Issuu

M A G A Z I N E SUMMER 2026

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN

MEDICAL EDUCATON AND HEALTH CARE

W e s t Vi r g i n i a S c h o ol of O s t e opat h i c M ed i c i n e

• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE Writers Ken Bays Tiffany Wright

Designers Megan Kirkham Abigail Sinclair

12 •

D.O. Commencement Ceremony

18 • MSBS Commencement Ceremony 20 • Graduation Awards Ceremony 22 • Legacy graduates 24 • Graduate profile: Ethan Galloway, D.O. 26 • Graduate profile: Brian Hall, D.O. 28 • Graduate profile: Emily Sperber, D.O. 30 • Graduate profile: Shenique Reid 32 • Research profile: Appalachian biotherapeutics

34 • Maier Foundation 36 • Six new awards distributed at Spring Awards Ceremony

40 • Students secured competitive residency placements

42 • Class of 2029 White Coat Ceremony

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48 •

Photographers Swarm named dean

Mary Claire Ickes Jesse Jones

44 • West Virginia Executive Health Care Hall of Fame: Katherine Calloway, D.O.

45 • West Virginia Wonder Woman: Jill Cochran, Ph.D.

46 • West Virginia Rural Health Association awards: Dwight Bundy, D.O., and Alexandria Arthur, D.O.

47 • The Health Plan student scholarships 49 • Alumni nationally recognized at osteopathic medical conference

50 • Alumni profile: Ravi Yarid, D.O. 52 • Alumni profile: Brittanie West, D.O. 56 • New hire and transitions 58 • WVSOM Alumni Association board members

59 • Class notes 60 • Gifts to WVSOM

Megan Kirkham

Contributor Marcus Constantino

A message from the president

At WVSOM we work hard to stay at the forefront of advances in osteopathic medical education. The use of emerging technology is part of that effort. It’s in our mission statement, which promises “cutting-edge training,” and our current strategic framework, which reminds us to “invest in the infrastructure, technologies, systems and processes” that will ensure the school’s future success. Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s mind today, and it’s proving to be transformational in many sectors. In medical education, a new accreditation standard on AI will be added to ensure that digital competencies are included in the curriculum. The technology is also changing how students approach learning, using AI to personalize their education. In health care, AI is changing the way clinicians practice and how research is conducted. Medical schools can’t afford to ignore the role artificial intelligence will play in the future of the profession, so we have dedicated this issue of the WVSOM Magazine to exploring ways we are using these rapidly evolving tools.

“Thanks to a dedicated group of technology leaders, we are finding innovative ways to incorporate AI into our instruction, our workflows and even our recruitment efforts — all without sacrificing the human touch that’s central to the osteopathic philosophy.” Mission Statement The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine empowers students to find health within themselves and the people and the communities they serve.

Thanks to a dedicated group of technology leaders, we are finding innovative ways to incorporate AI into our instruction, workflows and even recruitment efforts — all without sacrificing the human touch central to the osteopathic philosophy. We’re training physicians to use artificial intelligence safely and ethically while prioritizing individual knowledge, experience-based analysis and real-world skills. A tool is only useful when the person operating it recognizes its strengths and weaknesses; physicians need to understand AI’s capabilities and limitations in order to employ these technologies effectively for optimal patient care. I’m proud that WVSOM has produced graduates who have become leaders in artificial intelligence, such as Ravi Yarid, D.O., who envisions osteopathic medicine as a profession that could lead the way in incorporating AI literacy into its operations, and Brittanie West, D.O., who uses AI to teach physicians to communicate more clearly with patients. Adam Goodcoff, D.O., another WVSOM alumnus, articulately addressed artificial intelligence in his keynote address at the Class of 2026 graduation. You’ll also learn about our Graduation Awards Ceremony, where students were awarded more than $260,000 in scholarships, thanks to our generous donors. You can read profiles of several new graduates; discover research into natural remedies from Appalachia led by a member of WVSOM’s biomedical sciences faculty; and read about faculty and alumni who have received state and national recognition. Our newest graduates reached a 100% residency placement rate for the fourth consecutive year, an achievement that’s also celebrated in these pages. As always, I continue to be amazed by the resourcefulness and talent of our aspiring physicians. For all artificial intelligence can do, nothing can replace the imagination and ambition of those who dream of a future spent healing their fellow human beings. Best regards,

We advance health and well‑being in West Virginia and beyond through cutting‑edge training, pioneering research and immersive clinical experience. By blending innovation, compassion and a deep‑rooted dedication to osteopathic principles, we are shaping the future of health. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 3

THE FUTURE IS NOW

MEDICAL SCHOOLS AND CLINICIANS NAVIGATE THE EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Imagine entering a pod-like device — think a more advanced version of a blood pressure kiosk — and leaving with a personalized health report and treatment plan. You might sit in a chair that measures your weight, put on a jacket that tracks your vitals and hear, “Your weight is a little high for your height; can I develop a meal plan for you?” or “Your heart rate is high; would you like to schedule an appointment with a primary care physician?” These ideas are being explored through innovations such as ForwardHealth’s CarePods. Though early models have faced technical and adoption challenges, Machelle Linsenmeyer, Ed.D., WVSOM’s vice president of institutional effectiveness and chief information officer, said that as these approaches evolve, a world shaped by AI-enabled health technologies is rapidly approaching. “I see that being not too far off,” said Linsenmeyer, who chairs WVSOM’s AI Task Force and participates in the AI Advisory Workgroup with the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), an organization that supports U.S. osteopathic medical schools. “On AACOM’s task force, we talked about the impact a device like this could make in rural settings where it’s hard for patients to access providers to get individualized plans. These ideas could have huge impacts across the state of West Virginia.” More broadly, several emerging technologies point to extensive transformations ahead. “Digital twins” — virtual replicas of organs such as the heart — are being used at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University to improve treatment planning for complex conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias. AI-designed medications are advancing, with companies such as Insilico Medicine moving candidates into clinical trials. Autonomous surgical systems can perform suturing and other tasks. As AI reshapes medical education, clinical practice and research, WVSOM is working to integrate the technology across its curriculum

Machelle Linsenmeyer, Ed.D. 4 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

and operations while considering risk, ethics and community impact. In 2025, the school established a new strategic framework to serve as a guide for the next five years, and artificial intelligence plays a role in several of the pillars supporting that framework, including driving sustainability and innovation throughout WVSOM. WVSOM’s AI Task Force incorporates feedback from campus constituents ranging from faculty and students to departments in charge of academic technology, library resources, admissions, marketing, business, information technology and other components of the school’s operations. The group was established in April 2025 to work toward finding ways to use AI-based tools to assist in medical education and increase work efficiency.

“We want to position ourselves as a leader in AI, so we’re looking at projects we can do outside WVSOM that would enhance rural and primary care. It’s all visionary right now, but the more we learn, the better we’ll be able to support our communities.” Machelle Linsenmeyer, Ed.D., WVSOM vice president of institutional effectiveness and chief information officer

AI AS A LEARNING TOOL AI has existed as a concept since the 1950s and was used in primitive forms in the 1970s and ’80s. By the 1990s, AI was helping to solve problems in technological fields, and as the internet facilitated access to large data pools in the 2000s, its usefulness increased significantly. In 2022 and 2023, with the launch of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and other easily accessible tools based on large language models, AI reached the mainstream, finding users in nearly all industries. Artificial intelligence is already embedded across WVSOM’s academic environment. What began as students independently adopting AI-based learning tools has evolved into a coordinated institutional effort, with faculty developing and piloting applications to enhance the learning experience. Initially used to generate exam questions and course activities, AI now supports adaptive learning, clinical reasoning and individualized learning plans. Linsenmeyer said the technology is particularly impactful in assessment, helping faculty streamline grading workflows. “Usually, faculty have to manually grade for 200 students. But with AI, they can just check to make sure they agree with its suggestions. We didn’t just throw this out there; for example, we took scholarly activities students submitted and put them through the AI agent, then refined the process to get to a point where we felt grading was being done accurately,” she said. Students also are engaging with sophisticated AI tools that help them generate structured study materials, simulate patient encounters, support board study and standardized exam review, and receive feedback aligned with clinical expectations. Linsenmeyer said the creation of the school’s task force was driven by the fact that medical students were early adopters of AI-based learning tools. “Students were creating AI agents and developing prompts to make studying more efficient,” Linsenmeyer said. “We had students who knew tools faculty didn’t know, and we didn’t have policies about what students could or couldn’t do with AI. We needed to bring stakeholders together and be more intentional about how we integrate these tools.” Barry Ndeh, of WVSOM’s Class of 2027, was introduced to AI toward the end of his time as an undergraduate and began using it as a study tool during his first year of medical school, prompting it to create lecture outlines, practice questions and flashcards. “So much of my time was spent trying to create study materials that I didn’t have time to actually study. When I started using AI to make the materials, I was able to cut maybe five hours a day from my study time, and my grades shot up,” he said. Ndeh shared his agents with classmates. At first, the tools he generated didn’t gain much traction, but by the start of his second year, students were taking notice — especially after he hosted an artificial intelligence seminar for members of the Class of 2028.

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WVSOM continues to expand simulation-based learning through AI-enhanced platforms in its Clinical Evaluation Center (CEC). These systems provide increasingly realistic patient interactions with improved dialogue, emotional responsiveness and individualized feedback. Emily Thomas, D.O., medical director of the CEC, noted that the center changed in 2025 to a virtual reality clinical simulation platform powered by AI. “The new platform, Lumeto, uses generative AI, which allows for more realistic dialogue between students and the simulated patient, with fewer pauses and a wider range of emotional states, cadence and voice quality compared to our previous virtual reality platform,” Thomas said. “The platform uses AI for in-goggle experiences and has added a screen-based component that allows students to complete practice simulations from home with meaningful, curated feedback.” Earlier this year, WVSOM’s administration approved an elective devoted to AI that will be offered for the first time this fall, as well as the formation of an Artificial Intelligence Club for students. Emerging technologies bring challenges as well as benefits. At WVSOM, students’ early adoption of AI highlighted the importance of safeguarding intellectual property and preventing unintended data exposure. “Students didn’t realize we have faculty whose content is their property, and if they were putting faculty materials into a public large language model, the model will be trained using that information,” Linsenmeyer said. “During orientation for that academic year, we educated students to set up permissions or use protected resources so that what they put in won’t be distributed.” Katie Williams, Ph.D., WVSOM’s senior director of academic technology and faculty development, said that although AI and the changes it brings can be alarming to some, its role is to supplement traditional medical education, not replace it. “There are real concerns about the implications of AI, such as the idea that it might replace jobs in education. It’s important to remember that while AI is great with information, it can’t replace the relationships faculty and students build in learning environments. Artificial intelligence can help synthesize information, but educators are the ones who help learners take the knowledge gained through AI and transform it into real-world skills they’ll bring into clinics and hospitals,” Williams said. Linsenmeyer noted that as the use of AI modifies health care delivery, national competency standards for medical students related to AI are being developed. She said AACOM and the Association of American Medical Colleges are developing competency frameworks that emphasize data literacy, ethical use of AI, clinical validation and the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated outputs. “Early exposure to AI equips future physicians to appraise tools, understand their strengths and limitations and collaborate effectively with data scientists — skills increasingly required in AI-augmented clinical environments,” she said.

Barry Ndeh, Class of 2027

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“When I’m considering using artificial intelligence, I weigh the pros and cons. If it’s an answer I could obtain from a textbook in one minute, getting it in 10 seconds is not of huge value.” Christopher Kennedy, D.O., WVSOM associate professor of clinical sciences

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION WVSOM continues to play a leadership role in advancing AI in medical education. Pre-conference workshops Linsenmeyer and Ndeh conducted at AACOM’s Educating Leaders conference, largely attended by deans and faculty from U.S. osteopathic medical schools, have focused on advanced AI capabilities, including agent development, prompt engineering strategies, and redesigning educational and clinical workflows. The student tools developed at WVSOM were especially popular with the AACOM audience. “It blew them away what you can do with it,” Ndeh said. “There’s an application that lets me plug in a topic and AI will teach me based on my favorite show — for example, ectopic pregnancy using a made-up scene from Family Guy. I showed them and they said, ‘Wow. This is insane.’” The sessions highlighted how AI can personalize learning experiences, improve efficiency and support faculty and students in navigating complex educational environments. Linsenmeyer and others also have participated in the development of national resources as part of the AACOM AI Hub website, focused on strengthening AI governance, investing in AI leadership, expanding workforce training, supporting secure data experimentation, and managing risks related to privacy, accuracy, bias and compliance. Additionally, WVSOM is one of the pioneers — and one of two osteopathic schools represented — of a multi-institution AI practice exchange through the International Association of Medical Science Educators, which develops and delivers AI training for faculty and staff across osteopathic and allopathic medical schools.

FROM CLASSROOM TO CLINIC The effect of artificial intelligence becomes even more pronounced in clinical practice. Many physicians now use AI-assisted tools to streamline documentation and support diagnostic decision-making. Brittanie West, D.O., a WVSOM alumna and family medicine physician at WVU Medicine United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, W.Va., uses generative AI to aid in clinical documentation, among other aspects of her job. [See story on page 50.] In that respect, she said, artificial intelligence can help physicians focus more on what they’re trained to do. Christopher Kennedy, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 7

“My notes are written for me as we go, so I don’t have to worry about getting them done while I’m with a patient,” West said. “That means a 20-minute visit is actually 20 minutes in the room with you instead of five minutes. I’m able to make more eye contact with my patients, and I’m able to focus on the human connection that’s part of osteopathic medicine.” Christopher Kennedy, D.O., an associate professor in WVSOM’s Department of Clinical Sciences and a Class of 2017 alumnus, uses AI in multiple capacities in his family medicine practice at WVSOM Health (formerly the Robert C. Byrd Clinic) in Lewisburg, W.Va. Like many physicians, Kennedy uses an AI-powered platform to help with difficult clinical cases.

“AI can do something no human can do, which is to tell you what trends in data look like without your biases. I have a bias, because I know what I think I should see. But AI just examines the trends.” Brian Hendricks, Ph.D.,

“One of the most commonly used platforms is executive director of WVSOM’s Center OpenEvidence,” he said. “If you have a particularly complex for Rural and Community Health patient scenario and you’re not sure exactly what to do, you query the AI. It gives you advice and provides links to original articles so you can look at them to educate yourself. Initially it was pulling from The New England Journal of Medicine and a couple of other well-received journals, and now it pulls from other reputable sources, too. I’ve found it to be very accurate.” Kennedy recently met with a diabetic patient who had multiple food allergies. With the help of AI, he was able to offer suggestions that met the patient’s intersecting nutritional limitations. “The diet they were trying to follow was tricky because they had allergies to things a diabetic would normally eat as alternatives. I asked it to generate a handout with foods in a typical American diet a person could eat if they have these allergies and that would not raise their blood sugar,” he said. He explained that some intensive care units use AI-enabled analytics systems to track patient data — vital signs and lab results, for example — and flag patients at highest risk of deterioration. This can help teams make decisions about prioritizing attention among multiple critically ill patients. “There are ICUs at major health centers that feed patients’ metrics into a system and have AI constantly monitor a group of patients so it can alert the team if one is declining,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s going on; it alerts you to the patient who appears to be going downhill the fastest, so that the ICU team can give that patient the most attention.” On a more basic level, platforms employing artificial intelligence are being used for tasks such as interpreting radiographic images. Kennedy said these tools work by comparing an image with large pools of similar images. “There are programs that will read a chest X-ray and let you ask, ‘Is there pneumonia?’ It pulls thousands of chest X-rays that look comparable, and of those thousands, it knows how many actually had pneumonia. It won’t tell you yes or no, but it might say, ‘The chance is 90% based on what I see in this part of the lung,’ and it will give you a justification for why it thinks that,” he said.

PHYSICIANS FIRST, TECH SECOND Still, as helpful as such tools can be, Kennedy thinks AI should be used only to support clinical decision-making, not as a substitute for human judgment and research. “I tell residents I supervise to never take AI at face value. Verify the information for yourself by checking the sources,” he said. “The data it pulls is generally accurate but I haven’t gotten to the point where I feel comfortable using it as my ‘second brain.’ I use it as a query tool to help me search faster.” Kennedy trains physicians to be judicious in their use of the technology. AI is a fast-growing contributor to the rising consumption of electricity, since training large models can require enormous amounts of energy. “Health care professionals should use AI only when necessary,” he said. “There is certainly value in efficiency, but we also have to take into consideration the consequences of its use. Data centers are huge consumers of water and energy, so it’s environmentally costly. When I’m considering using artificial intelligence, I weigh the pros and cons. If it’s an answer I could obtain from a textbook in one minute, getting it in 10 seconds is not of huge value.” According to Andrew Kelso, Ph.D., WVSOM’s director of faculty affairs, the use of AI in medicine comes with other concerns, too. Kelso, who also teaches medical ethics to students in the school’s D.O. and Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences programs, warned that physicians must stay vigilant about patient privacy concerns when taking advantage of the efficiencies AI-based tools offer. “An increasing number of students and practitioners already use AI applications for dictation or taking notes during clinical visits. If you use a database to train AI that includes patients’ personal information, there’s a chance the information could be exposed,” he said. “Because of that, it’s important to ensure that there’s no way for someone unauthorized to access your notes. Your systems must be secure.” 8 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Additionally, Kelso said, any artificial intelligence tool is only as accurate as the data it was trained on. AI tends to reflect information that initially applied to a mostly heterogeneous population, and if certain populations are underrepresented in the training data, AI may not recognize how diseases present in those groups, which can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses. “Some of the data used to build AI came from sources that didn’t include much diversity — they’ve been found to have mostly been from one economic or social group. In health care, much of it came from studies at large health care centers or large research projects that didn’t include many minority groups. Any response the AI gives winds up biased toward the data it was built on, so physicians should be aware of that and recognize when there are issues that might affect patient care,” Kelso said. Linsenmeyer is working on research related to the use of artificial intelligence in rural medicine in conjunction with administrators and faculty from Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences and Brigham Young University School of Medicine. The study will document and examine biases and gaps in AI models that could affect their usefulness in rural areas. “AI models are typically built in urban settings, so when a rural physician uses an AI tool, sometimes nuances unique to that setting aren’t picked up,” she said. “A physician could miss a diagnosis because it’s missing things commonly seen in rural settings but not urban ones.”

AI’S ROLE IN RESEARCH Public health and medical researchers were early adopters of tools that incorporate artificial intelligence, thanks to its ability to work with larger amounts of data than humans typically can process. Brian Hendricks, Ph.D., executive director of WVSOM’s Center for Rural and Community Health, said the technology has been used in complex statistical analysis for some time. “Major improvements to forecasting methods, such as neural networks, occurred after 2010,” Hendricks said. “A common application of forecasting is in time series analysis. Researchers have data over a period of time, and want to predict what will occur or identify shifts in trends after an intervention is applied — a policy change, a change in medical practice, a new surgical procedure. AI helps forecast the impact that change is going to have.” One application of AI specific to wellness is mediator analysis. “Mediators are factors that interrupt the causal relationship between a change in behavior and outcome. An example is dietary adherence and its effect on nutritional education and A1C reductions for people with diabetes. We’ve typically only been able to analyze one mediator at a time, but AI helps us include as many mediators as are reasonable and analyze them all at once to examine which have the most impact on patient health,” he said.

Chad Burns WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 9

“It’s important to remember that while AI is great with information, it can’t replace the relationships faculty and students build in learning environments.” Katie Williams, Ph.D.,

WVSOM senior director of academic technology and faculty development

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hendricks served as a national domain lead for the National Institutes of Health’s National COVID Cohort Collaborative, providing statistical support to investigators nationwide and organizing domain members to offer methodological contributions. The project collected clinical data relevant to the SARS CoV-2 virus, including information from about 10 million patients at the time of Hendricks’ service. Researchers applied AI methods to predict patient outcomes, such as whether a patient was hospitalized, intubated or placed on ventilators. This enabled consistent measurement, tracking and outcome assessment. Artificial intelligence can be especially useful in generating hypotheses for researchers to evaluate, Hendricks said. “AI can do something no human can do, which is to tell you what trends in data look like without your biases,” he said. “I have a bias, because I know what I think I should see. But AI just examines the trends.”

CREATING EFFICIENCIES WVSOM’s Information Technology Department is at the heart of the institution’s artificial intelligence efforts. IT staff help others at the school use AI securely and in ways that prevent their information from being used to train external models. Chad Burns, executive director of information technology, said the department also uses artificial intelligence in its own operations. “We use AI every day to solve problems,” Burns said. “For example, Microsoft has thousands of pages of documentation, and sometimes you need to see one piece of information from it in order to fix an issue someone is having. We use AI to synthesize all that information and give us just the paragraphs that are helpful.” Artificial intelligence also is increasing efficiencies in coding, Burns explained. “The Clinical Evaluation Center has about 80 computers students use when they’re having encounters with simulated patients. We got a simple request: ‘Can you change the screen color to green so that certain icons stand out more?’ Visiting all 80 computers takes time, so we wanted to automate the process. We pulled up Microsoft Copilot and had it write the script. We still had to edit it, but it saved several hours of work,” he said. This summer, the school’s IT department hopes to deploy chatbots that will make it easier for students and employees to find troubleshooting information within the department’s knowledge base and general information about WVSOM from the school’s website. The use of AI extends to recruitment and admissions at medical schools worldwide. During the 2024-25 academic year, WVSOM’s Office of Admissions participated in an AACOM pilot program that taught staff how to use a predictive analytics model to determine which applicants are likely to matriculate at a given school. The office provided four years of enrollment data to teach the model to look for factors common to applicants who choose WVSOM as their medical school, such as a student’s undergraduate institution, geographical distance from Lewisburg, rural interest and prior health care experience. Katie Williams, Ph.D. 10 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Artificial intelligence processes don’t make final decisions about whether a student is invited to attend WVSOM. There are human factors machines can’t measure, said Ronnie Collins, the school’s executive director of enrollment management. “The system doesn’t take into account things applicants do outside it. If a student comes for a campus tour or an open house or second-look day — or if an alumni writes them a letter of recommendation — AI won’t know that,” Collins said. “But we get more than 5,000 applications each year, so a funneling process has to happen with or without AI. This just makes it more efficient.” Mark Hinson, the school’s interim director of admissions, said the office plans to continue using the predictive model in future application cycles. In its first year of use, the tool also proved useful in forecasting an important metric: the number of applicants likely to withdraw after being accepted. “We’ve used it as a tool for predicting the application melt,” Hinson said. “The AI model helps identify applicants for us to monitor and to predict how many will withdraw leading into a deposit deadline, based on past WVSOM data.”

A SIGNAL, NOT A SCRIPT Ultimately, educational institutions must play a role in ensuring the public is prepared to participate in a workforce in which the use of artificial intelligence is increasingly important. Medical schools must teach students to use AI responsibly and ethically, and to rely on the technology for support, not answers. In the end, AI is a signal to follow, not a script to obey. May Lin, D.O., is assistant dean of graduate medical education at the Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine and a family medicine physician in San Francisco. As chair of AACOM’s AI Advisory Workgroup, she thinks adapting to new learning paradigms such as artificial intelligence can enhance students’ critical thinking skills. “It shows in their clinical reasoning. These students tend to perform well in audition rotations and are more competitive for their desired residency programs,” Lin said. At WVSOM, Linsenmeyer said, AI is an area of growth not just for improving medical education and assisting physicians during office visits, but for strengthening the health of the communities the school serves. “We want to position ourselves as a leader in AI, so we’re looking at projects we can do outside WVSOM that would enhance rural and primary care,” she said. “That could mean the possibility of a mobile clinic that would be staffed, but maybe not by a physician, and patients would be quizzed by AI to get an idea of where their health stands. Or it could mean other ways of using AI to support rural and primary care. It’s all visionary right now, but the more we learn, the better we’ll be able to support our communities.” That sentiment is echoed by James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president. He said the efficiencies AI facilitate make it valuable to many different stakeholders on campus. “We have recognized that artificial intelligence provides a competitive edge whether you’re a student, faculty member, staff or administrator,” Nemitz said. “It’s here to stay, and we have a choice to either incorporate it into our work or be left behind.”

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COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY SPEECH EXPLORED MISINFORMATION, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

It was a day where engagement was high. On May 1, members of WVSOM’s Class of 2026 crossed the graduation stage following a keynote address by a renowned social media medical influencer, closing one of the most demanding chapters of their lives and opening another defined by service to patients. For 181 new physicians, the Commencement Ceremony followed years spent in anatomy labs, lectures and hospitals, where they trained to diagnose illness and improve patients’ health. In the weeks and months ahead, graduates scattered to residency programs across the state and nation. Under a tent on WVSOM’s parade field, Adam Goodcoff, D.O., a 2020 alumnus and emergency medicine physician who has garnered millions of followers for delivering evidence-based medical education on social media platforms, told the class he never intended to become an influencer. “It was a real risk. It was not the norm, and it was a decision I thought long about,” he said. “As a GTA [graduate teaching assistant], I would spend my days running anatomy lab sessions and trying to make sense of the spaghetti of nerves in the brachial plexus, but at night I started creating content online. Slowly it started to grow. What started as 200 in a lecture hall turned into 200 online viewers, then 2,000 viewers and later 2 million.” Today, Goodcoff is chief medical officer of HealthCentral, a health care experience company focused on creating impactful content for patients and providers. In addition to clinical experience in the Johns Hopkins Health System, he has served as a visiting lecturer at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is a medical advisor to OpenEvidence. He also participated in the White House Healthcare Leaders in Social Media Roundtable.

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He said he continued his work in social media when he realized his voice could be important in fighting misinformation. Last year, Goodcoff said, a multinational consultancy firm conducted a survey on health and social media, finding that 33% of members of Gen Z turn to TikTok instead of physicians for health information, and that 58% of young people have made at least one poor health decision due to misrepresentations they found online. “It started to feel like an obligation to be online, to fight the ridiculous [misinformation] that people were sharing loudly across social media,” he said. “Most of all, as I started to practice in residency, it became clear just how much bad information patients have access to.” Another technological shift Goodcoff discussed in his address was the rising use of artificial intelligence. He explained that AI-based tools are already shaping how medicine is learned and practiced. “The question is not whether AI will be part of your career or not. It will be. The question is whether you will use it well,” he said. “There’s one thing I always say when I talk about AI: Garbage in is garbage out. These are powerful tools, but they are not magic. They are only as good as the person using them, which means your foundation matters more than ever. The work you’ve done here, and the work you’re about to do in residency, is what determines whether these tools make you better or make you dependent.” He pointed out that artificial intelligence allows physicians to validate their medical reasoning in ways earlier health care information tools could not.

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“Some of you have seen the work being done at companies like OpenEvidence. When I was sitting where you are, we had UpToDate. We had OnlineMedEd, but there was no AI. No real-time medical search for every question. No way to easily and quickly sanitycheck your thinking in real time.” Goodcoff said he finds strength in the education he received in medical school, and assured graduates that they are more prepared for challenges than they might realize. “There is one thing I am certain of: the incredible hands-on training I received here at WVSOM,” he said. “It gave me the foundation and toughness to dig deep in residency, build my skills and provide great care on hard nights like that, to fight through inefficient systems to show up for the patients — the ones who make all the work worth it.” James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, encouraged graduates to practice compassion toward others and themselves, and to stay connected with their medical school alma mater. “Be kind to every living creature on this planet. Life is short, and we are all interconnected. As you embark upon a new chapter in your life, live your life as fully as you can and be the best that you can be every day. Know that you can always call WVSOM your home, and you are always welcome here,” he said. Danny Chen, president of WVSOM’s D.O. Class of 2026, urged his classmates to believe in themselves even during the most difficult occasions. “We worked so hard and accomplished something so difficult to be here today,” Chen said. “When tough times arise, I want you all to take a deep breath and look around you and appreciate what you have. Especially today, at this time and in this moment where you are surrounded by loved ones, your classmates and faculty who have supported you throughout this honorable journey.”

Visit the WVSOM Exposure site for more photos and video.

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WVSOM HONORED GRADUATING MASTER’S DEGREE CLASS IN FIRST STANDALONE CEREMONY

For more than 50 years, WVSOM’s graduation season was defined by the celebration of newly minted physicians. This year, however, students who completed the school’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS) program were recognized for the first time in a separate ceremony. The message to the program’s 44 new graduates centered on a theme that was likely familiar to all who completed the intensive nine-month curriculum: Growth often comes through discomfort. The ceremony highlighted the continued expansion of graduate education at WVSOM. The MSBS program — designed to prepare students for advanced study in any health profession, including the school’s own four-year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program — nearly doubled in size from the inaugural class of 24 graduates. The program launched in summer 2024 and includes anatomy labs as well as courses in cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, nutrition, exercise science and public health, among other topics. Graduates who achieve an overall program score of 85% or higher, have a cumulative science GPA of at least 3.0 and have a letter of recommendation from MSBS faculty are granted guaranteed acceptance to WVSOM’s D.O. program. Thirty of this year’s MSBS graduates are from West Virginia. In her keynote address, Karen Wines, an instructor in WVSOM’s Department of Graduate Programs, emphasized the MSBS program’s academic and personal demands. “A friend once told me that the key to education is to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Wines said. “In this moment of being uncomfortable is the moment we grow, a snapshot we can put into our suitcase of knowledge and pull out when we need it.” In a comparison appropriate for an audience of students with extensive anatomy knowledge, she likened the growth process to the development of cells that serve as the skin’s protective barrier. “Time is ever-changing, and each moment builds on the next. Whether it’s a moment during the maturation of a keratinocyte or an

unexpected hardship that makes us stop and look around, there is a unique memory created,” she said. Wines said she, too, has learned a great deal during her time working in the MSBS program. “For me, this has also been a year of personal growth,” she said. “When asked to take more of a leadership role with the program, I thought about what my role should be and how to approach it. I grew up in athletics and playing on teams. Coaches and teachers shaped how I saw my world and how I learned to face adversity. So, when thinking about how to help shape a program, I saw it as a team.” Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D., a WVSOM faculty member who is also secretary of the school’s Board of Governors, told the class that completing their master’s degrees marks a change in perspective they can carry with them as they take the next steps in their education or pursue a profession. “When you started this program, biomedical science may have felt like a collection of facts — pathways to memorize, systems to learn, exams to pass. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. You stopped memorizing and started understanding. You stopped asking ‘What do I need to know?’ and started asking ‘Why does this matter?’ And that question — why it matters — is the most important of them all,” she said. Gail Swarm, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, assured graduates that it’s normal to be unsure of what they want to do with their future. “You don’t need to have everything figured out today. That’s not how meaningful careers, or meaningful lives, are built. Progress isn’t linear, and uncertainty isn’t failure; it’s where growth happens,” she said. “Take the next step, even if it’s not perfectly clear. Trust that what you’ve built here — your resilience, your discipline, your perspective — will carry you further than you think.” Other speakers at the ceremony included James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, and Marina Diioia, Ph.D., the school’s associate dean of graduate programs.

Visit the WVSOM Exposure site for more photos and video.

18 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 19

GRADUATES RECEIVED $266,662

AT ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY

WVSOM students in the D.O. Class of 2026 were recognized for their achievements during a Graduation Awards Ceremony in April. Graduation awards totaled $266,662, with students recognized in 33 categories including awards, scholarships and membership in national organizations.

burden and debt many graduates incur when making the decision to serve others,” he said. “It is a true accomplishment to say someone graduated from medical school, and I’m glad we could celebrate them in this way. I’m proud of each and every graduate.”

This year’s class consisted of 181 graduates, with 80 graduates entering primary care residency programs and a 100% residency placement rate for the class.

Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said it’s important to commemorate medical school milestones.

The event recognized 19 students who graduated with honors. In addition, 26 students were recognized as members of Psi Sigma Alpha, a national osteopathic scholastic honor society. Eleven students were recognized with American Medical Women’s Association Glasgow-Rubin Certificates of Commendation for Academic Achievement. Thirty-eight students received cords reflecting their membership in Sigma Sigma Phi - Nu Chapter, a national osteopathic medicine fraternity that supports medical scholastic excellence.

“The Graduation Awards Ceremony reflects the academic excellence of our students and the collective generosity that supports them along their journey,” she said. “These scholarships and awards help recognize years of dedication while relieving some of the financial pressure students carry into residency. Because of our donors’ continued commitment, we are able to celebrate achievement, expand opportunities and strengthen the future of health care in our communities.”

One student received a stole recognizing membership in Omega Beta Iota, a national osteopathic political action honor society. Twenty-seven students from the Class of 2026 were inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a national honor society comprising medical students, physicians and leaders who have been recognized for compassionate care. Thirteen graduates matched to military residencies. WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., said the ceremony is one of the many ways to celebrate four years of achievements for students entering the workforce as new physicians. “The end of the academic year is such an electrifying time, and we love having our graduates back on campus to celebrate years of hard work. This event helps ease some of the financial

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The Graduation Awards Ceremony celebrates fourth-year students’ memberships in various national honor societies and includes scholarships and awards specifically created for WVSOM through the school’s WVSOM Foundation and WVSOM Alumni Association. Those who wish to become financial supporters have a variety of options to contribute and can do so online at www.wvsomfoundation.org/give-online or by calling 304-793-6852.

2026

$266,662 awarded

Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award

ETHANIEL GALLOWAY Student D.O. of the Year

KRISTEN BOWMAN WVSOM Alumni Association Roland P. Sharp Graduate Award

THOMAS SKOFF Olen E. Jones Jr. and WVSOM Foundation Academic Achievement Award

ESABELLE GERVASIO Opal Price Sharp Memorial Fund Award

WVSOM Rural Health Initiative

HANNAH ANKROM ALEC BALON STEPHEN BECHTEL LOGAN CHRISTIAN KATHRYN FARRELL REECE FLETCHER JOHN GALLAGHER ETHANIEL GALLOWAY KATHERINE HOLMES ANAS HUGGI VALENTINA MENCHERO-MACHADO DINA MOHAMED-ALY CARRIE PROCTOR DANIEL PROCTOR ROBERT SNIDOW III ORAN TRIMBLE WILLIAM UNDERWOOD KASSEY WAGNER SIERRA WRIGHT

Donald Newell Sr. Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior

Gwen Clingman Memorial Scholarship

ZAINAB CALCUTTAWALA Stephanie Dawn Barragy Memorial Scholarship

PEYTON COLLIAS Dr. Catherine A. Bishop Scholarship Fund Award

LOGAN CHRISTIAN David Hinchman, D.O., Emergency Medicine Award

MSOPTI West Virginia Primary Care Scholars Award

JOHN GALLAGHER

National Health Service Corps Scholars

HANNAH ANKROM CYRUS FALSAFI DYLAN GRIMARD

Andy R. Tanner and D. Dewayne Duncan Diversity Scholarship

Olivia Claire Obrokta Pediatric Award

JOSIE JOSEPH

West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust/ Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr. Scholarship

HANNAH ANKROM BENJAMIN JACK

ANNA CHIARO Dr. William R. Holmes Jr. Scholarship Award

MITCHELL FORNWALD

WVSOM Foundation Scholar

West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians Award

PATRICK FARRY II

MAKENZIE CASTO

Legacy Scholarship Endowment

Order of Vesalius Award

ETHANIEL GALLOWAY

BENJAMIN JACK SIERRA WRIGHT

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia Farson-Smith-Earley Award

HANNAH ANKROM

KRISTEN BOWMAN

LOGAN CHRISTIAN

ASHLEY KAPINOS

HAYLEY CRUZ DYLAN GRIMARD APONGNWU TETE

Clinical Sciences Award

RAMS Head Award

Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Awards

CENTRAL EAST REGION: PETER LINDHOME HELENA ZATAWSKI CENTRAL WEST REGION: REECE FLETCHER RACHAEL HUEBLER EASTERN REGION: GUINEVERE JOHNSON DEEKSHITHA TELLA NORTHERN REGION: KESHA AMIN THOMAS SKOFF SOUTH CENTRAL REGION: LOGAN CHRISTIAN BRIAN HALL JOSIE JOSEPH EMILIE MORSE SOUTH EAST REGION: SOREN BEAL JOHN GALLAGHER SOUTH WEST REGION: DALTON MCCOWN CLAUDIA STUDEBAKER-DEMARTINO Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award

LUBNA HUGGI SPOUSE OF ANAS HUGGI

HANNAH ANKROM SUMMER MCELWAIN

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 21

LEGACY D.O. GRADUATES

YOUSUF ALMADHOUN SIBLING OF KHALED ALMADHOUN, D.O., CLASS OF 2019

KATHERINE HOLMES COUSIN OF HILARY MILLER, D.O., CLASS OF 2002, AND HER HUSBAND, EDDIE ANDERSON, D.O., CLASS OF 2002

MADISON LEMARR NIECE OF JESSICA HOTT, D.O., CLASS OF 2010

RICHARD LLERENA JR. MAKENZIE CASTO

DAUGHTER OF THE LATE WILLIAM CASTO, D.O., CLASS OF 1987

SON OF RICHARD LLERENA, D.O., CLASS OF 1991, AND LYNETTE LLERENA, D.O., CLASS OF 1993 GRANDSON OF RICHARD HAWKEY, D.O., CLASS OF 1989

DANIEL PROCTOR HAYLEY CRUZ

DAUGHTER OF JOHN WOMBLE, D.O., CLASS OF 1996

NEPHEW OF DAVID PROCTOR, D.O., CLASS OF 1986; COUSIN OF JEREMY PROCTOR, D.O., CLASS OF 2009

MACKENZIE CURTIS

ORAN TRIMBLE

SIBLING OF KATELYNN CURTIS, D.O., CLASS OF 2016

BRIAN HALL

SON OF BENJAMEN HALL, D.O., CLASS OF 2013

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SON OF ERIC MCCLANAHAN, D.O., CLASS OF 2007

SCOTT WENTZ

NEPHEW OF DAVID PROCTOR, D.O., CLASS OF 1986; COUSIN OF JEREMY PROCTOR, D.O., CLASS OF 2009

LEGACY BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES GRADUATES CHRISTIAN CHUMBLEY SON OF KELLY CHUMBLEY, D.O., CLASS OF 2002

JAYDEN LINDSEY MARCUS HAHN

COUSIN OF LINDSEY RAY, D.O., CLASS OF 2023

SIBLING OF BRANDI ALT, D.O., CLASS OF 2002

ISABELLA MARCH MAKENZIE HARNESS NIECE OF LADONNA BOWLING, D.O., CLASS OF 2004

GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE LATE GARY WATERS, D.O., CLASS OF 1987; NIECE OF JEREMY WATERS, D.O., CLASS OF 2010

OLIVIA TABIT ADAM JOHNSON

SON OF MICHAEL S. JOHNSON, D.O., CLASS OF 1992; SIBLING OF MICHAEL K. JOHNSON, D.O., CLASS OF 2020, AND ZACKERY JOHNSON, D.O., CLASS OF 2021

DAUGHTER OF JOHN TABIT, D.O., CLASS OF 2006; COUSIN OF TYLOR TABIT, D.O., CLASS OF 2023

ANGEL WOOD NIECE OF JOHN NASH, D.O., CLASS OF 2004

KAITLYNNE LEWIS COUSIN OF MICAL JARRETT, D.O., CLASS OF 2005

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 23

Ethan Galloway, D.O. Student leader says work with

CHILDREN TAUGHT HIM TO CONNECT WITH PATIENTS 24 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

By the time Ethan Galloway, D.O., completed his four years at WVSOM, his classmates and faculty knew him as a tireless student leader, an advocate for the osteopathic profession and a future emergency medicine physician. But for Galloway, leadership never meant visibility for its own sake. It grew out of an instinct to represent others, improve systems and be useful to the people around him, whether that meant children in foster care, classmates navigating curriculum changes or patients facing significant health challenges. At WVSOM, the Surgoinsville, Tenn., native served as curriculum committee representative for the Class of 2026, president of the Student Government Association for the 2023-2024 academic year and student representative on the school’s Board of Governors in 2024-2025. Nationally, he was a member of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s Council of Student Government Presidents, a student member of the American Osteopathic Association’s Board of Trustees and vice chair of its Bureau of Emerging Leaders. Galloway’s experience as a leader began with participation in Kiwanis-related organizations during high school and college and continued when Tennessee’s governor appointed him a student member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as an undergraduate at East Tennessee State University. He said while he enjoyed learning how higher education worked in his home state, medical school allowed him to lead by empowering others. “WVSOM is where I developed my passion for servant leadership,” he said. “I love that I’ve been able to lead by working for my peers, my school and our profession.” As curriculum committee representative during his first year of medical school, he participated in conversations about course delivery and collected student feedback during a period when WVSOM was designing its current Finding Health curriculum. Galloway said he led by listening, gathering perspectives and ensuring his classmates felt heard. “I worked with the course directors who oversee each block that students go through. On behalf of my class, I expressed feedback on how we thought the different blocks were going and how the material was being comprehended. I designed a survey so I could assess what my class felt was going well, what wasn’t going well and what they needed help with, and I shared that data with the curriculum committee,” he said. Later, as Student Government Association president and then student representative on WVSOM’s Board of Governors, Galloway helped make decisions on content delivery, learning platforms and other elements of the curriculum. “I helped work on which evidence-based medical resources we were providing, how content delivery was going to look and following up on the new curriculum, making sure after we implemented it that students felt it was successful and that it showed in their course performance data and board exam scores,” he said. Galloway’s service also extends to another role: volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for

children in foster care and juvenile court systems. He began as an undergraduate and continued after relocating to Lewisburg, an experience rooted in personal history after having an advocate himself as a child. “I had a CASA growing up and I wanted to give back,” he said. “I reached out while I was in college to help them as an organizational volunteer, and they encouraged me to take the class. “It’s about meeting I got certified and shadowed for a couple months and then decided people when they I would start taking cases on my are at their most own. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

vulnerable. Patients Galloway sees a clear thread connecting his early work with come to the ER children to his future in medicine. during times of “Those experiences shaped how I approach everything,” he said. need, often when “They taught me that the small moments — taking the time to they had other listen, to connect — can have a big plans for the day.” impact.” Having worked as a nursing assistant in an emergency room before medical school, he found himself drawn to emergency medicine. Clinical experiences reinforced his enthusiasm for the specialty. “I wanted to keep an open mind, but after doing rotations in the ER, I fell in love with it all over again. It was my number one choice,” he said. He ascribed his interest in emergency medicine to the ability to care for patients by offering strength in times of chaos. “It’s about meeting people when they are at their most vulnerable,” he said. “Patients come to the ER during times of need, often when they had other plans for the day. I appreciate getting to have human connection in those moments and hopefully provide some emotional stability.” Galloway sharpened his goals for the future through his participation in WVSOM’s Rural Health Initiative (RHI), which immersed him in underserved communities. Working in West Virginia’s Mason County, he encountered patients who needed care but didn’t want to leave their hometown. He said balancing patient safety with geographical realities taught him the importance of compromise. “I loved every second of being immersed in rural communities and seeing what it’s like to practice in resource-limited environments. I learned so much from the people who live that life and the ways they’re adapting to challenges and overcoming them,” he said. As he begins an emergency medicine residency at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, Galloway said he hopes to someday return to care for communities like those in which he was raised. “I’ve lived in Appalachia my whole life, and I’d like to come back and take care of patients here, broadening my practice beyond the bounds of the emergency department,” he said. “I’d love to help expand street medicine programs and community paramedicine programs in the area.”

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 25

NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY RESIDENT

recalls time on campus while father was WVSOM student

Brian Hall, D.O., discovered his interest in anatomical structures in early childhood. Before he ever set foot in a classroom, he was a voracious reader who would do deep dives on topics that piqued his interest by studying his family’s encyclopedia set. “Encyclopedias were my introduction to the sciences,” said the WVSOM Class of 2026 graduate, who grew up in southeastern Virginia and Beckley, W.Va. “If you talk to my mom, she’ll tell you I came home disappointed from my first day in preschool and said I didn’t want to go back because my teacher didn’t know anything about human anatomy.” Now, Hall is on his way to becoming a neurological surgeon — widely considered one of the most demanding medical specialties. After a rigorous seven-year residency at Riverside University Hospital in Moreno Valley, Calif., he will undergo additional training in a subspecialty fellowship leading to a career marked by long hours and high stakes. He plans to let his enthusiasm for his work guide him through those professional challenges. “I love the hospital. I enjoy being around the people who work there. As a med student, even when I had to be at the hospital for upwards of two days consecutively, I was tired but I loved the environment and the work. So my strategy is to let my zeal for the specialty carry me through,” he said. His father, Benjamen Hall, D.O., is a WVSOM Class of 2013 alumnus and an anesthesiologist turned occupational and preventive medicine specialist. Brian remembers playing on the parade field while his father was taking tests and attending classes. The elder Hall would study by coming home each day and telling his children about what he learned, which influenced Brian’s future immeasurably. “I remember him talking one day about the immune system and foreign invaders to the body. I responded, ‘It’s almost like it’s all alive.’ He said, ‘Well, it is.’ And from there I was set. Every kid wants to be a superhero like his dad when he grows up, and I don’t think I ever outgrew that. When I got the phone call saying there was a spot for me at WVSOM, it was the easiest decision of my life,” Hall said. His interest in neurosurgery was established years earlier, when he read Gifted Hands, the autobiography of Dr. Ben Carson, who led surgeons through the first separation of twins joined at the back of the head in the 1980s, decades before his 2016 presidential bid. “His book opened my mind to the idea that surgery could be done within the brain, the seat of human consciousness and human experience,” Hall said. “That was a source of inspiration for me. Then, throughout medical school, I found myself continuing to fall in love with the physiology of the nervous system, and when I got into clinical rotations, every opportunity I had to be in the neurosurgical operating room pulled me in that direction.”

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While on rotations at Charleston Area Medical Center, Hall worked with friends in their preclinical years to establish a WVSOM neurosurgery interest group. “Neurosurgery demands a high degree of early research and early publications, and opportunities to work with attending physicians who wanted to get projects published were abundant,” he said. “It seemed natural to enlist interested students and plug them into as many attending physicians as I could to get the ball rolling.” Hall’s research at WVSOM mostly focused on cervical spine and spinal cord compression from degenerative changes and tumors. Recently he has turned his attention toward vascular conditions — specifically, chronic subdural hematomas. “I’m looking into describing the pathophysiology of the disease, which although it’s common, is not particularly well understood from a pathophysiologic basis,” he said. “From there, I’d like to springboard to analyzing risk factors and translating that into recommended intervention.” He sees a parallel between his specialty and an avocation he devoted himself to as an undergraduate at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. — audio engineering, a passion that grew from his time playing bass in a band during high school. The band didn’t last, but income from Hall’s home recording studio paid for his MCAT and for his medical school applications. Finding solutions to neurological problems, he explained, requires creativity in the same way recording audio does. “In a studio, you can’t put the same microphones in the same places and get the same quality each time, because every song is different and requires a unique, non-algorithmic approach. In medicine, many specialties have algorithms: There’s one for managing diabetes, there’s one for managing blood pressure. I wanted a specialty where, instead, I take the knowledge I’ve acquired and tailor it to what the patient needs. In neurosurgery, every spine is different, every brain tumor is different and the vascular anatomy of every person is different. It’s unique and fresh every time,” he said. WVSOM gave Hall the support he needed to earn a match to one of medicine’s most competitive residency specialties — one with fewer than 300 positions nationwide each year. He said he owes his success to the school and the preceptors who worked with him. “WVSOM made this possible, from the preclinical to the clinical faculty and everyone in between,” he said. “And moving from Lewisburg to Charleston, the WVSOM reputation followed me there. I had five attendings in my corner, picking me up when I fell, pushing me forward when I wanted to quit and serving as a wealth of information and advice. I couldn’t have asked for a better education.”

“In medicine, many specialties have algorithms: There’s one for managing diabetes, there’s one for managing blood pressure. I wanted a specialty where, instead, I take the knowledge I’ve acquired and tailor it to what the patient needs.”

Brian Hall, D.O.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 27

“Our medical knowledge is unhelpful if it is not communicated thoughtfully to our patients and clearly documented in the chart for strong continuity across the medical team.”

Emily Sperber, D.O. 28 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Graduate finds her way to psychiatry

AFTER SPENDING EARLY ADULTHOOD IN FINE ARTS

From foreign politics to the arts to medicine, Emily Sperber, D.O., has dipped her toes in all of it. As a young adult in college, the Rochester, N.Y., native had the opportunity to work for the government in the United Kingdom during a semester abroad, as a luxury wedding and event planner after college and now as a psychiatry resident in her hometown. The loss of her oldest brother was the reason Sperber initially wanted to pursue a career that did not involve health care, but that loss eventually led her to become a physician. “I had no idea that I would ultimately choose to pursue a career in medicine,” she said. “My early academic and career decisions were informed by the death of my eldest brother just before my senior year of high school. This was a sad result of complications of injuries he sustained in a car accident many years earlier. Throughout my childhood, he was in and out of hospitals and after his passing I wanted to choose a career distant from health care and the suffering we endured as a family. Obviously, these feelings changed later, and this experience turned out to be a major part of my drive to practice medicine.” In college, Sperber studied communications and public relations with minors in political science, global studies and studio art. She spent two years of college abroad — her freshman year in Florence, Italy, and her junior year in London, England, and again in Florence. In England, she was part of the Hansard Scholars Program for select international students to study for one semester at the London School of Economics while working as an intern with the Office of Representatives in the House of Commons and House of Lords. Sperber worked in the House of Commons for a member of parliament who represented Doncaster, an area in South Yorkshire. “I would correspond with constituents on the phone about their perspectives and especially about areas where they desired change. I would attend committee meetings, help manage the member’s diary and observe the house meetings. I would also fetch afternoon tea, which is a staple for all efficient teams in the U.K.,” she said. Sperber’s interest in public policy and advocacy provided her the opportunity to write a dissertation on child poverty during her time in England. “Advocacy has been a real through-line for me over the course of my career,” she said. “It is a major reason I chose medicine and specifically psychiatry.” After graduating from college, Sperber worked briefly for the United Way of New York City’s marketing and events team, where she developed skills in event design and coordination. She left the city to pursue prerequisite studies for medical school and needed a flexible job that would not interfere with classes.

“I was lucky to be part of a tight-knit, multigenerational orchestration team that collaborated on planning, setting up and implementing special events. This often involved working closely with couples getting married and their families and meticulously bringing to life the principal designer’s months of hard work and artistic vision. We were typically the first to arrive and the last to depart, ensuring everything was perfectly styled as designed, that the day flowed as smoothly as planned and that the bride, groom and their guests felt cared for,” she said. These varied life experiences were important during Sperber’s four years at WVSOM. She said she had the time and space to learn about her core values and priorities before the demands of medical school forced her to decide what specialty she was interested in. Her communication skills, both written and verbal, were also enhanced. “I learned to work and communicate with people as they experience one of life’s most important moments. That is a quality I feel can’t be overstated in the development of wellrounded physicians. Our medical knowledge is unhelpful if it is not communicated thoughtfully to our patients and clearly documented in the chart for strong continuity across the medical team,” Sperber said. More than a decade after beginning her life path, Sperber is confident that she was meant to practice psychiatry. She will complete her residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “I think medicine, and psychiatry specifically, are the perfect combination for me of implementing learning scientific knowledge, shared creativity with the teams I will work with and with my patients, and the sacred opportunity to communicate and share a connection with my patients as they face some of life’s most challenging and uncertain moments,” she said. Sperber’s life has not been without difficult moments. As a young adult, she did not have a clear career path. But when things seem unclear, she remembers a profound lesson she learned during an oil painting class during her freshman year in Italy. After Sperber felt frustrated with the progress of her painting and muted colors that were different from what she envisioned, her teacher provided sound advice. “She turned to me and said, ‘Let it dry and come back tomorrow with fresh perspective. Once you paint over it, you won’t be left with a muddled painting, you will have clarity and vibrancy with an even richer final product because of the underlying layer you initially did not like. Ultimately, it will be better and have more depth than if you painted it perfectly the first time,’” Sperber said. “This stuck with me and has been a pillar of how I approach life. It’s never too late to pause and repaint. The depth of experience that goes with that is beautiful.”

For about four years Sperber worked for a small, locally owned business called Celebrated Events. The company plans and designs special events in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region, focusing on luxury weddings. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 29

MSBS graduate took on helpful role with classmates

WHILE PARENTING LONG DISTANCE

Shenique Reid was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, but moved to Washington, D.C., when she was 5. Even as a preschooler, she felt she was a nurturer and someone who looked out for her younger cousin, Sujen.

Reid went from frustrating exam scores to finding confidence by shifting the way she studied and consumed information. She traded trying to learn through technology in favor of drawings on sketch pads.

“I came here with my cousin, who was also very young. We did not have people living with us who came home right on time from work, so I had to start cooking and taking care of my cousin very early,” she said. “Nurturing is embedded in me and it’s all I know. It’s not that I’m ever trying to be overbearing, but it’s a protective nature I have over others that has always been in me.”

“When we first started the master’s program, they gave us laptops and we were all using OneNote. I’d write my notes in there, but after a while I realized it was not working for me. I needed pen and paper. In a moment of frustration, I got in my car and drove to Walmart and thought, ‘I’m going to do what I know how to do.’ I got some drawing pads from the art section and started drawing things as I was learning. I have large notebooks now with pictures of everything. That was when things started clicking. When I would take an exam, I’d think back to something I drew,” she said.

That trait carried into Reid’s time in WVSOM’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program. As someone whose dream it was to attend medical school, she never got around to taking the MCAT because life got in the way. After learning about the master’s program from a friend who graduated from WVSOM, Reid decided to apply. “Undergrad for me was a while ago, but this program bridges the gap and gives you a ton of information that teaches you how to learn quickly and efficiently,” she said. Getting back in the education routine was a challenge for Reid at the start, but one she thinks she was able to overcome during the nine months of the intensive program. “In the beginning it was a struggle. There are moments when I still struggled at the end, but I was able to overcome those and start to perform well on my exams and in class. That showed me that I do belong, because for a long time, imposter syndrome took over and I thought I didn’t belong here,” she said.

30 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Shifting the tools she used to study and retain information meant Reid also found fulfillment in supporting her classmates through the program. “I would try to reach out to people when I saw they were losing confidence or feeling stuck or scared to ask for help. I tried to help in whatever way I can, whether that’s sharing my notes or sitting down and talking with someone for a bit. I’m not the smartest student, and I might not have it all figured out, but I can help show someone strategies that might work for them,” she said. Reid is mother to a 9-year-old son who lived four and a half hours away throughout the duration of her time in graduate school.

“It has been a challenge being a mother long distance and keeping up with all the activities, school and things happening in his life. I do parent-teacher conferences virtually,” she said. “My son and I talk on FaceTime three or four times a day. He calls me every night before he goes to bed. Instead of reading him a bedtime story, because he’s 9, we talk about things I was learning. He would fall asleep to me talking about something I learned in class.” Reid continued to find a daily connection with her son because of his interest in anatomy. “I told him cool stuff about his body, how the things he’s eating is helping or hurting his body, because he’s big on Oreos and Takis. I tried to tell him those Takis might be changing the colors of his insides, so he’s interested in trying to learn what I know and what changes he can make.” Not only did Reid sacrifice time with her son to be in the MSBS program, but she sacrificed life as a newlywed. She and her husband, who works in robotics in metro D.C., married a week before she began the program. All the sacrifice and hard work have paid off in allowing Reid to show her son that it’s possible to fulfill dreams. She was accepted to WVSOM’s D.O. program and will be part of the newest cohort of student doctors this year. “I’m happy to show my son that anything is possible,” Reid said. “We live in a world where kids think social media or YouTube is what they

can do to make money or to have a sustainable life, but I want to instill in my son that education is still an important thing. If he never gives up on his educational goals, he can achieve something, no matter how long it takes.” Reid is eager to dive into learning more about osteopathic medicine, even though her lifestyle already incorporates many of its philosophies. “I believe that prescription medicine is not the answer for everything medically,” she said. “I feel like osteopathic medicine brings all that together, but it focuses more on the person as a whole rather than the individual diseases the person might be facing.” WVSOM’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree is a hands-on learning program that can also act as a catalyst for those interested in medical school. Though acceptance to medical school through the program isn’t guaranteed, Reid said she thinks it is an indicator as to what medical school curriculum and rigor could be like. “We had to work hard to even get an interview and then be accepted, but the education you receive from this institution is phenomenal,” she said. “It’s much better than a large class where teachers don’t know your name. I like a small, family-oriented school where I know if I need help, I can reach out to someone, and they will know who I am. You don’t get that at a lot of institutions.”

“I want to instill in my son that education is still an important thing. If he never gives up on his educational goals, he can achieve something, no matter how long it takes.”

Shenique Reid WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 31

Visit the WVSOM Exposure site for more photos and video.

WVSOM RESEARCHERS TAP INTO

APPALACHIAN NATURE FOR POSSIBLE MEDICAL REMEDIES

What if the natural environment offered by the Appalachian Mountains — plants native to the region and waterways flowing through West Virginia towns — proved to be a source of medicinal value? That is what faculty and student researchers at WVSOM have been studying through a $300,000-plus grant funded by a West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence NIH grant. Matthew Williams, Ph.D., an associate professor in WVSOM’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, began preliminary research on the concept in 2018, but received grant support from the state in 2024. Williams said he has always had a fascination with natural remedies that have helped keep humanity alive throughout history. “Every culture on earth has its own unique mix of plants and procedures that have been attributed to healing properties. In our probiotic development research, we started collecting sources on campus and realized some of the best candidate probiotic strains were coming off plants that were listed as being traditional Appalachian remedies, and the spark hit that we should expand this search further,” he said. “Being surrounded by historical medicinal and healing springs, we decided we would search water sources as well for beneficial microbes.” The goal is that by blending modern microbiology with historical wisdom, the research will seek to transform “old remedies” into new solutions for some of today’s most worrisome infectious

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diseases. Williams said acute and chronic infectious diseases remain among the greatest global health challenges. The research aims to identify live biotherapeutic products capable of antagonizing pathogens responsible for major human infections, offering fresh strategies in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and treatment failure. Three WVSOM students and two undergraduate students from Greenbrier County immersed themselves in the biomedical research: WVSOM students Mina Parsa, Candace Price and Tehya Smith, along with Kaelyn Gore, a student at Fairmont State University, and Elias White, a student at Howard University, received direct research funding; however, the project currently supports more than 20 WVSOM students. Williams said that during the summer of 2025, students explored southern West Virginia with the task of seeking plant specimens that had ties to traditional Appalachian herbalism or folk medicine. Price knew she wanted to be involved in the research almost immediately. “When the opportunity arose for me to be part of something that not only demonstrated what natural resources have to offer but presented it in a different light regarding the medicinal side of things, I knew I needed to be involved,” the Class of 2028 student from Hinton, W.Va., said. “To me, it was as if the best of both worlds — nature and medicine — were colliding. Since the medical world is always evolving, the opportunity to not only gain insight but potentially contribute to a therapeutic approach outside established pharmacology was one that I couldn’t resist.”

Class of 2028 student Parsa, originally from Fairfax, Va., said she was interested in the research project because it addressed two areas she is passionate about: preventive medicine and neurodegenerative disease research. “Alzheimer’s disease is a growing public health concern, and the idea of leveraging Appalachian biodiversity to discover natural probiotics that inhibit Streptococcus mutans, a pathogen linked to cerebral microbleeds and Alzheimer’s, felt both innovative and impactful. It aligns perfectly with osteopathic principles of holistic care and prevention,” she said. Once the plants were identified and collected, they were processed in a lab to isolate beneficial bacteria from plant tissue, with students working to identify bacteria that have anti-infective properties against disease-causing bacteria. “After interesting ones were discovered, molecular sequencing techniques were performed and analysis showed that some of our candidate probiotics are new strains, or perhaps even new species entirely,” Williams said. Students identified more than 100 candidates as potential therapeutics. “Understanding the antimicrobial mechanisms and assessing whether these strains can survive and function in clinical settings is essential for translating our findings into real-world applications,” Parsa said. “Being part of research that could lead to probiotic-based interventions for oral and neurological health is incredibly motivating. It feels like we’re working on something that could genuinely improve lives.” Williams said those involved were excited that several of the types of bacteria collected and isolated from medicinal plants and spring water have strong effects at inhibiting pathogens that can cause serious human infections. “We looked for solutions for five human pathogens. These pathogens cause a range of disease including skin and oral infections, gastrointestinal distress, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and numerous other opportunistic infections,” he said. “Some of our most interesting results were with the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, which has potentially deadly strains such as MRSA, and we also found some important results against the pathogen Streptococcus mutans. We hope our probiotics strains can help with prevention of some of these serious infections.”

The findings allow students to contribute to scientific publications and present at conferences. These experiences can be added to residency applications, which make medical students more appealing applicants for competitive residencies. So far, students have co-authored 19 publications and attended three conferences regarding the biotherapeutic research. At this stage, students are focusing on determining mechanisms of how some of the beneficial bacteria are having effects against the pathogens. They are also doing investigations to see how viable the newly discovered strains may be in making it to clinical use or to market. “While modern pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, have a wonderful place in medicine and are vital to patient care, the unfortunate truth is that antibiotic resistance is increasing. Infections we used to be able to treat effectively are developing resistance to pharmaceuticals, and in the future we may need alternatives,” Williams said. “Probiotics themselves can help reduce potential for developing infections. Some of these probiotic bacteria produce molecules that may be able to be extracted and used in a more direct pharmaceutical approach. Ultimately, the goal is to have another tool available to prevent or treat infections going forward as we never know what emerging infections may come next.” Price said she thinks interest in environmental medicinal opportunities has increased. “The medicinal world has evolved and expanded, but new problems often call for new solutions. In this case, the solution is not new, but it’s centered around going back to our roots,” she said. “The reason that biotherapeutics are now being investigated more heavily is due to a push for more natural products as well as the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Nature gives us alternatives as to how we can avoid deviations from health.” Parsa appreciates that WVSOM gave her a chance to be part of something that is deeply meaningful to her and hopefully to future patients. “Nature has always been a source of therapeutic compounds, and discovering beneficial bacteria in Appalachian plants reinforces the idea that solutions to complex health problems can often be found locally,” she said. “It’s sustainable, innovative and connects science with community-based care.”

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MAIER FOUNDATION HAS CONTRIBUTED $1.4 MILLION

TO WVSOM SCHOLARSHIPS

For a little more than a decade, the Maier Foundation has invested in the future of West Virginia’s health care workforce by helping WVSOM students overcome one of the greatest barriers to becoming physicians: the cost of medical education. The Charleston, W.Va.-based nonprofit has supported scholarships at WVSOM since 2015, contributing to the school’s endowment resources and to direct scholarship funds that immediately benefit students. Those investments reflect the mission to strengthen higher education in West Virginia that has guided the foundation for generations. The Maier Foundation’s roots trace back to William J. Maier Jr., a Harvard Law School graduate and philanthropist whose belief in the power of education still shapes the organization’s priorities today. The Clarksburg, W.Va., native created the Sarah and Pauline Maier Scholarship Foundation in 1958, naming it for his mother and his wife. Maier’s grandson, Brad Rowe, represents the organization’s third generation of leadership. As its president and CEO, Rowe said about 95% of the foundation’s funding goes toward higher education, with the remaining 5% benefiting arts institutions in Kanawha County, including the Clay Center, FestivALL and others. “Our main goal is to help strengthen West Virginia’s colleges and universities and encourage students to matriculate and graduate,” Rowe said. “Our hope is that after they graduate, they will stay in the state and prosper here. My grandfather made his money in West Virginia and attributed his success to his education, and he wanted to give back by focusing on the state’s students.” At WVSOM, the foundation’s philanthropic efforts come in the form of direct scholarship support, and as grants to the West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust, where they earn returns that are distributed to the WVSOM Foundation, the charitable organization that supports WVSOM. In all, the Maier Foundation’s West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust provides named scholarship endowments at 14 higher education institutions. The inclusion of “Emulation” in the trust’s title represents Maier’s intention to honor individuals who are admirable role models. “When my grandfather started the trust, the idea was that each scholarship fund would be named after someone worthy of emulating, someone he respected,” Rowe said. WVSOM’s scholarship at the trust is named for the school’s president from 1987 to 2009, Olen Jones Jr., Ph.D., who helped guide WVSOM through an era of prosperity. The Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr. Scholarship is awarded to in-state students based on criteria such as literary, scholastic and leadership achievements.

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Bottom row, from left: Sara Maier Rowe, Dr. Elizabeth Maier Chernow, J. Randy Valentine Top row, from left: Thomas W. Rowe, Edward H. Maier, Edward H. “Butch” Maier Jr., Brad Rowe, Dr. J. Gregory Rosencrance

Much of the Maier Foundation’s support of WVSOM students comes in the form of challenge grants, where a grantee is required to raise a designated sum on its own before a donor will match that sum. Rowe said the foundation’s board of directors finds challenge grants to be a powerful framework for giving.

“WVSOM continues to educate some of West Virginia’s best and brightest students. But going to medical school can be scary because of the cost, and our funds defray some of that. Our hope is that the additional support will help get students through the finish line to graduation,” he said.

“They provide a multiplier effect,” Rowe said. “They allow us to leverage our resources to bring in additional funds to achieve a particular purpose. Challenge grants force organizations to expand their donor base or re-engage their previous donors. They serve as a carrot that pushes organizations to go out and raise even more money.”

Rowe said he thinks WVSOM plays a critical role in helping West Virginia deal with the health difficulties it has long faced.

The WVSOM Foundation has met escalating challenges each year since 2021, raising $1.15 million toward funds matched by Rowe’s organization. Along with WVSOM Foundation support, those earnings have helped fund approximately $143,000 in student awards to date. Between the endowment and direct scholarship support, the Maier Foundation has so far contributed $1.4 million earmarked for WVSOM students since it began working with the school. The goal is to help ease the financial burden placed on promising medical students, Rowe said.

“We particularly like the fact that many of WVSOM’s graduates go into primary care, and that many of them stay in the region and directly improve health outcomes for West Virginians,” he said. “I live and work here, and I’ve seen the challenges the state has with health care. WVSOM and its graduates are part of the solution.” Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said she is thankful that the Maier Foundation’s goal of improving health care in the state aligns with WVSOM’s own ideals. “Their sustained investment in scholarships has provided meaningful, direct support that allows our students to focus on their training and commitment to serve others,” she said. “We are deeply grateful for the Maier Foundation’s longstanding partnership and shared belief in the power of education to strengthen West Virginia’s health care workforce.”

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SIX NEW AWARDS DISTRIBUTED AT SPRING AWARDS CEREMONY

Students at WVSOM may be feeling some financial relief with more money in their pockets to pay for their medical education. The school celebrated students for their achievements in academics and community involvement during the annual Spring Awards Ceremony, which took place March 23. A total of $177,248 was awarded through 42 scholarships, awards and certificates of appreciation, many by endowments or funds established through the WVSOM Foundation. That organization, along with the WVSOM Alumni Association, are the main groups responsible for fundraising at WVSOM. This year, six new awards were distributed. They were the Professor Appreciation Award, Global Health Scholar of the Year, WVSOM Alumni Association Pathway to Osteopathic Medicine Scholarship, The Health Plan Medical/Nursing Scholarship, Drs. David and Bonita Barger Campus Preservation and Sustainability Endowment Scholarship, and Patricia Louise McClung Nemitz Memorial Scholarship. WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., said while longstanding scholarships have helped to sustain WVSOM’s philanthropic generosity for years, it’s exciting to introduce new scholarship opportunities. “Every scholarship dollar is important and has a profound impact on medical students, many of whom carry a financial burden long after they begin their careers,” he said. “It’s incredible to continue to grow the number of scholarships we can provide to our students to ease that burden, and that would not be possible without the work of the WVSOM Foundation and WVSOM Alumni Association, who cultivate and nurture relationships with potential donors.” Two of the six new scholarships were established through the WVSOM Foundation. Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said securing new donor dollars is an example of alumni and businesses understanding the importance of making an investment in the future of health care professionals. “Investing in our students now means prioritizing health care in the future,” she said. “Donor support helps reduce financial barriers, allowing students to focus on their medical education and making an impact in the communities they serve. New scholarships set WVSOM on a trajectory of fulfilling one of its strategic pillars: ensuring financial sustainability to support ongoing operations and long-term growth.” The Patricia Louise McClung Nemitz Memorial Scholarship is a new award created in memory of WVSOM President Nemitz’s late wife

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Patricia, known by most as “Patty,” who passed away in 2009. It was created by two WVSOM Class of 1992 graduates: Joseph Cincinnati, D.O., and Troy Foster, D.O., as a way to give back to the school that shaped their lives and careers. The scholarship will be awarded to a WVSOM student who demonstrates strong character and dedication to their community. Preference is given to a student who earned an undergraduate degree from Cincinnati’s alma mater, Concord University, or Foster’s alma mater, West Virginia University. Preference is also given to a student from Berkeley, Jefferson or Morgan counties in West Virginia. “The price of medical school is much higher than when we were students, and we know that today’s young doctors are accruing a lot of debt,” Cincinnati said. “We want to help people from the Eastern Panhandle in the hope that they will come back to the area and work here.” Erin McGowan, a WVSOM Class of 2027 student from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., was the first recipient of the endowment. She said she is grateful for scholarship dollars that help lessen the financial burden of medical school, especially as a first-generation medical student. “No one in my family has done this before. I’m living off loans and recently got engaged, but that is being put off because medical school funds come first,” she said. “I’m so grateful to donors who support WVSOM students. I got to know the physicians who donated to the scholarship that I received today. They were my preceptors during my very first clinical rotation.” The WVSOM Alumni Association Pathway to Osteopathic Medicine Scholarship is a new award created for students who completed the school’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences graduate program and used it as a pathway to enter medical school. Four students received the inaugural scholarship. Shannon Warren, WVSOM’s executive director of alumni relations, said the master’s program is a useful pipeline for preparing those interested in a medical education. “Last year marked a meaningful milestone for WVSOM as we welcomed the first alumni of our Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program,” Warren said. “This scholarship reflects the WVSOM Alumni Association’s commitment to recognizing and supporting those students. The program is an important pathway for aspiring physicians, and we’re proud to celebrate the alumni who began their journey there and are now advancing in osteopathic medicine.”

DR. ROLAND P. SHARP PRESIDENT AND FOUNDATION AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Blair Shaffer

OSTEOPATHIC PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE INTEGRATION TEACHING AWARD Garrett Clemons, Ph.D. (biomedical sciences), Theresa Stepanek, D.O. (clinical sciences) and Pratima Ramkissoon, D.O. (adjunct clinical sciences preceptor)

PROFESSOR APPRECIATION AWARD Karen Wines (Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences), Matthew Williams, Ph.D. (Class of 2029) and Christopher Kennedy, D.O. (Class of 2028)

U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH AWARD Casey Donahoe

STUDENT RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR Suren Jeevaratnam

GLOBAL HEALTH SCHOLAR OF THE YEAR Maya Berger

WVSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP Sabahat Choudhury and Andreus Jordan

WVSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PATHWAY TO OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE SCHOLARSHIP Makayla Ball, Logan Boggs, Ellie Lepkowski and James Wilkes

LORETTA MOORE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

EUGENE MCCLUNG, M.D., FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

Andreus Jordan

Carson Doan

ANNA MARIE COUNTS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

TRIPLETT SCHOLARSHIP

Elizabeth Rahall

Trevor Takubo

FREDRIC AND LINDA SMITH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

DRS. DAVID AND BONITA BARGER CAMPUS PRESERVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY ENDOWMENT SCHOLARSHIP

Elizabeth Rahall

SAMANTHA KETCHEM MUNCY PRIMARY CARE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Gray Caldwell

PATRICIA LOUISE MCCLUNG NEMITZ MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

DR. WILLIAM B. MULLEN AND JENNIFER WHITE SCHOLARSHIP

WVSOM FAMILY PRACTICE SCHOLARSHIP

Emily Shupe

Raegan Good

LIBBY KOKOTT, D.O., MEMORIAL GRANT

EVA TETER HAMMER DIVERSITY AWARD

Mavis Okoye

Kamran Farouq

RON BILLIPS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

HAMZA SYED RECOGNITION AWARD

Isabella Edwards and Preston Nipper

Samuel Fuller

WEST VIRGINIA STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ALLIANCE SCHOLARSHIP

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION STUDENT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

Jacob Bartlett and Niraj Nepal

Hadley Faith (Class of 2029) John Franklin (Class of 2028) Barry Ndeh (Class of 2027)

GREENBRIER MILITARY SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP

Niraj Nepal and Elizabeth Rahall

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION STUDENT COLLEGIALITY SCHOLARSHIP

DRS. CHERYL AND MICHAEL ADELMAN WVSOM LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

Kevin Arguelles Dominguez (Class of 2029) Mina Parsa (Class of 2028) Gaspareantonio Fabio Greco (Class of 2027)

PAUL G. KLEMAN, D.O., FAMILY PRACTICE STUDENT AWARD Sagar Patel

THE HEALTH PLAN MEDICAL/NURSING SCHOLARSHIP Morgan Christian and Lenzie Stiltner

JARRELL FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

MOSS SCHOLARSHIP Lauren Britton, Samantha Handmaker, Ifeoma Iloka, Abigail Mills, Kristin Neeley, Leann Seidel and Mukesh Sivakumaran

Candace Price

WEISSER SCHOLARSHIP

JAMES R. STOOKEY, D.O., MANIPULATIVE MEDICINE SCHOLARSHIP

Ryder Dalton

Zachary Collins

FAHEEM FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

MARLENE A. WAGER 10-FINGERED OPP SCHOLARSHIP

Seth Jude

GHIATHI SCHOLARSHIP Katelyn Cockerham

Erin McGowan

Jaret Geston and Sean Timony

Barry Ndeh

WEST VIRGINIA EMULATION ENDOWMENT TRUST/ DR. OLEN E. JONES JR. SCHOLARSHIP

Kevin Arguelles Dominguez

FREDRIC W. SMITH COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD WVSOM chapter of the Student Association of the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION APPRECIATION RECOGNITION Aaron McGuffin, M.D., and Kathy Hoke

SPECIAL AWARD PRESENTATION Student Government Association President Bryn Hawbaker and Vice President Andreus Jordan

Michael Reese

JOHN AND NANCY CHAMBERS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Breanna Onusko

ANTOLINI FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP Madison Cass

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STUDENTS SECURED NEUROSURGERY, PLASTIC SURGERY AND OTHER COMPETITIVE RESIDENCY PLACEMENTS

As medical students near graduation, they participate in Match Day, when the National Resident Matching Program places U.S. fourth-year students into residency programs.

A total of 82 students in the Class of 2026 entered primary care residency programs, encompassing the fields of family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.

For the second consecutive year, one WVSOM student matched to a residency in plastic surgery, considered among the most competitive medical specialties.

Other popular specialties included emergency medicine, with 27 students; psychiatry, with 17 students; and general surgery and OB‑GYN, with nine students each.

Other highly competitive specialties to which students matched included neurosurgery, with one student; interventional radiology, with one student; urology, with three students; and orthopedic surgery, with three students. Additionally, nine students earned residencies in anesthesiology.

A total of 34 students matched to residencies in West Virginia, including placements at hospitals in Bridgeport, Charleston, Huntington, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Ronceverte and Wheeling.

WVSOM students achieved a 100% residency placement rate, with all 181 members of the Class of 2026 receiving jobs as resident physicians following their completion of medical school. At gatherings on the school’s Lewisburg campus and virtually, Gail Swarm, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, wished students success as they enter residencies. “The journey to get here wasn’t easy, but you showed up, you stayed the course and you made it happen,” Swarm said. “But Match Day isn’t your finish line, it simply opens your next chapter. I wish you confidence, growth and excitement for what comes next.” James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, commended students for successfully overcoming the rigors of medical school. “Today is a special day when all medical students find out where they will be doing their residency. It is the culmination of four years of dedicated study and hard work. Everyone at WVSOM is proud of our graduating osteopathic medical students,” Nemitz said.

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Maureen McClellan matched to a family medicine residency at CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Ronceverte, W.Va., allowing her to stay in the area in which she attended medical school. “I really like the area, and I’m excited about getting to learn and be part of a community that’s done so much to raise me up,” said McClellan, who is originally from Waynesboro, Pa. “I’m thankful for all the support I had throughout medical school from our faculty and staff.” Abigail Frank, D.O., WVSOM’s associate dean of graduate medical education, praised students for their commitment to careers in osteopathic medicine. “We celebrate your years of dedication, late nights and perseverance in becoming a physician,” Frank said. “Today marks the beginning of each of your professional journeys, and we are honored to have been part of your path. We are incredibly proud of you.”

RESIDENCY PLACEMENT RATE Class of 2026

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WHITE COAT CEREMONY SPEAKER:

‘PULL AS MANY PEOPLE UP AS YOU CAN’

Every great career starts with one bold move — a first step that says, “I’m ready to work hard to reach my goal.”

He told the assembled students they made the correct decision in choosing WVSOM as their medical school.

For WVSOM’s Class of 2029, that step was symbolized by a White Coat Ceremony marking 215 students’ entry into the osteopathic medical profession. On Sept. 12, 2025, family and friends gathered to watch them cross the stage and receive the coats they’ll wear throughout medical school, students committed to a life of serving patients.

“The core knowledge is the same at any medical school. The important thing is the environment you’re in while you’re gathering that information. The technology and infrastructure here is second to none, and you’re with a faculty that’s more like family. They want to see you succeed,” Takubo said.

For the first time, the White Coat Ceremony included graduates of WVSOM’s nine-month Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree program, which launched in 2024 and is designed to prepare students for success in all health professions. Twenty of the program’s graduates are in the D.O. Class of 2029. Tom Takubo, D.O., was the ceremony’s keynote speaker. The Chapmanville, W.Va., native is a WVSOM Class of 1999 alumnus who founded Pulmonary Associates of Charleston, which became the state’s largest private pulmonary practice. Takubo was elected to the West Virginia Senate in 2014. Throughout his tenure in politics, his leadership positions have included Senate majority leader, health chair and economic development chair. After transitioning to WVU Medicine in 2022, he became an executive vice president for provider relations.

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He spoke of the importance of empathy and compassion among physicians, relating an anecdote about Gwen Clingman, a former Lewisburg community member who supported students by providing meals and emotional encouragement from her downtown Lewisburg restaurant. “A student had finished dinner at Gwen’s restaurant and realized he didn’t have enough cash to cover the bill, and he told her he needed to step out to grab his checkbook. He said, ‘I have $8,’ and Gwen made some notes on the check and said, ‘I made a mistake. Here’s your change,’ and she handed him $5,” Takubo said. He asked students to extend the same consideration to those they serve in the future. “As a physician, patients are going to come to you at the most vulnerable time in their lives, and sometimes you’ll be the only one with the power to help them,” he said. “You have two options: You

can either use that leverage to look down at people, or you can reach down and pull as many people up as you can. I would ask you to practice with compassion for your entire career.” Takubo also emphasized that it’s critical to maintain respect — for classmates, patients and other members of the health care teams they are members of. “You are going to have a lot of knowledge, but you need to respect the nurses, the phlebotomists, the physicians who are lower in the pecking order than you, and all the other people you work with. Even Michael Jordan is nothing without his team,” he said. James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president and a longtime member of the school’s anatomy faculty, recalled meeting Takubo 30 years ago when he was a first-year student. “Tom is one of the brightest medical students I’ve ever taught,” Nemitz said. “Today, he is one of the best pulmonologist/critical care doctors in the country. Physicians are also leaders in our communities, and in his legislative role, he’s a champion for health and economic development.” Other White Coat Ceremony speakers included Frederick Morgan, D.O., chair of the WVSOM Board of Governors, and Ryan Newell, D.O., then vice president of the WVSOM Alumni Association.

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Katherine Calloway, D.O.

HEALTH CARE HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

HAS DELIVERED AID WORLDWIDE

A physician and educator whose work spans continents while also powerfully impacting her home state is now a member of West Virginia Executive magazine’s Health Care Hall of Fame.

Cambodian border camps in Thailand to post-conflict Kosovo and to the East African nations of Mozambique and Rwanda, among many other locations.

Katherine Calloway, D.O., a WVSOM regional assistant dean and an alumna of the school, was inducted with nine other health care professionals during a March awards program in Charleston, W.Va.

After moving back to her home state of West Virginia, she worked as a family practice physician with Charleston Internal Medicine, then helped develop a nonpharmacologic pain management program as part of Cabin Creek Health Systems’ medication-assisted treatment program for people in recovery from substance use.

Calloway works in the South East Region of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus, which encompasses Greenbrier, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Summers and Webster counties as well as portions of Fayette and Wyoming counties. In addition, Calloway is chief medical director for the state’s largest hospice organization, HospiceCare WV, which provides palliative and supportive care services to patients and families in 16 counties. She said she is honored to become a member of the hall. “Selection to the Health Care Hall of Fame is a humbling recognition of the extraordinary network of West Virginians across disciplines who advance care, innovation and service every day,” Calloway said. “This honor also reflects the strength and distinctiveness of the osteopathic profession in our state and the steadfast dedication of the HospiceCare WV team. It is a privilege to represent colleagues, students, patients and partners whose compassion and collaboration define health care in West Virginia.” Calloway also serves as an advisor to the American Osteopathic Association’s Bureau for International Medicine, which advocates globally for the osteopathic profession, and is president of the board of directors of the West Virginia Rural Health Association. Before earning her D.O. degree, Calloway graduated from Wake Forest University with a double major in sports medicine and medical anthropology, then completed a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University. That degree led to global health work with organizations such as the United Nations, the International Rescue Committee and the Clinton Foundation. A series of international experiences carried her from 44 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

She said her path has always focused on serving where help is needed most. “My career has never been linear; it’s been mission-driven,” Calloway said. “I began in global public health and later returned to West Virginia, where I expanded into clinical practice, hospice leadership, medical education and rural health policy. Each chapter built on the last: Global systems work taught me how to build programs; family medicine taught me how to build relationships; hospice taught me how to hold space for families; and academic leadership taught me how to build future physicians.” She joined her medical school alma mater as a regional assistant dean in the South Central Region of the Statewide Campus in 2022, based in Charleston. Calloway, who transitioned to the South East Region in early 2026, said a large part of her position with WVSOM centers on mentoring future physicians. “A core part of that mentorship is helping students discover what it means to practice medicine through the osteopathic lens — to treat the whole person, to lead with compassion and to see patients as partners in their own healing. Guiding students through clinical challenges, career decisions and personal growth reminds me that leadership is not about what we build for ourselves but what we cultivate in others,” she said. At least one WVSOM alumni, administrator or faculty member has been recognized in the Health Care Hall of Fame each year the magazine has honored health care professionals.

FACULTY MEMBER AMONG 2025 ‘WEST VIRGINIA WONDER WOMEN’

Jill Cochran, Ph.D., a professor in WVSOM’s Department of Clinical Sciences, was listed as one of the “West Virginia Wonder Women” for 2025 by WV Living magazine. Cochran was among the 50 women featured in the publication’s fall issue who have been identified as “living boldly, bringing solutions and championing their families and communities.” Cochran said she was grateful to be selected for the honor. “It feels unbelievable to be chosen, especially given the women who have previously been cited,” she said. “When I went to nursing school, it was very traditional and we were given nursing capes. I always thought it was fitting, because everyone feels when they’re young that they want to be a superhero and ‘save’ people. We usually outgrow that, but this award makes me feel like that dream is a reality.” Cochran — WVSOM’s only faculty member with a Ph.D. degree in nursing — began working with mothers and their newborns in the late 1970s. She has served as a nurse practitioner at Rainelle Medical Center, in Raleigh General Hospital’s emergency department and, for more than 20 years, as a family nurse practitioner at Lewisburg’s Robert C. Byrd Clinic (now known as WVSOM Health). She continues to fill in at the clinic as needed and maintains involvement in research, all while operating a pediatric practice at Pocahontas Memorial Rural Health Clinic in Buckeye, W.Va. A member of WVSOM’s clinical sciences faculty since 2010, Cochran said her background allows her to bring a unique point of view to educating medical students. “In many ways, the pursuit of excellence is universal among all health care disciplines. However, through the lens of nursing, I hope I bring a different perspective, looking at the impact of illness on the patient, their family and the community,” she said. Cochran earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the West Virginia University School of Nursing, and is licensed in the state as an advanced practice nurse practitioner. In addition to a number of nursing positions in West Virginia and Virginia, she worked as a registered nurse in various hospitals and home health facilities before joining the Robert C. Byrd Clinic and, later, WVSOM.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 45

FACULTY MEMBER, ALUMNA RECOGNIZED

FOR RURAL HEALTH EXCELLENCE

Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dwight Bundy, D.O., an associate professor in WVSOM’s Department of Clinical Sciences, was presented the West Virginia Rural Health Association’s (WVRHA) Dr. Bob Foster Award for Excellence in Rural Health Professions Education in November 2025 during the organization’s annual conference in Huntington, W.Va. The award was named for Bob Foster, D.O., a longtime osteopathic medical educator who was a member of WVSOM’s faculty for 45 years, retiring as assistant dean for osteopathic medical education. Bundy, who earned a medical degree from WVSOM in 1984 and joined the school’s faculty in 2013, said he was grateful to receive the award in his former professor’s namesake. “Dr. Foster was one of my teachers at WVSOM,” Bundy said. “I’ve always had the greatest respect for him. He was a fantastic teacher and has been a real asset to the school through the years. Receiving an award that has his name attached means a lot.” Bundy’s history of service to rural West Virginians is extensive. Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army in the early 1970s, he taught science in the Greenbrier County community of Williamsburg, W.Va. After earning his osteopathic medical degree, Bundy practiced emergency medicine at Marlinton General Hospital in Marlinton, W.Va., and family medicine with the National Health Service Corps in Hillsboro, Williamsburg and New Haven. He spent time in North Carolina and Maryland as an Army physician, but returned to practice family medicine and occupational medicine at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg. After retiring from the Army as a lieutenant colonel, Bundy was recruited to help WVSOM students prepare for national board exams, then spent six years as a regional assistant dean in the school’s Statewide Campus system before becoming an associate professor. In his current role, he introduces students to the foundations of osteopathic medicine and teaches clinical skills and cardiopulmonary courses. He has worked with students in WVSOM’s Rural Health Initiative and also is an advisor to the school’s chapter of the Student Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. Additionally, Alexandria Arthur, D.O., a WVSOM Class of 2023 alumna, received the WVRHA’s Outstanding Rural Health

46 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Resident Award during the conference. Arthur, a family medicine physician at AccessHealth in Beckley, W.Va., was acknowledged for exceptional patient care, advocacy and commitment to addressing health disparities in rural populations. She said she was honored to receive the award. “I’ve learned so much through my residency about how to treat people in rural primary care,” Arthur said. “My patients have taught me invaluable life lessons that I’ll carry with me as I further my practice. I’m also grateful to WVSOM for the excellent medical education the school provided. It feels good to be recognized by the West Virginia Rural Health Association.”

TWO STUDENTS AWARDED FOUR-YEAR SCHOLARSHIP

The Mountain State House of Medicine

WVSOM Class of 2029 student Lenzie Stiltner and Class of 2028 student Morgan Christian were awarded The Health Plan Scholarship, which covers tuition and fees and is renewable for four years, allowing students to graduate from medical school without worrying about those costs.

said. “I’m so grateful for the mentors who have guided me along the way, and I want every student in West Virginia to know that with hard work and big dreams, anything is possible.”

Stiltner said she is grateful for the scholarship, which will allow her to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a physician.

who attend West Virginia institutions and intend to practice in West

CME Summit at the Greenbrier

Since 2009, The Health Plan has provided more than $3 million in Learning Together, Leading full scholarshipsTogether to more than 50 medical and nursing students

Stiltner and Christian were awarded a full scholarship in November 5-7 2026 The GreenbrierVirginia. Resort White Sulphur Springs

2025. “Growing up in Matewan, I was shaped by a community that instilled in me the values of resilience, compassion and service,” she James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, thanked The Health said. “My goal is to return home after my training to practice Plan for offering Arural Joint Meeting of the scholarship program. medicine, giving back to the community that raised me and working “With this program, The Health Plan is directly impacting the to improve access to quality health care within our region.” WVOMA and WVSMA physician shortage in West Virginia. WVSOM is appreciative that The Christian, a Barboursville native, explained the impact of Health Plan includes osteopathic medical students in its scholarship scholarships during medical school. program. Medical school is not inexpensive. This scholarship, by financially assisting recipients who want to stay in West Virginia, “4-H taught me to use my head, heart, hands and health to make a benefits not only our students but the state,” he said. difference — and that’s exactly what I hope to do as a doctor,” she

The Mountain State House of Medicine

CME Summit at the Greenbrier Learning Together, Leading Together November 5-7 2026 The Greenbrier Resort White Sulphur Springs A Joint Meeting of

WVOMA and WVSMA WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 47

SWARM NAMED

WVSOM’S DEAN

Gail Swarm, D.O., who became WVSOM’s interim dean in January, has been appointed vice president of academic affairs and dean and chief academic officer starting May 30.

She said she is enthusiastic about helping to lead WVSOM at a time when health care and medical education are evolving rapidly.

James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, said the longtime faculty member’s appointment follows an extensive search process.

“From advances such as artificial intelligence to changing patient needs, we must continue adapting while staying grounded in our mission to educate compassionate, highly skilled physicians,” she said. “I am also grateful to be part of a community where faculty, staff and preceptors are so deeply invested in student success. Their dedication makes this institution special.”

“After a national search, Dr. Swarm was selected as the best candidate for the position,” Nemitz said. “Her leadership has been instrumental in advancing curriculum quality, accreditation readiness, faculty development and student‑centered educational initiatives. I am grateful for Dr. Swarm’s continued commitment to WVSOM and confident in the experience she brings.” Swarm joined WVSOM in 2003. She served as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor of family medicine at the school, and chaired the Department of Clinical Sciences from 2013 to 2016 before becoming the department’s assistant dean in 2020. She also has served as director of WVSOM’s Clinical Evaluation Center. As the 11th dean in the school’s 54-year history, Swarm said she hopes to continue its legacy of high-quality academic stewardship. “I’m fortunate to follow strong leaders who guided this institution through significant challenges, including the pandemic and major curricular advancements. I look forward to building on that foundation as we continue advancing our mission,” she said.

48 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

A board-certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Swarm practiced in the Ohio cities of North Royalton, Akron and Cleveland before relocating to Lewisburg. During her time at WVSOM, Swarm has led projects including virtual reality and artificial intelligence applications in medical training. She worked with a third-year medical student to obtain grant funding to develop an app to allow medical students to access video of special physical diagnosis tests using wearable glass. A second app was later launched to provide access to the physical exam videos on YouTube. Swarm is an associate editor for the West Virginia Medical Journal and serves as an accreditation reviewer for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She recently completed the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s Senior Leadership Development Program.

ALUMNI NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AT

OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL CONFERENCE

Two WVSOM alumni received awards during a conference that celebrates the work of osteopathic medical professionals throughout the country. The 2025 American Osteopathic Foundation (AOF) Honors Gala took place in Nashville, Tenn., in conjunction with the American Osteopathic Association’s Osteopathic Medical Education Conference. Michael Antolini, D.O., a WVSOM 2012 graduate, and Victor Rendon, D.O., a WVSOM 2019 graduate, received the State Emerging Leader Awards for West Virginia and Delaware, respectively. In partnership with Osteopathic State Affiliates, the AOF State Emerging Leader Award recognizes exceptional practicing physicians who provide service to others through osteopathic tenets and principles, advocacy efforts, community service and philanthropic spirit.

MICHAEL ANTOLINI, D.O.

Antolini specializes in family medicine at Fayette Clinic/ AccessHealth in Fayetteville, W.Va. He is associate faculty for the AccessHealth Teaching Health Center Family Medicine Residency Program. Antolini also serves as president of the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association (WVOMA). He said he is grateful to be recognized nationally for his work with patients in Appalachia. “To be honored nationally for advancing osteopathic principles, advocating for our profession and serving communities across West Virginia affirms the values I try to live by every day as a physician. I’m especially grateful to the WVOMA for their unwavering mentorship and leadership. Being part of such a dedicated state affiliate has shaped my identity as an osteopathic physician and leader,” he said. Rendon works at ChristianaCare in Newark, Del., and specializes in psychiatry. As a younger physician, he said he is humbled to contribute to the medical profession. “It has been rewarding to serve the community in multiple positions within the ChristianaCare system — through my regular outpatient practice, supervising residents, working the inpatient unit/consult liaison service, and more recently, working with our outpatient addiction services team,” Rendon said. “In my third year of practice, it has been rewarding to see the long-term progress my patients have made through their mental health and addiction struggles. When I see these results, it feels worthwhile making a wider difference in the community.”

VICTOR RENDON, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 49

WVSOM ALUMNUS

HELPS SHAPE AI USE IN OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION, PATIENT CARE

Movies from the 1980s, including The Terminator and WarGames, were initial catalysts that led Ravi Yarid, D.O., to incorporate artificial intelligence into his life at a basic level. Now, he is posing questions about AI to the osteopathic medical community in hopes the profession can serve as a primary source for literacy in this new age of AI integration. “I was always aware of AI, with AI-related futuristic movies, and about 15 years ago I worked on projects with a much narrower AI scope. I knew spellcheck was AI. Amazon has been using AI. But when AI dropped in a big, general format at the end of 2022, I knew I needed to be involved. This would be the direction of the next chapter of my life,” he said. Yarid grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Maryland. During high school, he moved to Lewisburg, W.Va., and graduated from WVSOM in 2002. He completed a family medicine residency in Coldwater, Mich., and a fellowship in osteopathic manipulative medicine in Bangor, Maine. He has become a thought leader on artificial intelligence at the national level for osteopathic medicine and education. He has served on and is now the incoming co-chair for the American Osteopathic Information Association’s Digital Health Innovation Steering Committee. He also serves on the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s AI Advisory Workgroup, and has delivered numerous AI presentations nationally. “Artificial intelligence is fit to purpose. If we want it to think for us, it will do that. If we want it to help us think, it will do that. It can help us memorize better or learn more. It can process information and teach it to someone’s preference of learning,” he said. “Our current model of teaching is that everyone has to adapt to a learning model of someone’s teaching. Now that information can be adapted for the learner, it’s kind of flipping the classroom and creating individualized learning plans.” But adding value to artificial intelligence, rather than just utilizing it for efficiency, is how medical schools can ensure students are open to using it and eventually incorporating it into their careers. “AI literacy is important. We need to get enough people knowledgeable about AI so we can build with it, as opposed to having it simply sort emails quicker or update personal calendars,” Yarid said. “Believe it or not, when electricity was first introduced, people didn’t jump on that either. That’s why they had world fairs to show people what you could do with it. Then people started thinking, ‘Maybe I should have electricity in my home.’ People don’t quite grasp what we can do with AI, so the more we get them to embrace it, the further we’re going to take this, because it’s not going away.”

50 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Yarid worked for nearly five years as an assistant professor of osteopathic manipulative medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine-Georgia. Since February, he has been assistant professor and clinical director of the Medical AI Institute at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Texas, where he explores how generative AI and digital health competencies can improve patient outcomes and reshape osteopathic medical training. Yarid imagines more streamlined and intuitive experiences that not only automate but anticipate patients’ health needs, with AI strengthening physician-patient relationships, not replacing them. “Maybe a patient is beginning to get a sore throat, and AI evaluates the vitals. It can look through a patient’s whole record and give advice or determine if an enhanced telehealth visit is needed,” he said. “Then, if you need to visit a doctor’s office, the physician will have a full review of your records available with the most important aspects already highlighted. The whole system experience is enhanced from beginning to end. That means everything I do as a provider now has more meaning because I’m not going through the laborious processes.” This could be especially effective in underserved areas, Yarid said, where AI can determine which medical needs are a priority. “In underserved areas you could have a clinic with a doctor there one day a week, but the AI automatically schedules everyone for that day so it is more dynamic,” he said. “It can determine that a diabetic with home monitoring is doing great so they don’t need to be seen. Or Johnny needs an urgent care visit because he’s got an earache. All of a sudden, the entire system is patients being seen in a more effective manner and being taken care of more.” Yarid remains committed to spreading knowledge about AI. He dreams of osteopathic medicine being a profession that is a global leader in artificial intelligence. “It’s not what AI products we should use. It’s, ‘What can we build with it?’ Especially in the osteopathic profession, because we’re so niche, we need to start building and sharing among ourselves and then we’re going to have a system that is the next generation of health care education and deployment,” Yarid said. “We are able to get ahead, but it’s a matter of embracing it first.” Yarid believes that physicians and health care providers who have devoted a lifetime of service to others should be among the leading voices on how artificial intelligence is incorporated into society. “This is where I feel a calling in this profession for us to take the lead. We could help shape AI integration into our world. This is the important time to lay the foundation for what we’re going to do with AI in the future and what the standard for medicine is

Ravi Yarid, D.O. turning into,” he said. “Again, this starts with AI literacy. The more literate users we can get, the more awareness our profession will have and the more revolutionary ideas we can start bringing forward for ethical AI with human oversight and whole-person care.”

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 51

CLASS OF 2015 GRAD: ‘INNOVATION ISN’T A LUXURY, IT’S A RESPONSIBILITY’

At WVU Medicine United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, W.Va., Brittanie West, D.O., is helping to shape the future of medicine. An educator and family medicine physician who spends much of her time teaching residents and medical students, West was an early adopter of artificial intelligence tools. At the heart of the Class of 2015 graduate’s work lies a simple idea: Technology, used wisely, can benefit physicians, their students and their patients.

“If AI can help learners practice communicating before they’re in a real-life conversation that carries emotional weight, I think that’s really meaningful.”

West integrates AI into both sides of her career. As a clinician who has taught continuing medical education sessions on precision medicine — “getting the right diagnosis and the right treatment to the right patient at the right time,” as she puts it — West employs artificial intelligence to perform genetic risk analysis and to tailor medications to a patient’s genetic makeup. Without AI assisting in processing genetic data, neither approach would be practical, she explained. “I do a lot with pharmacogenomics: I look at your genes and how you respond to medications so that I can intelligently choose which one you should be on. In pharmacogenomics, the volume of information is so large that artificial intelligence is the only way to get it in the hands of physicians in a useful way,” she said. West pointed to an AI-based tool that can tell physicians which patients they should avoid prescribing, say, a popular blood thinner designed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. “Certain people carry an enzyme in the liver that makes them unable to metabolize Plavix fast enough. The Mayo Clinic has built clinical decision support software that loads this information into a patient’s record, and it pops up with a box saying, ‘Don’t give this patient Plavix’ and offers alternatives,” she said. “Some people carry a gene that gives them an increased risk for a terrible skin disorder called Stevens-Johnson syndrome if they take the mood stabilizer Lamictal. With AI, I can use their DNA to predict that ahead of time.” As a physician who spends about 70% of her time educating other medical professionals, West also has found AI to be a valuable tool in optimizing the learning process. For example, she finds the technology useful in creating asynchronous teaching modules for resident physicians. “We created a lecture series, and I used software called Articulate to help build our modules. I can load any resources I want — information from the American Academy of Family Physicians, medical textbooks, peer-reviewed articles. I give it the learning objectives and it matches them to the info I loaded and auto‑generates a module. I still have to go in and tweak things on 52 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

the back end, but what once took about 25 hours now takes four hours,” she said. That efficiency allows West to spend more time with her patients. “In the clinic, the busier you get, the less time there is for human connection, for things like OMM and for getting to know your patients personally,” she said. “Anything we can do to buy back providers’ time will help them connect better with the people they’re serving.”

She has found that artificial intelligence can, perhaps ironically, help physicians learn a deeply human skill: communicating effectively with the individuals they care for. Through a partnership with Xuron, a company that uses realistic simulations to help learners practice clinical communication, West builds virtual patients powered by a large language model. These digital avatars allow resident physicians to practice, among other things, sensitive conversations such as delivering upsetting news to a family or verbally screening for conditions that require special tact from a physician. “You can ask the avatar anything and it will respond appropriately. It’s not scripted,” she said. “For example, we created a scenario dealing with postpartum depression. One of the ways it’s diagnosed is by administering the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, which includes questions that could seem invasive: Are you sleeping when the baby’s sleeping? Do you have thoughts of hurting yourself or hurting the baby? Questions like that can be awkward for residents or might be delivered in a tone where the patient feels judged. With the avatar, a resident can practice these conversations until they feel comfortable.” In that sense, she said, artificial intelligence can help produce a more empathetic physician workforce. “In medicine, we spend a lot of time talking about knowledge, technical skills, clinical skills and surgical skills. Those are obviously important. But at the core of everything we do is communication, because it affects whether patients trust us, it affects their adherence and it affects the overall patient experience. If AI can help learners practice communicating before they’re in a real-life conversation that carries emotional weight, I think that’s really meaningful,” she said. For West, preparing young doctors for an increasingly technology-based health care system is something all medical educators should prioritize. “The learners I work with are growing up in a time when AI and tech will become a large part of their practice, and one of my jobs is to make sure they know what that world will look like,” she said. “Innovation isn’t a luxury, it’s a responsibility.”

Brittanie West, D.O.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 53

Thank you, 2025

WVSOM Dancing With the D.O.s event sponsors WALTZ Vandalia Health

CHA-CHA WVSOM Alumni Association

Hilary Hamric, D.O., and Mark Waddell, D.O.

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WVSOM Foundation

FOXTROT AccessHealth Drs. Jodi Flanders and James Deering Mason & Barry Inc.

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WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 55

TRANSITIONS

AARON PHILLIPS, PH.D. ASSOCIATE DEAN OF STUDENT AFFAIRS Aaron Phillips, Ph.D., was named associate dean of student affairs starting Nov. 15, 2025. Phillips has B.S. and B.A. degrees from Eastern Kentucky University, a master’s degree in college student personnel services, and a Ph.D. degree in counseling and personnel services, both from the University of Louisville. He previously served as WVSOM’s interim associate dean of student affairs. Prior to that, he was director of academic support at DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University. Phillips also has been an assistant professor at the American University of Antigua, senior admissions counselor and assistant director for education academic services/ graduate admissions at the University of Louisville and assistant director of enrollment services at Ivy Tech Community College.

HILARY HAMRIC, D.O. ASSOCIATE DEAN OF CLINICAL EDUCATION Hilary Hamric, D.O., was named associate dean of clinical education starting Jan. 6. She is administratively responsible for the third and fourth years of the D.O. curriculum, and in conjunction with the associate dean of preclerkship education is responsible for the components of clinical education that occur in the first and second years of the D.O. curriculum. Hamric also supervises WVSOM’s Statewide Campus program and regional assistant deans. Prior to working in the Statewide Campus as a regional assistant dean, Hamric was a faculty member in the Department of Clinical Sciences. A graduate of West Virginia University and of WVSOM, she completed a residency at WVU Hospitals, serving as pediatric chief resident.

56 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

KATHERINE CALLOWAY, D.O. REGIONAL ASSISTANT DEAN OF THE STATEWIDE CAMPUS SOUTH EAST REGION Katherine Calloway, D.O., was named regional assistant dean of the Statewide Campus South East Region starting in February. Calloway joined WVSOM in 2022 as a regional assistant dean in the South Central Region. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University, the Boston University School of Public Health and WVSOM. Throughout her career, Calloway has gained international experience in locations such as Kosovo, Mozambique, Rwanda and Honduras. She also has served as a physician with Cabin Creek Health Systems, a member of the medical staff at Charleston Area Medical Center and a WVSOM clinical assistant professor. She is chief medical director for HospiceCare WV.

JILL COCHRAN, PH.D. INTERIM CLINICAL NAVIGATOR FOR CLINICAL SCIENCES FACULTY AND OSTEOPATHIC PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE RESEARCH INTEGRATION Jill Cochran, Ph.D., was named interim clinical navigator for clinical sciences faculty and osteopathic principles and practice research integration starting in March. She serves as a faculty-facing research facilitator; supports the development, implementation and dissemination of clinically relevant research by guiding faculty from initial clinical observation or ideas through project completion; and serves as a bridge between faculty, students, institutional resources and community partners to enhance scholarly productivity.

CHRIS PANKEY, PH.D.

New Hire

INTERIM BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH DIRECTOR Chris Pankey, Ph.D., was named interim biomedical research director starting in March. He supports biomedical faculty research activities, including intramurals, research space and technician allocation; coordinates with the Research Committee and the chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences; oversees shared research equipment in the Fredric W. Smith Science Building; and serves as faculty mentor for WVSOM’s Research Club and the point of contact for student biomedical research.

DAVID NICHOLAS, D.O. REGIONAL ASSISTANT DEAN OF THE STATEWIDE CAMPUS SOUTH WEST REGION

ANDREA BUCKLEW, J.D. ASSOCIATE DEAN OF ASSESSMENT Andrea Bucklew, J.D., was named associate dean of assessment starting May 16. She provides strategic leadership and oversight of institutional and programmatic assessment activities to support continuous quality improvement, accreditation compliance and data-informed decision-making. Bucklew earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from West Virginia University before completing a J.D. degree from WVU’s College of Law. She was WVSOM’s director of accreditation and continuous quality improvement following positions at Wheeling University and Alderson Broaddus University.

David Nicholas, D.O., joined WVSOM on Nov. 11, 2025. He monitors the progress and performance of third- and fourth-year students and serves as the chief academic, administrative, financial and public relations liaison for WVSOM in that region. Nicholas is a WVSOM alumnus who has worked as an emergency physician for two decades and is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics. He is medical director and department physician for the West Virginia State Police and has served as president of the WVSOM Alumni Association and chair of the WVSOM Board of Governors. Nicholas completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency and an emergency medicine fellowship at Charleston Area Medical Center.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 57

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Here is a look at the 2026 WVSOM Alumni Association board members. Officers serve a two-year term, while members-at-large serve a three-year rotating term. Reach out to board members to discuss your needs, share ideas and connect to your alma mater. The mission of the WVSOM Alumni Association is to create a cohesive and active community of WVSOM alumni that will participate in opportunities to engage with WVSOM students, administration and faculty in order to increase awareness, pride, participation and philanthropic commitment that ultimately will advance the mission of WVSOM and its founders.

Board of Directors President Ryan Newell, D.O. Class of 1999

Members-at-Large Dara Aliff, D.O. Class of 1999

Sept. 19, 2025, to June 26, 2026 1990

Matthew Wright, D.O.

2002

Tatiana Denning, D.O.

2007

Anita Yeager-Smith, D.O.

Mary (Crissy) Hendricks, D.O. Class of 2010

2008

Katherine Calloway, D.O.

Brant Hinchman, D.O. Class of 2012

2011

Anna Fuller, D.O.

2012

Todd Jamrose, D.O.

2012

Jacqueline Lickliter, D.O.

2018

Rebekkah Brown, D.O.

2019

Jennifer Murphy, D.O.

2022

Madeleine Gwinn, D.O.

2023

Allison Silber, D.O.

2026

Hannah Ankrom, D.O.

2026

Trevor Dew, D.O.

Savannah Keffer, D.O. Class of 2023 Courtney Levendorf, D.O. Class of 2018 Vice President Andrew Naymick, D.O. Class of 1988

New Life Members

Josalyn Mann, D.O. Class of 2004 Susan Painter, D.O. Class of 1984 Faith Payne, D.O. Class of 2007 Jonathan Stanley, D.O. Class of 2007 Mark Yost, D.O. Class of 2016

Secretary-Treasurer Jessica Smith-Kelly, D.O. Class of 2012

Past President (ex-officio) Manuel Ballas, D.O. Class of 1993 Resident Member (ex-officio) Jared Zopp, D.O. Class of 2022

58 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

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to become a WVSOM Alumni Association Life Member and begin utilizing the membership’s benefits.

CLASS NOTES 1978

2018

Edward Eskew, D.O., was awarded Distinguished Fellow status by the American Osteopathic Association of Addiction Medicine for his work during the past 15 years. He continues to provide addiction medicine services at WVU Medicine St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, W.Va.

Rebekkah Brown, D.O., was named program director of Charleston Area Medical Center’s psychiatry residency. Brown is the department’s first D.O. faculty member and the residency’s first D.O. program director.

1979 Art Rubin, D.O., retired from WVSOM as associate dean of clinical education, a position he held for more than five years after spending more than 11 years as regional assistant dean of the South Central Region of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus. Additionally, Rubin received Charleston Area Medical Center’s Steven Jubelirer Research Award in April, and he and his wife, Missy Rubin, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

1989 Charles Shelton Jr., D.O., was elected Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is an associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.

2023 Zachary Bloom, D.O., was named Resident of the Year for 2026 by the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians.

BIRTH 2023 Alexandria Arthur, D.O., and her husband welcomed their second daughter, Ella, on April 6. Arthur is medical director for Hospice of Southern West Virginia in Beckley, W.Va.

IN MEMORY OF

1995

1984

Mark McDaniel, D.O., is acting state health officer of the West Virginia

Michael Massey, D.O., of Biloxi, Miss., passed away March 15, 2025. A

Department of Health.

1997 Lori Tucker, D.O., became a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner. She is a locum OB-GYN laborist physician and the owner of Discreet Wellness and Sexual Health, a telemedicine company.

2000 Maria N. Tranto, D.O., a board-certified internal medicine physician, and her daughter, Peri Dimitriou, a third-year medical student attending Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, published Judy’s True Beauty, a children’s book about hair donation. Proceeds from the book benefit children with hair loss and cancer.

2002 David Prisk, D.O., is an emergency medicine physician and clinical director of acute, integrated and medical services for Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand. He works at Palmerston North Hospital on the country’s lower North Island. He has practiced in New Zealand since 2012.

2004 Heather Ratliff, D.O., accepted the position of associate chief clinical officer of Fresenius Kidney Care. Ratliff will focus on home dialysis modalities but also contribute in in-center dialysis and inpatient acute programs.

native of Greenville, Miss., Massey was a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he had roles as a flight surgeon, pediatrician, diagnostic radiologist and nuclear medicine physician.

1986 Michael Herbik, D.O., of Washington, Pa., passed away July 12, 2025. A native of Uniontown, Pa., Herbik practiced family medicine in Carmichaels, Pa., for nearly 20 years. He also served as medical director for several state facilities in Western Pennsylvania.

1988 Richard Durham, D.O., of Lewisburg, W.Va., passed away April 16. A native of Hurricane, W.Va., Durham practiced pulmonology in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina for more than three decades.

1992 John Eilers, D.O., of Mingo, W.Va., passed away Oct. 10, 2025. Eilers was a family physician in Pocahontas County for 31 years.

1998 Leslie Abigail Winters, D.O., of Ronceverte, W.Va., passed away March 5. Prior to receiving her D.O. degree, she was a pharmacist and practiced in Greenbrier County..

2003

2010

Eric Goss, D.O., of Paducah, Ky., passed away Oct. 2, 2025. A native of

Frances Southwick, D.O., participated in a live performance for The

Richlands, Va., Goss spent 22 years as an internal medicine physician, with a focus on caring for the elderly.

Nocturnists, a medical storytelling podcast. Southwick discussed being a physician with Type 1 narcolepsy.

2006

2013

Debra Paxton, D.O., of Rapid City, S.D., passed away Dec. 20, 2025.

Brittany Smirnov, D.O., is a dermatologist who practices in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Smirnov recently assumed the role of deputy chair of the Philanthropic Relations Committee for the American Academy of Dermatology.

2017 Brent Brash II, D.O., was named associate program director of Charleston Area Medical Center’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Charleston, W.Va. Brash also is a member of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Paxton practiced at Arnot Health in Elmira, N.Y., for 12 years, serving as a family medicine residency faculty member, rotating internship program director and hospitalist. She later spent six years as a hospitalist at Monument Health in Rapid City.

2011 Brad Eastman, D.O., of Mount Pleasant, S.C., passed away Jan. 25. A native of Charleston, W.Va., and a U.S. Air Force veteran, Eastman was an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at the Medical University of South Carolina. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 59

GIFTS TO WVSOM LIFETIME GIVING LEADERS Distinguished benefactors whose cumulative philanthropic contributions have played a pivotal role in advancing WVSOM’s mission and sustaining long-term organizational impact.

President’s Council Donors $100,000+

Founder’s Club Donors $50,000-$99,999

Drs. Michael and Cheryl Adelman Drs. David and Bonita Barger Joseph Cincinnati, D.O. Charles Davis, D.O./Davis Eye Center Inc. Troy Foster, D.O. Abdollatif Ghiathi, D.O. James Harless Ray Harron, M.D./Harron Foundation John Manchin II, D.O./Manchin Clinic* Angus Peyton/Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation Michael C. Pyles, D.O., Estate Roland Sharp, D.O. Hildegard P. Swick Estate Marlene Wager, D.O. Lydia Weisser, D.O.* Gary White Kendall Wilson Jr., D.O., Estate

Michael Antolini, D.O.* Christopher Beckett, D.O. Sean Brain and Jandy Hanna, Ph.D. James Deering, D.O., and Jodi Flanders, D.O. Drs. Rachel and Robert Hunter Dr. Gregory and Penny Jarrell* William McLaughlin, D.O. Dorothy Montgomery and Donna Toothman* Dr. Jim and Nancy Nemitz Michael Nicholas, D.O. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Obrokta Jr./ Olivia Claire Obrokta Foundation* Patrick Pagur, D.O., and Billie Wright, D.O. Mr. and Mrs. David and Martha Rader* Dr. and Mrs. Art Rubin/Carmel-Greenfield Charitable Trust Carole Stookey Drs. Andrew and Tiffany Thymius Mrs. John Tirpak Reggie Triplett, D.O., and Leah Triplett, D.O. Harold Ward, D.O. Dr. and Mrs. Badshah Wazir/Spring Hill Cardiology

ORGANIZATIONS Encova Foundation of West Virginia The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. Greenbrier Military School Alumni Association Hollowell Foundation Inc. Maier Foundation Inc. Seneca Trail Charitable Foundation Inc. West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust WVSOM Alumni Association

60 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

ORGANIZATIONS Humana Jeanne G. Hamilton and Lawson W. Hamilton Jr. Family Foundation Inc. National Osteopathic Foundation OVP Foundation for Healthier Communities West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association

UPCOMING EVENTS Sept. 11 White Coat Ceremony Oct. 24 OMED Alumni Event Nov. 6-8 Alumni Weekend Nov. 7 Dancing With the D.O.s Jan. 29-31 2027 Mid-Winter Osteopathic Seminar June 16-19 2027 Summer Seminar

Patron Donors $25,000-$49,999

Dr. Matthew and Kelli Allaway* Manuel Ballas, D.O. Catherine Bishop, D.O. Craig Boisvert, D.O.# Robert Boles* George Boxwell, D.O. Jeffery Braham, D.O. Drs. Edward and Kristie Bridges Clyde Brooks III, D.O. Elizabeth Clark, D.O.* Cathy Dailey, D.O. Steven Eshenaur, D.O., and Lori Eshenaur/Haven Ltd. Ahmed Faheem, M.D.* Allen Finkelstein, D.O. Robert Flowers, D.O. J. Robert Holmes, DDS Cynthia Mayer, D.O. Richard McClung, DDS Samuel Muscari Jr., D.O.# Deena Obrokta, D.O. Pete Palko, D.O. Lorenzo Pence, D.O. Henry Porter Jr., M.H., Ph.D.* Rosa Stone, D.O. Peter Stracci, D.O.* Lori Tucker, D.O. Drs. Rafael and Letitia Villalobos Lewis Whaley, D.O.

WVSOM campus Las Vegas, Nev. WVSOM campus WVSOM campus WVSOM campus Myrtle Beach, S.C.

ORGANIZATIONS CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center CAMC Health Education and Research Institute City National Bank Highmark Inc. Highmark West Virginia Little General Stores OVP Health Inc. Peoples Bank Smith Kline & French Laboratories Truist Corporation West Virginia State Medical Association Alliance WVSOM Health (formerly Robert C. Byrd Clinic Inc.) *President's Circle members (gifts of $5,000 or more to any WVSOM Foundation fund during Fiscal Year 2026) #Leadership Giving Circle members (gifts of $1,000 or more to the Unrestricted Fund during Fiscal Year 2026)

SCAN THE QR CODE to donate to a scholarship endowment or other fund of your choosing.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 61

SUPPORTERS OF WVSOM Gifts received from active donors between Sept. 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026. Giving levels reflect contributions made during this period and are not cumulative lifetime totals.

$50,000-$99,999

The Thrasher Group

Josalyn Mann, D.O.

Michael C. Pyles, D.O., Estate*

WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital

Cynthia Mayer, D.O.

$25,000-$49,999

ZMM Architects and Engineers

Dr. Matthew and Kelli Allaway*

$2,500-$4,999

Henry Porter Jr., M.H., Ph.D.*

$10,000-$24,999 Michael Antolini, D.O.* Robert Boles* Ahmed Faheem, M.D.* Dorothy Montgomery and Donna Toothman* James Tierney, D.O.* Gerald Wedemeyer, M.D.* Marvin Wells, D.O.

Afeworki Kidane, D.O.# John Manchin II, D.O.* Christine Moore, D.O. Samuel Muscari Jr., D.O.# Gail Swarm, D.O.# Andy Tanner, D.O., and Dewayne Duncan Mark Waddell, D.O.* Thomas White II, D.O.

Frederick Morgan, D.O.# Andrea Nazar, D.O. Pete Palko III, D.O. James Paugh II, D.O.# Lorenzo Pence, D.O. Crispin Quitos, D.O.# Dr. Arthur and Missy Rubin Ryan Runyon, D.O. Ronald Smith, D.O. Ethan Szpara, D.O.# Kimberly Tieman George Triplett, D.O.

ORGANIZATIONS

Drs. Reggie and Leah Triplett

Boone Memorial Hospital

Naomi Wriston, D.O.#

WVU Medicine United Hospital Center

Samuel Whit Yates, Ph.D.

OVP Foundation for Healthier Communities

$1,000-$2,499

ORGANIZATIONS

UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care

Randall Belt, D.O.

WVSOM Alumni Association

Craig Boisvert, D.O.#

West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust

Drs. William and Pat Browning#

$5,000-$9,999

David Burks

ORGANIZATIONS Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation

George Boxwell, D.O. Elizabeth Clark, D.O.* Michael Cope, Ph.D. Matthew Davis, D.O.* James Deering, D.O., and Jodi Flanders, D.O. Dr. Gregory and Penny Jarrell*

Richard Carey, D.O.

The American Beer Company Bailey & Wyant PLLC Bank of Monroe Cartledge Charitable Foundation Pocahontas Memorial Hospital

Charles Cornell

West Virginia Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians

Suzanne Whitney Courtney, D.O.

WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital

John Carvalho

David Crandall, D.O.# Raymond Derry Crosby, D.O.#

$500-$999

Michael Delahanty, D.O.

Helen Baker, Ph.D., and John Mooney

Robert Flowers, D.O.

Robert Bennett

Kathryn Wallington Freeland

Lauryn Benninger, D.O.

Darla Gallentine, D.O.

Catherine Bishop, D.O.

Katherine Galluzzi, D.O.#

Linda Boyd, D.O.

John Garlitz, D.O.

Edward Brennan II, D.O.

Donald Gullickson II, D.O.#

David Brown, Ph.D.

Brant Hinchman, D.O.

Brande Carpenter

Johnny Stephen Howell, D.O.#

John Cavell, D.O.

ORGANIZATIONS

Ben and Renda James

Joseph Cincinnati, D.O.

Edward Tucker Architects Inc.

Kimberly Jones

Marina Diioia, Ph.D.

Jeanne G. Hamilton and Lawson W. Hamilton Jr. Family Foundation Inc.

Susan Ketchem

Mark Dodd, D.O.

Courtney Levendorf, D.O.

Roderick Doss, D.O.

Joshua Lohri, D.O.* James Nemitz, Ph.D. Deena Obrokta, D.O. TJ and Diana Obrokta* David Rader* Gary Sajko, D.O.* Peter Stracci, D.O.* John Talbott, D.O.*

Mason & Barry Inc. 62 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026

Al Emch, J.D.

Gary Ewing

Hal Armistead, D.O.

Scott Keller, D.O.

Bruce Gorby, D.O.

Leslie Bicksler

Andy Kelso, Ph.D.

Brian Griffith, Ph.D.

Shirlene Boltz

Cindi Knight

Heidi Henson, D.O.

Jonathan Bond, D.O.

Lianna Lawson, D.O.

Drema Hill, Ph.D.

Christianna Booth

Wendy Lee, D.O.

Buddy Hurt, D.O.

Kathleen Bors, M.D.

Machelle Linsenmeyer, Ed.D.

Anthony Johnson, D.O.

Kevin and Cindy Bradley

Amy Lusk

Dr. Jay and Gelila Jones

Andrea Bucklew, J.D.

Deanna Mangieri, D.O.

Christopher Kennedy, D.O.

Marilea Butcher

Dr. William and Gloria Martin

Forrest Lane Jr., D.O.

Katherine Calloway, D.O.

Aaron McGuffin, M.D.

Justin McAllister

J.P. Blake Casher, D.O.

Susan Medalie, D.O.

Richard McClung, DDS

Lillian Cathy

Dr. Louis-Fulbert Michel

Deanna Mossallati, D.O.

Bruce Chase, M.D.

William Moore, D.O.

John Myer

Hassan Chaudhary, D.O.

Sue Morgan

Lorella Nelson-Mitchell

Amber Cobb

Dr. Andy and Stephanie Naymick

Herawaty Phung

Dustin Crutchfield

Laura Oleson

Eric Schneider, D.O.

Summer Dean

Aaron Phillips, Ph.D.

Robert Snuffer, D.O.

Matthew Deitz

Julianna Quick

George Sokos, D.O.

Emily DeLong, D.O.

Roi Reed, D.O.

Shannon Warren

Crissandra Digges, D.O.

Thomas Richardson, D.O.

Katherine Williams, Ph.D.

Robert Eaton, D.O.

Robert Sanders, Ed.D.

Lynn Ebbert

Caitlyn Santer, D.O.

Cynthia Eilerman

Howard Sathre, DDS, M.D.

Christopher Flanagan, D.O.

Gary and Linda Schultz

Albert Fogle, D.O.

Danny Seams

David and Olgusha Forrest

Marjan Shahani

William Fredericks, D.O.

Jessica Shull

Kathleen Garry

Dena Smith, D.O.

Ray Greco II, D.O.

Annie Slonaker

Debbie Green

Daniel Suders, D.O.

Marla Haller, D.O.

Rebecca Szer, D.O.

Patricia Hamilton

Mark VanBuren

Dawn Hamlin

David Wagner

Rick Hampton

Haylee Walkup

Hilary Hamric, D.O.

Junyu Wang, D.O.

Holly Hardesty

Monte Ward

James Harnsberger, Ph.D.

Roseanne Warfield

Marietta Harvey

Michael Warlick, D.O.

Byron Haworth Jr., D.O.

Daniel Whitmore, D.O.

Janet Hinton

Karen Wines

$50-$249

Tim Holbrook

Christopher Wood, D.O.

Drs. Cheryl and Michael Adelman

Rhonda Hughes

Lisa Zaleski-Larsen, D.O.

ORGANIZATIONS Logan Regional Medical Center Microsoft

$250-$499 David Dietz Kathy Goodman, D.O. Drew Kagan Gretchen Lovett, Ph.D. Thomas Mance, D.O. Donette Mizia Gregory Molter, D.O. Bobbi Morgan Jan Silverman, D.O. Irene Smail, Ph.D. Lori Tucker, D.O. James Wright, D.O. Sherri Young, D.O.

*President’s Circle members (gifts of $5,000 or more to any WVSOM Foundation fund during Fiscal Year 2026) #Leadership Giving Circle members (gifts of $1,000 or more to the Unrestricted Fund during Fiscal Year 2026)

Kelly Jackson, Ph.D. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2026 • 63

West Virginia School of OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

400 Lee Street North Lewisburg, WV 24901

finding health

preparing medical students to find health practicing in any specialty 800+

medical students enrolled each year, on average — more than any other medical school in the state

WV HEPC Health Sciences and Rural Health Report, 2025

@WVSOM.1

$133+ MILLION

economic impact in the state

100%

residency placement rate Class of 2026

Tripp Umbach Economic Impact Study, 2020

/WVSOM

88+

hospitals and clinics for medical student rotation experiences

regional campus sites

WVSOM.edu

2026 Summer Magazine AI in Health Care