The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center named the Zenas B. Noon Award of Excellence in Cardiology 2018, and the Charles W. Hall, Jr., and Virginia C. Hall Memorial Awards, which recognizes amazing residents on the coronary care unit rotation at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.
Nancy Sweitzer, MD, PhD (center), director of the UA Sarver Heart Center and chief of cardiology, congratulates award recipients of the Zenas B. Noon Award of Excellence in Cardiology 2018, and the Charles W. Hall, Jr., and Virginia C. Hall Memorial Awards, which recognizes amazing residents on the coronary care unit rotation at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. Trainees from left: Elise Vo, MD, Jack Rusing, MD, Mathew Bull, MD, and Nathan Coffman, MD.
The Zenas B. Noon Award of Excellence in Cardiology, is given to medical students with outstanding performance in their cardiology rotations. The 2018 recipients are two recent UA College of Medicine – Tucson graduates:
Mathew Bull, MD, PhD, now an internal medicine resident at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, completed the MD/PhD program. In the laboratory of Henk Granzier, PhD, Dr. Bull continues to study how stress and strain on the giant sarcomeric protein titin regulate hypertrophy signaling - the cell connections that cause the heart muscle to enlarge. He plans to pursue a cardiology fellowship after he completes the residency program: “I aspire to become a leading scientist in cardiovascular research with the purpose of investigating questions directly impacting the patients under my care.”
Jack Rusing, MD, now an internal medicine resident at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, is a Prescott native who obtained a biology degree from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, before returning to Arizona to complete his medical degree at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. “During rotations in cardiothoracic surgery, heart failure, cardiology consult and the coronary care unit, I saw the cutting edge of medicine being used to save many individuals, including the use of a total artificial heart. I also saw the impact cardiovascular disease is having on the American population and became more interested in the preventative aspect of medicine. My goal is to work as a primary care physician in a rural town.”
The Charles W. Hall, Jr., and Virginia C. Hall Memorial Awards recognize amazing residents on the coronary care unit rotation at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.
Elise Vo, MD, born and raised in Vietnam, came to the United States in 2005. “I am a Wildcat through and through - undergrad, med school, and now residency), said Dr. Vo. A third-year internal medicine resident, she plans to apply for a cardiology fellowship this year. “My current research is about CPR and chest diameter with Dr. Sweitzer,” said Dr. Vo. Within the field of cardiology, she is interested in heart failure, adults with congenital heart disease and cardiac resuscitation.
Nathan Coffman, MD, is an internal medicine resident who came to the UA following medical school at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “I'll be staying with the University of Arizona internal medicine program through 2020 as a chief resident. My plans after that are not yet fully decided but I will likely be applying for a fellowship in cardiology.”