Alumni updates

News and updates from the college's alumni

Cere

Melissa Cere, master’s in physical therapy ’02, was recognized at UF’s Gator100 ceremony in February. Her practice, Kinetix Physical Therapy in Gainesville, is one of the world’s 100 fastest-growing, Gator-owned or Gator-led businesses for 2019.

Ying HeYing He, doctorate in biostatistics ’14, was named to the UF Alumni Association’s “40 Under 40.” The award recognizes alumni under the age of 40 whose achievements positively reflect The Gator Nation. She is an assistant professor in the department of mathematics at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. Her main research interest includes adaptive clinical trial designs, multiple testing and statistical modeling. She also collaborates with multiple research entities on investigating Parkinson’s disease and other health-related problems.

Sonam Lasopa, doctorate in epidemiology ’16, will lead a new a program in the state of Sikkim in India along with Senthil Reddi, Ph.D., a fellow former trainee of UF’s Fogarty International Center Indo-US Training in Chronic Non-Communicable Disorders & Diseases Across the Lifespan program. The new program seeks to understand the causes of suicide and suicide attempts among people in Sikkim and develop preventive strategies and interventions to reduce mortality due to suicides.

Becky (Summers) Piazza, bachelor’s in occupational therapy ’01, graduated with her clinical doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) from Chatham University in December 2018. She recently accepted the academic fieldwork coordinator faculty position at the University of St. Augustine after working for UF Health Shands Rehab Hospital for the past 17 years. She continues to work PRN for the UF Fixel Center for Neurological Diseases, supporting the outpatient multidisciplinary traumatic brain injury concussion clinic. In January, she received the Outstanding Clinical Contributions award from the UF department of occupational therapy during the Sandra Edwards Colloquium.

Kurt Roeser, doctorate in physical therapy ’12, qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon with a race time of 2:17:55.

Pablo Saldana, doctorate in rehabilitation science ’12, gave two presentations at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference held in Denver in October, including a symposium session on the employment-related issues of people with cystic fibrosis. Last year, his manuscript titled, “More than a job: Career development of individuals with cystic fibrosis” was accepted for publication in the Journal of Work.


Yanes, JohnJuan “John” Yanes
, master’s in health administration/master’s in business administration ’88, was recently recognized as a Certified Professional in Patient Safety by the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety. He is the CEO of Andalusia Health in Alabama.

Five public health alumni were inducted into UF’s chapter of Delta Omega, the public health honor society, at a ceremony in May. They include Shantrel Canidate, master’s in public health ’12 and doctorate in public health ’17, Lisa Chacko, master’s in public health ’05, Jennifer Fiddner, master’s in public health ’09, Blosmeli Leon, master’s in public health ’14, and Kiarash Rahmanian, master’s in public health ’15.