Dentistry
Wellington Rody Jr., D.D.S., M.S., became a member of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists in 2015 and received the 2015 B.F. Dewel Memorial Research Award for his research project, “Gene expression profile analysis of osteoclasts and odontoclasts.” Rody is an assistant professor in the department of orthodontics.
Pamela Sandow, D.M.D., was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Dentists during its annual meeting in November 2015, held in Washington, D.C. She is the assistant dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, a clinical professor in the department of oral and maxillofacial diagnostic sciences and the director of the UF Health Oral Medicine Clinic.
Scott Tomar, D.M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., recently began a two-year term serving as chair of the Oral Health Section of the American Public Health Association.
Tomar is interim chair and a professor in the department of community dentistry and behavioral science.
Medicine
Michael Haller, M.D., has been appointed the new chief of pediatric endocrinology. Haller is also an associate professor of pediatrics and researches creating safe and effective therapies for preventing and reversing Type 1 diabetes. He has received over $8.5 million in research funding and is the principal investigator of a nationwide diabetes study.
D. Scott Lind, M.D., FACS, was appointed chair of the UF College of Medicine’s department of surgery in Jacksonville, and he will assume his new role March 1. Notably, Lind has served as a professor and chair at Drexel University’s College of Medicine’s department of surgery, a distinguished professor at the Medical College of Georgia’s department of surgery, and a professor of surgery at the UF College of Medicine.
Lorena de Mena, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in the department of neurology, has been awarded the Life Sciences Research Foundation fellowship through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. De Mena was among 30 of more than 1,000 applicants to receive independent funding — $180,000 over three years — to study leading-edge optogenetic research.
Li-Ming Su, M.D., has been appointed chair of the UF department of urology. Su is an internationally recognized leader in the area of minimally invasive urologic surgery. He currently serves as the David A. Cofrin professor of urology, associate chair of clinical affairs and chief of the division of robotic and minimally invasive urologic surgery. He will begin his appointment March 1.
Public Health and Health Professions
Karen Hegland, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, an assistant professor in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences, was elected president of the International Society for the Advancement of Respiratory Psychophysiology. The society seeks to promote and advance knowledge of the interrelationships between psychological and physiological aspects of respiration in research and application.
Arch Mainous III, Ph.D., the chair of the department of health services research, management and policy and the Florida Blue endowed professor, has been selected as the American Board of Family Medicine’s Lewis Sigmon Visiting Senior Scholar for 2016. He will spend several weeks throughout the year in residence at the ABFM working on a variety of research topics, including physician burnout.
Barbara K. Smith, Ph.D., P.T., a research assistant professor in the department of physical therapy, has been appointed to the editorial board of the journal Physical Therapy, the official scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association.
Glenn E. Smith, Ph.D., the chair of the department of clinical and health psychology and the Elizabeth Faulk Professor, has been selected to receive the Distinguished Neuropsychologist Award from the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology. The award honors members who have made a distinguished contribution to the academy or board, as well as to the greater field of neuropsychology.