Morsani College of Medicine Alumni Society

USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Alumni Society presents two Distinguished Alumni Awards during second annual State of the College event 

September 14, 2021 12:40 PM By USF Health
From left to right: Drs. Jane Messina, Valerie Riddle, Deborah Humphrey, Bryan Bognar, and Charles Lockwood.

On September 9, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Alumni Society held its second annual State of the College presented by Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. Alumni attended virtually and in-person at the new USF Health Downtown building, and heard updates about the college, met Alumni Society board members, and were able to celebrate this year’s new award recipients, Drs. Deborah Humphrey and Richard Brilli.


The 2021 Distinguished Alumna Award for Service was presented to Deborah Humphrey, DO. Dr. Humphrey received her undergraduate education at USF and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Morsani College of Medicine, where she served as chief resident, in 1995. Since then, she has served on faculty in the USF Health Department of Internal Medicine and has dedicated hundreds of hours to Family Promise of Hillsborough County, an organization that helps to provide temporary housing to homeless families. The organization also helps these families find homes and supplies them with items they need to re-establish themselves such as furniture and other household items, donated by the community.


“It is very much an honor to be recognized by your peers,” said Humphrey. “I’ve spent a lot of time at USF, this is where I started back in undergraduate and returned here for residency. Sometimes I wonder – who would want to live anywhere else other than here in Tampa? Or work anywhere else besides USF? This is such a great community to be in.”

Dr. Richard Brilli

The 2021 Distinguished Alumnus Award for Academics was virtually presented to Richard Brilli, MD, FAAP, MCCM. Dr. Brilli also received his undergraduate education at the University of South Florida as well as his MD from the Morsani College of Medicine in 1976. He has achieved an international reputation as one of the foremost leaders in pediatric quality and safety. In 2008, he joined the faculty at The Ohio State University as a professor of pediatrics and, in 2016, was appointed the John F. Wolfe Endowed Chair in Medical Leadership and Pediatric Quality and Safety. He recently retired after serving as Chief Medical Officer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where his efforts led the rapid rise of the hospital’s U.S. News and World Report ranking to the top 10.


“This great honor is something that I’ve been very happy to receive, and I feel that I have been blessed to not only have come from the University of South Florida and become a physician, but to have spent so many years at the bedside and in academics trying to drive better outcomes for families and our patients,” said Brilli.


To watch, or re-watch, the State of the College and Awards Presentation, click here. To submit a nomination for a USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Alumni Society award, click here.

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