Distinctions

College of Medicine faculty honors

During its annual Faculty Appreciation Reception, the College of Medicine bestowed the following honors on faculty members:

Paulus Award for Clinical Excellence

Jennifer Light, M.D.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Linda Morgan, M.D.

Mohan Raizada, Ph.D.

William A. Friedman, M.D.

Patricia Abbitt, M.D.

C. Richard Conti, M.D.

Marylou Behnke, M.D.

Paul Dell, M.D.

Basic Science Teacher of the Year

Peter P. Sayeski, Ph.D.

Clinical Science Teacher of the Year

Robert L. Hatch, M.D., M.P.H.

College of Nursing

Two faculty members have been elected as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Robert Lucero, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., and Jeanne-Marie Stacciarini, Ph.D., R.N., both associate professors, will be recognized as fellows at the academy’s annual conference in October. The academy honors those who have made outstanding contributions to effective nursing through practice, research, creative development, scholarly work, influence on public policy or a combination of these. Fellows also must show the potential to continue making significant contributions to the field of nursing. Lucero, who joined UF earlier this year, conducts research focusing on enabling health promotion and enhancing health care delivery through consumer health informatics. Stacciarini, who has been at UF since 2006, focuses her research on mental health promotion among minorities and community-based participatory research for minorities in rural and international populations.

College of Pharmacy

Oliver Grundmann, Ph.D., a clinical associate professor of medicinal chemistry, received the Janet K. Poley Award for Leadership and Innovation in Distance Education during the American Distance Education Consortium 2015 symposium at Oregon State University. The award recognizes an individual from higher education who has — at an institutional or national level — set and met innovative goals focused on online education and has been strategic in the planning, development, implementation and sustainability of programs aligned with the institutional mission.

Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff, Pharm.D., M.S., an associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, was awarded a nearly $50,000 grant from the Health Equity Research Institute to help underserved populations in Florida maintain their blood pressure control. The grant will allow UF researchers and others to investigate processes and tools that will help diminish ethnic, rural and socioeconomic disadvantages that often lead to disparities in blood pressure control among populations.

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Breton Asken, a clinical psychology doctoral student, won the Best Poster Award at the third annual meeting of the Sports Neuropsychology Society in Atlanta. He presented data debunking the widely held belief that scoring lower on pre-concussion (baseline) testing results in a more rapid return-to-contact after concussion.

College of Veterinary Medicine

Richard Johnson, Ph.D., a professor of physiological sciences, has received the college’s top teaching award. Johnson was selected as the recipient of the Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award, based on numerous criteria, including peer and student evaluations; quality of teaching and impact on student learning; and teaching-related research, service and publishing activities. He holds a joint appointment in the College of Medicine’s department of neuroscience.