AlumniEvents

Shining Lights

On April 21, the Moravian University Alumni Association presented its annual awards to alumni, students, and community partners who are exemplars of the Moravian University mission and demonstrate transformative leadership in a world of change.

Kris McGurrin Rooney is an MD, but her work supporting young medical professionals and promoting overall well-being makes her an educator at heart.

Kris has served as a mentor to numerous resident physicians, guiding them to reach their desired fellowship programs and career sites. She has held faculty appointments at Penn State College of Medicine and currently holds an appointment at University of South Florida College of Medicine. Kris has developed and implemented a robust certifying board exam preparatory curriculum that integrates adult learning styles to improve residency board pass rates.

When the COVID pandemic forced learning to go virtual, Kris developed online lessons for clinical rotations, allowing residents to continue their training and stay on track for graduation.

Benigna Education Award

Kris McGurrin Rooney, MD ’97

The Benigna Education Award recognizes an alumnus or alumna for his or her outstanding contributions to the field of education. Administrators, college professors, elementary and secondary teachers, and all those in the teaching profession are eligible. To be considered, nominees should have made significant innovations in the teaching profession or otherwise substantially impacted the education process and, in addition, have demonstrated dedication to the community at large.

Kris graduated magna cum laude from Moravian in 1997 with a degree in clinical psychology and a minor in biology. She went on to medical school at the Penn State College of Medicine, and after graduating in 2004, she completed her residency and fellowship training at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey. Kris accepted a physician role at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital of the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), where she also serves as chief wellness officer.

Kris first found her calling in graduate medical education while serving as a rotation leader in inpatient pediatrics. She developed a formal curriculum for students and emergency and family medicine residents rotating through her clinical area. In 2012, she helped found LVHN’s Pediatric Residency Program, the network’s first accredited program of its kind. Since then, the program has graduated eight classes of pediatricians, and it is in the process of expanding.

Kris has presented countless medical lectures, grand rounds, and symposiums through the years to medical students, residents, and faculty. She has been invited to speak at numerous regional and national education conferences, presenting on topics such as residency program development, mentorship, clinical teaching, leadership, exam preparation curriculum, and navigating residency training during the COVID pandemic. Kris is also a published author in multiple journals in the health sciences, critical care, and pediatrics.

2023 Alumni Fellows

The Alumni Association annually recognizes several full-time Moravian University students for their superior scholastic merit and the outstanding contributions they have made to campus life and to the community. This year, the association honored Sophia Rivera ’24, Sophia Shienvold ’24, and Grace Young

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Young Alumni Achievement Award

Elizabeth G. Sgambelluri ’13

The Young Alumni Achievement Award is presented to an alumnus or alumna who has achieved exceptional success in his or her profession and who has graduated within the past two to 10 years.

She is often described as a Renaissance woman. With six degrees, four publications, a patent, and a medical license, the sky is the limit for Elizabeth “Lizzy” Sgambelluri. The incredible work she is doing, which links her passions for wildlife and human health in the United States and around the world, will influence generations.

For as long as she can remember, Lizzy has refused to package the wants of her heart and mind into one small box. Fascinated by health matters from a very young age, when she monitored the behavioral patterns of deer populations in her backyard, and motivated by her mother, a renowned physician, she says she has always had an “insatiable thirst for learning.”

Lizzy received her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Moravian in 2013. From there she completed two master’s degrees simultaneously—one in biodiversity, wildlife, and ecosystem health at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland; the other in environmental studies at Antioch University New England in New Hampshire. She graduated with high honors.

Lizzy completed her thesis research on noninvasive strategies for monitoring stressinduced immunosuppression in African lions. She realized there were no viable methods to effectively monitor stress and health in large felines, so she devised and patented the first-ever device to collect their saliva noninvasively. “This opens a huge door in the potential for monitoring stress—as well as reproductive and immunologic health—in both captive and wild populations,” explains Lizzy.

While conducting her research, she also served as an adjunct professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire and taught courses ranging from genetics and cellular biology to ecology and evolution. Her multidisciplinary research allowed her to augment her lessons to better help her students in their career paths.

“There is something to be said about illuminating and empowering those around you; especially if doing so enables the other party to build upon themselves and grow their knowledge base,” Lizzy says. “I think those lightbulb moments were just as exciting for me as they were for my students.”

In 2021, Lizzy obtained her master of science in physician assistant studies degree from Pace University in New York City. She was a member of the Phi Alpha honor society and graduated in the top three of her class. Lizzy currently practices medicine as a board-certified physician in both primary and urgent care at Medemerge Primary Care. She also just recently accepted a position as a clinical professor for the physician assistant program at Pace University-Lenox Hill Hospital, teaching new physicians navigating the same program from which she graduated.

Of course, her work doesn’t end there. Lizzy applies her diverse knowledge across species as a founding member of One Health Initiative, a collaborative, multidisciplinary movement focused on recognizing the interconnection between humans, animals, and the environment.

“There is much we can learn about our own health from animal counterparts and much to learn about our role in the health of the world around us,” Lizzy says. “Unfortunately, most individuals [studying these areas] practice solely within the constructs of wildlife, veterinary, and ecological health. Lacking are individuals further excelling in human health. I could serve such a role, I realized. I could be that missing link.

“Slowly, we can create a world where we operate harmoniously within our environment, with surrounding species, and with each other—and perhaps better understand our place within a complex system of interconnections.”

In her “spare” time, Lizzy serves as a consulting statistician as well as a grant reviewer for the National Geographic Society, where she has the opportunity to help other insatiably inquisitive minds.