| Ana Turner, MD, PhD Ana Turner, M.D., completed medical school and a psychiatry residency at the University of Florida, then worked for three years at the Malcolm-Randal VA Medical Center in acute-care psychiatry. She is now based out of Jacksonville, Florida, serving those with mental illness who are experiencing homelessness at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center. She is passionate about advocating for those who may be stigmatized by society and enjoys teaching medical students and residents to do the same for their patients. She helped start the UF Resident Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2014, and encourages those she teaches to provide compassionate patient care in all fields of medicine, and now serves as Residency Director for UF-Jacksonville Department of Psychiatry. |
| Tolu Adebanjo McKenzie, MD, MPH, FAAP Tolu Adebanjo McKenzie, MD, MPH, FAAP is a double board-certified pediatrician and preventive medicine physician and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trained medical epidemiologist. Dr. McKenzie has recently joined the University of Central Florida College of Medicine faculty as Director of Health Equity Education and Associate Professor of Pediatrics. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Florida and received her Master of Public Health and Medical degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her pediatrics residency, including her chief residency, at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX. Dr. McKenzie completed her epidemiology training through CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program followed by completion of CDC’s preventive medicine residency. Dr. McKenzie has experience leading domestic and international vaccine impact studies, evaluating scientific data, which has informed vaccine policy and clinical guidance; implementing public health programs; and driving institutional commitments to advance a culture of diversity and inclusion and equitable access to care. |
| Janice Cato Varlack, MD Janice Cato Varlack, MD is a board-certified pediatrician who joined the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine in February 2023 as the Director of Community Engaged Service Learning, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics. She obtained her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, and remained at Weill Cornell to complete her residency training. Dr. Cato Varlack has many years of experience in undergraduate medical education where she teaches students how to provide patient-centered equitable care while working to foster an inclusive, culturally sensitive learning environment where students from all backgrounds can excel. At the UCF College of Medicine, Dr. Cato Varlack advises and mentors students on clinical quality improvement and research activities in the student-run free clinics. She is a co-faculty advisor for the student run organization called Medical Students Providing Across Continents (MedPACt), and she also work alongside medical students at the Chapman Compassionate Care and the Apopka Farmworkers clinics helping to provide care for people within medically underserved communities. |
| Onelia G. Lage, MD Onelia G. Lage, M.D., is the director of pediatric and adolescent health for the Green Family Foundation Neighborhood Health Education Learning Program (NeighborhoodHELP). She is also the course director of the Community Engaged Physician course series and interim strand leader for the Medicine and Society Strand. She is the principal investigator for the Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium, a national initiative sponsored by the American Medical Association focused on evaluating interprofessional education. In 2010, Lage became the first Hispanic woman and pediatrician elected as board chair of the Florida Board of Medicine. Additionally, she was a board member from 2005-2015. Education Fellowship, Adolescent Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital Residency, Pediatrics, Metropolitan Hospital Center/New York Medical College M.D., Universidad Central Del Este (Medicine), Dominican Republic |
| Olivia DiLeonardo, MLS, CPA Olivia DiLeonardo is a medical librarian and narrative medicine instructor at Nemours Children’s Hospital and the UCF College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida. She earned her MLS at Emporia State University in 2003 and her CPA in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University in 2018. Olivia has been facilitating narrative medicine sessions for medical students and faculty at Nemours and UCF since 2014. Her perspective is that everyone is creative and enjoys helping people discover that part of themselves. Additionally, she believes that narrative competence, the ability to absorb, interpret, and respond to stories, is an essential quality that enhances empathy, reflection, professionalism, and trustworthiness among healthcare professionals. Olivia lives with her husband Ernest, son Max, and African Grey Parrot, Rowan, in downtown Orlando. |
| Kamalakar Shenai, MS, MBA Kam Shenai has an extensive background spanning education, corporate leadership, and community engagement. His educational journey includes a Bachelor of Science from BHU, India, a Master of Science from UC Berkeley, and an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the Co-Founder of ACT (AAPI Coming Together), a grassroots, non-partisan organization. He also contributes to his community as the Vice Chairman of the Myrtle Creek Improvement District Board and as a Member of the Dean’s Society at UCF Medical School. Kam’s dedication to kidney advocacy is evident through his involvement in the “Kidney Advocacy Committee” for The National Kidney Foundation. He has been recognized for his community work, receiving a Congressional Honor. His engagement extends to the realm of housing as he has served on the HOA Board of Directors for his community. Kam’s contributions are multifaceted, from being acknowledged as one of the best letter writers by The Orlando Sentinel for an essay on Immigration to serving on the Executive Board of the diversity task force at Xerox Corp. He also serves as the Community Ambassador for the Lake Nona Research Council in the Lake Nona Life Project. Kam’s guiding motto is “Do Common Things Uncommonly Well” for the benefit of the community. |
| Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig, PhD Dr. Stoyan-Rosenzweig created the archives for the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries and is Director of Medical Humanities at the College of Medicine. She teaches medical humanities including narrative medicine, literature and medicine, the use of arts in developing observational skills, reflective writing and nature writing with a focus on the history of medicine. Dr. Stoyan-Rosenzweig is involved with the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism Honor Society efforts to promote humanism in medicine. At UF, she also teaches in the Center for African Studies having co-developed a course on the arts and health in Sub-Saharan Africa. She teaches Uncommon Read courses in the UF Honors College, including a one credit course on Harry Potter and a Medicine Humanities and Clinical Practice course for undergraduates. Ms. Stoyan-Rosenzweig’s research interests include environmental history, the history of the human-animal relationship, and the history of science and medicine, especially eugenics and medicinal herbs. |
| Caridad Hernandez, MD Dr. Hernandez is a Professor of Medicine & Medical Education and a Chair in the department of Medical Education at the UCF College of Medicine. In 2015, she helped establish the Chapman Humanism in Medicine Initiative at the UCF College of Medicine in order to create educational programs to foster students’ well-being and promote humanism in medicine. Dr. Hernandez worked with medical students to establish the Chapman Compassionate Care for the Homeless Clinic, which provides skin and wound care. She also serves as co-faculty advisor for the Chapman Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society at UCF COM. |
| PJ Charles, MS PJ Charles is a husband to Angela for 19 years, father to Jacob, Jaxson, and Judah. He serves Genesis Church as the Pastor of Care and Counseling, works as a Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern at Providence Counseling Center, and is the founder/director of a Straight Street Inc., a ministry that serves the hungry and homeless of our city since 2009. PJ graduated from UCF with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2009 and with a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2022. He is passionate about loving and serving others well and does so here at home in the streets of Orlando and at Genesis Church and in São Paulo, Brazil where he leads trips to build homes for families in need. |
More speakers will be added soon!