Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine’s 2026 Honors Convocation was held last week to recognize and celebrate outstanding achievement at the medical school.
About 300 people attended the event held in Oakland University’s Oakland Center. Per tradition, Honors Convocation is held the day before commencement for the year’s graduating class.
Achievements celebrated during the event included induction into medical honor societies, outstanding performances in clerkships, research accomplishments, scholarships, and more. (See complete list below.)
After welcoming everyone, Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, acknowledged donors Dick Amacher and Tom Dearlove, both in attendance. Their respective gifts have led to scholarships being awarded to OUWB students.
Next, recent inductees into several medical honor societies were recognized. They were Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA), Pathology Honor Society, and Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). Students also were recognized for completing more than 150 hours of service with Compass Service Honors.
Following a brief military promotion ceremony for Bryan Noirot, M.D., to captain, it was time for individual awards and accomplishments.
Christian Santiago, M.D., received Outstanding Performance in Neurology Clerkship, the Drs. Neelam and Narayan Verma Endowed Scholarship for Neurosciences, Compass Service Honors, and was recognized as a GHHS inductee.
In March, Santiago matched in neurology at University of Central Florida/HCA Healthcare GME.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “It solidifies my own career goals given that several of my awards were related to neurosciences and neurology. It tells me that this is what I’m supposed to do.”
Deepali Tailor, M.D., was among those to receive a Class of 2026 M1 Award for Outstanding Academic Performance, the Ann Nicholson Community Service Scholarship (2023-2024), and Compass Service Honors.
Tailor matched in internal medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve received at OUWB, and grateful for the opportunity to be recognized for my achievements.”
Joel Karsten, M.D., was recognized as an AOA inductee, for Compass Service Honors, the 2025 Kenneth J. Matzick Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year Honorable Mention, the Marvin and Betty Danto Scholarship, and the Schostak Family Scholarship.
Karsten matched in internal medicine at University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor.
“It feels great…and it good to be around so many other amazing people, too,” he said. “I love my classmates and it’s good to see everyone celebrated.”
Here is a list of honorees from the 2026 OUWB Honors Convocation:
Awards for Outstanding Student Achievements
Class of 2026 M1 Award for Outstanding Academic Performance
Recipients: Forrest Bohler, Jessica Cummings, Ethan Dimock, Deepali Tailor
Class of 2026 M2 Award for Outstanding Academic Performance
Recipients: Forrest Bohler, Kaitlyn Butzin, Jessica Cummings, Mark Whitton
Class of 2026 M3 Clerkship Awards
Outstanding Performance in the Family Medicine Clerkship
Recipient: Nicholas Petrykowski
Outstanding Performance in the Internal Medicine Clerkship
Recipient: Jessica Cummings
Outstanding Performance in the Neurology Clerkship
Recipient: Christian Santiago
Outstanding Performance in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship
Recipient: Matthew Cederman
Outstanding Performance in the Pediatrics Clerkship
Recipient: Brenda Bortis
Outstanding Performance in the Psychiatry Clerkship
Recipient: Paoula Choobchian, Felipe Guerrero
Outstanding Performance in the Surgery Clerkship
Recipient: Morgan Porter
Class of 2025 M4 Clerkship Awards
Outstanding Performance in the Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Clerkship
Recipient: Madison McClune
Outstanding Performance in the Diagnostic Medicine Clerkship
Recipient: Nicholas Petrykowski
Outstanding Performance in the Emergency Medicine Clerkship
Recipient: Frosilda Pushani
Glasgow-Rubin Certificate of Commendation for Academic Achievement
Recipients: Kaitlyn Butzin, Jessica Cummings, Kaithlyn Duong, Lindsay Gallagher, Elena Ghezzi, Kaitlyn Quach, Jaclyn Talbot
Embark Competitive Scholarship Awards
2025 Kenneth J. Matzick Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year
Recipient: Colin Van Wagoner
Submission title: Associate Urogenital Injuries Following Pelvic Trauma in Pediatrics, a 15-Year Single-Center Retrospective Study. Mentor: Ehah Saleh, M.D.
2025 Kenneth J. Matzick Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year Honorable Mention
Recipient: Ava Harvey
Submission title: Oral Feeding Patterns of Prematurely Born Infants and Their Relationship to Expressive Language Outcome. Mentor: Rawad Obeid, M.D.
Recipient: Amy Lin
Submission title: Association between Celiac Disease and Uncontrolled Hemoglobin A1c Levels in Type 1 Diabetes Pediatric Patients: A Retrospective Chart Review. Mentors: Virginia Uhley, Ph.D., R.D. and Ramin Homayouni, Ph.D.
Recipient: Joel Karsten
Submission title: Association between Neighborhood Socioeconomics and Mortality in Community-Acquired Sepsis. Mentors: Paul Bozyk, M.D.; and Ramin Homayouni, Ph.D.
2025 Ravitz Foundation Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year 1st Runner-Up
Recipient: Min Young Kim
Submission title: Effects of Resolvin-D2 in lipopolysaccharide-induced retinal inflammation. Mentor: Mohamed Al-Shabrawey, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D.
2025 Ravitz Foundation Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year Honorable Mention
Recipient: Forrest Bohler
Submission title: Medical Student Attitudes Towards Advanced Practice Provider Independence Legislation. Mentor: Varna Taranikanti, Ph.D.
Recipient: Riya Chhabra
Submission title: Component-Level Analysis of the SEP-1 3-Hour Bundle and its Association With 30-day Mortality after Sepsis. Mentors: Paul Bozyk, M.D.; and Ramin Homayouni, Ph.D.
Recipient: Marwa Saad
Submission title: Analysis of ChatGPT-3.5’s Potential in Generating NBME-Standard Pharmacology Questions: What Can Be Improved? Mentors: Changiz Mohiyeddini, Ph.D.; and Tanvirul Hye, Ph.D.
2025 Ann V. Nicholson Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year 2nd Runner-Up
Recipient: Jessica Cummings
Submission title: Prevalence of Eating Disorder Risk Among Medical Students in a United States Medical School. Mentors: Virginia Uhley, Ph.D.; and Abram Brummett, Ph.D., HEC-C
2025 Newman Family Foundation Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year Honorable Mention
Recipient: Nidhi Navaratna
Submission title: Rare but Aggressive: Clinical and Prognostic Features of Metaplastic Breast Cancer. Mentors: Mohammad Chisti, M.D.; and Mariam Aoun, M.D.
2025 Nicholson Embark Program Competitive Scholarship, Manuscript of the Year Honorable Mention
Recipient: Dhun Chauhan
Submission title: Gender-Based Disparities in Academic Orthopaedic Surgery Physician Compensation in 2023. Mentors: Charles Day, M.D., MBA; and Dwayne Baxa, Ph.D.
OUWB Scholarship Awards
The Ann Nicholson Community Service Scholarship
Recipient: Kaithlyn Duong (2023-2024), Felicia Fong (2023-2024), Katilyn Quach (2023-2024), Deepali Tailor (2023-2024), Cindy Tran (2023-2024)
The Marvin and Betty Danto Scholarship
Recipient: Joel Karsten (2025-2026)
The W.J. and Lillian Kemler Scholarship
Recipient: Ava Harvey (2025-2026)
The Christine and Thomas Dearlove Scholarship
Recipient: Talon Shumway
The Richard and Barbara Amacher Scholarship
Recipient: Maya Kardouh
Drs. Neelam and Narayan Verma Endowed Scholarship for Neurosciences
Recipient: Christian Santiago (2025-2026)
The OUWB Scholarship
Recipients: Forrest Bohler (2023-2024, 2024-2025), Ava Harvey (2024-2025), Amy Lin (2025-2026), Evan Sangster (2023-2024)
The OUWB Community Student Scholarship
Recipients: Forrest Bohler (2025-2026), Jessica Ngo (2022-2023), Ryan Victor-Joseph (2024-2025)
Corewell Health Foundation Scholarship Awards
The Dean’s Scholarship
Recipients: Riya Chhabra (2024-2025), Kaitlyn Paez (2024-2025), Deena Sukhon (2023-2024)
Corewell Health Foundation Scholarship
Recipients: Reba Aldaire (2024-2025), Imran Bitar (2022-2023), Forrest Bohler (2022-2023), Riya Chhabra (2022-2023), Nathan Huang (2022-2023), Maya Jaradi (2022-2023), Derrik Nghiem (2023-2024), Kaitlyn Paez (2022-2023), Frosilda Pushani (2022-2023), Sahana Shankar (2022-2023), Deena Sukhon (2022-2023), Jaclyn Talbot (2023-2024), Claire Wang (2023-2024)
The Schostak Family Scholarship
Recipients: Lindsay Gallagher (2023-2024), Joel Karsten (2023-2024), Claire Kopachik (2023-2024), Joseph Solomon (2023-2024)
The Pinnamaneni Family and Friends Scholarship
Recipients: Felicia Fong (2024-2025), Colin Van Wagoner (2024-2025)
Awards of Distinction
Excellence in Culture, Leadership & Community Engagement Awards
Excellence in Culture, Leadership & Community Engagement Faculty Award
Recipient: Payal Shah, M.D., Associate Residency Director, Emergency Medicine, and Assistant Dean, Diversity & Inclusion
Excellence in Culture, Leadership & Community Engagement Student Award
Recipient: Deena Sukhon, Class of 2026
OUWB Staff Community Engagement Award
Recipient: Stephanie Marcincavage, Director, Clinical Skills Training and Simulation Center
Awards for Outstanding Faculty Achievements
Awards for Educational Excellence
Foundational Medical Studies Educator of the Year
Recipient: Serena Kuang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Clinical Educator of the Year
Recipient: Wendy Wiesend, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Pathology
Foundational Medical Studies Excellence in Research Award
Recipient: Vardan Karamyan, Pharm.D.,Ph.D., professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Clinical Excellence in Research Award
Recipient: Andrew Zillgitt, D.O., associate professor, Department of Neurology
Foundational Medical Studies Excellence in Service Award
Recipient: Rose Wedemeyer, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies; director, Education Training
Golden Apple Awards
Class of 2028 Foundational Medical Studies Faculty Award
Recipient: Anna Kochanowska Karamyan, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Class of 2028 Clinical Faculty Award
Recipient: Leon Pedell, M.D., FACP, adjunct instructor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Class of 2027 Foundational Medical Studies Faculty Award
Recipient: Changiz Mohiyeddini, Ph.D., professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Class of 2027 Clinical Faculty Award
Recipient: Leon Pedell, M.D., FACP, adjunct instructor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies
Class of 2026 Teaching Resident/Fellow Award
Recipient: Peter Awad, M.D., Department of Surgery
Class of 2026 Clinical Faculty Award
Recipient: Florian Bukovec, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Award of Honor
Michelle D. Raible Award
Recipient: Zerick Dill, Class of 2029
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