2024 Alumni Award Honorees
2024 Alumni Award honorees were recognized during Homecoming 2024, October 17-19.
Dr. Gary L. Slick is a nephrologist and internist. He is currently emeritus professor of medicine at Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a graduate of the Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at the OSU Medical Center and nephrology fellowship at University of Iowa Hospitals.
After serving as attending physician and program director of the internal medicine residency at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, he was appointed chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and program director of Internal Medicine at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, a post he held for 21 years. He then served as vice president for Academic Affairs at OSU-Center for Health Sciences and later as the designated institutional official and chief academic officer for graduate medical education at OSU-Center for Health Sciences and the Oklahoma OPTI until 2022.
His former positions have included chair and executive director of the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine, president of the American College of Osteopathic Internists, and chair of the Board of Directors of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners. He recently served on the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduation Medical Education. His research interests in the past have dealt with the mechanism of renal sodium retention in heart failure and assessment results for internal medicine certification.
Allison Ogren completed her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in 2016, majoring in biology and chemistry. She worked as an EMT during her undergraduate studies, and worked as a medical scribe after graduation before transitioning into pursuing research. She completed the two-year Master of Science in Biomedical Studies at Kansas City University (KCU) in 2019, studying under the guidance of Dr. Doug Bittel. Her thesis focused on posttranscriptional modifications on RNA that contribute to developmental heart defects such as Tetralogy of Fallot. She published two first-author academic papers during her studies at KCU.
In 2019, Ogren moved back to Minnesota to pursue a PhD in molecular, cellular, developmental biology and genetics at the University of Minnesota, studying under the guidance of Dr. Melissa Gardner. Her thesis work focuses on the cytoskeletal component known as microtubules, and how estrogen can directly bind to microtubules to affect their growth, which has implications in heart failure as well as other diseases.
Ogren received a Minnesota Muscle Fellowship to help fund the early stages of her thesis work, and was awarded an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship to support her project through the final two years. Additionally, she was awarded the Dr. Marvin and Hadassah Bacaner Award for Research at the University of Minnesota for her excellence in creative research. She published one first-author paper in PNAS encompassing work on a microtubule motor project, and is currently awaiting peer review on another first-author paper on her thesis work. Ogren will graduate in Fall 2024.
Dr. Brian Geraghty is a Kansas City native, originally from Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He completed his undergraduate degree at Northwest Missouri State University, where he was a collegiate athlete and member of the football team.
Dr. Geraghty graduated from Kansas City University in 2018, earning a dual degree in osteopathic medicine and a master’s in bioethics. In addition, he was awarded the Special Medallion Award, which recognizes noteworthy contributions to society and community.
Dr. Geraghty completed an orthopedic surgery residency at HCA Midwest/Kansas City University, followed by an orthopedic trauma surgery fellowship at Duke University. While at Duke University, he conducted research on the treatment of fracture nonunions with cellular bone matrix allograft, with publications in progress from this research. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics, and the Orthopedic Trauma Association.
He joined Orthopedic Surgeons Inc. in September 2024 and resides in Kansas City, Missouri. He and his fiancée, Ashton, will marry in May 2025.
Dr. Geraghty devotes his free time to his personal passions, including spending time with family and friends, serving others and his community and enthusiastically cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2016, as a second-year medical student, he joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City and has spent the last eight years mentoring his Little Brother, DJ. He attributes his passion for a lifetime of service to the values modeled by his family and the emphasis placed on serving others.
After dedicating 31 years to the KCU Library, Robyn Oro retired last November. However, her invaluable expertise and deep knowledge of KCU’s history brought her back in August as the Special Collections Coordinator. Clearly, the University couldn’t do without her.
She learned many skills and technologies to support students in their studies that are now obsolete, from operating Kodak slide carousels and troubleshooting malfunctions with dot matrix printers, to burning anatomy lectures to a CD, then DVD, and numerous additional formats as the university and students adopted new technologies. “Other duties as assigned” included chasing squirrels out of the stacks at one point in her career.
Over the years, she held several positions and has been recognized as the campus historian. She played a vital role in preserving the history and archives of the university. She served as research assistant on KCU’s Centennial history: A Century of Triumphs, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences 1916-2016, and wrote blog posts about University history for the library website. In her final five years, she worked to establish the KCU historical archive, organizing and digitizing the University’s historic osteopathic collections. She collaborated on a poster presented at the 2016 Medical Library Association Conference in Toronto entitled Osteopathic Medical Education Heritage 1916-2016. She is fascinated by osteopathic history and considers it to be underrepresented in the American medical historical narrative.
Robyn has committed time to volunteering, helping with events at KC Sheppard’s Center and leading tours at a haunted Victorian house. Robyn attended Central Missouri State University and studied English literature.
Dr. Joseph Yasso is a lifelong resident of the Kansas City area. He graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri in 1967. His education continued at junior college in Wentworth and he completed his degree in political science at Park University in 1972. He graduated from Kansas City University (KCU) in 1977 and completed a one-year intern rotation at Lakeside Hospital in 1978. He then served two years in active duty as a flight surgeon with the U.S. Army and received the Army Commendation Medal while serving.
In 1980 he joined fellow alumni Dr. Phillip Accardo and Dr. Chuck Johnson at Independence Family Medicine. Dr. Yasso returned to KCU in 1997 as medical director for Clinical Operations and as an associate professor of Family Medicine. In 2010 he returned to private practice with Heritage Physicians Group and retired in 2015.
Dr. Yasso has been elected to leadership positions in community and professional organizations, including service as president of the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (MAOPS) in 1992-1993, and as chairman of the board of directors of Primaris Inc. in 2004-2006. MAOPS has recognized him with its Distinguished Service Award and Medallion Award. In 2010, he received KCU’s Alumni Service Award.
Dr. Larry W. Anderson, DO, FACOFP dist., is a private practitioner in Dawsonville, Georgia, and an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He chairs the Dawson County Board of Health, co-founded and directs the Good Shepherd Clinic, a free clinic in Dawsonville, and established the Dawson County Zika Coalition. Dr. Anderson has held numerous leadership roles in professional organizations at the state and national levels, including serving as president of ACOFP.
Dr. Anderson enlisted in the Army in 1965, initially training as an air traffic controller at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. After four months in service he transferred to Fort Rucker, Alabama, and acted as the solo controller of a helicopter airport. He later served in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division, 228th Aviation Battalion, Company A, where he was in charge of flight operations and served as a relief door gunner in a Chinook Helicopter Company, earning multiple unit citations and personal awards. He was honorably discharged in 1968.
Dr. Anderson earned his BA from West Georgia College in 1971, a BS from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1973, and his DO from Kansas City University in 1978. He completed his internship at Northlake Regional Medical Center in 1979. An elder in his Presbyterian church, he has also served as a chaplain in Ukraine.
Dr. Weisoly attended Columbia University, where he graduated with a double major in biology and comparative literature. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Kansas City University in 1998, receiving the Golden Stethoscope Award. He completed his internship and pediatric residency at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, followed by a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at UT-Houston Medical School.
In 2004, Dr. Weisoly joined Goryeb Children’s Hospital, where he became a leader in evidence-based practice and was appointed Assistant Professor at New Jersey Medical School. He co-directed the Dallas-Fort Worth NICU Quality Improvement Collaborative, overseeing 29 NICUs, and directed the annual Specialty Review in Neonatology conference, the largest foundational review course for neonatologists in the United States.
In 2014, Dr. Weisoly returned to Houston and co-founded Pediatrix and Obstetrix Medical Specialists of Houston, leading one of the largest practices in the country. He established the Mednax Houston Area NICU Quality Improvement Collaborative and chairs several regional and state committees focused on improving maternal and neonatal care.
Dr. Weisoly is a leading advocate for improved care for mothers and babies in Texas, holding leadership roles with the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council (SETRAC), the Texas Regional Advisory Council, and the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies.