Architecture

Healthcare Design’s Rising Stars honorees represent up-and-coming leaders in the healthcare design industry, who have worked in the industry for fewer than 10 years and already are demonstrating a deep commitment to moving it forward.

In 2024, after a record number of nominations was submitted to the annual recognition program, Healthcare Design announced its largest class of Rising Stars winners to date.

Enjoy this recap of the Rising Stars class of 2024 and why they’re worth watching:

Kaitlyn Badlato, associate, medical planner, HKS

Why she stands out: Focused on challenging conventional norms and pushing boundaries, particularly as it relates to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, she spearheads research on gender-affirming spaces in healthcare environments, such as public restrooms and staff locker rooms, and advocacy for equitable workplace and care environments. Read the full profile here.

 

Kristina Bertocchi, project architect, healthcare planner, DesignGroup

Project work: As the planning, design, and technical leader for a highly complex linear accelerator addition at OhioHealth’s Dublin Methodist Hospital in Dublin, Ohio, she balanced the responsibilities of medical planner with those of the technical architect. Read the full profile here.

 

Toni Candanedo, associate, landscape designer, SmithGroup

Project work: For the  University of California Irvine’s Center for Advanced Care in Irvine, Calif., she researched neurodiversity to craft a therapeutic garden for autism patients, which features a decompression hut, gardening area for children, and small play experiences to aid in healing. Read the full profile here.

 

Connor Crist, healthcare architect, senior associate, HFG Architecture

Why he stands out: He’s using his expertise in rural healthcare facility design and commitment to sharing his knowledge with others in the industry to help improve accessibility to those most in need across the globe, including work on a new cardiothoracic center at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya. Read the full profile here.

 

Dorris Hwang, associate, technical enclosure director, Wilmot Sanz

Project work: On a 150,000-square-foot bed tower and emergency department renovation and expansion for Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Md., she developed robust air and water testing protocols to ensure a high-performance enclosure for the project, which adjoined new and old buildings of varying heights at highly sensitive clinical treatment areas. Read the full profile here.

 

Mahshid Jalalian, design researcher, HGA

Why she stands out: Just four years into her career, Jalalian is driving innovation in integrating technology into research on projects that are setting new standards for data collection, workflow efficiency, and how patients experience care spaces. She contributed to a research project for St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s new cancer center in Edgewood, Ky., studying infusion centers to inform the design of the new facility. Read the full profile here.

 

 

Tao Li, associate, medical planner, architect, HOK

Project work: In Alaska, she was the lead medical and justice planner for the North Slope Borough Public Safety and Integrated Behavioral Health Center in Utqiagvik, Alaska, a 70,000-square-foot facility with a 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, outpatient clinic, and 25-cell jail. Read the full profile here.

Elizabeth Schmitt, associate principal, healthcare/medical planner, Array Architects

Why she stands out: Schmitt’s developing expertise on behavioral health projects coupled with her initiative and enthusiasm to take on new and varied challenges are propelling both her career and the industry. Read the full profile here.
 

Sheri Teymouri, architect, health planner, HDR

Project work: Currently, she’s engaged in the largest project of her career, a 2 million-square-foot expansion of inpatient facilities at the University of Kentucky’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where she is working on the functional planning of adult and pediatric acute and intensive care units as well as behavioral health units. Read the full profile here.

 

 

Will Turner, project manager, St. Onge Company

Project work: At Atlanta Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, he helped develop an operational plan for robotics to reduce walking distances for staff, supporting efficiency in daily operations. Read the full profile here.

 

Ayesha Wahid, interior designer, E4H Environments for Health Architecture

Project work: Currently, she is completing the interior design for Mount Sinai Hospital’s Diversity Innovation Hub, a center focused on cultivating innovative and equitable health solutions. To create an environment that inspires collaboration and is energizing, she specified design elements such as writeable, back-painted glass walls and vibrant paint colors. Read the full profile here.

 

Jessica Valdez, senior associate, healthcare planner, Page

Project work: On the 670,000-square-foot Valleywise Health Medical Center replacement hospital in Phoenix, she played a key role in the planning and design of the inpatient floors, including the Arizona Burn Center, which includes intensive care and acute care inpatient units, debridement rooms, a physical therapy gym, and hyperbaric chambers. Read the full profile here.

Robert McCune is senior editor of Healthcare Design and can be reached at [email protected].