GOLDEN APPLE HONOREES

Since 2006, the Golden Apple Award has recognized the members, volunteers, partners, and supporters who make extraordinary contributions to the sustainability and effectiveness of Health Volunteers Overseas.

2026 Golden Apple Honorees

Maggie Dylewski Begis, PhD

Dr. Begis is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire, where she also serves as Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics and Co‑Undergraduate Program Coordinator. A registered and licensed dietitian with more than two decades of clinical, academic, and global health experience, Dr. Begis is recognized for her expertise in pediatric nutrition, burn injury recovery, and international clinical collaborations. Her international work includes bimonthly virtual education sessions and multiple medical missions to Cambodia focused on clinical training, nutrition program development, and interdisciplinary education. She continues to collaborate with interdisciplinary colleagues to provide ongoing virtual education to clinicians in Cambodia, contributing to sustainable international health workforce development. 

Natasha Frost

Natasha Frost works on the Education team at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap. She teaches general and medical English to hospital staff and supports the development and editing of teaching materials, including clinical education sessions. In her work with the nutrition team, she facilitates communication between hospital staff and international volunteers during training and online sessions. This includes rephrasing content, clarifying English, and helping staff ask questions and engage in discussions. She also contributes to session coordination and communication, helping ensure that teaching is accessible and understood by both sides. 

Paras Goel, PT, DPT, Phd, MBA, MEd, FNAP

Dr. Goel is a distinguished physical therapist, geriatric specialist, and health care leader dedicated to improving health outcomes for older adults and underserved populations. He serves as a clinician and leader in home health physical therapy, with extensive experience in evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and health care quality improvement. Dr. Goel is widely recognized for his contributions to geriatric care, global health, and professional service within the physical therapy community. His work focuses on advancing access to rehabilitation services, promoting healthy aging, and strengthening health care systems through education and leadership. Through clinical practice, scholarship, and service, Dr. Goel continues to advance the field of physical therapy and champion initiatives that promote equitable and high-quality healthcare. 

Kim Jarczyk, PhD

Dr. Jarczyk completed post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Florida and earned a PhD in Nursing with a minor in Clinical Research Methods. Dr. Jarczyk’s nursing career has encompassed both leadership and academic positions. However, her central focus has always been delivering subspecialty clinical care to children and their families. She spent thirty-one of her thirty-six years at the Nemours Children’s Clinic (now Nemours Children’s Health) in Jacksonville, Florida, specializing in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. After retiring from Nemours, Dr. Jarczyk attended culinary schools in Paris, France, and Florence, Italy, to gain the skills needed to help children and their families learn how to use healthy ingredients to create meals that are both delicious and affordable. Dr. Jarczyk has had lifelong aspirations to serve at-risk children and support clinicians working in countries with limited resources. 

Damalie Mwogererwa

Ms. Mwogererwa is a Ugandan midwife with more than two decades of experience in newborn care. She currently works at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital, Uganda’s national specialized hospital for women and newborns. After earning her diploma in midwifery, Ms. Mwogererwa began working in neonatal care and has now served as a neonatal nurse for 24 years. Her career was profoundly shaped by her connection with HVO volunteers who provided on-the-job training, mentorship, access to educational resources, and helped her develop the skills and confidence to specialize in newborn care. Ms. Mwogererwa often reflects that when her mentors first met her, she had little knowledge of neonatal care and did not expect to work with newborns. Today, she considers caring for babies her life’s work and remains deeply grateful to the mentors and colleagues who helped shape her career.

Naroth Ret

Ms. Ret is the Team Leader of Breastfeeding Counsellors and a nutrition nurse at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing from Chenla University and an Associate Degree in Pharmacy from International University in Phnom Penh. She began her nursing training at Kampong Cham Regional Nursing School. With nearly 20 years of experience in pediatric care, she specialises in breastfeeding support, clinical nutrition, and family education across inpatient, outpatient, and critical care settings. She is actively involved in clinical practice and staff training, supporting children with complex feeding needs and strengthening education for patients, families, and health care workers. 

Kanu Okike, MD, MPH

Dr. Okike is Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group in Honolulu, Hawaii.  His clinical practice centers on orthopaedic trauma and total hip arthroplasty. His research interests center on hip fractures, orthopaedic trauma in the developing world, health care disparities, and orthopaedic surgeon diversity.  He has published previously in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.  He currently serves as Senior Editor for Trauma and Healthcare Disparities at The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. In addition to his volunteer work with HVO, Dr. Okike has previously volunteered in Uganda, Rwanda, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. 

Maria Teresa Olivari, MD

Dr. Olivari was born in Milan, Italy, and earned her Doctor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of Milan, where she also specialized in cardiovascular disease. She has lived and practiced in the United States since 1981 and has held leadership roles directing congestive heart failure and cardiac transplant programs at the University of Minnesota, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and Minneapolis Cardiology Associates. Dr. Olivari retired from clinical practice in 2020 but remains active in medical volunteering.  

Phannsy Sroeu

Ms. Sroeu is the Team Leader of Nutrition Nurses at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from the National Institute of Public Health and completed her nursing and midwifery training at Battambang Regional Nursing School. With over twenty years of experience in pediatric care, she specialises in clinical nutrition, supporting children with complex conditions including severe acute malnutrition, congenital disorders, burns, and cleft lip and palate. She works closely with multidisciplinary teams to assess nutritional needs and guide treatment across inpatient, surgical, and critical care settings. Ms. Sroeu is actively involved in both clinical practice and education, providing nutrition counselling to families and training healthcare staff. She also contributes to teaching nursing and midwifery students, supporting the development of future healthcare professionals. 

Peter Rice, MD

After growing up in Seattle, Dr. Rice moved to southeast Alaska where he worked in the fishing, logging and construction industries until age twenty-five before heading to Fairbanks, Alaska for college. After completing medical school and residency, he returned to southeast Alaska to work as a general internist. He still works there part-time, thirty-seven years later.  His time there has included outpatient clinic, hospitalist service, and leadership. In his free time, he enjoys traveling and spending time at his cabin in Meyers Chuck, fishing, cutting wood on his sawmill, and woodworking.  

Steven Sonnenberg, MD

After forty years of practice and administration in a wide variety of community psychiatry settings, Dr. Sonnenberg recently retired as an inpatient geriatric psychiatrist at a community hospital in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. After graduating from Hahnemann Medical University in Philadelphia and completing his psychiatric residency and a Master of Arts in philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. Sonnenberg moved to rural New York State with the National Health Services Corp, ultimately working in underserved areas of Central, Western, and Northern New York. 

Coincident with his time in Bhutan, Dr. Sonnenberg completed training and ordination as a Buddhist chaplain with the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM and certification as a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. He feels that teaching psychiatry in Bhutan has been the opportunity of a lifetime, allowing the integration of a lifetime of psychiatric practice with an immersion in the country’s Buddhist culture. He views it as a privilege and the highlight of his career. 

Melanie Thomas, MD

Dr. Thomas is a medical oncologist and academic leader whose career spans major cancer centers including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Medical University of South Carolina, the Gibbs Cancer Center, and Duke University School of Medicine. A specialist in gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary cancers, she has served in roles such as Associate Director of Clinical Investigations, Associate Center Director for Experimental Therapeutics, Vice Chair of Hematology/Oncology, and currently Associate Professor at Duke, retired. Her career includes extensive clinical research leadership, with principal investigator roles on numerous national and international oncology trials, and authorship of more than 50 peer reviewed publications, including highly cited work in hepatocellular carcinoma. Dr. Thomas is also a Fulbright Scholar (2024–2025), recognized for developing a medical oncology fellowship program in Dharan, Nepal, and has a long record of global health service through Health Volunteers Overseas, with work in Honduras, Bhutan, and Nepal. Her contributions have been recognized with honors such as the ASCO Career Development Award and the National Cancer Institute Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. 

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To learn more about the award and how to make a nomination, click here.