Dr. Sunny Lai

Dr. Sunny Lai has always been the type of person to serve others. So it’s no surprise that he has been honored for that trait during his UT Southwestern Medical School education, helping fellow students with their own studies.

But Dr. Lai, the winner of the 2018 Vanatta, Hesser, Schmalstieg Excellence in Tutoring Award, took a very difficult path to get here, and it’s instructive for us all.

“Transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder, isn’t just an important part of my medical history,” said Dr. Lai, who will begin a residency this summer in internal medicine at UT Southwestern. “It’s an important part of my personal history, and a big part of why I went into medicine. From the age of about 5 years old, I was very connected to the health care system. The way doctors cared for me was the major factor in me choosing this career path.”

During his medical education, Dr. Lai’s commitment to tutoring kept a number of fellow students on a steady career path with him.

“Sunny is well-deserving of this award, having served with distinction since 2014, including while he was a Dean’s Research Scholar,” said Carol Wortham, Student Academic Support Services Manager. “Not only is he known for meticulous preparation and test-quality questions at his sessions, Sunny has always been generous in sharing his work with fellow tutors. We will miss him.”

As a member of the Dean’s Research Scholars Program, Dr. Lai received research funding from the Center for Translational Medicine via a National Institutes of Health award. He took a year off of school after his third year to pursue this research.

“I worked in the lab of Dr. Yang Xie, Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences and Bioinformatics, studying differences in treatment and outcomes along socioeconomic lines in small cell lung cancer.”

Despite the rigors of that program, he tutored several courses – for three of his four years – and became a peer mentor in the Medical School’s Academic Colleges program.

“Sunny is a true academician with a passion for learning,” said Dr. Ellen Grishman, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and a mentor. “He researches topics until he understands them, then he uses the information to practice evidence-based medicine.

“Sunny’s passion has lifted those who are struggling to learn material. He will not give mentees the answer, but he will guide them to it. He is the type of student who reminds older physicians of why they remain in academic medicine; he is able to break down complex subjects into easily digestible bites, with an almost infinite amount of patience.”

A native of the Houston suburb of Katy, Dr. Lai graduated summa cum laude in biology from UT Austin. He is the son of Taiwanese parents who moved to the United States to pursue graduate educations. His father is an industrial engineer and his mother is an accountant. His younger brother is a third-year medical student at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth.

Following his residency in internal medicine, Dr. Lai will consider a fellowship in either hematology and oncology, infectious disease, or nephrology.