AOA Honor Medical Society welcomes 67 new members
The UT Southwestern Medical Center chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA) recently inducted 67 new members. The Gamma Chapter of Texas’ Annual Induction and Awards Ceremony banquet took place March 20 at the A.W. Harris Faculty-Alumni Center. The speaker who delivered the Lyman E. Bilhartz, M.D., AOA Lecture at the event was Nobel Laureate Michael Brown, M.D., Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine and Director of the Erik Jonsson Center for Research in Molecular Genetics and Human Disease. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Brown spoke on “Physicians With CLASS.”
AOA members are selected based on high academic standing, leadership among peers, professionalism, a firm sense of ethics, promise of future success in medicine, and a commitment to serve in the school and community.
Alpha Omega Alpha Class of 2025
Inductees are (asterisk denotes Junior AOA recognition):
Ali Abbas
Vikram Aggarwal*
Ahmed Alshaikhsalama*
Dru Annapureddy
Holden Archer*
Drew Carlton
Tyler Cepica
Sophia Chan*
Benjamin Conover
Parker Davis
Anthony Dragun
Jenny Foster
Natalie Gault*
Prajwal Gowda*
Harrison Hicks*
Emily Hoffer*
Gretchen Hoyer*
Ruchita Iyer
Courtney Koplyay
Katherine Lake*
Emerson Lout
Priya Mekala*
David Mikhail
Wyatt Miller*
Tanner Mitton*
Madeline Ngo
Michael O’Connell*
Chisom Ogu*
Tenzin Palkyi
Sahiti Patibandla
Camille Powers
Jai Prasadh*
Mahad Rehman*
Jonathan Rodriguez*
Mikayla Roof*
Ashley Smith
Kendra Stephen
Nina Stephen
Cyrus Steppe*
Meena Tadros*
Albert Tang
Krista Thompson
Pooja Venkatesh
Ethan Wang
Jason Wang*
Cameron Wynn
Bill Zhang*
Jinghan Zhang
Lucia Zhang
AOA inducted five faculty members in 2025:
Rashmi Arora, M.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Sujata Bhushan, M.D., Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine
Michelle Caraballo, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Seth Hawkins, M.D., Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Elizabeth Paulk, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine
Thirteen residents were inducted into AOA:
Rachel Beck, M.D.
Upasana Chandra, M.D.
Mounir Contreras Cejin, M.D.
Cecilia Dusek, M.D.
Lilly Fang, M.D.
Alia Hemeida, M.D.
Aisha Julakanti, M.D.
Justine Ker, M.D.
Lauren King, M.D.
Steven Montalvo, M.D.
Isabelle Muldur, M.D.
Victoria Ragland, M.D.
Lindsay Szauter, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Brown, a Regental Professor, holds The W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
Dr. Paulk holds the Distinguished Professorship in Palliative Care, in Honor of Steven Leach, M.D.