News Notes – Summer 2024
Celebrating the achievements of UF College of Medicine alumni
Avis Chen Boulter, MD ’85, who recently retired from her position as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Nemours Children’s Health in Jacksonville, is a newly elected member of the UF Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors. She will serve a four-year term, focusing on enhancing the medical school experience for UF students and strengthening connections among alumni.
Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi, MD, a retired physician who completed an internal medicine residency at UF in 1980, a fellowship in 1982, and served on faculty at the College of Medicine for many years, recently released a memoir. Published in May, “The Mango Chronicle” recounts his experience as a refugee from Cuba finding his way in America.
Cara Marshall, MD ’96, has been selected as founding director of the Lowell Community Health Center’s planned family medicine residency program, developed in collaboration with Tufts Medicine. She has received several accolades throughout her career, including Family Medicine Educator of the Year by the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, and brings a wealth of experience in curriculum development and resident supervision.
Jacques Morcos, MD, who completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery at UF in 1994, was recently appointed chair of the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston’s Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery. Prior to this appointment, he served on the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine faculty for 28 years.
Michael S. Okun, MD ’96, the Adelaide Lackner Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the UF College of Medicine and the director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health, was named a UF Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty honor awarded at the university. He is one of only five faculty members in the College of Medicine’s history to be honored with this distinction.
Diana Twiggs, MD ’97, was named the 2023 Family Physician of the Year by the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. A family medicine physician with Baptist Primary Care in Fernandina Beach, Florida, she was recognized for maintaining high-quality standards for the profession, as well as her compassion, dedication, outstanding service to patients, commitment to public service, and participation in activities to enhance the lives of those in the community.
