March Distinctions

College of Medicine

Paul Gulig

Paul Gulig, Ph.D., a professor in the department of molecular genetics and microbiology, has been named associate dean for graduate education. In this role, Gulig will supervise the college’s Office of Graduate Education and will serve as director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences, the college’s Ph.D. program. Gulig has been on the college faculty since 1988.

Ann Grooms

Ann Grooms, M.D., an assistant professor of community health and family medicine and a Student Health Care Center physician, received the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Outstanding Alumnus award. The award recognized Grooms’ accomplishments during her career at UF, namely her efforts to establish a medical program for all student-athletes. A UF team physician, Grooms completed both her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Tennessee.

Raja Kandaswamy

Raja Kandaswamy, M.D., has been named chief of the department of surgery’s division of transplantation and the Robert H. and Kathleen M. Axline professor of surgery. Kandaswamy comes to UF from the University of Minnesota, where he served as a professor of surgery and as director of pancreas transplantation and the transplant fellowship program. His research interests include islet transplantation and immune tolerance.

College of Pharmacy

Carol Motycka

Carol Motycka, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor and assistant dean and director of the UF College of Pharmacy Jacksonville campus, has been accepted into the UF College of Medicine’s Master Educator Fellowship Program. Motycka, the second pharmacy faculty member selected since the program began, joins 15 College of Medicine faculty members for an 18-month intensive workshop. The pedagogical fellowship is designed to enhance knowledge and skills about educational theory and innovative educational curricula. Fellows also complete individual educational research projects.

Leslie Hendeles

Leslie Hendeles, Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, has been elected to the National Academy of Practice as a distinguished scholar. The academy’s mission is to advise public policymakers on health care issues. Most elected members are distinguished health practitioners and scholars who have achieved distinction while spending a significant portion or all of their careers in direct patient care. Hendeles will be recognized March 25 at the group’s annual meeting in Arlington, Va.

Joseph Delaney

Joseph Delaney, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, has been awarded $8,820 under the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s New Pharmacy Faculty Research Awards Program. The program, known as the New Investigator Program for Pharmacy Faculty, provides funding for new pharmacy faculty to begin research. Delaney’s proposal is titled “Secondary Analysis of Prospective Cohort Data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.”

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter and Elena Andresen

Last fall Elena Andresen, Ph.D., a professor in the department of epidemiology, joined former first lady Rosalynn Carter for a summit, “Averting the Caregiver Crisis,” at Georgia Southwestern State University, home of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. The institute proposes 12 recommendations for caregiving research and development, system design, and public and tax policies. Andresen spoke to summit attendees about the recommendation on monitoring caregiver health, which proposes that all states adopt the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Caregiver Module questions, developed by Andresen and UF colleagues.

Jenna Dietz

Jenna Dietz, a doctoral student in the department of clinical and health psychology, received a predoctoral grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The grant, “Psychophysiology of Emotion in Parkinson’s Disease,” is mentored by Dawn Bowers, Ph.D., a professor in the department of clinical and health psychology, and Margaret Bradley, Ph.D., a research professor in the department of psychology.

College of Veterinary Medicine

Paul Cooke

Paul S. Cooke, Ph.D., has been named chair of the college’s department of physiological sciences. Prior to his appointment, Cooke was the Billie A. Field endowed chair in reproductive biology in the department of veterinary biosciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Cooke’s professional interests include reproductive biology, companion animal contraception and developmental toxicology.