Nov. 9, 2023 — The UF College of Medicine congratulates the following students, trainees and faculty who have recently been recognized with awards and achievements that honor their hard work and commitment to advancing scientific discovery, improving medical education and helping patients: 

• Daniel Hoh, M.D., an associate professor in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery, has been elected the 2024-25 president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, one of the largest international neurosurgical societies. Hoh will be the fifth UF neurosurgeon to serve as the organization’s president.
• Jonathan Licht, M.D., the Marshall E. Rinker Senior Chair and director of the UF Health Cancer Center, was named as the inaugural editor-in-chief of one of the newest additions to the Blood Journals portfolio, Blood Neoplasia, by the American Society of Hematology. The edition will be a peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes high-quality original research in specialized blood disease areas.
• Jonathan Chatzkel, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology, has received the Positive Impact Award from UF adult hematology and oncology fellows, who honored Chatzkel for his teaching and mentorship.
• Ludmila B. De Faria, M.D., DLFAPA, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry, has been recognized with the 2023 American Medical Women’s Association INSPIRE Award, which celebrates accomplished women in medicine who exemplify the highest values in vision, integrity, service and collaboration in medicine and health care.
• Yan Wang, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology received the 2023 Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award for her groundbreaking work in mobile health. Each year, the award is granted to a public health professional, age 40 or younger, who is using an innovative solution to address a complex public health issue and who is making a significant, innovative contributions to the public health field.
• Stephanie Staras, Ph.D., a distinguished population health scientist whose research focuses on preventing human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers, was named co-leader of the UF Health Cancer Center’s Cancer Control and Population Sciences research program. 
• Dr. Paramita Chakrabarty, an associate professor of neuroscience, was selected for a three-year term as chair of the National Institute of Aging Career Development Facilitating The Transition to Independence Study Section.
• Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., a UF Medicine Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, and her research collaborators were awarded the 2023 Charles A. Lewis Excellence in Research Award from the American Horticultural Therapy Association for their paper in PLoS ONE in 2022 titled “A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities demonstrates therapeutic benefits to healthy women.”
• Raymond Mailhot Vega, M.D., M.P.H., led a UF radiation oncology research team that received the 2023 Particle Therapy Co-operative Group Investigator Award, in recognition of the abstract “Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of hypofractionated consolidative radiotherapy for mediastinal Hodgkin lymphoma,” which was submitted to this year’s PTCOG 61 Conference.
• The UF Health Cancer Center has been awarded the 2023 American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant Pilot Projects, as part of its efforts to support early-stage investigators in cancer-related research studies. These projects aim to address one of six research priorities: etiology, obesity/healthy eating and active living, screening and diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and health equity across the cancer continuum. The center has selected five researchers to receive the grants: Michalina Janiszewska, Ph.D.; Megan Stanifer, Ph.D.; John Ligon, M.D.; Hyung-Suk Yoon, Ph.D.; and William Donelan, Ph.D.
• Margaret “Peggy” Wallace, Ph.D., a professor in the department of molecular genetics and microbiology and a member of the UF Health Cancer Center’s Mechanisms of Oncogenesis research program, received the Friedrich von Recklinghausen Award for devoting her 35-year career to advancing treatment for a rare genetic condition, neurofibromatosis. 
• Thomas George, M.D., FACP, deputy director of the UF Health Cancer Center, has received a Clinician Scientist R50 Award from the National Cancer Institute to support his work leading and implementing NCI-funded clinical trials at the Cancer Center. The five-year, $576,000 award aims to encourage the development of stable research career opportunities for exceptional clinician scientists.
• David E. Winchester, M.D., M.S., FACP, FACC, FASNC, a professor of medicine and radiology and a senior medical adviser for the national VHA Office of Integrated Veteran Care, was named chair-elect of American College of Cardiology Board of Governors.
• Paola Giusti-Rodriguez, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at UF and researcher in genetic psychiatric illnesses, was given the 2023 Sklar Innovation Award by the Latin American Genomics Consortium.
• Psychiatry professor Cheryl McNeil, Ph.D., has achieved Fellow status by the American Psychological Association. In her role at UF, McNeil oversees psychology postdoctoral fellows, mental health counseling interns and psychology graduate students while promoting the research, educational and clinical mission of the department of psychiatry.
• Josef Neu, M.D., a professor of pediatrics in the division of neonatology, has been honored with the Neonatology Education Award at the recent American Academy of Pediatrics Annual Meeting due to his career achievements, including 30 years as a fellowship program director.

• Eric Miller, M.B.A., C.R.A., the director of research administration at the UF Health Cancer Center, has been appointed as a faculty member for traveling workshops by the National Council of University Research Administrators, or NCURA. The members travel around the country to teach research administration practices and serve as ambassadors of NCURA and the larger profession.
• Alison M. Ivey, R.N., M.S., M.B.A., OCN, CCRP, has advanced to the position of associate director for administration and chief administrative officer at the UF Health Cancer Center. As associate director for administration, Ivey will oversee all administrative functions of the cancer center.

• Rachel Gunraj, a graduate student research assistant, and Alyssa Mickle, M.S., a doctoral candidate in the department of neuroscience,  have been awarded Trainee Professional Development Awards,  or TPDA, from the Society for Neuroscience. These will help fund their travel to the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, D.C.
• Neuroscience doctoral candidate Katherine Gonzalez, who works in the labs of Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D., and Barry Setlow, Ph.D., received the 2023 NIDA Diversity Scholars Travel Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, Office of Diversity and Health Disparities. This award will provide funds to pay for the costs of attending SfN in Washington, D.C. this November.
• Andrew Moore, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of neuroscience, received an F31 Award from the National Institutes of Health. The award enables promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields.
• Sara Nutley, a predoctoral fellow, was also awarded the F31 Award and fellowship from the NIH-NIAAA. The F31 predoctoral training grants from the NIH are esteemed research accolades subject to a rigorous evaluation process by NIH peers.
• Doctoral candidate Jane Hsi was the recipient of a 2023 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship for her groundbreaking research in structural biology. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is an esteemed scholarship given each year by the foundation to around 2,000 students who are working toward master’s and doctoral degrees in research-based studies within the fields of natural, social and engineering sciences at institutions in the U.S.