{"id":138676,"date":"2025-10-01T13:43:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T17:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=138676"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:50:17","slug":"distinguished-alumni-praise-mentoring-and-service-at-annual-alumni-awards-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/news-events\/articles\/2025\/distinguished-alumni-praise-mentoring-and-service-at-annual-alumni-awards-luncheon\/","title":{"rendered":"Distinguished Alumni Praise Mentoring and Service at Annual Alumni Awards Luncheon"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Celebrating the 2025 Alumni Award Winners, (l-r) Humanitarian Awardee Larry Nichter, MD’78, Distinguished Alumni Awardee Ziv Haskal, MD\u201986, Emerging Leaders Awardee Stephanie Feldman, MD’14, and Medical Sciences Distinguished Alumni Awardee Vladimir Kefalov, PhD’99<\/em>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDistinguished Alumni Praise Mentoring and Service at Annual Alumni Awards Luncheon\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Aleksander Chudnovsky, MD\u201901, Named New Alumni Association President<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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October 1, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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In accepting the Humanitarian Award at the annual Alumni Awards Ceremony and Luncheon Sept. 26, Larry Nichter, MD\u201978, cited the motto of the national medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha: \u201cTo be worthy to serve the suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A globally recognized plastic surgeon and the founder of a nonprofit dedicated to training surgeons in underserved regions worldwide, Nichter talked about health as a fundamental human right and that no life is more important than another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Larry Nichter, MD’78, speaks to the crowd after accepting the Humanitarian Award at the annual Alumni Awards Ceremony and Luncheon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost medical students start with these humanistic beliefs and values,\u201d said Nichter, but financial, family and lifestyle pressures can turn medicine into a job and not a calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStriving to make the world better and equipping others to do the same, I believe, is a very powerful antidote to all that,\u201d said Nichter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur school truly values and treasures all the contributions that our alumni make through the incredible work that they do in the local and global communities,\u201d said Medical School Dean Ad Interim <\/em>Hee-Young Park<\/a>, PhD, in her opening remarks at the luncheon, which is one of the highlights of the annual Alumni Weekend at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other alumni honored at the event were Stephanie Feldman, MD\u201914, MS\u201910 (cardio-oncology), Ziv J. Haskal, MD\u201986 (interventional radiology) and Vladimir Kefalov, PhD\u201999 (photoreceptor physiology).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony also marked the passing of the gavel from Alumni Association President Daniel Oates, MD\u201900, to his successor Aleksander Chudnovsky, MD\u201901.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aleksander Chudnovsky, MD’01, assumed the presidency of the Alumni Association at the conclusion of the luncheon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Sciences Jamie McKnight<\/a>, PhD, MA, introduced Kefalov, the recipient of the Graduate Medical Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award, as one of the world\u2019s top electrophysiologists working in vision research. Born in Bulgaria, he earned his PhD in cellular biophysics from BU, studying photoreceptor physiology under M. Carter Cornwall, PhD, professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics, emeritus<\/em>. Kefalov is currently a professor and vice-chair for research at University of California Irvine Department of Ophthalmology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoston was just an amazing place to be a student and to live\u2026 and Boston University has made a great impact on my career,\u201d said Kefalov who returned to BU in January to address the pharmacology, physiology & biophysics department at their annual retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just wonderful to see how vibrant and strong and diverse the department is, with many researchers, and many, many students doing amazing work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feldman, who received the Emerging Leaders Award, is a national leader in cardio-oncology and serves as the director of the at New York-Presbyterian\/Weill Cornell Medical College Cardio-Oncology Program. Her clinical research is focused on cardiovascular risk assessment in patients being treated with potentially cardiotoxic cancer therapies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel incredibly lucky, to have found a field that I am passionate about, and where I have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference,\u201d said Feldman. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t exam scores, or the hours spent studying that set her up for success, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the people,\u201d Feldman said, referring to her mentors. \u201cWhat you (mentors) say and what you do truly matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Ziv Haskal, MD\u201986, Associate Dean of Alumni Affairs Heather Miselis<\/a>, MD\u201904, MPH\u201900, noted that he is known worldwide as an interventional radiologist \u201cwhose groundbreaking research and innovations have transformed our daily medical practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A professor of radiology and medical imaging at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Haskal has delivered more than 700 lectures, received numerous honors and served as editor of three prestigious medical journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haskal spoke about the sometimes-serendipitous nature of a career. His medical school education at BU was set back a year after he was hit by a car. When he returned, still suffering from a damaged knee, the late John \u201cJack\u201d O\u2019Connor, MD\u201957, then dean of admissions and chair of pediatric radiology, took him under his wing and Haskal pivoted from medicine to radiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(Dr. O\u2019Connor) nudged me into a residency that was beyond my reach,\u201d said Haskal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never took an English class in college, I never wanted to write, I never wanted to do research, and somehow I’ve just had guidance or curiosity,\u201d said Haskal. \u201cAnd what it means is that, if there are any students here today, you can look at what I did\u2026It was just a series of steps and opportunities, and (advice from) the people who guide you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outgoing Alumni Association president Oates introduced incoming president Chudnovsky as a urologist who has always been an active alumnus. He is the global clinical program lead in late development oncology at the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations to all our alumni award recipients today. It is an honor to be a graduate of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine with such distinguished contemporary alumni,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to an exciting year as I continue to collaborate with our alumni board, roll out the expanded alumni awards which more broadly recognize the outstanding and innovative work of our alumni.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In accepting the Humanitarian Award at the annual Alumni Awards Ceremony and Luncheon Sept. 26, Larry Nichter, MD\u201978, cited the motto of the national medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha: \u201cTo be worthy to serve the suffering.\u201d A globally recognized plastic surgeon and the founder of a nonprofit dedicated to training surgeons in underserved regions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":138686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Alumni","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[395,356],"bu-publication":[367],"medicine-article-category":[],"medicine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[376,378],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[390],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/138676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138676"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/138676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138740,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/138676\/revisions\/138740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-article-category?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-topic?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=138676"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=138676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}