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DOM staffers recognized at College of Medicine – Tucson Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award event

June 30, 2026
David Mogollon, Communications Manager, Department of Medicine

Two Department of Medicine staffers, Robin Lang and Terri Buchanan, were among 15 nominated for the Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award. At the June 17 awards ceremony hosted by the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson, Lang was one of the winners.

[Pictured with Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award winner Robin Lang (holding plaque) are colleagues from the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatric & Palliative Medicine (from left) Kevin F. Moynahan, MD; Amy Klein, MD; Abby Fuoto, NP; Lang; Nancy Mitchell, palliative social worker; Mindy Fain, MD, division chief; Sandra Warren, division manger; and Arian Deonarain, MD.]

Pictured with Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award winner Robin Lang (holding plaque) are colleagues from the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatric & Palliative Medicine (from left) Kevin F. Moynahan, MD; Amy Klein, MD; Abby Fuoto, NP; Lang; Nancy Mitchell, palliative social worker; Mindy Fain, MD, division chief; Sandra Warren, division manger; and Arian Deonarain, MD.

Courtesy of Robin Lang

Two Department of Medicine staffers were among the 15 nominated for the Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award of Excellence, for which an awards ceremony was hosted by the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson on June 17 at the Health Sciences Innovation Building.

  • [Robin Lang (holding plaque) with Michael M.I. Abecassis, MD, MBA, dean, College of Medicine – Tucson]

    Robin Lang (holding plaque) with Michael M.I. Abecassis, MD, MBA, dean, College of Medicine – Tucson

    College of Medicine – Tucson

    One of the winners was Robin Lang, a Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine administrative assistant and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship and Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship program coordinator. Lang began at the U of A as a Division of Cardiology fellowship coordinator in November 2024, switching to the GGP division in January 2025. While her kids were in school, she worked at the St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado, supporting K-12 students on the autism spectrum. Then, she was a realtor association membership director in Boulder, Colorado (2017-24), working remotely from Utah after her husband’s job was relocated there in 2019. They moved to Tucson when he no longer had to be in Utah as their son is a PhD candidate at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences.

  • Terri Buchanan, DOM faculty appointments and promotions & tenure coordinator, who was nominated last year as well and assisted on 25 faculty promotions this year and 17 last year. This was her second Lura Hanekamp award nomination. She noted it was a privilege just to be nominated once.

For Lang’s thoughts on the honor and her job, see this “Meet a MedCat” story posted to LinkedIn.

And, for all the nominees for this year’s award, see this link.

Three DOM staffers were nominated last year for the Lura Hanekamp Dedicated Staff Award: Buchanan, Christeana Castro (DOM Medical Education Office lead admin and Division of Cardiology lead fellowship coordinator) and Bersabe Lopez (formerly DOM MEO lead admin and Nephrology Fellowship coordinator now with the Department of Dermatology).

Learn more about the Lura Hanekamp award and the person for whom it’s named, a former Department of Physiology administrative associate, here.

ALSO SEE: 
“Twenty-five faculty members in the Department of Medicine earn promotions” | Posted May 14, 2026
“Three from DOM nominated for college’s highest staff award” | Posted May 29, 2025
“Six divisions split 17 promotions for DOM faculty members in 2025” | Posted May 27, 2025

Press Inquiries

David Mogollon
mogollon@arizona.edu
520-275-6931