Each year, the Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association has the distinct pleasure of honoring a select group of alumni whose professional achievements, service to the community and dedication to our institution are noteworthy.
The WUMCAA Alumni Awards Subcommittee evaluates nominations each fall as part of the selection process. The Alumni Association Executive Council has the final voting decision.
WashU Medicine Alumni Achievement Award
Awarded to a WashU Medicine MD Alum who is celebrating a reunion year. The recipient must have distinguished achievements in their community, profession or through their service to the Washington University Medical Center. Eligible recipients have not previously received a WashU Medicine Alumni Achievement Award. Award reserved for alums celebrating more than 25 years of graduation.
WashU Medicine Alumni Emerging Leader Award
This award honors a WashU Medicine MD recent graduate celebrating a reunion year who is early in their career for achievement through leadership, education, or service in their professional or volunteer life. Nominees have shown outstanding promise or have made achievements in medicine, through service to WashU Medicine or the WashU Medicine alumni community or reached a notable level of personal, professional or volunteer success since graduating. Eligible recipients have not previously received a WashU Medicine Alumni Achievement Award. Award reserved for alums celebrating 20 years or less since graduation. Recipients are eligible for the WashU Medicine Alumni Achievement Award five years after receiving the Emerging Leader Award.
Eligibility: Washington University School of Medicine alumni members of one of the current year’s MD reunion classes. Nominate alumni who graduated in a class year ending in 0 or 5 for a 2025 award through Nov. 10, 2024. Awardees will be recognized during the 2025 Celebration Weekend.
2025 award recipients
Congratulations to our 2025 Alumni Achievement Award recipients!
WashU Medicine Alumni Emerging Leader Award
Angela C. Hirbe, AB ’01, MD’09, PhD ’09, is an associate professor of medicine, division of oncology at WashU Medicine. As a leading physician, she cares for patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas and other rare tumors. She also treats patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic condition that causes changes in skin pigment and tumors on nerve tissue. Since 2021, she has directed the Adult Neurofibromatosis Clinical Program within WashU Medicine’s Neurofibromatosis Center.
Hirbe’s research focuses on understanding the molecular and genetic characteristics of sarcomas and how these features can be leveraged to develop better methods of diagnosis and treatment. She has identified mutations that may serve as therapeutic targets, has expanded the understanding of how sarcomas spread, and has developed disease models to test new therapeutic approaches.
She has a special interest in a particular soft tissue tumor called the malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST). This disease develops during young adulthood in roughly 13% of individuals with NF1; there is no effective treatment, and survival is low. She has identified several MPNST gene mutations and is trying to identify what drives tumor growth while exploring possible new therapies for the disease.
Hirbe earned her bachelor’s degree in 2001 and her medical and doctoral degrees in 2009, all from WashU. She completed her professional training with a residency in internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and an oncology fellowship at WashU Medicine. In 2013, Hirbe joined the WashU Medicine faculty. In 2025, she was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a medical honor society recognizing outstanding physician-scientists.
Kory Lavine, MD ’08, PhD ’08, is the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Cardiology at WashU Medicine, noted for his research on heart failure and the role of the immune system in heart disease.
Lavine is also a professor of developmental biology and of pathology and immunology at WashU Medicine. He serves as director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research, co-director of the Pediatric Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research Training Program, and director of the Cardiovascular Precision Medicine Research Initiative (CPRi).
Lavine began his educational career at the University of Rochester, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in cell and developmental biology in 2001. After completing his undergraduate studies, Lavine went on to WashU Medicine. For his postgraduate medical training, he completed an internal medicine residency and cardiovascular medicine fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and fellowships in cardiology and advanced heart failure and transplantation at WashU Medicine. Lavine joined the faculty in 2014, eventually rising to professor in 2024.
Over the course of his medical career, Lavine’s research has focused on the genetics of and immune response to heart failure, attempting to pinpoint the mechanisms that lead to dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathies. The aim of his work is to identify new therapeutic targets that will lead to more effective treatments for heart failure.
Lavine has received several prestigious awards. In 2019, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the U.S. government’s highest honor for outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) honored him with its Young Physician-Scientist Award in 2017, and he became an elected ASCI member in 2021. He was awarded the International Society for Heart Research-North American Section Mid-Career Investigator Leadership Achievement Award in 2022.
R. Coleman Lindsley, MD’08, PhD ’08, is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Lindsley’s research is centered on the genetic and molecular characteristics of blood cancers, especially acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Such cancers account for about nine percent of all cancer diagnoses, with roughly 190,000 new cases identified in the United States each year.
Lindsley and his colleagues use advanced genomic technologies to identify genetic mutations and examine how they contribute to the development and progression of these diseases. He also aims to find mutations that predict outcomes from various blood cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The goal of his research is to contribute to developing better diagnostic tools and more effective, individualized treatments. His work has been incorporated into revisions of the World Health Organization and International Consensus Classifications for leukemia. Lindsley earned his bachelor’s degree in music and German literature at Swarthmore College in 1998 and his medical and doctoral degrees from WashU Medicine in 2008. He finished his medical training with an internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber. He joined Dana-Farber as an instructor in 2013, and in 2022, received a joint appointment as an associate professor at Dana-Farber and Harvard. At Dana-Farber, Lindsley heads the Edward P. Evans Center for Myelodysplastic Syndrome and directs the Clinical Genomics in Hematologic Malignancies program. He is an associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
WashU Medicine Alumni Achievement Award
David B. Clifford, MD ’75, is the Melba and Forest Seay Professor of Clinical Neuropharmacology in Neurology at WashU Medicine.
Born into a family of academics, Clifford began his own educational career at Southwestern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and history in 1971. He then headed to WashU Medicine to pursue his Medical Doctorate. After earning that degree in 1975, he went on to complete residencies in internal medicine and neurology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and a neurology fellowship at WashU Medicine.
Over the course of his career, Clifford’s research and clinical work has focused on the management of neurological conditions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease, neurological infections, and inflammatory conditions. In particular, he is recognized as a national expert on neurological complications related to HIV/AIDS. He has led the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-supported Neurologic AIDS Research Consortium. He has also served as the principal investigator for WashU Medicine’s AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. He has undertaken extensive work internationally, traveling to several countries in Africa to advance HIV/AIDS care and research there.
Since joining the WashU Medicine faculty in 1980, Clifford has received several accolades from the institution, including the Distinguished Alumni Award, the Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Award in Medical Student Education, and the Neville Grant Award for Clinical Excellence. He has published over 320 articles in leading journals.
Katherine Y. King, MD’03, PhD ’03, is professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. At Baylor, she is a member of the Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center and co-director of the medical scientist training program. King received her bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and her medical and doctoral degrees from WashU Medicine. A board-certified pediatric infectious diseases physician, King’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which inflammation affects blood and immune cell production and clonal competition by hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow.
King discovered that infections activate division of hematopoietic stem cells, cells in the bone marrow that generate all types of blood cells in the body. She showed that persistent hematopoietic stem cell division during chronic infectious and inflammatory conditions can drive bone marrow failure. Further, she showed that inflammatory activation of hematopoietic stem cells contributes to clonal hematopoiesis, a condition associated with cardiovascular disease and other diseases of aging. King’s work has made a significant impact on explaining why infections impede stem cell engraftment after transplant, and why immunotherapy patients develop persistent cytopenias, or low blood cell levels.
In collaborative work with Megan Baldridge, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology at WashU Medicine, King showed that the intestinal microbiome is a critical mediator of normal hematopoiesis. She has defined key molecular pathways and bacterial species that may contribute to maintenance of the blood system. These findings will aid in preventing low white-cell counts as a result of chemotherapy and transplant.
Current work in the King lab is directed at how infections and inflammation may generate lasting changes in blood-producing cells, providing innate immune memory. This work will uncover new ways to enhance innate immune function against emerging pathogens. King has been the recipient of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R35 Emerging Investigator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the E. Mead Johnson Award of the Society for Pediatric Research. She is an elected member of the American Pediatric Society and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Aside from her research, King has been an advocate for equity in access to care and inclusion in the biomedical sciences. She was a founder of the non-profit Doctors for Change, which advocated for improved access to care in Houston, and she was the 2024 recipient of the Leadership Award in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by the International Society for Experimental Hematology.
Barbara S. Monsees, MD ’75, is a professor emeritus of radiology at WashU Medicine and a pioneer and leader in the field of breast imaging.
Monsees joined the faculty of WashU Medicine and Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) in 1980 and became the first chief of breast imaging in 1992. She later was named the inaugural Ronald and Hanna Evens Endowed Professor of Women’s Health.
Along with her surgical colleague Gordon Philpott, MD, now emeritus professor of surgery, she initiated and developed the Breast Health Center, one of the earliest multidisciplinary centers at the Medical Center. In 1986, she helped introduce screening mammography to St. Louis and launched the Medical Center’s mammography van — the second in the country — bringing breast cancer screening to rural and underserved areas. Its newest replacement van still provides outreach for the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. She served on many committees at the Medical Center during her time on the faculty.
On a national level, Monsees chaired the National Mammography Quality Assurance Advisory Committee for the Food and Drug Administration as it developed guidance for the performance and practice of mammography in the United States under the Mammography Quality Standards Act. She also served on numerous other national committees and as a reviewer for a variety of journals, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense.
She was honored as a fellow of the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging and received the society’s Gold Medal. She also was recognized with a lifetime service award from the American Board of Radiology for her work on its written and oral board examinations. Monsees received the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Medical Staff Association Lifetime Achievement “Master Physician” Award in 2018. In 2000, she was named as a faculty honoree of the WashU Medicine Distinguished Alumni Scholarship Programand received the Alumni Faculty Award.
During her career, Monsees gave hundreds of lectures nationally and internationally. She educated hundreds of residents and nearly 100 breast imaging fellows, who now practice all over the country and abroad. She earned her medical degree at WashU Medicine in 1975 and finished her medical training with a pediatrics residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a radiology residency at MIR.
David G. Mutch, MD ’80, is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at WashU Medicine and a nationally recognized leader in the study and treatment of gynecologic cancers.
Mutch attended Carlton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and graduated with a degree in chemistry. He then pursued a career in medicine and received his medical degree from WashU Medicine in 1980, followed by a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at WashU Medicine and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Duke University.
When he was deciding where to put his training into practice, Mutch chose to return to WashU Medicine, a decision he says was inspired by his St. Louis-native wife, Lynn, and the intellectual freedom that WashU Medicine afforded him. He joined as assistant professor in 1987.
Mutch has had an illustrious career at WashU Medicine. He became director of the division of gynecologic oncology in 1991 and was named the Ira C. and Judith Gall Professor in 1999. He has been the vice chair of gynecology since 2002. Throughout the years, he has strived to balance academic research with caring for patients, while receiving significant research grants, publishing over 460 scientific pieces, and earning the respect of colleagues and the gratitude of his patients and their families.
His initial research focused on topics such as cytokine activity against tumor cell mechanism of action. He then focused on endometrial and ovarian cancer and the molecular genetics that drive them. He was recently awarded a prestigious SPORE grant in endometrial cancer from the National Cancer Institute. He has held leadership positions with the Society of Gynecological Oncology and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has trained 50 fellows, most of them now leaders at other academic institutions. Recently, WashU Medicine established the David and Lynn Mutch Distinguished Chair within the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, thanks to a philanthropic gift made by a grateful patient. He has received several awards during his time at the university, including the Faculty Achievement Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award, and being honored as a Distinguished Alumni Scholarship Program alumni mentor.
Past award recipients
2024
David Lubarsky, MD ’84 LA ’80
Bruce Molitoris, MD ’79 HS ’79
Margaret Shipp, MD ’79
Barry Siegel, MD ’69 LA ’66
Bruce Wintroub, MD ’69
2023
Vineet Arora, MD ’98
Carol North, MD ’83, HS ’87, ’90; GME ’93
Audrey Rostov, MD ’88, HS ’92
Richard Wahl, MD ’78, HS ’82, ’83
2022
Pamela G. Freeman, MD ’77
Jondavid Menteer, MD ’97
Leana S. Wen, MD ’07
2021
Sam B. Bhayani, MD ’96, HS ’98, HS ’02
Ellen F. Binder, MD ’81
Gary D. Luker, MD ’91
Mark A. Mintun, MD ’81, HS ’85
Jeffrey G. Ojemann, MD ’92, HS ’99 (reunion year ’91)
Janice Wann Semenkovich, MD ’81
2020
George A. Mensah, MD ’85
Scott A. Mirowitz, MD ’85, HS ’89
Bradley L. Schlaggar, MD/PhD ’94, HS ’99 (reunion year ’90)
James L. Sweatt III, MD ’62
Peter Westervelt, MD/PhD ’92; HS ’94, HS ’99 (reunion year ’90)
2019
Andrew C. Chan, MD/PhD ’86, HS ’89 (reunion year ’84)
Ann Randolph Flipse, MD ’59, HS ’61
Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD/PhD ’92, HS ’97 (reunion year ’89)
William E. Klunk, MD/PhD ’84
Mary V. Mason, MD ’94, HS ’98, MBA ’99
2018
Richard J. Auchus, MD/PhD ’88
Brad T. Cookson, MD/PhD ’91
Mark E. Frisse, MD ’78, HS ’82, MBA ’97
V. Michael Holers, MD ’78, HS ’85
Lisa M. Moscoso, MD/PhD ’98, HS ’02
2017
Thomas R. Burklow, MD ’87
J. William Campbell, MD ’77, HS ’80
Gary A. Ratkin, MD ’67, HS ’72
Charles W.M. Roberts, MD/PhD ’95
2016
Robert H. Allen, MD ’66, HS ’76
Nancy L. Bartlett, MD ’86
Deborah Veis Novack, PhD/MD ’95, HS ’00
C. Leon Partain, PhD, MD ’75
Eric T. Vaughn, MD ’91
2015
William A. Blattner, MD ’70
C. Robert Cloninger, MD’70, HS
Ellen Li, MD/PhD ’80
Joseph R. Williamson, MD ’58
2014
Jerry Cohen, MD ’64, HS ’71
C. James Holliman, MD ’79
Charles C. Norland, MD ’59
J. Andy Sullivan, MD ’69, HS ’74
2013
John Constantino, MD ’88
Sandeep Jauhar, MD ’98, PhD
Joseph K.T. Lee, MD ’73
Stephen Young, MD ’78
2012
Keith Bridwell, MD ‘77
Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD ’77
Gary S. Rachelefsky, MD ‘67
Pejman Salimpour, MD ‘87
2011
Richard L. Baron, MD ’76
Michael J. Lenardo, MD ’81
Kathleen Brogan Schwarz, MD ’72
Ira A. Tabas, MD ’81
2010
Floyd E. Bloom, MD ’60
Dan R. Littman, MD ’80
2009
Michael Georgieff, MD ’79
David Hussey, MD ’64
2008
R. Edward Coleman, MD ’68
Charles O. Elson, III, MD ’68
Alexander Gottschalk, MD ’58
James P. McCulley, MD ’68
2007
Michael Adams, MD ’67
David D. Chaplin, MD ’80, PhD ’80
Guido Guidotti, MD, PhD ’57
John H. Stone III, MD ’62
2006
Marshall E. Bloom, MD ’71
Willard B. Walker, MD ’46
2005
James E. Darnell Jr., MD ’55
Eric D. Green, MD, PhD ’87, HS ’91
2004
Danny O. Jacobs, MD ’79
David E. Smith Jr., MD ’44
2003
Barry M. Farr, MD ’78
W. Allan Walker, MD ’63
2002
Ewald W. Busse, MD ’42
Robert D. Fry, MD ’72
Charlotte D. Jacobs, MD ’72
Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD ’77
2001
Herbert T. Abelson, MD ’66
Theodore C. Feierabend, MD ’51
Frank Vellios, MD ’46
2000
Clay M. Armstrong, MD ’60
Richard L. Landau, MD ’40
William T. Shearer, MD, PhD ’70
1999
C. Garrison Fathman, MD ’69
Robert E. Hermann, MD ’54
Carolyn Robinowitz, MD ’64
1998
William B. Blythe, MD ’53
John I. Sandson, MD ’53
Lynn M. Taussig, MD ’68
1997
John M. Eisenberg, MD ’72
Helen Hofsommer Glaser, MD ’47
Kenneth R. Smith Jr., MD ’57
1996
Gladden V. Elliott, MD ’46
Lowell A. Gess, MD ’51
Larry J. Shapiro, MD ’71
1995
Philip O. Alderson, MD ’70
Dennis P. Cantwell, MD ’65
Margaret C. Telfer, MD ’65
1994
Samuel P. Bessman, MD ’44
A. Martin Lerner, MD ’54
Raymond G. Schultze, MD ’59
1993
Joseph M. Davie, MD, PhD ’68
Gerald T. Perkoff, MD ’48
Edwin W. Salzman, MD ’53
1992
Harry S. Jonas, MD ’52
Brent M. Parker, MD ’52
Robert D. Utiger, MD ’57
1991
Ronald G. Evens, MD ’64
Lawrence W. O’Neal, MD ’46
Meredith J. Payne, MD ’50
1990
Purnell W. Choppin, MD, HS
Leonard Jarett, MD ’62
Dorothy D. Reister, MD ’50
1989
Richard ‘David’ Aach, MD ’59
Charles L. Eckert, MD ’39
Jonathan Mann, MD ’74
1988
Henry L. Barnett, MD ’38
Edwin G. Krebs, MD ’43
Seymour Reichlin, MD ’48
1987
Pedro Cuatrecasas, MD ’62
Alfred Gellhorn, MD ’37
C. Barber Mueller, MD ’42
1986
Robert M. Filler, MD ’56
Thomas F. Hornbein, MD ’56
Kenneth E. Pletcher, MD ’36
1985
Ralph Berg Jr., MD ’45
John P. Roberts, MD ’45
Richard A. Sutter, MD ’35
1984
Daniel Nathans, MD ’54
Albert L. Rhoton Jr., MD ’59
David W. Talmage, MD ’44
1983
Jack Barrow, MD ’46
Russell J. Blattner, MD ’33
C. Read Boles, MD ’43
Samuel D. Soule, MD ’28
1982
Carroll Behrhorst, MD ’47
George Sato, MD ’47
Hugh E. Stephenson Jr., MD ’45