Huda Akil, Ph.D., the Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences, professor of psychiatry and co-director and research professor at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, received the prestigious Kuwait Prize in Basic Sciences in 2015. A world-renowned neuroscientist, Akil has made pioneering contributions to understanding the fundamental neurobiological mechanisms of emotions and their role in mood and addictive disorders. Akil's work provided the first physiological evidence for the presence of endorphins in the brain and their role in the control of pain and stress.
William Barsan, M.D., professor of emergency medicine, and Rockefeller Oteng, M.D. (Residency 2009), instructor of emergency medicine, were among 20 individuals recently honored for their contributions to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Emergency Training Center in Ghana. The center has supported the training of 15 emergency physicians and 80 nurses over the last five years. It aims to increase capacity for provision of emergency medical care in the country through innovative and sustainable training for physicians as well as medical and nursing students.
Asheesh Bedi (M.D. 2002, Residency 2007), the Harold W. and Helen L. Gehring Early Career Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and chief of sports medicine and shoulder surgery at U-M MedSport, has been selected by the National Basketball Players Association as the head orthopaedic consultant for their athletes. He will join an elite independent board of advisors and researchers, and can serve as an independent referral for the players.
Eva L. Feldman (Ph.D. 1979, M.D. 1983, Fellowship 1988) is the 2015 recipient of the Chuck Newman Impact Award from the Michigan Israel Business Bridge, or MIBB. Feldman, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, personifies MIBB's goal of linking Michigan and Israel. As director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute and in her own laboratory work as a clinician-scientist, Feldman has been instrumental in several collaborations among scientists in both countries.
Maha Hussain, M.D., the Cis Maisel Professor of Oncology and professor of medicine and of urology, has been elected to the board of directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, comprising oncology leaders and reflecting various specialties within the oncology field. Hussain is an internationally renowned clinical researcher and an expert in genito urinary cancers, particularly prostate and bladder cancers. Her four-year term begins in June.
Dinesh Khanna, M.D., the Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of Rheumatology, director of the U-M Scleroderma Program and professor of internal medicine, was awarded the 2015 Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology, or ACR. It is presented to a physician scientist, age 45 or younger, who has made outstanding and promising independent contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of rheumatology.
Howard Markel (M.D. 1986), Ph.D., the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine and director of the Center for the History of Medicine, will be inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in April. The first group of its kind in the nation, the Society of Scholars was established in 1967 by the university's board of trustees to honor distinguished former Johns Hopkins postdoctoral fellows and faculty who had formative experiences at the university early in their academic careers. Markel is also a professor of psychiatry, of public health, of history, of English literature and language, of pediatrics and communicable diseases, and of public health management and policy.
Max S. Wicha, M.D., founding director emeritus of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Madeline and Sidney Forbes Professor of Oncology, has received a $6.5 million Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, to study cancer stem cells. The award — roughly three times a traditional individual investigator award — is part of a new grant program developed by the NCI. The goal is to provide investigators with substantial time to break new ground or extend previous discoveries to advance biomedical, behavioral or clinical cancer research.
Edward Wojtys (M.D. 1979, Residencies 1981 and 1984), the William Smith Collegiate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; and James Ashton-Miller, Ph.D., the Albert Schultz Collegiate Research Professor and Distinguished Research Scientist of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, associate vice president of Research Policy and Compliance, research professor of kinesiology and of gerontology, director of the Biomechanics Research Laboratory and associate director of the Bone and Joint Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Center, are the recipients of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2016 Kappa Delta Award, which highlights manuscripts representing a large body of basic and/or clinical research that relates to the musculoskeletal system and reflects years of investigation.
