February Distinctions

Good work, times two

The College of Public Health and Health Professions recognized not one but two hard-working staff members as 2011 Employees of the Year at the annual faculty and staff dinner in December. As a senior grants specialist in the college’s grants core office, Richelle Davis works to ensure smooth grant applications and post-award processes. Her nominators said she goes above and beyond to meet deadlines and solve problems, contributing to the success of many college grant applications. “She is efficient, effective, reliable, organized, positive and tireless,” wrote one nominator. Donna Stilwell, office manager in the department of health services research, management and policy, took on new challenges and responsibilities in 2011 when she stepped in to fill a staff vacancy in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences. She now divides her time between the two departments, expertly balancing her duties as office manager for health services research, management and policy, as well as the human resource demands for speech, language and hearing sciences.“Neither department has missed a beat in management with Donna guiding the administration,” wrote one nominator. — Jill Pease

High honors in Hungary

Nicholas Bodor

Nicholas Bodor, Ph.D., D.Sc., a graduate research professor emeritus in the UF College of Pharmacy, recently received high honors from his native country, Hungary, in recognition of his global scientific accomplishments. Bodor received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, a prestigious state award of civil merit. He received the cross at an official ceremony in the Hungarian parliament on the eve of the Aug. 20 national celebration of Hungary’s canonized first king, St. Stephen. Bodor also received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit and an ornate diploma summarizing his accomplishments. Previously, in 2004, he received the Gold Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic. In May 2011, Bodor also received scientific recognition when he was awarded the 2010 Fabinyi Prize from the Hungarian Chemical Society. Bodor is the third recipient of the award, which is given to scientists living outside of Hungary whose outstanding scientific accomplishment have contributed to the reputation of the society. — Linda Homewood

College of Dentistry

Maria Lucia Aguilar, D.D.S., M.S.D., M.S.-C.I., a prosthodontics professor in the department of restorative dental sciences, received a research supplement award of $258,037 from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The award supplements the parent NIH grant, “Increasing Oral Cancer Screenings by Dentists,” and will support Aguilar’s mentored research training and career development in qualitative and survey research.

College of Medicine

Merry-Jennifer Markham, M.D., an assistant professor of hematology and oncology, has been named program leader for the Gynecological Oncology Program within the UF Shands Cancer Center. Markham will work with the program’s multidisciplinary team to integrate the existing medical oncology, radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology services into a consolidated program that streamlines and improves the delivery of care to gynecologic cancer patients. Markham also will coordinate the growth of research endeavors in the field of gynecologic oncology at UF, and she will be the principal investigator for several cooperative group clinical trials.

College of Pharmacy

Patricia Khan, a computer support specialist in the department of pharmaceutics, was among four UF faculty and staff members who were honored in November at the UF International Center’s International Educator of the Year awards program. Khan received a plaque and cash award for her work establishing and maintaining a database of more than 700 alumni and visiting scholars of the pharmaceutics department and coordinating the Global Gator International Symposium, held biennially in partnership with a European university. The symposium, founded by Hartmut Derendorf, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of pharmaceutics, allows researchers, educators and students worldwide to meet and share their work in clinical pharmacy and pharmacology.

College of Public Health and Health Professions

James Hall III, Ph.D., a professor in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences, received a 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Academy of Audiology. The award honors individuals who have had a major impact on the field of audiology through education, program development or pioneering clinical or research activities.

Yanpin Wang, a doctoral student in biostatistics in the colleges of Public Health and Health Professions and Medicine, received a 2012 Distinguished Student Paper Award from the International Biometric Society’s Eastern North American Region Committee. The award recognizes Wang’s paper “Bayesian modeling of the dependence in longitudinal data via partial autocorrelations and marginal variances.”

College of Veterinary Medicine

Michael Schaer, D.V.M., a professor of small animal medicine, and Dennis Brooks, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor of ophthalmology, both recently received the Dr. Erwin Small Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and its alumni association. The award, presented during the University of Illinois’ annual fall conference for veterinarians, acknowledges distinguished Illinois graduates who have excelled in their respective fields and who have made significant contributions to the profession or college. The award was created to honor the late Dr. Erwin Small, a professor emeritus and former associate dean of alumni and public affairs at the college.

Dan Lewis, D.V.M., a professor of small animal surgery, has been named the 2012 recipient of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s Hill’s Mobility Award. The WSAVA’s Hills Mobility award recognizes the outstanding work of a clinical researcher in the field of canine and feline orthopedic medicine and surgery. Through improvements in the mobility and quality of life of pets, recipients are deemed to have contributed significantly to the well-being of pets’ lives and to the human-animal bond worldwide.

UF Shands Cancer Center

Z. Hugh Fan, Ph.D., an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and of biomedical engineering in the UF College of Engineering and member of the UF Shands Cancer Center, is the recipient of a 2011 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award from the National Cancer Institute. The five-year, $936,000 award will support Fan as an investigator whose expertise is outside of medicine but who is committed to behavioral and biomedical research. W. Stratford May, M.D., Ph.D., the Henry E. Innes Professor of Cancer Research, will serve as Fan’s mentor in expanding his expertise base in cancer biology and in developing a platform for cancer diagnostics.