2026 President's Award for Scholarly Excellence
Each year at commencement, students are honored for their excellence in education. Prior to commencement, students are nominated for the dean’s scholar award. After they received the dean’s scholar award, they are eligible for one of three awards - the highest honors at UNT Health Fort Worth. These awards are the President’s Award for Scholarly Excellence, the Chancellor’s Award for Scholarly Excellence and the UNT Health Award for Scholarly Excellence.
The President’s Award focuses on academic achievement, the Chancellor’s Award focuses on research and the UNT Health Award focuses on clinical practice.
This year’s UNT Health Award for Scholarly Excellence was presented to Chandler Cobb. Cobb recently graduated with her Doctor of Physical
Therapy and credits her faith for how she approaches her clinical experiences.
“Above all, my faith has been my foundation, reminding me that every opportunity to care for others is a gift,” Cobb said. “That perspective has shaped how I approach my clinical experiences and the opportunities I’ve had throughout this program. I’m thankful that’s what this recognition reflects as I enter a profession where I can use both knowledge and compassion in the care of patients.”
Dr. Beverly McNeal nominated Cobb for this award and praised her for commitment to the Christian Medical Association on UNT Health’s campus.
“Chandler worked tirelessly to represent the PT field to this student organization
that has been historically focused on osteopathic medicine,” McNeal said. “Her work
resulted in PT students being invited for the first time ever to participate in CMA.”
McNeal also noted that Cobb’s flourished into a competent clinician on the Spring Break CMA Mission Trip to McAllen in 2025.
“She enthusiastically took on any and all patient cases with the utmost care and compassion, while making sure she gave the very best PT care possible,” McNeal said. “She was a great team leader and teammate, showing flexibility and comradery for the sake of patient care.”
The President’s Award for Scholarly Excellence winner was Jamie Choe. Choe recently graduated with dual degrees, a Doctor of Osteopathic
Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy.
During her time at UNT Health, Choe had six first-author research publications, three co-author publications and one under review manuscript. She also gave eight oral presentations, presented 10 posters at the national level, two at the regional level and 16 at the local level.
Choe also earned various scholarship and honors, and was an instructor with UNT Health’s Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences virtual summer bridge program. She was also a teaching assistant in Immunology and Microbiology (BMSC 5303) with Drs. Jerry Simecka, Steven Mathew and Lisa Hodge; Histology (PHAN 5400) with Drs. Tara Tovar-Vidales and Cameron Millar.
The Chancellor’s Award for Scholarly Excellence winner was Brian Pfahning.
Pfahning recently graduated with his Master of Science in Nursing Practice Innovation. He has an extensive career. Starting as a police officer, then moving to a sexual assault response team, then finding his way to nursing at Methodist Health System and Texas Health Resources. Currently, he is the manager of education and clinical quality and a flight nurse for CareFlite.
Some of his key licensures include a registered nurse, licensed paramedic, certified flight registered nurse and certified tactical medic. His involvement at UNT Health includes being a member of the Curriculum Development Committee and a Dean’s Student Advisory Council member.
Pfahning’s research is what earned him the Chancellor’s Award. His study is titled “VR-Enabled, SimZones-Aligned Simulation Education for CareFlite Aeromedical and EMS Clinicians.” The goal of the study is to address challenges such as limited training opportunities, geographic distance between bases, staffing constraints, and the difficulty of practicing rare but high-risk emergency scenarios. His project seeks to determine whether VR-supported simulation can provide a scalable, cost-effective and sustainable method for improving emergency transport clinician training and patient care readiness.
“Winning the award for Scholarly Excellence was a total shock to me as well as incredible honor,” Pfahning said. “I am so proud to be a part of the UNT Health family and can’t wait to use the things I learned to positively impact both clinicians’ and patients’ lives.”