Update
News & Notes
News & Notes
(Tanya Pittman’s, MD, Medicine ‘93) passion for patient care and her commitment to serving the people of Liberal make her a perfect fit. We are thrilled to welcome her back home.
— Amber Williams
CEO, Southwest Medical Center
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School of Medicine
Barbara Apgar, MD, MS, (’76) retires after 40 years from Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan.
- Logan Adams, MD, (’19) joins McLeod Centers for Wellbeing in Charlotte, North Carolina, as medical director.
- Romelia Barba Bernal, MD, receives the 2024 Emerging Liver Scholar Award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. She is an internal medicine resident with TTUHSC.
- John A. Griswold, MD, (Residency ’86) receives the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Burn Association.
- Brandon Haney, MD, receives the 2025 National Faculty Award for Excellence in Resident Education by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He is an assistant professor at TTUHSC Amarillo.
- Michael Nacol, MD, (’80) retires after nearly 39 years. He practiced in various medical positions in Georgetown, Texas.
- Donald Peghee, MD, (Residency ’06) joins Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, Missouri.
- Tanya Pittman, MD, (’93) joins 15th Street Family Care Center in Liberal, Kansas, as a family medicine physician.
- Ariel P. Santos, MD, is selected as chair of the TTUHSC Lubbock School of Medicine Department of Surgery.
- Kim Styrvoky, MD, (’10) joins Orlando Health Cancer Institute in Clermont, Florida. as a pulmonologist.
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Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy
Craig Cox, PharmD, (’02) receives the 2025 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Excellence in Experiential Education Award.
- RoxAnn Dominguez, PharmD, (’03) joins the Texas Pharmacy Association as its chief executive officer.
- Mary Klein, PharmD, (’07) receives the 2024-2025 American Pharmacists Association Fellow Award.
- Monica Mathys, PharmD, is selected in the inaugural class of fellows with the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists. She is a professor of pharmacy practice and regional director of student affairs and admissions at TTUHSC Dallas.
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School of Nursing
Joyce Batcheller, DNP, (’10) is named 2025 Nurse Advisor of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals.
- Bob Dent, DNP, MBA, (’10) joins ProNexus Advisory in Atlanta as a healthcare consultant.
- Stacy Armstrong-Flores, MSN, BS, (’16, ’07) joins Vital Care Urgent Care in Midland, Texas, as a nurse practitioner.
- Heather Guest, PhD, RN, is named the regional dean at TTUHSC Abilene School of Nursing.
- Kelly Moseley, DHSc, MSN, is named regional dean at TTUHSC Odessa School of Nursing.
- Katherine Taylor Pearson, DNP, is named president-elect of the American Nursing Informatics Association. She is an assistant professor in the TTUHSC Lubbock School of Nursing.
- Melanie Richburg, DNP, (’13) is recognized as one of the Texas Hospital Association’s Women to Know in Texas Hospitals, Health Care and Public Policy.
- Christine Walker, DNP, (’16) is named a Change Maker: Borderland Women in Health honoree by Progress321 and El Paso Matters.
- Holly Wei, PhD, RN, is elected to serve on the American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) Board of Directors. She is the dean of the TTUHSC Lubbock School of Nursing.
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Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Susan Bergeson, PhD, receives the Texas Tech University System Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award. She is a University Distinguished Faculty and director of the Biotechnology Program at the TTUHSC Lubbock Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
- Brandt L. Schneider, PhD, steps down as dean of TTUHSC Lubbock Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He was appointed to the position in 2013.
- Luis G. Cuello, PhD, receives the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award. He is the director of the Membrane Protein Core Laboratory and professor of cell physiology and molecular biophysics in the TTUHSC Lubbock Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
- Sumaih Zoubi is selected as a Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. She is a PhD candidate in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Program.
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School of Health Professions
Sixtus Atabong, PA-C, BS, (’05, ’02) is awarded the Diekemper Service Above Self Award from the Lubbock Rotary Club.
- Lynn Jennings, PhD, (’15) is awarded the Exceptional Achievement Award by Texas Career Development Association.
- Jemimah Omavuezi, DMS, MPAS, (’23) joins Vital Care Urgent Care in Midland, Texas as a physician assistant.
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Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health
Duke Appiah, PhD, MPH, receives the Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. He is an associate professor in the TTUHSC School of Population and Public Health.
- Catherine Hudson, DrPH, MPH (‘17) receives her doctorate in Public Health Leadership from the University of Illinois Chicago.
- Stephanie Martinez, MPH, (’24) receives the Outstanding Applied Practice Experience Award by the TTUHSC School of Population and Public Health.
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Friends We’ll Miss
Lana Andrews died on March 16, 2025. She served on the National Advisory Board for around 15 years.
- James K. Burks, MD, died Jan. 22, 2025. He was a professor in the School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine at TTUHSC Odessa for more than 27 years.
- Michael Scott Chamales, MD, (Medicine ’95) died on April 19, 2025. He was the assistant medical director at Covenant Health in Lubbock, Texas.
- Ron L. Cohorn, PhD, died on March 15, 2025. He was a clinical associate professor in the School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics at TTUHSC Odessa.
- Warren Dyer died on Jan. 28, 2025. He was the former assistant vice president of Technology Services at TTUHSC.
- Dustin Elk, MSN, BSN, (Nursing ’15, ’13) died on March 15, 2025. He was a family nurse practitioner in Bonham, Texas.
- Joel Epps, PhD, died on Feb. 28, 2025. He was a founding faculty member for the TTUHSC Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy and worked with the university for 26 years in Amarillo, Texas.
- Virginia Garcia died on Feb. 11, 2025. She was a former team member at the James V. Allred Unit in Wichita Falls, Texas.
- Timothy Hayes died on April 15, 2025. He worked in the Office of the Dean for the School of Medicine for 18 years and was the first president of the TTUHSC Staff Senate.
- J. Pat Hickman died on March 1, 2025. He was a former board member for the Texas Tech Foundation.
- Larry McNeeley died on Feb. 22, 2025. He was a friend of TTUHSC.
- Mario Pena, Jr., MD, MPH, (Medicine ’77) died on April 15, 2025. He was the medical director for UMC Urgent Care at KingsPark in Lubbock, Texas.
- Gabor Racz, MD, an international pioneer in pain medicine, died June 21, 2025. He was first chair of Anesthesiology (1977-1999) at TTUHSC and led Pain Services (1978-2006). He received multiple honors, including co-founding the World Institute of Pain (1993) and being named TTUHSC’s first Grover E. Murray Professor (1996).
- Floyd Reifein, MD, (Medicine ’86) died on March 16, 2025. He was a pediatric anesthesiologist for Chidren’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
- Dustin Lance Richards, PharmD, (Pharmacy ’02) died on Feb. 2, 2025. He was director of Pharmacy and Radiology at Adventist Health in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.
- William “Clay” Stribling died on Dec. 18, 2024. He was a former president and CEO of the Amarillo Area Foundation.
I look forward to collaborating with the new (members such as Holly Wei, PhD, RN) and returning members of the board to magnify the impact AACN has on meeting nursing workforce needs and keeping communities thriving.
— Jean Giddens, PhD, Rn
board chair, Aacn