The University of Virginias top leaders gathered Wednesday evening at the Boars Head Resort to honor faculty members from across Grounds for their outstanding contributions to their fields of study and societal impact through their research and scholarly activities.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan presented the 2019 Research Achievement Awards to 13 UVA faculty members at the dinner event.
This is the first year of the Research Achievement Awards, Vice President for Research Melur Ram Ramasubramanian said. We believe that as a university, we are what we celebrate. We want to acknowledge the talented UVA faculty who are leaders in their fields and are impacting the world in positive ways.
Provost Elizabeth Liz Magill said, Were delighted to have a chance to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of our faculty. From education policy to precision medicine to police-community relations, there are many different fields and individuals being honored by these awards.
Im awed and immensely grateful for the contributions the award winners have made to their respective fields and to the University of Virginia, Ryan said. Our strategic plan focuses a good deal of attention on supporting research. ... Our ultimate goal is to make it possible for researchers at UVA to do their very best work.
The awards covered excellence in research, collaboration, mentorship, public impact and innovation.
Pompano arrived at UVA in 2014 and assembled a robust research team in her lab. Pursuing new technologies and new questions, she is developing new approaches to study immunity. In the areas of immunoanalysis and immunoenineering, she is working to map out cellular activity in live tissues. Her group was recently awarded a large grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an artificial lymph node on a microfluidic chip.
Dr. Pompano chose the road less travelled by pursuing entirely new technologies and questions, rather than the safer route of building on the experiences from her Ph.D. or postdoc work, Jill Venton, chair of the Department of Chemistry, said. This strategy required spending the first 2.5 years of her professorship laying new groundwork. Dr. Pompano is a research leader in the fields of analytical chemistry and immunoengineering.
Bassoks work is in early childhood education, and her focus has been to find a way for it to both meet high standards and make a difference in the lives of young children. To do this, she has partnered with policymakers and school districts in Virginia and Louisiana to study how early childhood education opportunities can happen at scale.
In the past four years, her work has accelerated. She has published 16 articles and received more than $6 million in grant funding. In 2017, Bassok was honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Daphna Bassok has raised the bar for the field and will motivate other scholars to do more insightful and rigorous work, said Katherine Magnuson, director of the University of Wisconsins Institute for Research on Poverty.
Alhusens research focuses on improving maternal and early infant health outcomes for disabled women and women living in poverty. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration and numerous foundations, and the goal of her work is to provide higher quality care to vulnerable populations.
She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Southern Nursing Research Society Early Science Investigator Award; the Association of Womens Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses Award for Excellence in Research; and School of Nursings Faculty Research Mentor Award.
Walsh is Lockhart B. McGuire Professor of Internal Medicine and directs the School of Medicines Hematovascular Biology Center. His research is focused on clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential, or CHIP.
In his lab, he is looking at how mutations in blood cells lead to chronic diseases like heart attack and stroke. Through precision medicine, he is identifying and combatting the out-of-control multiplying process in these mutations to fight age-related diseases, as well as blood cancers like leukemia.
Walsh has published more than 350 scientific articles and he is the recipient of multiple research grants from the National Institutes of Health, including a MERIT Award. In 2011, the American Heart Association designated him a Distinguished Scientist by for his contributions to cardiovascular research.
Throughout his career, Scullys research, scholarship and teaching have focused on the science of how corrosion occurs and the engineering required to prevent it. He has conducted research and collaborated with scientists around the world in numerous industries such as energy, transportation, infrastructure, aerospace, maritime and microelectronics.
His projects include two U.S. Department of Energy Energy Frontier Research centers, two Department of Defense multi-university research initiatives, as well as grants from the National Science Foundation, PPG Industries and Axalta (formerly DuPont), and the U.S. Office of the Undersecretary of Defense.
Scully, the Charles Henderson Chaired Professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, also co-directs the Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering, one of the leading centers in the world focusing on materials degradation. The center has generated more than $30 million in research funding in the last 10 years and graduates on average four to five Ph.D. students per year.
Scully is technical editor in chief of CORROSION, The Journal of Science and Engineering, the premier international research journal for the field. He serves in several capacities as an ambassador for the materials-corrosion field, including several meetings to debrief the U.S. Congress on materials degradation issues of national importance.
John Scullys contributions to corrosion can be characterized by quality, quantity and longevity, said Gerald S. Frankel, Ohio State University distinguished professor in materials science and engineering and a member of CORROSIONs editorial board. It is clear that he is a world leader, if not the world leader, in metal passivity, passivity breakdown and localized corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking.
In more his more than 20 years at UVA, Lambert has advanced the science of risk analysis and systems engineering. He has led more than 60 projects related to advanced logistics systems for a total of approximately $25 million in research funding.
Lambert, a professor in the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment, has focused on the disruption of system priorities by emergent and future conditions, including technologies, regulations, markets, environments, behaviors and missions. His work has been applied to disaster resilience, energy infrastructure, coastal protection, economic development, transportation, biofuels and Olympics planning, among other challenges.
His research has been cited more than 5,000 times across more than 200 publications. In 2019, he chaired the Fifth World Congress on Risk, convening more than 300 scientists in Cape Town, South Africa.
Professor Lambert is among the most accomplished and respected scientists of systems engineering and risk analysis in the world today, said Igor Linkov, Risk and Decision Science Team Lead for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Lambert in his research invented the application of scenario-based preferences in risk analysis.
Connelly, Morris and Grossman worked together on a multi-disciplinary project to examine how early life experiences affect the brain and social behaviors. The team studies the brain, as well as social and cognitive development, during the first two years of life, focusing on oxytocin and its role in social behavior. Their research has helped to illuminate gaps in our knowledge about behavioral development in humans, and helps us better understand healthy and atypical development.
They received a National Science Foundation Research Award in 2017 for their cutting-edge approach in combining epigenetic, neuroscience and behavioral methods across their three labs, and their work has led to several publications.
Moore is a busy physician-scientist with his own lab, and has recently become the division chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at UVA. He also co-wrote the application for a Trans-University Microbiome Initiative grant, which was funded last year by the Universitys Strategic Investment Fund in an effort to make UVA a center for microbiome research. But that has not stopped him from repeatedly aiding his colleagues and providing them with key resources when they needed them.
Three colleagues joined forces to nominate Moore for the mentorship award, mentioning his critical support, his generous sponsorship and advice, and his guidance as they dealt with grant applications and the logistics of their first accepted grants. Moore went above and beyond, donating lab space and reaching out to his networks to help them make the connections and give them a leg up in their careers.
Williams only arrived at Batten two years ago, but after the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in August 2017 he was able to immediately show the value of his research and public service engagement to the University community.
Starting before he came to the University, he has spent two decades doing research in the field on police-community relations around racial profiling, community policing and the need for law enforcement officers to work with their community on issues of public safety. In all his work, he strives to make an impact on communities by building relationships and tackling problems wherever they crop up.
Dr. Williams consistently uses his knowledge, experience and passion for the good of our city, Mindy Goodall, executive director of the Charlottesville Police Foundation, said. Charlottesville is fortunate to have gained him as a citizen and champion of police and community reconciliation.
The award for Innovator of the Year was presented to Dillingham and Ingersoll for their creation of PositiveLinks, an application designed to improve health outcomes and care for people living with HIV. They will give deliver a keynote lecture Feb. 18 in the Rotunda Dome Room.
Other researchers (in alphabetical order by school) were honored for being the top 25 in sponsored funding, top cited, national award winners, named to a national academy, or named as an outstanding researcher for their school:
Timothy Beatley, PlanningBarbara Brown Wilson, PlanningMona El Khafif, Urban & Environmental Planning
Jessica Connelly, PsychologyRita F. Dove, EnglishKevin Everson, ArtTobias Grossman, PsychologyL. Ilse Cleeves, AstronomyNitya Kallivayalil, AstronomyLee M. Lockwood, EconomicsJames P. Morris, PsychologyKen Ono, MathematicsRebecca R. Pompano, ChemistryMarilyne Stains, ChemistryAlan S. Taylor, History
Christopher Barrett, Director
David G. Mick, Marketing
Derrick P. Alridge, Leadership, Foundations and PolicyDaphna Bassok, Leadership, Foundations and PolicyRobert Q. Berry, Instruction and Special EducationCatherine Bradshaw, Human ServicesBenjamin L. Castleman, Leadership, Foundations and PolicyNancy L. Deutsch, Youth-NexJason Downer, Human ServicesSara E. Rimm-Kaufman, Leadership, Foundations and PolicyWilliam J. Therrien, Instruction and Special EducationArt Weltman, KinesiologyJoanna Lee Williams, Leadership, Foundations and PolicyAmada P. Williford, Human Services
Thomas H. Barker, Biomedical EngineeringHilary Bart-Smith, Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringCraig H. Benson, Environmental EngineeringSteven M. Bowers, Electrical and Computer EngineeringJames T. Burns, Materials ScienceBenton H. Calhoun, Electrical and Computer EngineeringJoe C. Campbell, Electrical and Computer EngineeringGeorge J. Christ, Biomedical EngineeringJason L. Forman, Center for Applied BiomechanicsJeffery W. Holmes, Biomedical EngineeringPatrick E. Hopkins, Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringKevin A. Janes, Biomedical EngineeringJames H. Lambert, Systems and EnvironmentXiaodong (Chris) Li, Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringPamela M. Norris, Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringElizabeth J. Opila, Materials ScienceMatthew B. Panzer, Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringJohn R. Scully, Materials ScienceKevin Skadron, Computer ScienceMary Lou Soffa, Computer ScienceJohn A. Stankovic, Computer ScienceMalathi Veeraraghavan, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Brian N. Williams, Public PolicyJay Shimshack, Research Dean
Jayakrishna Ambati, OphthalmologyRuth Bernheim, Public Health SciencesAlison K. Criss, Microbiology /GIDIRebecca Dillingham, Infectious DiseasesLinda R. Duska, Obstetrics/Gynecology OncologyAnindya Dutta, Biochemistry/Molecular GeneticsW. Jeff Elias, NeurosurgeryEdward H. Egelman, Biochemistry/Molecular GeneticsRobin A. Felder, Clinical PathologyEric R. Houpt, Infectious DiseasesKaren Ingersoll, Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral SciencesKaren C. Johnston, NeurologyJaideep Kapur, NeurologyAnne K. Kenworthy, Molecular Physics and BiophysicsJonathan Kipnis, NeuroscienceRobert C. Klesges, Public Health SciencesBoris P. Kovatchev, Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral SciencesThomas P. Loughran, Oncology and MedicineColeen A. McNamara, Internal and Cardiovascular MedicineWladek Minor, Molecular Physics and BiophysicsSean R. Moore, PediatricsJames P. Nataro, PediatricsImre Noth, Internal and Pulmonary MedicineMark D. Okusa, NephrologyGary K. Owens, Cardiovascular Research, Molecular Physiology and Biological PhysicsKevin A. Pelphrey, NeurologyWilliam A. Petri, Internal Medicine and Infectious DiseasesKodi S. Ravichandran, MicrobiologyPatricio E. Ray, PediatricsStephen S. Rich, Public Health SciencesLukas K. Tamm, Molecular Physics and BiophysicsGregory C. Townsend, Internal Medicine and Infectious DiseasesKenneth Walsh, Internal and Cardiovascular MedicineKatharine Hsu Wibberly, Public Health SciencesMichael C. Wiener, Molecular Physics and BiophysicsMark Yeager, Molecular Physics and BiophysicsJames C. Zimring, Pathology
Jeanne L. Alhusen, Nursing
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UVA Honors Its Leading Researchers at Boar's Head Banquet - University of Virginia
