LUCOM alumni, student, and spouse receive awards from American Osteopathic Foundation
October 2, 2025 : By Ryan Klinker - Office of Communications & Public Engagement
Two alumni, a third-year student, and a spouse of a recent graduate from Liberty University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine were recently recognized with individual awards from the American Osteopathic Foundation for their outstanding skill, dedication, and heart for others.
The awards were announced during the AOF’s Honors Gala on Sept. 26 in Nashville.
The American Osteopathic Foundation has been proudly serving the osteopathic profession since 1949 through five funding priorities — educational scholarships, community service, scholarly research, international mission trips, and osteopathic recognition.
Alesha Sands Foster, DO (’22), a third-year OB/GYN resident at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in New York, was named the Outstanding Resident of the Year in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which came with a $5,000 award. The award, given to one resident per specialty, recognizes those who embody a great spirit of altruism and whose combination of clinical promise, leadership, dedication, and commitment to osteopathic-centered patient care distinguishes them from their peers. Her residency faculty described her as “a healer in the truest, most osteopathic sense” — a clinician who delivers expert, humanistic care even in the most complex obstetric and gynecologic cases.
Fellow LUCOM alumna Janae (Fry) Marracino, DO (’19), was named the State Emerging Leader for Florida. Marracino is an emergency medicine physician and core faculty member at HCA Florida Orange Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Park Residency, where she chairs the Global Emergency Medicine program. The award honors an outstanding licensed osteopathic physician with up to 10 years (post resident or fellowship) whose leadership inspires others, whose noticeable accomplishments motivate those around them, and whose medical knowledge, combined with patient empathy, enriches the lives of those she serves.
Current student OMS-III Jerry Casteel received one of 31 Rossnick International Medical Outreach Travel Grants from the AOF, which provide funding for osteopathic medical students participating in humanitarian medical outreach trips to underserved, underdeveloped, or disaster-stricken regions abroad. The grant paid for Casteel to participate in a LUCOM medical missions trip to Eswatini in June. (Read about his trip in the Liberty Journal.)
Allison Dawn Schmitt, wife to Nathan Andrew Schmitt, DO (’25), received a Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award, given to spouses of graduating osteopathic medical students who exemplify immeasurable support and have made significant personal and professional sacrifices that have contributed to their partner’s success. A spouse from one of the 31 medical schools in AOF is selected each year.
