The 26

thAnnual

Food and Drug Administration

Promotion Ceremony

for the 

United States Public Health Service

Commissioned Corps

Friday, September 9, 2022
The Public Health Service March

The mission of our Service

is known the world around,

In research and in treatment 

no equal can be found.

In the silent war against disease 

no truce is ever seen,

We serve on the land, air and the sea 

for humanity,

The Public Health Service team!

 Copyright, 1978

 George King III

Arrival of the 2022 USPHS Promotees 

Arrival of the Official Party 

Presentation of the Colors and the National Anthem

USPHS Surgeon General’s Honor Guard 

USPHS Music Ensemble 

Public Health Service March

USPHS Music Ensemble

Introduction

 RDML Richardae Araojo

Associate Commissioner for Minority Health

CDR Brook Kerns

FDA Agency Commissioned Corps Liaison

Welcome/Opening Remarks

Robert M. Califf, M.D., MACC

Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration

RADM Denise Hinton

Deputy Surgeon General

Call to Orders/Promotion and Recognition of Officers

RDML Sean Boyd

Director, Office of Regulatory Programs

RDML Emil Wang

Chief Engineer Officer, U.S. Public Health Service

Closing Remarks

RDML Sean Boyd
2022 Promotions 2022 Promotions

To Captain:

Bizjak, Tara Gooen (CDER) Engineer

Bobo, Qiao (CDER) Scientist

Chung-Davies, Eunice (CDER) Pharmacist

Closs, Liatte (ORA) Pharmacist                                                                   

Cunningham, Bradley (CDRH) Engineer

Irvin, Kari* (CFSAN) Health Services

McAlman, Carol (CDER) Nurse

Miller, Zachery (CDER) Pharmacist

Smith, Stephen (ORA) Health Services

Smith, Tina* (CDER) Health Services

To Commander:

Baisden, Kenia (CTP) Nurse

Bui, Yen Anh (CDER) Pharmacist

Dar, Cristina (CDER) Engineer

Dar, David (CDRH) Engineer

Drevo, Courtney (OC) Dietitian

Foster, LaRissa (CDER) Pharmacist

Gormley, Andrea (CDER) Pharmacist

Guidry, Diana (ORA) Health Services

Hatch, Lindsay (ORA) Health Services

Heitmeier, Brandon (CDER) Health Services

Kamon-Brancazio, Jamie (OC) Therapist

Kwong, Mandy (CDER) Pharmacist

Lee, Jung (CDER) Pharmacist

McGahee, Ernest (CTP) Health Services

Meng, Jeffrey* (ORA) Engineer

Metu, Cassandra (CDER) Pharmacist

Miller, Randoshia (CDRH) Nurse

Mistler, John (CDER) Pharmacist

* Exceptional Proficiency Promotion * Exceptional Proficiency Promotion

To Commander (continued): 

Oguntimein, Oluwamurewa (CDER) Health Services

Park, Sophia (CDER) Pharmacist

Presto, Ryan (CBER) Pharmacist 

Redmon, Suzanne (ORA) Health Services

Rubenstein, Alister (CDER) Pharmacist

Sarai, Amanpreet (CDER) Nurse

Tian, Nancy (CDER) Scientist

Wanis, Silvia (CDER) Pharmacist

Yambot, Marcus (CDER) Engineer

To Lieutenant Commander:

Adejuwon, Adesola (CDER) Pharmacist

Basi, Surjit (CDER) Pharmacist

Bleem, Johnna (ORA) Health Services

Cooke, Adam Ross (ORA) Engineer

De La Cruz, Audrey (ORA) Environmental Health

Elassar, Sana (ORA) Environmental Health

Marcsisin, Sean (ORA) Scientist

Mello, Christina (ORA) Nurse

Onyango, Sara (ORA) Nurse

Park, Sylvia (CBER) Pharmacist

Phung, Truong-Vinh (CDER) Pharmacist

Taylor, Edward (CDER) Pharmacist

To, Nam (CDRH) Engineer

Walls, Demario (ORA) Health Services

Wu, Juanj (ORA) Nurse

To Lieutenant:

Baah, Isaac (ORA) Health Services

Manu, Kwame (ORA) Health Services

Ruiz, Saul (ORA) Engineer
2022 Promotion Ceremony 

History

Planning Committee

CAPT (Ret.) Randy Anderson

CAPT Matthew Brancazio

CAPT Bradley Cunningham

CAPT Blakeley Fitzpatrick

CAPT Brian Lewis

CAPT Steven Link

CAPT Jamila Mwidau

CAPT Michael Smith

CAPT Van Tran

CAPT Michael Verdugo

CDR Margaret Caulk

CDR Stephen Chang

CDR Courtney Drevo

CDR Renee Humbert

CDR Brook Kerns

CDR Nasser Mahmud

CDR Cesar Perez

CDR Hanah Pham

CDR Jonas Santiago

CDR Amanpreet Sarai

CDR David Schwab

CDR Tiffany Taliaferro

CDR Hong Vu

LCDR Folaremi Adeyemo

LCDR Chelsea Bostic

LCDR Lonice Carter

LCDR Andrew Coogan

LCDR Louis Corbin

LCDR Mavis Darkwah

LCDR Alexa Deptola

LCDR Steven Galvez

LCDR Alesha Harris

LCDR Evelyn Hong

LCDR Mark Larson

LCDR Yvette Macklin

LCDR Casmir Ogbonna

LCDR Timothy Onserio

LCDR Oliver Ou

LCDR Diane Richardson

LCDR Miguel Saponara Jr

LCDR Javonna Stevens

LCDR Marleen Tran

LCDR Phillip Williams

LCDR Stacy Yung

LCDR Peng Zhou

LT David Chon

LT Hiwot Kesi

LT Nora Lim

LT Jazmin Reed

LT Lillian Smith

LT Kerui Xu

Today - The USPHS Commissioned 

Corps continues to fulfill its mission 

to protect, promote and advance our 

nation’s health and safety under the 

leadership of the Assistant Secretary of 

Health and the U.S. Surgeon General.

2008 - The Department of Defense and 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services establishes the DoD-USPHS 

Partnership for Psychological Health, 

enabling USPHS Commissioned Corps 

officers to provide behavioral health 

services to military members and 

their families.

2005 - More than 2,400 officers provide 

disaster relief to the Gulf Region amidst 

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.

1986 - Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett 

Koop writes “Understanding AIDS,” a 

USPHS Commissioned Corps brochure 

that is sent to all 107 million households 

in the U.S., the largest public health 

mailing ever at the time. 

1964 - Surgeon General Dr. Luther 

Terry releases a landmark report on 

smoking-related lung cancer and 

bronchitis, the first report detailing 

the connection between tobacco and 

chronic disease. 

1944 - The U.S. Public Health 

Service Act of 1944 broadens USPHS 

Commissioned Corps’ scope and 

paves the way for nurses, scientists, 

dietitians, physical therapists and 

sanitarians to join. By 1945, the USPHS 

Commissioned Corps quadruples its 

numbers from 625 to nearly 3,000. 

1902 - Congress broadens the reach 

of the USPHS Commissioned Corps. 

In addition to their disease prevention 

duties, officers are now authorized to 

research human diseases, water sanitation, 

water supplies and sewage disposal. 

1889 - Congress establishes the 

United States Public Health Service 

Commissioned Corps within the 

Marine Hospital Service, organizing 

officers along military lines with titles 

and pay corresponding to Army and 

Navy grades.

1878 - The Marine Hospital Service plays 

a pivotal role in thwarting the spread of 

global epidemic diseases like smallpox 

and yellow fever in the United States.

1871 - John Maynard Woodworth, 

the first supervising surgeon, adopts 

a military model for his medical staff, 

assigning a cadre of mobile, uniformed 

physicians to various marine hospitals.

1870 - The Marine Hospital Service 

centralizes hospital administration 

under the leadership of the supervising 

surgeon, a role that is known today as 

the surgeon general. 

1801 - The network expands as more 

marine hospitals are established in 

the major port cities from Boston to 

New Orleans.

1798 - John Adams signs into law the 

Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled 

Seamen, which triggers the creation 

of the marine hospitals along major 

American waterways.

Source: https://www.usphs.gov/
Special thanks to the families, friends, and colleagues

of our newly promoted officers. Without your unwavering 

support, we would not be here today celebrating one of the 

most significant events in an officer’s career.