Trio of alums receive Early Career Achievement Awards
The Early Career Achievement Award honors alumni of McGovern Medical School who have exhibited excellence and significant career contributions in the areas of medical science and education from the completion of their residency or fellowship through their first eight years of practice.
The inaugural award will be presented Friday, March 21 at the Alumni Awards Ceremony during Alumni Weekend.
The criteria considered for the award are as follows:
- Any alum, graduate, or house staff, of McGovern Medical School through their first eight years in practice may be nominated;
- Contribution to medical education, science, and prevention;
- Academic excellence, including positions in academic medicine, outstanding research accomplishments and/or publications;
- Ongoing relationship with the State of Texas and/or McGovern Medical School since graduation, particularly efforts to promote the school and its interests;
- Other outstanding achievements worthy of recognition by the school.
Jennifer Duke, MD ’16
Duke is an assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from McGovern Medical School in 2016.
“McGovern created such a solid foundation to my medical career, providing me knowledge and skills that I use every day,” Duke said. “It will always feel like my home, which makes receiving this award so special. To be recognized by the group who made me a part of who I am today is truly an honor.”
After graduation, Duke remained at UTHealth Houston for an internal medicine residency from 2016-20, serving as chief resident in her final year. She then completed a fellowship in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn and serving as chief fellow from 2021-23. In 2023, she completed her Interventional Pulmonary Fellowship at Vanderbilt.
Though her career is just beginning, Duke has garnered many awards, including the 2023 Allied Health Award from the Mayo Clinic, given to a graduating fellow who demonstrated outstanding communication with patients and staff to deliver exceptional patient care. At McGovern, she won the Outstanding Intern Award in 2016, the Monica Monet Hollway Barrett, MD Award in 2018, and the Cheves M. and Isabella C. Smythe Endowment Award for Excellence in Resident Education in 2020.
“I feel like my career is still in its infancy – I have so much I want to do – but this is certainly an award I feel so honored to receive,” Duke said.
Duke currently serves as a member of the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Medica Association, the American Thoracic Society, and the Women in Interventional Pulmonary.
She has already mentored six residents and fellows throughout her career and has co-authored 15 peer-review articles for publication.
After winning the award, Duke thanked her family for supporting her through 12 years of post-college training, and her nominator for the award.
“Being a supporter of a medical student/resident/fellow/super fellow is not always easy and requires more patience than I think we realize,” Duke said. “I still keep in contact with several of my classmates from medical school and am honored to be nominated by one who I truly admire for the human there are.”
Eric L. Crowell, MD, ’13, MPH
Crowell is an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, at The University of Texas’ Dell Medical School, and is the Network Ophthalmology Specialty Service Chief at Ascension Texas in Austin. Prior to his role at Dell, Crowell was a clinical assistant professor in the Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and served as the medical director of the Vale-Ashe Russell Clinical Research Center and chief of Ophthalmology at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital.
“It is truly an honor to win this award,” Crowell said. “Being involved in helping to build the department at Dell Medical School, expanding access for under-resources patients, and creating a residency program has been a tremendous amount of work. These endeavors are important for healthcare in the state of Texas and are reason enough to do them, but recognition through this award is really appreciated.”
Following graduation from medical school in 2013, Crowell completed his internal medicine preliminary residency (2014) and an Ophthalmology and Visual Science Residency (2017) at McGovern, where he was chief resident in Ophthalmology. He then completed an Ocular Immunology & Uveitis Fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University (2018).
“McGovern helped build a foundation for lifetime learning, inquisitive ness, and problem solving,” Crowell said. “All of these aspects have been utilized throughout my career directly through patient care and indirectly by helping to solve systems issues for patient access to care. This foundation will continue to serve me well throughout the rest of my career.”
The award for Crowell is the latest in a long line of achievements, which includes the Clinical Learning Environment Award at Dell Medical School (2023 and 2024) and each of Texas Monthly’s Top Doctors in Texas Rising Stars Award (2024) and the Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars Award (2022 and 2023). At McGovern he earned the Outstanding Resident in Ophthalmology Award (2017) and the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award (2019).
Crowell is a member of the International Uveitis Study Group, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Additionally, he was a participant in the Dell Med Junior Faculty Leadership Program and is a UTHA Site Director and Ascension Seton Facilities Site Director for the Ophthalmology Residency Program at Dell.
“While receiving this award is a tremendous honor, the expansion of patient access and resident training is part of the reason I chose to become a physician and continue to work in academic medicine,” Crowell said. “Being able to improve the system is rewarding in and of itself.”
Reflecting on the award, Crowell thanks Drs. Stan Schulz and Henry Strobel for their mentorship, as well as Dr. Robert Feldman and his attendings in residency. Additionally, he thanked Dr. Jane Edmond, who hired him at The University of Texas-Austin, who he feels has been instrumental in his growth as a physician and is the “secret sauce that has allowed our department to thrive.”
Matthew Pommerening, MD ’10
Pommerening is an instructor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and is the director of Network Hospital Diagnostic/Interventional Thoracic Procedures in the Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2024, he became the vice chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Kent Hospital.
While at McGovern, Pommerening completed a two-year clinical research fellowship and a master of science degree in clinical research. He would then complete his cardiothoracic surgery residence at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and then a thoracic surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
His clinical practice is focused on the surgical and multidisciplinary care of patients with benign and malignant thoracic and foregut diseases. His specialties include minimally invasive surgery, diagnostic and interventional airway procedures, thoracic oncology, and advanced foregut surgery.
Pommerening is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and was named Rhode Island Monthly Top Doctor in 2023 and 2024.