Hope Center investigator Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Ph.D., received the Distinguished Investigator Award from Washington University's School of Medicine. The awards recognize outstanding achievements in clinical care, community service, research and teaching.

School of Medicine establishes faculty recognition program

Jan. 17, 2008 -- A new faculty recognition and awards event has been created to enhance recognition and appreciation for the School of Medicine's highly accomplished faculty. Eighteen School of Medicine faculty will be recognized Jan. 23 with the first Distinguished Faculty Awards.

The Office of Faculty Affairs and the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council (ECFC) created the awards to recognize outstanding achievements in clinical care, community service, research and teaching, said Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. Shapiro will present the awards in association with his State of the School address at 4:30 p.m. in the Eric P. Newman Education Center auditorium.

"Washington University School of Medicine is a vital community of faculty, students and staff, all dedicated to excellence in patient care, education, research and community service," Shapiro said. "In an atmosphere of collegiality and collaboration, our accomplishments are fueled by the talents and energy of people who accept the challenge of leading the advancement of health-care delivery and biomedical science."

Although there are other award programs at the School of Medicine, the school has not had an overarching honorary program for its faculty to celebrate distinctions, awards from external organizations, appointments to honorary positions and promotions, said Diana L. Gray, M.D., associate dean for faculty affairs and professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of radiology.

"This is an effort to better recognize how truly outstanding our faculty are and to bring them some of the distinction that they deserve," she said.

The new awards, co-sponsored by the dean's office, the Office of Faculty Affairs, Central Administration and the ECFC, have been in the works for several years, Gray said.

"One of the goals of developing the recognition program was to have a feel-good event," she said. "We're so busy and so stressed out about the federal funding environment, the medical reimbursement environment and all of the demands on us that I think it's easy to forget at what a high level our faculty are operating. They need a pat on the back."

W. Edwin Dodson, M.D.; Kenneth M. Ludmerer, M.D.; Paul J. Goodfellow, M.D.; and F. Sessions Cole, M.D., were each elected to head one of the four selection committees.

Of the 82 nominees submitted for the new awards, the selection committees chose 18 winners, who are as follows:

Distinguished Clinician Award
• John P. Atkinson, M.D., the Samuel B. Grant Professor of Medicine
• Louis P. Dehner, M.D., professor of pathology and immunology
• Heidi Prather, D.O., associate professor of orthopaedic surgery
• Shirley Sahrmann, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy
• Franz J. Wippold II, M.D., professor of radiology

Distinguished Community Service Award
• Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology in psychiatry
• Katie Plax, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics
• Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins, M.D., assistant professor of medicine

Distinguished Educator Award
Clinical Fellow Mentoring
• Barbara S. Monsees, M.D., the Ronald and Hanna Evens Professor of Women's Health and professor of radiology

Graduate Student Teaching
• Joseph L. Price, Ph.D., professor of anatomy and neurobiology House Staff Teaching
• Abdullah M. Nassief, M.D., assistant professor of neurology

Postdoctoral Research Mentoring
• Timothy J. Ley, M.D., the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Medicine

Distinguished Investigator Award
Junior Faculty
• Shin-ichiro Imai, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of developmental biology
• David A. Rudnick, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics

Senior Faculty
• Richard S. Hotchkiss, M.D., professor of anesthesiology
• Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Ph.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology
• Robert D. Schreiber, Ph.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pathology and Immunology

Daniel P. Schuster Award for Distinguished Work in Clinical and Translational Science
• Samuel Klein, M.D., the William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science

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