UF Health Leadership
UF Health is a vital resource for Florida, the Southeast and beyond. Health care experts from throughout our hospitals and clinical programs, academic colleges and research centers and institutes collaborate to move medicine forward with a shared vision and strategic plan.
Our faculty and staff provide high-quality, safe and efficient health care services to patients with a focus on excellent clinical outcomes; stimulating educational programs and opportunities for students, residents and fellows; and innovative scientific research that fosters new discoveries.
University of Florida Health is the university's academic health center. The UF Health headquarters is located in Gainesville, on UF's main campus, with programs throughout Gainesville and North Central Florida. Our other academic campus is located in Jacksonville.
UF Health Shands Hospital Board of Directors
UF Health Shands refers to Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics Inc., a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation affiliated with UF. The Gainesville-based hospital system has a total of 1,111 licensed beds. At a glance:
- UF Health Shands Hospital
- UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital
- UF Health Shands Children's Hospital
- UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital
- UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital
- UF Health Psychiatric Hospital
- A network of outpatient rehabilitation centers and a home-health agency
UF Health Shands is governed by an independent board of directors. The statutorily designated chair of the UF Health Shands Hospital board is the president of UF, who has delegated this chair role as well as all appointment powers for all members of the UF Health Shands Hospital board to the UF senior vice president for health affairs as his designee. The UF Health Shands CEO reports to the UF senior vice president for health affairs. The deans for the UF colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health and Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine dual report to the UF senior vice president for health affairs and the UF provost. The UF senior vice president for health affairs reports directly to the UF President.
Category I (Ex-Officio)
- David R. Nelson, MD
President & Chair, Board of Directors
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Florida - Jennifer L. Hunt, MD, Med
Interim Dean, College of Medicine - Stephen J. Motew, MD, MHA, FACS
Interim Chief Executive Officer, UF Health Shands - Anita Zucker, PhD
- Kevin Lintner
Transition Lead Office of the SVP and CFO, University of Florida
Category II
- Jonathan D. Licht, MD
Director, UF Health Cancer Center - Timothy E. Morey, MD
Chief Medical Officer, UF Health Shands - Li-Ming Su, MD
Chairman, UF College of Medicine Department of Urology - Gilbert R. Upchurch Jr., MD
Chairman, UF Department of Surgery - Dana N. Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM
Dean, UF College of Veterinary Medicine
Category III
- Gregory Lewis
- Marsha D. Powers
- Linda Parker Hudson
- Paul Broadie II, PhD
- Todd Neville
- Taylor Jantz
Interim Lead Office of the SVP and CFO, University of Florida
UF Health President and System CEO
Stephen J. Motew, MD, MHA, FACS
President and System CEO, UF Health
- As president and system CEO for University of Florida Health, Dr. Motew reports to the University of Florida President.
- Dr. Motew oversees operations for all clinical components of UF Health, the university’s academic health center.
Senior VP for Health Affairs
David R. Nelson, MD
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Florida
- As senior vice president for Health Affairs for the University of Florida, Dr. Nelson reports to the University of Florida President.
Chief Administrative Officers
Our UF Health chief administrative officers provide executive leadership and guidance for the academic health center through broad-based core programs to support operations.
- Ed Daech
Chief Human Resources Officer
UF Health clinical enterprise - Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, MD
Associate Vice President for Research, UF Health
Herbert A. Wertheim Professor of Inflammation Science, Center for Inflammation Science and Systems Medicine - Gigi Lipori, MT, MBA
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, UF Health
Chief Information Officer, UF Health Science Center
Chief Data Officer, UF Health Shands - Robert R. Michalski
Vice President and Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer, UF Health - Melanie Fridl Ross, MSJ, ELS
Chief Communications Officer, UF Health
Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, UF Health Shands
Associate Vice President, Health Affairs - Bill Young
Chief Legal Officer, UF Health - Shakira Henderson, PhD, DNP, MS, MPH, EMBA, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
System Chief Nurse Executive, UF Health - Kim Metzger
Interim Senior Associate Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer, UF Health
College Deans
From the time of the academic health center’s founding in 1956, it has operated as an academic enterprise dedicated to training a variety of professionals and to introducing knowledge that will safeguard the health of Florida’s citizens.
UF Health encompasses the Gainesville-based colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health Professions and Veterinary Medicine; the UF Health Shands family of hospitals; and the UF Health Jacksonville medical center and academic campus, which offers graduate education programs in medicine, nursing and pharmacy, and UF Health North. The colleges teach the full continuum of higher education from undergraduates to professional students to advanced postdoctoral students. Together with clinical programs and services across all six colleges, UF Health is helping to create Florida’s future health care workforce.
- Isabel Garcia, DDS, MPH
Dean, College of Dentistry
Bio (PDF) - Jennifer L. Hunt, MD, MEd
Interim Dean, College of Medicine - Shakira Henderson, PhD, DNP, MS, MPH, EMBA, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
Dean, College of Nursing - Peter W. Swaan, PhD, MPharm
Dean, College of Pharmacy - Beth A. Virnig, PhD, MPH
Dean, College of Public Health and Health Professions - Dana Zimmel, DVM
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
College Senior Associate Deans
- Azra Bihorac, MD, MS, FCCM, FASN
Senior Associate Dean for Research Affairs, College of Medicine - Julia Close, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, College of Medicine - Marvin A. Dewar, MD, JD
Senior Associate Dean, College of Medicine
Chief Executive Officer, UF Health Physicians
Bio (PDF) - Joseph C. Fantone III, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs, College of Medicine - Stephanie L. Hanson, PhD
Executive Associate Dean, College of Public Health and Health Professions
Bio (PDF) - Debra Lyon, PhD, RN, FAAN
Executive Associate Dean/Thomas M. and Irene B. Kirbo Endowed Chair, College of Nursing - Mark Segal, MD, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, College of Medicine
Institute and Center Directors
UF Health is a world leader in interdisciplinary research. With nine major research centers and institutes and more than 100 specialized research centers, UF Health is focused on health issues of importance to Floridians. Clinical research is growing rapidly at our Gainesville main campus and our vibrant regional campus in Jacksonville.
The institutes are designed to create collaborative research opportunities that follow the continuum from fundamental research to clinical research to patient care.
The UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the UF Diabetes Institute, the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute, the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, the UF Genetics Institute, the UF Health Cancer Center, the UF Institute for Child Health Policy, the UF Institute on Aging, the UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona and the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology are designed to create collaborative research opportunities that follow the continuum from fundamental research to clinical research to patient care.
- Mark Atkinson, PhD
Director, Diabetes Institute - Dr. Thomas P. Burris
Director, Genetics Institute - Kelly D. Foote, MD
Co-director, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health - Jennifer Bizon, PhD
Director, McKnight Brain Institute - Jonathan D. Licht, MD
Director, UF Health Cancer Center
Bio (PDF) - J. Glenn Morris, MD
Director, Emerging Pathogens Institute
Bio (PDF) - Duane A. Mitchell, MD, PhD
Director, Clinical and Translational Science Institute - Michael S. Okun, MD
Executive Director, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health - Marco Pahor, MD
Director, Institute on Aging
Bio (PDF) - Elizabeth Shenkman, PhD
Director, Institute for Child Health Policy
UF Health Shands Executive Team
UF Health Shands features a teaching hospital, UF Health Shands Hospital, five specialty hospitals — UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, UF Health Psychiatric Hospital, UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital and UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital — a network of outpatient rehabilitation centers, and a home health agency. UF Health Shands is affiliated with 80 UF Health Physicians primary care and specialty medical practices located throughout North Central Florida. UF Health Shands Hospital is also home to a state-designated Level I trauma center, a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, a regional burn center and an emergency air and ground transport program.
- Irene Alexaitis, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Vice President Nursing and Patient Services, UF Health Shands
Bio (PDF) - Kent Bailey, CPA, MBA
Vice President of Finance, UF Health Shands - Cindy Charyulu-D’Orra
Vice President of Revenue Cycle, UF Health Shands - Ed Daech
Chief Human Resources Officer, UF Health Shands - Traci S. d’Auguste, MSHA, MBA
Chief Operating Officer, UF Health Shands - John Hollingsworth, MD
Chief Quality Officer, UF Health Shands hospitals and practices - Jennifer L. Hunt, MD, MEd
Interim Dean, UF College of Medicine
Hospital Chief of Staff, UF Health Shands
Chair, UF College of Medicine Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine - Nicole Iovine, MD, PhD
Epidemiology Officer in Chief, UF Health Shands - Randall C. Jenkins, Esq.
Executive Administrator, UF Self-Insurance Program - Timothy E. Morey, MD
Chief Medical Officer, UF Health Shands - Gregory L. Stewart, LMHC, LCAC, LPCC
Administrator, UF Health Psychiatric Hospital and Florida Recovery Center - Robert Thornton
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, UF Health Shands - Jeff West
Vice President Managed Care, UF Health Shands
UF Health Central Florida Executive Team
- Phil Braun, JD
Vice President and General Counsel - Cheryl Chestnutt, RN, BSN, CPHQ
Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer & Site Administrator UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital - Joshua Fleming, RN, BSN, MHA
Vice President of Operations - Heather B. Long, MSN, BA, RN
Chief Executive Officer - Amie Richason, SPHR
Vice President Human Resources - Ashley Simmons, MBA
Vice President of Clinical Outcomes & Interim Administrator for UF Health Leesburg Hospital - Kimberly Kapes
Vice President, Strategic Service Lines & UF Health Central Florida Medical Groups - Dr. John Davidyock
Senior Vice President & Chief Physician Executive - Andrew Wampler, MBA
Vice President, Finance - Fernando Nascimento, MT(ASCP), MSLA, MBA
Vice President, Clinical Operations