The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s significant role in advancing health care in the Memphis community through partnerships was highlighted at the Memphis Business Journal’s 2025 Health Care Heroes Awards.
Winners in four of the five categories are associated with UT Health Science Center, as announced Thursday, August 14, during an event hosted by Joanna Crangle, market president and publisher of the Memphis Business Journal, at the Memphis Botanic Garden.
In total, more than half of the 25 finalists have ties to UT Health Science Center, underscoring the university’s remarkable clinical contributions.
“Our clinical partnerships in Memphis and across the state are essential to us and to the health of the people of Tennessee,” said Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD. “Our esteemed Health Care Heroes finalists illustrate that we are stronger when we work together.”
The annual awards recognize organizations, companies, and individuals for their impact on health care in Memphis and the Mid-South, with nominees submitted by their institutions or members of the public.
Awards were presented in the categories of Administrative Excellence; Community Outreach; Health Care Innovations; Health Care Provider, Physician; and Health Care Provider, Non-Physician.
Community Outreach: Chinelo Animalu, MD
Chinelo Animalu, MD, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the College of Medicine, director of the Infectious Diseases Division at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and attending physician in the UT-Methodist Physician Group, won in the Community Outreach category.
The award highlighted her inspirational work to create awareness about the rising rates of preventable infections in the community, especially among the youth, through social media and community outreach programs.
“I am thankful for the support I have received so far from UT Health Science Center and hope that we will continue to do the best we can for Memphis,” Dr. Animalu said.
Health Care Innovations: Jaw in a Day Team
In the Health Care Innovations category, the winners were the UT Health Science Center surgeons who collaborated with remarkable collective skills to perform the first “Jaw in a Day” surgery in the Mid-South.
The multidisciplinary team from the College of Medicine and the College of Dentistry consisted of Anas Eid, MD, chief of Facial Plastic Surgery and lead surgeon; Jeffrey Brooks, DMD, professor and chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Brett Wilson, DDS, associate professor and program director for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; C. Burton Wood, MD, assistant professor of head and neck surgical oncology in the Department of Otolaryngology; and John Gleysteen, MD, associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology.
The surgeons performed the groundbreaking operation last year in partnership with Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.
“Receiving the Health Care Innovations Award for our novel single-stage facial reconstruction technique was deeply gratifying. It not only recognizes the novelty of our method, but it also underscores how a cohesive team of highly talented and specialized surgeons, through precise and orchestrated intervention, can dramatically improve patient outcomes and quality of life,” Dr. Eid said. “Innovations of this caliber are a direct product of the supportive and collaborative environment fostered by institutions like the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.”
Health Care Provider, Physician: Derek Kelly, MD
The winner in the category of Health Care Provider, Physician, was Derek Kelly, MD, associate professor and pediatric orthopaedics residency program director at the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Kelly also provides exemplary care to patients at Campbell Clinic and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
Health Care Provider, Non-Physician: Rita Hollingsworth, DNP
Rita Hollingsworth, DNP, assistant professor in the Department of Community and Population Health in the UT Health Science Center College of Nursing, won in the category of Health Care Provider, Non-Physician.
Dr. Hollingsworth is an advanced practice registered nurse for the UTHSC Nursing Mobile Health Unit, which provides much-needed outreach care in rural Lake and Lauderdale counties. She also cares for patients at Reelfoot Family Walk-in Clinic.
Working for a Healthier Community
The Memphis Business Journal highlighted the award finalists in its August 15 weekly edition. In an introduction to the list, the journal wrote,
“The Health Care Heroes program identifies and illuminates the industry’s most extraordinary contributors to the health and well-being of the Memphis community. These physicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, caregivers, administrators, and other medical professionals make it their daily mission to go above and beyond the call of duty to contribute to the common good.”
Physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other health care professionals from all UT Health Science Center colleges care for patients at partner hospitals across Memphis, including Regional One Health, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Baptist Memorial Health Care, Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. (Memphis) VA Medical Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Saint Francis Hospital.
UT Health Science Center physicians also serve with prominent clinical practice partners such as Semmes Murphey Clinic, West Cancer Center and Research Institute, University Clinical Health, and Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics.
Beyond Memphis, UT Health Science Center physicians are part of the medical staff at major hospitals statewide, including Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, and West Tennessee Healthcare – Jackson Madison County General Hospital in Jackson.
UT Health Science Center clinicians work in partnership with multiple community health care providers in communities across Tennessee, collectively motivated by the vision of Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities.
Visit the UT Health Science Center News website to read more about the Health Care Heroes finalists affiliated with UT Health Science Center and partner institutions.
This blog was written by Chris Green
