A Spotlight on Uniformed Services University Alumni
Kevin Tonat, Dr. PH., '88, who earned his Master of Public Health degree from USU, retired from the U.S. Public Health Service and now serves as the executive science officer for Cosmos Alliance Management, based in Washington, D.C.
Microbiology program graduate Lawrence Sung, Ph.D., J.D., '90, is now a lawyer with the Washington, D.C., firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, L.L.P. Sung specializes in intellectual property litigation, life sciences, patents, technology and intellectual property and technology transfer and commercialization.
Capt. Karen Parko, '91, recently transferred from the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, N.M., to San Francisco, Calif. Parko is now assigned to the Neurology and Rehab Service at the San Francisco Veterans' Administration Medical Center, and is also serving as the chief clinical consultant in neurology for the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, U.S. Public Health Service.
Maj. Kerry Jepsen, '93, an Air Force orthopedic surgeon at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, cares for injured troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and served as primary physician for Thomas Hamill, the U.S. civilian contract employee who was captured in Iraq, but later escaped.
Lt. Col. Peter Weina, '96, is an Army infectious diseases physician and an expert in Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease affecting troops in Iraq.
Maj. Christopher Lange, '97, recently received a purple heart for injuries sustained from a mortar attack while serving as the division psychiatrist for the 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq. He becomes the second USU alumnus to be injured in combat, after Rhonda Cornum ('86).
MAJ Russ Kotwal, MC, USA -deployed to Afghanistan twice and Iraq once as medical officer for the 3rd Ranger Battalion.
CAPT Eric McDonald, MC, USN -deployed with the Marines as the III Marine Expeditionary Forces Surgeon, based in Fallujah, Iraq.
MAJ Stephanie Redding, MC, USA -a physician, was assigned to the 21st Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. She was featured in newspaper articles early in the conflict and was credited with saving the life of a U.S. serviceman.