Julia Close, MD ’01, MBA, recently accepted the position of executive vice president and chief education officer for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where she leads the society’s flagship education and professional development programs. Close previously served as senior associate dean for graduate medical education at the UF College of Medicine.

David Huang, MD ’85, was named the Capital Medical Society’s 2024 I.B. Harrison, MD Humanitarian Award recipient. A pulmonary disease and critical care physician with Tallahassee Pulmonary Clinic, he was recognized for his dedication to humanitarian values, including compassion, service, respect, wisdom and integrity.

UF Medicine Wall of Fame 2020 inductee Jose Lezama, MD ’97, MACP, has been elected to Mastership at the American College of Physicians, a designation awarded to the top 0.2% of internal medicine physicians and specialists. Recently appointed vice chair of academic affairs and faculty development for internal medicine at the University of South Florida Health, he also published his first book, “Internal Medicine Learning A to Z and 1, 2, 3.”

Akash Parekh, MD, who completed a radiation oncology residency at UF in 2021, was recently appointed chief medical officer of telehealth company myphysician360. Prior to this role, he served as a medical officer in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Robert L. Phillips, MD ’95, MSPH, a 2016 UF College of Medicine Wall of Fame inductee, has been awarded the David Rall Medal from the National Academy of Medicine. As the founding director of The Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care in Washington, D.C., Phillips was recognized for his exceptional leadership as the chair of a study committee.

Dana Lynn Villmore, PhD ’12, was named the 2024 Outstanding Health Care Professional of the Year by the Maine Academy of Physician Associates. Villmore, née Catalfamo, an assistant clinical professor at the University of New England Westbrook College of Health Professions in Portland, Maine, was recognized for her exceptional clinical knowledge, dedication to student success and contributions to improving health care.