD: Runner -up for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Michel Murr, MD: Voted #1 for Bariatrics

Ryan Murtagh, MD: Voted #1 for Radiology

Kevin O’Brien, MD: Runner-up for Internal Medicine

Shayne Plosker, MD: Runner-up for Fertility

Mark Rumbak, MD: Runner-up for Pulmonary Disease

Jaime Sanchez, MD: Runner-up for Colon/Rectal Surgery

Murray Shames, MD: Voted #1 for Vascular Surgery

Mandel R. Sher, MD: Runner-up for Allergy and Immunology

John Sinnott, MD: Runner-up for Infectious Disease

Paul Smith, MD: Runner-up for Plastic Surgery (Body)

Saundra Stock, MD: Runner-up for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Joanne Valeriano-Marcet, MD: Runner-up for Rheumatology

Harry van Loveren, MD: Voted #1 for Neurosurgery

Kira Zwygart, MD: Runner-up for Family Practice