2026: Celebrating Excellence

Meet the 2026 UCSF Alumni Award Honorees

Each year, UCSF honors distinguished alumni who have made remarkable contributions to healthcare, research, education, and community service. As we prepare for Alumni Weekend 2026, we are proud to announce this year’s Alumni Awards Recipients, a group of inspiring leaders who exemplify innovation, dedication, and the enduring spirit of UCSF.

Join us in celebrating their achievements and lasting impact as they are recognized at the Alumni Awards Brunch during Alumni Weekend!

Alumni Discovery Award

Susan L. Acton, PhD ’91
Dr. Acton has been selected as the recipient of the Alumni Discovery Award in recognition of her pioneering scientific curiosity and the far-reaching impact of her discoveries in human health. An alum of UCSF’s Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs and now head of neuroinflammation research at Adiso Therapeutics, she is widely recognized for her early UCSF-based discovery of the human ACE2 protein — foundational research that years later proved crucial to understanding how viruses including SARS-CoV-2 enter human cells. Her career exemplifies the power of basic scientific inquiry to generate transformative, unforeseen global impact, a hallmark of the Discovery Award. Beyond her scientific achievements, Dr. Acton has bridged academia and industry to translate discoveries into practical innovations, while remaining deeply connected to UCSF’s mission of mentorship, collaboration, and service. Her work brings lasting distinction to UCSF and powerfully reflects the university’s commitment to advancing health through discovery.

Alumni Philanthropic Impact Award

Edward A. Sickles, MD, Resident Alum, Clinical Fellow Alum and Dale G. Sickles, MD
Dr. Edward Sickles and Dr. Dale Sickles have been named the recipients of the Alumni Philanthropic Impact Award in recognition of a career defined by clinical excellence, academic leadership, and a deep, enduring commitment to UCSF. A highly respected radiologist and internationally recognized leader in breast imaging, Dr. Edward Sickles has spent decades advancing the field through patient-centered care, scholarship, and mentorship, helping to shape standards that have influenced practice far beyond UCSF. Dr. Dale Sickles practiced as a pediatrician in Oakland and was the medical director of Alameda County California Children’s Services, a program for children with complex and chronic diseases. The Sickles’ service reflects a belief in the power of medicine to drive innovation, train future leaders, and improve lives. Together, the Sickles’ extended their commitment through the establishment of the Edward A. Sickles Distinguished Professorship in Radiology, an investment grounded in their shared conviction that supporting faculty excellence is essential to sustaining UCSF’s mission. Their professional achievements, coupled with this forward-looking generosity, exemplify the values of leadership, service, and impact that this award was created to honor.

Dental Alumni Association Medal of Honor Award

Donald Hermansen, DDS ’73
Dr. Hermansen has been named the recipient of the Dental Alumni Association’s Medal of Honor, recognizing his extraordinary four decades of service, leadership, and unwavering dedication to UCSF’s dental community. A pillar of the Dental Alumni Association since 1985, Dr. Hermansen has contributed significantly to nearly every leadership role, including editor of the ORACal newsletter, Scientific Session coordinator, program chair, and president, while maintaining more than 35 years of consistent engagement in council meetings and alumni programming. His deep commitment to fostering connection between graduates is evident in his longtime stewardship of reunion committees, including the Half-Century Club and Class of 1973 celebrations. Beyond UCSF, Dr. Hermansen has strengthened the profession through decades of leadership in the San Mateo County Dental Society, service on the California Dental Association Council on Peer Review, and volunteer clinical care for vulnerable pediatric patients. His career reflects integrity, mentorship, historical preservation, and an exceptional record of professional service, all of which embody the highest ideals of the Dental Alumni Association.

Medical Alumni Association Alum of the Year Award

Susan Buchbinder, MD ’84, Resident Alum
Dr. Buchbinder has been named the Medical Alumni Association’s Alum of the Year in recognition of her extraordinary leadership in HIV prevention research, her enduring commitment to public health, and her profound impact on global clinical practice. A physician-scientist of international stature, she has dedicated her career to advancing evidence-based strategies for preventing HIV infection. Dr. Buchbinder has served as a founding leader and longtime director of UCSF’s HIV prevention research efforts and played a central role in landmark clinical trials that reshaped prevention science worldwide. Her work has informed global policy, expanded access to innovative prevention tools, and strengthened community-engaged research models, particularly among populations most affected by HIV. In addition to her scientific contributions, Dr. Buchbinder is widely respected as a mentor, collaborator, and advocate for translational research that bridges academic medicine, public health, and community partnership. Her career exemplifies UCSF’s efforts to advance health through discovery, service, and leadership.

Nursing Alumni Association Jane Norbeck Distinguished Service Award

Jessica K. Zègre-Hemsey, PhD ’11, RN
Dr. Zègre-Hemsey has been named the recipient of the Nursing Alumni Association’s Jane Norbeck Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership, mentorship, and transformative contributions to cardiovascular nursing science. An internationally respected nurse-scientist and associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Nursing, she has advanced the field through her pioneering work in electrocardiographic monitoring, early detection of myocardial ischemia, and risk stratification for sudden cardiac death. This research has shaped clinical understanding of cardiac events and helped improve emergency response and patient outcomes. A dedicated mentor, Dr. Zègre-Hemsey has guided more than two dozen trainees across nursing, medicine, engineering, and public health, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and cultivating the next generation of cardiovascular researchers. Her leadership roles with the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and national scientific working groups further demonstrate her deep commitment to the profession and her dedication to advancing cardiovascular health on a larger scale. Dr. Zègre-Hemsey’s sustained scientific impact, mentoring excellence, and broad professional service exemplify the values of the UCSF School of Nursing.

Pharmacy Alumni Association Alum of the Year Award

Leslie Z. Benet, PhD ’65
Dr. Benet has been named the Pharmacy Alumni Association’s Alum of the Year in recognition of his extraordinary career as a scientist, educator, and global leader in pharmaceutical sciences. A distinguished alum and longtime faculty member, Dr. Benet is internationally renowned for his foundational contributions to pharmacokinetics and drug disposition, including work that has shaped modern drug development, regulatory science, and clinical pharmacology worldwide. Over the course of decades of service, he has been a dedicated mentor to generations of scientists and clinicians, many of whom now hold leadership roles across academia, industry, and government. His deep and sustained commitment to UCSF through teaching, research, and professional leadership has elevated the School of Pharmacy and strengthened its global reputation. Dr. Benet’s career exemplifies the highest ideals of the profession.

Graduate and Postdoc Alum of the Year Award

Lillian T. Chong, PhD ’02
Dr. Chong has been named the Graduate and Postdoc Alum of the Year in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to computational biophysics, her leadership in advancing open science, and her extraordinary commitment to training the next generation of scientific innovators. A professor of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Chong is internationally known for pioneering rare-event molecular simulations and for leading the development of the WESTPA software platform. WESTPA is an open-source tool widely cited and used worldwide to model complex biomolecular processes, including high-impact studies of SARS-CoV-2 that earned the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize from the Association for Computing Machinery. Her research has produced fundamental insights into protein folding, drug permeability, and viral mechanisms, resulting in an extensive and influential publication record. Equally distinguished as an educator and mentor, Dr. Chong has trained many scientists who now hold faculty, industry, and national lab positions. Through service on editorial boards, scientific advisory councils, national computing committees, and international workshops, Dr. Chong has elevated the fields of biophysics and computational chemistry while embodying the highest ideals of UCSF: scientific excellence, collaboration, and the use of discovery to advance human health.

UCSF/SFSU Graduate Program in Physical Therapy Alum of the Year Award

To Be Announced Soon