April Distinctions

April Distinctions

UF president receives national dental honor

President Bernie Machen and College of Dentistry Dean Teresa Dolan

UF President Bernie Machen, D.D.S., Ph.D., received a 2011 Gies Award for Vision for Dental Educators from the American Dental Education Association during the group’s annual meeting, held in March. The Gies Award recognizes exceptional contributions to, and support of, oral health and oral health education around the word. “No dental educator has had a greater influence on American higher education in the last decade than Dr. Machen,” said Teresa A. Dolan, D.D.S., M.P.H, dean of the College of Dentistry, who nominated Machen for the award. As dean and provost at the University of Michigan, president at the University of Utah and now president of the University of Florida, he has been involved in shaping issues influencing higher education for decades. He is a bold and visionary leader and does not flinch in dealing with controversial issues.”

The Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network recognized the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville department of ophthalmology as the top site in its network for 2010. The award honored the department as the top-enrolling site for an observational study in individuals with diabetic retinopathy undergoing cataract surgery. DRCR is a collaborative network dedicated to facilitating multicenter clinical research of diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and associated conditions.

Jacksonville

Barry McCook

Barry M. McCook, M.D., has been named chair of the department of radiology. McCook has been serving as interim chair of the department since July 2010 and has performed in an outstanding fashion in that role. In addition to serving as chairman of the department, he will continue in his roles as radiology residency program director and chief of service for Shands Jacksonville.

Mobeen Rathore

Mobeen Rathore, M.B.B.S., a professor and associate chair in the department of pediatrics and chief of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, has been asked by the American Academy of Pediatrics to lead the state of Florida team for a pandemic preparedness planning initiative focusing on children. This initiative is a collaborative effort with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the AAP.

College of Dentistry

Jean-Francois Roulet

Jean-François Roulet, D.D.S., was recently appointed as the first chair of the college’s new department of restorative dental sciences. His most recent academic appointment was chair of the department of operative and preventative dentistry and endodontics at Charité Berlin, the Medical Faculty of the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Pam Sandow

Pamela Sandow, D.M.D., a clinical professor of oral and maxillofacial diagnostic sciences, has been appointed assistant dean of admissions and financial aid. She will also continue to serve as the director of the Oral Medicine Clinic, where she provides care for head and neck cancer patients. In her new role she will be responsible for the management and oversight of admissions and financial aid activities for all educational programs offered by the college.

Clay Walker, Ph.D., a professor of oral biology, has been named associate dean for faculty affairs. Walker has been very involved in shared governance at the college and university levels, and has a thorough understanding of the issues affecting college faculty and how to achieve academic success in the clinical and research arenas. He has been on the UF faculty since 1981.

College of Medicine

Michael Mahla

Michael E. Mahla, M.D., a professor of anesthesiology and neurosurgery, has been named the college’s associate dean of graduate medical education. In this role, he will enhance the graduate medical education enterprise. He also will focus on integrating graduate medical education into patient safety programs and helping doctors make a smoother transition at two important points in their career — from medical school to residency, and from residency to independent practice.

Paul Okunieff

Paul Okunieff, M.D., director of the UF Shands Cancer Center and chair of the department of radiation oncology, has been named the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Foundation and David B. and Leighan R. Rinker chair. The chair was established last year with a 10-year pledge of $1.2 million from the foundation and the Rinkers. The gift supports the physician in chief of the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF and the College of Medicine’s academic cancer program.

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Emily Fox

Emily Fox, D.P.T., M.S., a student in the rehabilitation science doctoral program, received the American Physical Therapy Association’s Neurology Section Doctoral Student Research Award in February at the combined sections meeting in New Orleans. Fox studies locomotor therapy for children with incomplete spinal cord injury, under the direction of Andrea Behrman, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of physical therapy.

Christopher Spankovich

Christopher Spankovich, Au.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant research professor in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences, was appointed an Audiology Today editorial adviser in the area of research. He has also been selected to attend the 2011 Lessons for Success Research Conference: Developing the Emerging Scientist, held at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association national office in April.