Medicine
Jackie L. Ayers, Ph.D., S.A.P., CTTS, P.A., director, UF Employee Health Services, has received the Charles F. Bohmann Award from the Southern College Health Association. Named in recognition of a true administrator, this award represents the highest honor of the association.
Victoria Bird, M.D., an assistant professor in the department of urology, was awarded the UF Health Cancer Center/UF Institute on Aging Cancer-Aging Collaborative Team grant. Bird researches how patients understand their disease and how they can fully participate in their care.
Benjamin K. Canales, M.D., a UF Health urologist, has received the 2016 American Urological Association Gold Cystoscope Award. This award is given annually to one urologist in the United States distinguished by outstanding contributions to the profession within 10 years of completing residency training.
Katherine Edenfield, M.D., a physician at the UF Student Health Care Center, has been awarded a research grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Foundation to study cardiovascular screening in college athletes.
Daniel C. Herman, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, has been awarded a research grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Foundation to study risk of musculoskeletal injury following concussion.
Paul Dominguez Gutierrez, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the department of urology, was awarded a $160,000 research grant through the Urology Care Foundation, under the American Urological Foundation will study active kidney stone diseases.
Rishi Modh, M.D., the chief resident of UF Health Urology, has received the Resident Humanitarian Award by the Southeastern Section of the American Urological Association. This award is presented to a resident who has made significant contributions outside of academic endeavors.
Sonal Tuli, M.D., chair of the department of ophthalmology, will direct a $115,000 grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, awarded to the department of ophthalmology to research the causes, treatment and prevention of blindness.
Public health and health professions
Makyba Charles, a doctoral student in the department of environmental and global health, won a Gulf of Mexico University Research Collaborative Student Award based on her research related to the “One Gulf: Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy Communities” project.
Xinguang “Jim” Chen, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the department of epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine, has been named the executive editor-in-chief of BioMed Central’s new journal, Global Health Research and Policy.
The advocacy organization Autism Speaks has named a paper co-authored by Cynthia Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of clinical and health psychology, one of the Top 10 autism research papers published in 2015. The article described the findings of a training program for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, finding that the program can reduce serious behavior problems, including tantrums, aggression and self-injury, in these children
by nearly 70 percent.
Congrats, fellow
Steven P. Cuffe, M.D., a professor and chair of the department of psychiatry, was named a fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists during its annual meeting. Membership in the American College of Psychiatrists is by invitation only and limited to 700 doctors who have demonstrated excellence in the field of psychiatry, with national recognition in clinical practice, research, academic leadership or teaching. Fellowship is an honor extended annually to fewer than 100 members who have shown ongoing commitment to the work and ideals of the college, specifically active involvement and contributions to its work as well as sustained and substantial impact in the field of psychiatry.
UF faculty named
Alpha Omega Alpha, the prestigious national medical honor society, recently elected eight new members from the UF College of Medicine. Faculty honored include Tony Gregg, M.D., a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, Marian Limacher, M.D., a professor in the department of medicine, and Margaret Lo, M.D., an associate professor in the department of medicine. Four residents were also inducted: Diane Goede, M.D., chief resident in the department of medicine, Justin Hilliard, M.D., department of neurosurgery, Tyler Loftus, M.D., department of surgery, and Josh Kramer, M.D., department of medicine. Alumnus Robert Phillips, M.D., MSPH, a professor of family medicine at Georgetown University and vice president for research and policy at the American Board of Family Medicine, was also inducted. Members are recognized for their dedication to the profession and the art of healing.