Department of Medical Education

David A. Morton, Ph.D., FAAA

Professor, Vice-Chair of Medical and Dental Education 

Department of Neurobiology 

University of Utah School of Medicine 

Dr. Morton is a Professor of Neurobiology and serves as the Vice-Chair of Medical and Dental Education. He is a curriculum leader, directs multiple courses, and teaches anatomy, physiology, histology, and neuroanatomy to medical, dental, PA, PT, and OT students. Dr. Morton has received numerous teaching awards, including the American Association for Anatomy Henry Gray Distinguished Educator Award, the University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award, and the School of Medicine Leonard Jarcho Distinguished Teaching Award. His research interests and publications focus on active learning activities and the use of cadavers in medicine. Dr. Morton authored multiple textbooks, including The Big Picture: Gross Anatomy (Lange, McGraw Hill), The Big Picture: Histology (Lange, McGraw Hill), and Gray’s Dissection Guide for Human Anatomy (Churchill Livingston, Elsevier). His video tutorials on YouTube (The Noted Anatomist) have received over 30 million views and over 600K subscribers. Dr. Morton is an internationally recognized educator and speaker, a Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy, and a visiting professor at three medical schools in Ghana.

Thomas Viggiano, M.D.

Professor 

Department of Gastroenterology 

Mayo Clinic 

Dr. Viggiano earned his M.D. at Temple University and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh. After completing a fellowship in gastroenterology at Mayo Clinic, he earned a Master of Education at the University of Minnesota. He has received numerous awards for teaching, humanism, and professionalism, and his educational contributions were recognized with Mayo Clinic’s highest honor, a named professorship. He has served on the Board of Directors of both the AAMC and IAMSE and now serves on the editorial board of MedEdPORTAL and the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaborative. Dr. Viggiano is one of the founders of the AAMC’s Group on Faculty Affairs. He has always served as an educator throughout his career. He was appointed as a Harvard Faculty Scholar, and he applied quality improvement principles to curriculum evaluation. From that experience, he learned about the value of having mentors and funding, seeing firsthand what it could accomplish in designing innovations in education scholarship. 

Dani G. Zoorob, M.D., MHA, MBA, MHI, FACOG, FACS, CPE, FACHE

Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Urogynecology and Pelvic Health 

Oschner LSU Health System 

Dani Zoorob received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He completed his fellowship in UroGynecology at The Christ Hospital and the University of Cincinnati. He was the Director of the Division of Urogynecology and Female Reconstructive Surgeon at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Then, he was appointed the program director for the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at the University of Toledo for many years. He was also the director of medical operations at ProMedica Health System. He is the only Urogynecologist in Louisiana with three master's degrees. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American College of Surgeons, and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Some of his recognitions include being inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha society, receiving the Dean’s Award for Advising Excellence, and the CREOG National Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Zoorob is double board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in both Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, as well as General Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Zoorob is a DEI-certified academic clinician and experienced physician executive with proven strategic leadership and clinical informatics skills. 

Ryan Sadeghian, M.D., MBA, M.Sc., FAAPL, FACHDM, FHIMSS, FAAP

Chief Medical information Officer (CMIO) 

UToledo Health 

Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian is the Chief Medical Information Officer at the University of Toledo Health, bringing over two decades of leadership across clinical and academic realms. A graduate of St. George’s University School of Medicine, Dr. Sadeghian furthered his expertise with a Physician Executive MBA from Auburn University and a Master’s in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Pittsburgh, supported by the National Library of Medicine. His foundational training includes a Pediatric residency at the University of South Alabama and advanced specialization in Clinical Informatics at the University of Washington. 

Dr. Sadeghian is the only physician in North America with fellowship training in both Clinical and Biomedical Informatics. His contributions include serving on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council for Clinical Information Technology executive committee, co-chairing the Southern Medical Association's Division of Digital Health and Innovation, and holding board positions with NJHIMSS and the Physician Committee at HIMSS. Previously, as Chief AI Officer at MITConn Advisors, he advanced artificial intelligence applications in healthcare. 

With over a decade dedicated to AI, Dr. Sadeghian is among the first 100 fellows of the American College of Health Data Management (ACHDM). His career includes leading enterprise clinical informatics operations, managing multi-million-dollar IT initiatives, and developing over 45 clinical GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) to improve patient care. His experience in systems development ensures timely, impactful, and efficient results. 

Dr. Sadeghian is an accomplished author with six books that reflect his dedication to healthcare and AI: 

1. Executive Evolution: A Guide for the Modern Leaders (Leadership) 
2. ChatGPT Simplified: Transforming Healthcare with AI (AI in Healthcare) 
3. Intelligent Healing: Clinicians at the AI Forefront (AI in Healthcare) 
4. The Talent Exodus: How Poor Leadership Decisions Erode Top Teams (Leadership) 
5. Rebooting Care: Prescribing AI to Prevent Physician Burnout (AI in Healthcare) 
6. From Cradle to College: A Pediatrician's Guide to Child Development (Pediatrics) 

Beyond his contributions in informatics and AI, Dr. Sadeghian has served as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Medical Director of Clinical Informatics, and Clinical Student Academic Advisor, combining clinical expertise with a commitment to innovation in medical education. 

Mary Smith, M.D.

Professor Emeritus 

Department of Medicine 

Dr. Smith started her career as a medical educator and a junior medical resident at the Royal Victoria Hospital, one of the teaching hospitals of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. McGill was the home of Sir William Osler a pre-eminent medical educator who developed the mission for McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine to populate Canada with medical educators. Dr. Smith did this for 5 years as a faculty member at McGill before emigrating to the USA to join the faculty of the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo (MCOT) in September of 1977, 44 years ago. Upon arrival at MCO, Mary was slightly startled to discover that the curriculum was systems-based, and the students graduated in three years. 

Her career here has included a long and busy practice in hematology, with an emphasis on disorders of coagulation. This included developing the coagulation laboratory for UTMC. 

As a medical educator, Mary has had a great variety of experiences, beginning with the task of clerkship director for the Internal Medicine Clerkship, progressing through Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, and ending as Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. Since ‘retiring’ and returning to work 3 days later, Mary has continued to teach and support the curriculum in whatever ways she can. As an Emerita Professor, Mary continues to have an ongoing interest in medical education, and she particularly monitors the Canadian medical education scene as there are often some interesting advances made north of the border.