{"id":2239,"date":"2026-02-03T09:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/psychiatry\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2026-02-05T12:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:42:49","slug":"psychiatry-department-honors-faculty-staff-and-community-partners-at-annual-awards-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/psychiatry\/2026\/02\/03\/psychiatry-department-honors-faculty-staff-and-community-partners-at-annual-awards-luncheon\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychiatry Department honors faculty, staff and community partners at annual awards luncheon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"panel intruder-image\">\n\t<div class=\"panel__container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"feature__media feature__media--full\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__image\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/psychiatry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/58\/2026\/02\/2026-New-Years-Awards-MAIN.jpg\" alt=\"2026 New Years Awards\"\/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__caption feature__caption--line\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Ashish Sharma, MD, Jacob Givens, MD, medical receptionist Isabelle Sgourakis, and Luke LeBrun, LIMHP, took home multiple awards at the Department of Psychiatry&#039;s New Year\u2019s Awards luncheon on January 28 at Wigton Heritage Center in Wittson Hall.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Department of Psychiatry honored two local organizations and 27 staff and community members during its annual New Year\u2019s Awards luncheon on January 28 at Wigton Heritage Center in Wittson Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Awards:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Outstanding Partnership Award:<\/strong> Charles Drew Health Center, Lutheran Family Services, Rashmi Ojha, MD, Edgar Sanchez, Cathy Wyatt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Escape Fire Patient Safety Award:<\/strong> Jacob Givens, MD; Luke LeBrun, LIMHP; Isabelle Sgourakis; Suzie Walsh, RN; Andrew Wilson, BSN<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Frank J. Menolascino Award: <\/strong>Danielle \u201cDan\u201d Krohn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Flint Award for Educational Excellence:<\/strong> Allie Burt, MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nathan E. Bruce, DO, Volunteer Teacher of the Year Award:<\/strong> Andrew Smith, MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Steel Award for Educational Engagement Award:<\/strong> Dana Raml, MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-Faculty Teacher of the Year Award:<\/strong> Ryan McCann, LIMHP<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>William H. Roccaforte Citizenship Award:<\/strong> Ellie Corbaley; Luke LeBrun, LIMHP; Kiley Parsons, CNA; Isabelle Sgourakis; and Donnie Roman<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reba Benschoter Leadership Award:<\/strong> Mark Aksamit, PA-C; Jacob Givens, MD; Luke LeBrun, LIMHP; Zoe Feilner, PA-C; and Ashish Sharma, MBBS.<br><br><strong>PES Outstanding Partnership Award:<\/strong> Ashish Sharma, MBBS, and Luke LeBrun, LIMHP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Engagement Legacy Award:<\/strong> Melissa Allison, PA-C; Riley Machal, MD; Malcolm McGruder; Sheritta Strong, MD, MBA, DFAPA; and David Taylor, MD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research and Innovation Award:<\/strong> Lauren Edwards, MD; Rocky Esteraich, MD; and Justin Weeks, PhD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luke LeBrun, LIMHP, won four awards in total. Jacob Givens, MD; Ashish Sharma, MD, and medical receptionist Isabelle Sgourakis won twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LeBrun works in Psychiatric Emergency Services, and PES Clinic Manager Jennifer Sparrock, LCSW, LIMHP, said LeBrun has elevated himself to a strong informal leader of the PES team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLuke cares deeply for his colleagues and those we serve and has taken initiative to help our team improve our quality in providing a trauma-informed treatment environment,\u201d Sparrock said \u201cLuke is well respected by all and will lean into the hard conversations in order to promote the best possible outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lubrun received the Reba Benschoter Leadership Award, the William H. Roccaforte Citizenship Award, the Escape Fire Patient Safety Award, and the PES Partnership Award, which he shared with Dr. Sharma. Additionally, Dr. Sharma received the Reba Benschoter Leadership Award after being nominated for \u201ccontinuing leadership in bringing the psychiatry CL services towards a more integrated culture for better continuity for patients, learners, and clinicians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Givens was honored for his work as Chief Resident with the Reba Benschoter Leadership Award and the Escape Fire Patient Award. Several staff members said Dr. Givens has stepped into the role of chief resident with ease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sgourakis received the William H. Roccaforte Citizenship Award and the Escape Fire Patient Safety Award for \u201cher reliable, calming presence at the front desk,\u201d and for going \u201cabove and beyond for clinic patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Psychiatry honored two local organizations and 27 staff and community members during its annual New Year\u2019s Awards luncheon on January 28 at Wigton Heritage Center in Wittson Hall. Awards: Outstanding Partnership Award: Charles Drew Health Center, Lutheran Family Services, Rashmi Ojha, MD, Edgar Sanchez, Cathy Wyatt. Escape Fire Patient Safety Award: Jacob [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Psychiatry Department honors faculty, staff and community partners at annual awards luncheon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/psychiatry\/2026\/02\/03\/psychiatry-department-honors-faculty-staff-and-community-partners-at-annual-awards-luncheon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Psychiatry Department honors faculty, staff and community partners at annual awards luncheon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department of Psychiatry honored two local organizations and 27 staff and community members during its annual New Year\u2019s Awards luncheon on January 28 at Wigton Heritage Center in Wittson Hall. 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