Three from DOM nominated for college’s highest staff award

Three of 16 nominees for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award of Excellence, which will be presented Wednesday, June 25, are from the Department of Medicine.

Each of the nominees will be recognized at the awards ceremony, which will be from 3:30-5 p.m. in the HSIB Learning Commons (Rooms 305 & 306) of the Health Sciences Innovation Building. A social reception kicks off the event at 3:30 p.m., with the awards program at 4 p.m. and networking at 4:30 p.m.

RSVP HERE!

The DOM nominees

Terri Buchanan, faculty appointments and promotions & tenure coordinator for the Department of Medicine: Buchanan left a position as vocational director at Sabino High School to join the U of A College of Fine Arts as a secretary in 1999 and was recruited to the Arthritis Center as a program coordinator in 2000, working also for the DOM’s Division of Rheumatology as an administrative associate and later as senior program coordinator and fellowship coordinator until 2015. She then joined the DOM’s human resources team as personnel affairs assistant coordinator and was promoted to her current position in 2020 as coordinator of faculty appointments.

Buchanan handles all DOM faculty track changes, joint appointments, Emeritus and sabbatical requests, initial academic titles for all affiliate designated campus colleagues (or DCCs), U of A faculty, and those faculty who require associate DCC status. In the current 2025-26 cycle, there are 27 DOM promotion requests — the most for any department at the College of Medicine – Tucson — of which 15 were approved for 2025 (effective July 1), not including another promotion for a pediatrics physician with a joint appointment in the DOM’s Pulmonary division.

In prior years, Buchanan has successfully overseen the promotion and tenure process for nine faculty in 2024, 13 faculty in 2023, six in 2022, four in 2021, 10 in 2020, 11 in 2018, 13 in 2018, four in 2017 and nine in 2016. That’s nearly 100 satisfied customers over the past decade.

“I am a real stickler, not only for content in each of their promotion dossiers, but also to try to make sure that each CV, candidate statement, teaching portfolio or service portfolio, are an easy read, and neat (always setting all faculty up for success). I do love my job,” Buchanan said.

Christeana Castro, an administrative lead of the DOM Medical Education Office and lead fellowship program coordinator for the Division of Cardiology, with individual responsibility over the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship: Castro joined the U of A staff in April 2017 as an administrative assistant and program coordinator in the Division of Cardiology, working with the Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology Fellowships and their faculty and fellows. In late 2021, she took over as lead fellowship coordinator for the division. In May 2023, she became a lead in the MEO (also known as the Vice Chair of Education Office, or VCEO) to help to onboard and train, fill in gaps and share knowledge with other coordinators.

“When I got nominated this year, I was beside myself — humbled,” Castro said. “It seriously brought me to tears (happy ones, of course) that my people think I’m worthy of this recognition. In my heart, being nominated means I have already won.”

Prior to working for the U of A, she was an assistant manager at a local branch of Bank of America.  

Bersabe Lopez, an administrative lead of the DOM Medical Education Office (or VCOE) and senior program coordinator for the Nephrology Fellowship in the Division of Nephrology: Lopez worked in commercial interior design before joining the U of A Health Network in 2012 as OB/GYN Residency Program coordinator. She held that position through the merger of UAHN with Banner Health in 2015, but she switched her employment to the U of A in June 2017. In January 2019, she moved to the College of Medicine – Tucson’s Graduate Medical Education Office and that October joined the Department of Medicine as program coordinator for the Allergy & Immunology Fellowship in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine.

In 2021, Lopez switched to the Nephrology division as Nephrology Fellowship program coordinator, taking on additional duties as administrative lead for the MEO/VCEO, including working with the DOM clerkship and sub-internship staff. She also coordinates the annual DOM Education Awards Ceremony and supports special lectures, receptions and other engagement activities such as the U of A Internal Medicine Student Association’s annual IM Subspecialty Speed Dating networking event.

She and Castro have been nominated previously for the Lura Hanekamp staff award.

“I'm honored to be nominated again for this recognition. It inspires me to continue contributing to our vital missions at the College of Medicine – Tucson. Thank you to my colleagues for their support,” Lopez said.

Other Nominees

COM-IT Services (UITS)’s Geoff Gard (Application Developer) and Karla Guzman (Coordinator, IT Services); COM-T Curricular Affairs’ Christina Renteria (Program Coordinator, Senior); COM-T Medicine Administration’s Daniel Carty (Executive Recruitment) and Mark Romero (Assistant Director, Enrollment Management – Admissions); Emergency Medicine’s Chrystal Crockett (Coordinator, Faculty Affairs); Family & Community Medicine’s Angie Brady (Grants and Contracts Manager); Neurosurgery’s Jules Schippers (Manager, Residency Program); OB/GYN’s Sonia Garcia (Residency Program Manager); Otolaryngology’s Sonia Romo (Program Manager – Medical Education Program Professional III); Pathology & Laboratory Medicine’s Tammy Talvy (Manager, Residency Program); Physiology’s Jacqueline Laird (Research Program Administration Officer II); and Surgery’s Jeanette Dejonghe-Pike (Residency Program Manager).

All nominees receive a framed certificate acknowledging their nominations for the Lura Hanekamp staff award.

About Lura Hanekamp

Lura Hanekamp was part of the College of Medicine – Tucson family for 30 years. She served as an administrative associate in the Department of Physiology until her untimely death in 2010. Her husband, William J. Hanekamp, created an endowment in honor of his late wife to acknowledge and recognize COM-T staff, like Lura, who dedicate their careers to serving fellow staff, students and faculty.

ALSO SEE:
“Six divisions split 16 promotions for DOM faculty members in 2025” | Posted May 27, 2025
“Twenty-six students, residents and a fellow share in DOM 2025 Education Awards” | Posted May 1, 2025