Four people with ties to the College of Health Sciences will be honored at the 31st Annual Lyman T. Johnson Awards Luncheon at noon, Friday, Oct. 14.

This year, we have four nominees from the College, two from 2021 and two from 2022 — all are being honored this year because the event was unable to be held last year due to COVID.

For those who want to follow the ceremony on Zoom, you can do so here:

https://uky.zoom.us/j/87072977459

Congratulations to our honorees:

Casey Carter

2022 Torch Bearer

Casey Carter is a senior human health sciences major from Columbia, S.C. Her passion for science innovation and medicine led her to participate in the Science Olympiad team in elementary school and to partner with a university while still in high school to test a helmet prototype created to help prevent concussions – a design for which she is pursuing a patent. While at UK, she serves as one of the lead undergraduate research assistants in the BioMotion Lab, where she collects and processes complex biomechanics data on people with knee injuries. Carter serves as the executive chair for the College of Health Sciences Student Ambassador program and played a vital role in developing the CHS Diversity Healthcare Program, a guided mentorship experience that assists diverse high school students in learning about healthcare professions and navigating higher education systems. She helped design, secure grant funding, and launched the program at a local high school. Carter is involved in the Student Government Leadership Development Program, Air Force ROTC, American Medical Student Association, Hues in Medicine, Silver Wings and two Living Learning Communities: STEMCats and Interprofessional Healthcare Residential College. 
 

Geoffrey Staton

2022 Torch of Excellence    

Geoffrey Staton earned his master’s degree in athletic training in 2010 and serves as head athletic trainer for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team. Originally from Greensboro, N.C., Staton has worked with athletes in numerous sports in creating collaborative strategies to ensure all aspects of student-athlete health and performance are considered. During his first season with UK, his hands-on injury management and treatment plans helped guide the Wildcats through a rash of injuries early in the season and kept UK on track to win the 2020 SEC championship. During a challenging and unprecedented 2020-2021 season, Staton was tasked with the day-to-day management of the team’s COVID-10 safety protocols and return-to-play execution. He oversaw the testing and compliance of all players, coaches and staff to ensure individuals remained healthy and safe during the global pandemic. The team made it through the season with minimal issues and only one UK-related postponement. Staton is a National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Certification Certified Athletic Trainer and a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. 
 

Jasa Harris 

2021 Torch Bearer

Jasa Harris is a student in the physical therapy program. She serves the community as a Samaritan’s Touch volunteer and coordinates student observers. Harris demonstrates a humble servant’s heart and uses her knowledge and time to serve the community as well as complete her clinical and classroom work. She is well respected by her classmates and works well as a teammate on all projects.
 

Mariah Morton

2021 Torch of Excellence

Mariah Morton is a licensed and credentialed speech language pathologist who earned a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders in 2019. She earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and Spanish from Emory University and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree from Auburn University. As a student, she co-authored two manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals and created seven poster presentations and five podium presentations for a variety of national and international conferences. Her thesis was disseminated at the Fall Voice Conference. Dedicated to seeking opportunities to expand her leadership abilities, she participated in the Minority Student Leadership Program sponsored by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) in 2017. An outcome of that experience was that she suggested to our communication sciences and disorders program that all graduate students watch and discuss the film “Talking Black in America.” This activity has increased the awareness about cultural and linguistic diversity among our students.