Dr. Santamaria named a 2025 Advancing Physician Leaders fellow
Juan Santamaria, MD, has been selected as a member of the 2025 National Hispanic Medical Association Advancing Physician Leaders Fellowship. The NHMA Advancing Physician Leaders Fellowship, formerly the Leadership Fellowship Program, was launched in 1999 to support Hispanic physicians in health policy and academia. It aims to enhance leadership skills and increase representation in governmental, academic, and institutional executive roles. Dr. Santamaria will attend the annual conference in June.
“Dr. Santamaria is well-deserving of this recognition, as he has demonstrated leadership in multiple roles with UNMC and the community,” said Nada Fadul, MD, associate dean for faculty affairs in the UNMC College of Medicine. “In addition to advancing his leadership skills, the NHMA fellowship will deepen his knowledge of health policy and advocacy for improved health access to breast cancer care in Nebraska.”
Dr. Santamaria is an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Surgery-Division of Surgical Oncology. He also is the assistant director for clinical integration, community outreach and engagement office at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, the co-founder of the center’s Breast Health Navigation Program and a surgical oncologist at Nebraska Medicine.
Dr. Kang’s new book looks at pseudoscience
Lydia Kang, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Division of General Internal Medicine, has a new book coming out this month.
“Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them,” co-written with Nate Pederson, tackles the subject why people insist on believing in things such as Big Foot and Mothman.
The authors recently discussed the book on NPR, noting that it takes a look at topics such as astrology and aliens, as well as exploring why people like to believe in things that they probably know aren’t true. The topics discussed were deliberately lighthearted, Dr. Kang said, which left some areas uncovered.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to take a lighthearted tone when it comes to hitting some really seriously horrible situations that are surrounded in pseudoscience,” Dr. Kang told the interviewer.
Dr. Kang is the New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction works such as “Quackery: The Worst Way to Cure Everything,” also co-written with Pederson, and fiction such as “Opium and Absinthe” and “Cataclysm,” a “Star Wars” novel.
Dr. Haney named to COM faculty development team
Suzanne Haney, MD, will be joined the UNMC College of Medicine Office of Faculty Affairs as assistant dean for faculty development on March 1.
Dr. Haney is a professor in the UNMC Department of Pediatrics and is the Children’s Nebraska division chief of child abuse pediatrics.
“Dr. Haney brings a wealth of expertise and skills to the role of assistant dean for faculty development,” said Nada Fadul, MD, associate dean for faculty affairs in the UNMC College of Medicine. “She will work collaboratively with departmental and College of Medicine leadership to create programs that foster faculty success and well-being. I look forward to her joining the Office of Faculty Affairs.”
Dr. Haney is a graduate of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, and she did her residency at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.