By Erin Jester
Since 2006, the University of Florida Alumni Association has honored outstanding young alumni who have made a significant impact on their industry or field and have made important contributions to their communities.
Matthew garner, m.h.a. ’14
C.E.O., Broward Health North
Matthew Garner has risen through the ranks of hospital administration with remarkable speed and success since he earned his Master of Health Administration from UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions in 2014.
He landed his first C-suite position just two years after graduating, and by 2022 had become the chief executive officer of Broward Health North, a full-service hospital in south Florida.
This year, he joins UF’s 40 Gators Under 40 list.
“It’s incredibly meaningful,” Garner said. “I’m honored to be included among such an accomplished group of UF and PHHP alumni.”
Garner’s focus on operational transformation, growth and positive work culture took Broward Health North from a $22 million operating loss to a $4.9 million gain, led the hospital to three consecutive “A” grades for safety from national healthcare watchdog organization The Leapfrog Group, reduced employee turnover by nearly half and established a strategic medical school partnership, helping position the hospital as Broward County’s first academic medical center.
“It’s been an incredibly rewarding journey,” Garner said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without the University of Florida and the relationships that came from the M.H.A. program.”
Garner, who is from Port Charlotte, grew up surrounded by healthcare. Both of his parents worked in nursing homes — his mother as director of rehabilitation and his father as a social worker — instilling in him an early interest in caring for patients. While he initially considered becoming a healthcare practitioner, conversations with a family friend in hospital administration opened his eyes to how he could make a broader impact.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in health services administration at the University of Central Florida, he began UF’s Master of Health Administration program, where he sought as much hands-on experience with healthcare operations and leadership as possible. His passion for hospital administration crystallized during an internship with Tenet Healthcare Florida, where Garner he had the opportunity to participate in executive leadership and strategic planning discussions.
“It was a defining experience,” he said. “That internship confirmed this was exactly what I wanted to do.”
Garner returned to Tenet after graduation as an administrative fellow, supporting regional projects impacting 10 hospitals. After that, he landed an assistant administrator position at Delray Medical Center, where he oversaw operational and business functions before being promoted to associate administrator and then chief operating officer at Florida Medical Center.
“I was given opportunities early in my career that challenged me tremendously,” Garner said. “Those experiences accelerated my growth as a leader.”
After helping steer the hospital through the COVID-19 pandemic, Garner accepted his first chief executive officer role at North Shore Medical Center. In 2022, he joined Broward Health North as CEO.
Garner acknowledged that his rapid ascent in hospital leadership is not the norm, and that students should focus on getting the most out of every step of their career journey and building relationships along the way.
“Those connections I made in grad school, both with my colleagues in the program and alumni associated with the program, has probably been the biggest factor that’s led to what I’ve been able to accomplish,” he said.
Garner credits the mentorship and professional relationships he gained at UF as foundational to his career. Among his early mentors was fellow UF M.H.A. alumna and former Tenet Healthcare Eastern Division CEO Marsha Powers, who he said helped shape his leadership development.
Now, he’s paying it forward by supporting the next generation of healthcare leaders. Garner mentors UF M.H.A. students, advises case competition teams and established an administrative fellowship at Broward Health North that has recruited multiple UF graduates since its inception.
Garner has earned numerous professional honors, including the American College of Healthcare Executives Regent’s Award and recognition by Becker’s Hospital Review and the South Florida Business Journal as a top young leader. He is vice chair of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and recently received an honorary tap for Florida Blue Key.
But making 40 Gators Under 40 is different.
“Being recognized by the University of Florida is incredibly special,” Garner said. “The experiences, mentorship and relationships I gained through UF helped shape both my career and my approach to leadership.”
Taylor kuhn, ph.d. ’14
Assistant research neuroscientist, University of California, Los Angeles
Taylor Kuhn, Ph.D., did not want to go to college.
A scuba diver since he was 12, Kuhn, who grew up in Melbourne, Florida, told his parents he wanted to be an underwater welder. His parents, both professors, insisted he apply to one college. He chose UF.
“I got in and ended up on a very different path,” Kuhn said. “I’m happy it played out that way.”
Kuhn ultimately earned three degrees from UF and is now a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, research neuroscientist and serial entrepreneur, with a faculty appointment of his own at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has written extensively about precision neuromodulation, AI-enabled neurodiagnostics and the neural basis of creativity; founded multiple companies and an international neuromodulation research consortium; established a private neuropsychology practice and a multi-site brain health center; serves on advisory boards for companies focused on longevity, psychedelics and telehealth; and is the associate director of the UCLA Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.
And, he said, he never misses an opportunity to say “Go Gators.”
As a psychology major at UF, Kuhn quickly became interested in neuroscience and started working in the neuropsychology lab of Dawn Bowers, Ph.D., a professor emerita in PHHP’s Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. Following a master’s degree in clinical psychology, Kuhn began a Ph.D. in clinical neuropsychology under the mentorship of Russell Bauer, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of clinical and health psychology.
As a junior research faculty member at UCLA, Kuhn was recruited to lead the Human Connectome Project, a multi-institutional initiative mapping the neural pathways of the brain to understand how brain connectivity relates to behavior. He now directs a lab exploring noninvasive ultrasound for brain stimulation and drug delivery.
Around the time he joined the Human Connectome Project, Kuhn started a private neuropsychology practice, Kuhn Cognitive, and consulting for clinical research, practice development and neuroscientific entrepreneurship. Kuhn then co-founded The Integrated Clinic with his pediatric neuropsychology colleague Dr. Lev Gottlieb, with whom he also developed a neuropsychological assessment tool, Architex.
Kuhn’s business ventures started to snowball. He founded the ENIGMA-Neuromodulation working group, an international neuromodulation research consortium; Sanmai Technologies, a company developing noninvasive ultrasound neuromodulation tools; NeuroSmith, an AI neuroimaging diagnostics platform; Neurosome Bio, a regenerative medicine company; and Scientia, a consent-based AI-clinical tool development company.
“My favorite definition of intelligence is the capacity to develop capacity,” he said. “I’ve learned that, whether with a lab, a company, a career or with relationships, the more you do, the more you have a foundation to do.”
Kuhn first became interested in the intersection of neuroscience and art after buying a painting from artist Michael Bermudez at a local art show. Kuhn later contacted Bermudez to commission a painting of a brain, which the two collaborated on, incorporating elements of math, music and philosophy with images of the brain’s neural networks. It was an accidental step into a new passion.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, he reached out to artist Refik Anadol, a pioneering artist in the aesthetics of data and AI, whose work Kuhn came across on social media. Together, they began training AI algorithms on the Human Connectome Project and other MRI data sets to create artistic renderings of neural networks. Their project “How We Live Together,” a massive 3D-printed interactive architectural installation, was featured at the Venice Biennale and at NVIDIA’s global AI conference in 2021.
Kuhn’s most recent collaborative project is a neuro-art open archive of the brains of artistic visionaries. Kuhn and his collaborators are inviting artists of all kinds to have their brain activity recorded through MRI and electroencephalography scans to understand and visualize creativity.
“Most research is group averages. We want to see what’s unique about each of these individuals,” he said, particularly when they are engaging in what makes them extraordinary.
Kuhn said he was proud to be named to UF’s 40 Gators Under 40 list among so many other remarkable alumni, some of whom he knows.
“It is a deep honor,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful to be recognized by a school that I’m so proud to have been a part of.”