More achievements

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. (ABPN) has named Amy Brooks-Kayal, M.D., F.A.A.N., F.A.N.A., F.A.E.S., as its new chair. Brooks-Kayal is chair of the Department of Neurology and the Andrew John Gabor, M.D., Ph.D. Presidential Endowed Chair at UC Davis Health. Brooks-Kayal has served on the ABPN board since 2018. An internationally recognized expert in epilepsy, Brooks-Kayal has earned numerous honors, including the American Epilepsy Society Founders Award, the Child Neurology Society Bernard Sachs Award and designation as an Ambassador for Epilepsy by the International League Against Epilepsy for her lifetime contributions to the field.

Maxwell A. Fung, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology and pathology at UC Davis, was selected as the 62nd president of the American Society of Dermatopathology. Fung’s election reflects his longstanding commitment to advancing excellence in dermatopathology and his exceptional record of service to the field. He has held multiple leadership positions within the society, including president-elect, chair of the appropriate use criteria committee and member of the board of directors and social media subcommittee. His contributions also include more than 30 invited lectures at the society’s annual meetings.

Courtney Wusthoff, M.D., M.S., is leading efforts to advance care for newborns with neurological challenges, like seizures and brain injury. This year, she will also lead the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (ACNS) as its new president. Wusthoff, professor and chief of child neurology at UC Davis Health, was instrumental in developing the 2025 ACNS guideline on indications for continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) in neonates. The document provides guidance for monitoring seizures in newborns. She also coauthored the American Academy of Pediatrics’ latest guidance on using therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) — a cooling technique to protect newborn brains.

David Mitchell, Pharm.D., M.B.A., C.S.P., F.C.Ph.A., assistant chief for Specialty Pharmacy, has been elected president-elect of the California Pharmacists Association. He will continue to serve as treasurer until April 2026, transition to president-elect at that time, then president in 2027. This three-year leadership progression positions Mitchell to help lead one of the largest pharmacy organizations in the nation. Mitchell is a certified specialty pharmacist with over ten years of experience in the specialty, and over 25 years in the field. He has presented at national conferences on specialty pharmacy, data analytics and 340b.

Reshma Gupta, M.D., M.S.H.P.M., chief of Population Health and Accountable Care, was named to Pearl Health’s Top 50 Value-Based Care Thinkers Report. Gupta is a practicing internist and part of the Population Health Leadership Team for strategy across all UC Health campuses. She has led over 100 clinician and care team members in population health, affordability improvement initiatives, and value analytics through her current role and previous position as medical director for quality at UCLA.

David Amaral, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the UC Davis MIND Institute, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from INSAR, the International Society for Autism Research. The prestigious award honors significant, fundamental contributions with lasting impact on the field. Amaral, who investigates the relationship between autism and differences in early brain development, has long been a leader in large-scale interdisciplinary research efforts. In 1998 he was founding research director of the MIND Institute, and in 2006 founded the Autism Phenome Project, one of the most comprehensive long-term studies of autism.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H., received the 2025 David Rall Medal from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) for distinguished leadership as a chair of a study committee. Kizer has chaired numerous studies, committees and planning groups, such as for the 2022 report “Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System,” and a NAM study on “Advancing Face and Hand Transplantation.” He is a nationally recognized leader in health system reform, patient safety and public health whose career spans academia, government, philanthropy and the private sector.

Mitchell Creinin, M.D., UC Davis Health distinguished professor and director of the complex family planning fellowship, has received the Society of Family Planning Lifetime Achievement Award. Creinin is also a founding member of the Society of Family Planning.

Creinin’s research has focused on new contraceptive technologies, management of miscarriage, and abortion techniques, all aimed to improve the quality of care available to patients. He has been an innovator in abortion methodologies and miscarriage management and authored more than 300 peer-review papers, review articles, book chapters and books, including the sixth edition of “Speroff & Darney’s Clinical Guide to Contraception.”

Popular Science has named UC Davis Health’s Remote Patient Monitoring program one of the 50 greatest innovations of 2025. The Remote Patient Monitoring program helps patients manage hypertension at home and achieve real, measurable improvements. As part of the program, patients use blood pressure cuffs to securely share readings from home, allowing a multidisciplinary team to monitor the data in real time. By bringing high‑quality support into people’s homes, avoidable hospital visits are reduced and the community lives healthier lives.

Satyan Lakshminrusimha, M.D., M.B.B.S., was presented with the prestigious Virginia Apgar Award by the AAP’s Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. The award honors an individual whose career has had a sustained and profound influence on the welfare of newborn infants. The Virginia Apgar Award is made possible by a continuing grant from Abbott Nutrition.

Érik Fernández y García, M.D., M.P.H., was honored with the Council on Community Pediatrics’ Local Hero Award. The award recognizes pediatricians who champion community-based initiatives and advocacy for children and who go above and beyond in their work to improve children’s health within their local community.

Amy Powne, M.S.N., R.N., P.C.N.S.-B.C., a pediatric surgery nurse practice manager with UC Davis Health, was honored with the 2025 Lori J. Howell Excellence in Fetal Nursing Award. This international award recognizes significant contributions made in excellence in patient care, access to care, innovation and commitment to nursing. In her role in the Fetal Care and Treatment Center, Powne guides families through the challenges of prenatal diagnosis, fetal intervention and planning for complex postnatal care for their children.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) honored UC Davis neuroscientist Maitreyee Wairagkar, Ph.D., with the prestigious Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience. This award recognizes neuroscientists with outstanding research and educational pursuit in an international setting. Wairagkar, a project scientist at the UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab, received the award for her groundbreaking work on an intracortical “brain-to-voice” brain-computer interface (BCI). The new BCI technology enables real-time voice synthesis and has allowed a man with ALS to speak expressively through a computer in a voice similar to his own, a breakthrough that received international attention.

UC Davis Health Chief Pharmacy Officer Chad Hatfield, Pharm.D., M.H.A., B.C.P.S., received the Executive Leadership Visionary–Chief Pharmacy Officer Award from Vizient. Recipients must show superior leadership both within their health system and in national forums, partner closely with senior leadership to integrate pharmacy into organizational strategy, and share innovative approaches that elevate care across the Vizient network.

Guobao Wang, Ph.D., professor and associate vice chair of research in the Department of Radiology, received the Freek J. Beekman Medical Imaging Technical Achievement Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The award honors mid-career professionals making significant, innovative technical contributions. Wang was recognized for contributions to advanced image reconstruction and translational kinetic modeling for quantitative PET (positron emission tomography).

Golnaz Friedman, M.S., R.D., C.C.T.D., UC Davis Health registered dietitian, received the 2025 Jeanette Hasse Distinguished Transplant Dietitian Award. The award recognizes a registered dietitian who has advanced transplant nutrition through patient care, education, research, innovation, and service. Friedman has led major improvements in transplant nutrition care, including expanding the transplant RD team, developing standardized dietitian competencies, and redesigning functional status testing to improve pre-transplant identification of risk.