A familiar face welcomed honorees and guests from the podium at the 70th Annual Banquet and Induction Ceremony of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (GW SMHS) Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA) Honor Medical Society, on May 15. The event, recognizing outstanding medical students, residents, and faculty, featured a keynote address by Alpha Chapter Visiting Professor and public health leader Lawrence Deyton, MD ’85, MSPH, Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy and professor of medicine and of health policy and management at GW SMHS.
In his remarks at the awards ceremony and during the 17th Annual AΩA Visiting Professor Grand Rounds earlier in the day, titled “A Path to Physician Advocacy, A Path to Professional Balance,” Deyton underscored the essential role of advocacy in the medical profession, encouraging this year’s inductees to seek fulfillment through leadership and service.
The annual celebration is organized and led by Angelike Liappis, MD ’96, FIDSA, associate professor of medicine at GW SMHS, and co-councilor of the GW Alpha Chapter of AΩA, alongside Alan Wasserman, MD, RESD ’79, Eugene Meyer Professor Emeritus of Medicine at GW SMHS.
The evening serves as a tribute to academic excellence, leadership, and a deep commitment to service. This year, 40 members of the GW SMHS Class of 2025 were inducted into the society, in addition to four faculty members, three chief residents, and four residents. A voluntary clinical faculty member also received an award from the society for service to GW and the community at large.
“Election to Alpha Omega Alpha is a distinction that follows a physician throughout their career,” said Wasserman. “It is the highest honor in the medical profession, and members will always be recognized as part of AΩA.”
AΩA is a national honor society in the field of medicine, founded in 1902 to recognize and support excellence in medicine, leadership, scholarship, and service. GW’s Alpha Chapter, established in 1954, is the oldest in Washington, D.C. Each year, senior medical students are elected based on academic achievement, leadership, research, and community involvement. Chapters also select distinguished house staff, faculty, and alumni.
Induction to the society is highly selective — only the top 25 percent of the class is eligible, with final selection based on peer and faculty evaluation of leadership, character, professionalism, and service to the school and broader community. The society is dedicated to the belief that, in the profession of medicine, care for patients is improved through the recognition of gifted teachers and physician-leaders.
“We charge you with the AΩA motto: ‘Be worthy to serve the suffering,’ ” said Liappis. “It is an honor and a privilege to care for someone in need. Strive to be worthy of that role.”
She added, “You are more than just your grades — you’ve proven that since the day you started medical school. We expect you to continue your commitment to service, humanism, and professionalism.”
In her welcoming remarks, Barbara Lee Bass, MD, RESD ’86, vice president for health affairs, dean of GW SMHS, Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, and professor of surgery, congratulated the graduates and other inductees on their accomplishment.
“This evening, we’re inducting an extraordinary group of new members,” said Bass. “We have much to celebrate — academic excellence and a shared commitment to our mission: to train the best so that we may serve our communities to the best of our abilities,” Bass told inductees and their families.
In remarks, Deyton spoke of the critical role advocacy plays in career fulfillment. Effective advocacy, he said, occurs on multiple levels.
“But being intentional about it in your daily life is the most rewarding and impactful.” He encouraged students to ground their advocacy in personal or professional experience: “Make your advocacy flow from who you are.”
Deyton also offered practical guidance, advising students to separate personal advocacy from their professional roles and to avoid referencing institutional affiliations publicly unless cleared to do so. “Don’t let your boss first hear about your advocacy in the morning news,” he cautioned.
“We occupy a very special niche in our institutions and our communities,” he said. “There are so many issues that need your advocacy. The profession needs you. Your institutions need you. Your communities need you.”
To the graduating students, Deyton said: “In 62 hours, you will receive your MD, take the Hippocratic Oath, and become doctors.”
Reflecting on the enduring message of the Hippocratic Oath, particularly in the 1964 Louis Lasagna translation, Deyton said, “It reminds us that physician advocacy is not optional — it’s an obligation.” He added, “We are charged to use our knowledge, expertise, and experience to take on those larger roles in our communities.”
Drawing from his own career, Deyton offered five guiding principles: pursue your passions; volunteer personally and professionally; take time to build trust and a solid reputation; find balance through advocacy; and above all, be kind, generous, and respectful of differing views.
He urged the audience — particularly the graduating students — to identify their personal goals for improving health care and to use their unique standing as physicians to advocate for meaningful change.
“Why take this on?” he asked. “My answer is simple: if not you, then who?”
Following Deyton’s remarks, Liappis and Wasserman presented Paul Rhodes, MD, clinical associate professor of internal medicine, GW SMHS, with the 2025 Alpha Chapter Voluntary Clinical Faculty Award, and formally conferred membership on the 2025 AΩA inductees.
2025 Alpha Chapter Faculty Inductees
Amir A. Afkhami MD ’03, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and Director of Medical Student Education, GW SMHS
Juliet Lee, MD, RESD ’02
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division Director, Surgical Education, and Director, Undergraduate Surgical Education, GW SMHS
Megan Quintana, MD
Assistant Professor Surgery
Director, Acute Care Education, Center for Trauma and Critical Care, GW SMHS
Neal Sikka, MD, RESD ’03
Professor and Vice-Chair of Emergency Medicine,
Chief, Innovative Practice and Telehealth Section, GW SMHS
2025 Alpha Chapter Chief Resident Inductees
Kirsten Walton, MD
Emergency Medicine, GW SMHS
Veda Ghodasara, MD
Psychiatry, GW SMHS
Ryan Salemme, MD
Internal Medicine, GW SMHS
2025 Alpha Chapter Resident Inductees
Amelia Bryan, MD
Emergency Medicine, GW SMHS
Mira Tanenbaum, MD
General Surgery, GW SMHS
Caitlin Williams, MD
Emergency Medicine, GW SMHS
Omar Yaghi, MD
Internal Medicine
Alpha Chapter MD Class of 2025
Jacob Zachary Adelman
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts Emergency Medicine
Yagiz Matthew Akiska
Research Fellowship, University of Maryland, Baltimore MD/MPH GW Milken School of Public Health, District of Columbia
Hussain Alkhars
Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW, District of Columbia MD/MPH
Shaleen Arora
Georgetown University/ Washington Hospital Center, District of Columbia Ophthalmology
Alia Badawi
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai/Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Psychiatry
Peter Gun Baek
New York University Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, New York Medicine-Preliminary
David L Bronstein
Harbor–University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center Emergency Medicine
Sophia Anne Cordes
Inova Fairfax Hospital, Virginia Obstetrics-Gynecology
Jocelyn Paige Fant
Good Samaritan Hospital of Cincinnati, Ohio Obstetrics-Gynecology
Katherine Finstuen-Magro
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Medical Education, Pennsylvania Pediatrics
Nicholas Hoyt
Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island Radiology
Anna Hu
Rush University Medical Center, Illinois Interventional Radiology
Skylar Emma Johnson
Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island Anesthesiology
Elena Johnston
University of California, San Diego Medical Center, California Internal Medicine
Hannah L. Kralles
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland Obstetrics-Gynecology
Prianka Kumar
University of California San Diego Medical Center, California Psychiatry
Sophie Kurschner
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado Family Medicine
Camille Isabella Leoni
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Pediatrics
Alisa Malyavko
St. Joseph Hospital, SCL Health, Colorado Internal Medicine
Jaya Manjunath
Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island Dermatology
Aadit Piyush Mehta
University of Texas Medical School-Houston Texas Neurological Surgery
Nikita Bhavani Menta
The George Washington University Hospital, District of Columbia Research Fellowship
Shruthi Mohan
Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Ohio Surgery-Preliminary
Colleen Marie Morris
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pediatrics
Julia D’Agata Mount
Boston University Medical Center, Massachusetts Internal Medicine
Esin Christine Namoglu
GW Milken School of Public Health, District of Columbia MD/MPH
Rachel Nassau
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Medical Center, New York Family Medicine
Laurence Uche Okeke
Northwestern University McGaw, Illinois Orthopaedic Surgery
Maren Renee Plant
University of Virginia, Virginia Emergency Medicine
Marcus Edward Russell
Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW, District of Columbia MD/MPH Program
Julia Ryan
Boston University Medical Center, Massachusetts General Surgery
Alana Sadur
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania Research Fellowship
Puja Sasankan
Emory University School of Medicine, Georgia Internal Medicine
Rachel Michelle Treat
New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York Radiology-Diagnostic
Elena Tsemberis
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, California Pediatrics
Alejandro Rafael Velasquez-Rodriguez
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts Internal Medicine
Brittany Ann White
Rush University Medical Center, Illinois Internal Medicine
Julia Xavier
Stony Brook Teach Hospitals, New York Obstetrics-Gynecology
Amy Zhao
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland Research Fellowship
Talia E. Zimmerman
Mass General Brigham - Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Surgery
