Current Awards
Current Awards
2025 MedExcellence Awards
Annually, the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine hosts the MedExcellence Awards Ceremony which includes the presentation of the Distinguished Awards, CompHealth Community Faculty Awards, and alternating presentation of the Golden Anniversary Prize for Clinical Investigation and the S. Paul Southwick Prize for Clinical Excellence and Teaching Award.
Meet the 2025 Honorees:
Distinguished Alumni Award
Juliana Simonetti, MD '09
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Juliana Simonetti, MD ’09, has been motivated to create access to care for underserved communities since immigrating to the United States when she was 15. After earning her medical degree from the University of Utah, she completed her fellowship in clinical nutrition and obesity medicine at Boston University Medical Center. A leader in innovative, patient-centered obesity care, Simonetti founded the Comprehensive Weight Management Program and the Obesity Medicine Fellowship at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. She also co-founded and co-directs PROMIS2U, a pipeline program addressing physician shortages in rural and tribal communities. Simonetti’s work continues to shape the future of obesity care and medical education.
Distinguished Humanitarian Award
Brian Moench, MD '77
Brian Moench, MD '77 credits his parents - a caretaker and psychiatrist - for inspiring him to provide service to all with empathy and compassion. A board-certified anesthesiologist for over 30 years, he is also the founder and president of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. His advocacy is driven in part by his daughter's breast cancer diagnosis and the understanding that most cancers have environmental causes. Moench is especially proud of helping install over 30,000 air purifiers in Utah schools - an effort that now protects 75% of K-12 schools and nearly 60% of education centers. He continues to champion science-based education on environmental issues throughout the state.
Distinguished Service Award
John Zone, MD
John Zone, MD, former professor and long-serving chair of dermatology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, has left a lasting mark through his 46 years of service. As chair for 34 years, he transformed the Department of Dermatology into a nationally ranked program, launching a dermatology residency and leading the department's expansion across clinical care, research, and education. He also established the regionally and nationally prominent Immunodermatology and Dermatopathology laboratories. Known as a gifted physician, researcher, and mentor, Zone played a key role in identifying the melanoma gene p 16 and advancing multidisciplinary cancer care through collaboration with Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Golden Anniversary Prize for Distinguished Clinical Investigation
Brett Einerson, MD, MPH, 2018 Fellow
Brett Einerson, MD, specializes in placenta accreta spectrum disorders (PAS) and the devastating effects these disorders can have on mothers and children. An early career investigator, assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a nationally and internationally recognized expert on PAS, he constantly researches to deepen his understanding of PAS. He has a subspeciality clinic dedicated to PAS patients where he performs their deliveries and surgeries with excellence, precision, and, most importantly, care. Einerson has written over 100 peer-reviewed research publications, and his work has impacted clinical practices and PAS approaches on local, regional, national, and international levels.
Community Clinician Educator Award Sponsored by CompHealth
Mark Sims, MD
Mark Sims, MD, is a hospitalist and palliative care physician at Intermountain Medical Center and serves as an associate program director at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. Board-certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics, he completed his training at the University of Southern California and later pursued a Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the University of Utah in 2022. As a dedicated educator and adjunct professor in the School of Medicine, he mentors students through residency decisions and models expert donor-patient communication at the bedside. Sims has been recognized with multiple teaching awards, and his commitment to clinical excellence and education continues to shape the next generation of compassionate physicians.
Nominations for MedExcellence awards are accepted through January 31 for the current award cycle. Find more details on award categories and nominations requirements here.
For questions, please contact the Alumni Association at SOMalumi@hsc.utah.edu or call 801-581-8591.
