Acclaim: Recent honors for Emory faculty and staff

Emory faculty and staff are frequently recognized for their work locally, nationally and internationally. The following is a sampling of recent accolades, including multiple leadership awards and honors from professional societies.

Honors highlighted in this column:

Coopersmith earns Master of Critical Care Medicine designation

Craig M. Coopersmith has been honored as a Master of Critical Care Medicine by the American College of Critical Care Medicine.

Coopersmith is a professor of surgery and vice chair of research of the Emory Department of Surgery; program director of the department’s Surgical Critical Care Fellowship; and interim director of the Emory Critical Care Center. He has established himself as one of the top investigators of sepsis and shock in the country, and was a member of an international task force of experts that redefined the terms “sepsis” and “septic shock” in 2016.

MCCM is the highest designation one can obtain in critical care, and is awarded to an individual who has achieved national and international professional prominence through personal character, leadership, eminence in clinical practice and outstanding contributions to research and education in critical care medicine.

Corbett receives Mid-Career Leadership Award

Biology professor Anita H. Corbett received the Mid-Career Leadership Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Corbett’s research centers on genetics, cell and developmental biology. Research in her laboratory primarily focuses on determining the function of evolutionarily-conserved RNA binding proteins that play critical roles at many steps in gene expression.

The ASBMB Leadership Awards recognize individuals with a strong commitment to advancing the careers of women in biochemistry and molecular biology along with demonstrated excellence in research, discovery and/or service.

Emory leaders included in the 2020 Atlanta 500 list

Numerous faculty and staff of Emory are included in Atlanta magazine's list of the city's 500 most powerful leaders for 2020. They are:

Claire E. Sterk, Emory University president
Jonathan S. Lewin, executive vice president for health affairs
JamesCurran, dean of Rollins School of Public Health
Walter J. Curran, Jr, executive director of Winship Cancer Institute
Carlos del Rio, chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at Rollins School of Public Health
Douglas Graham, director of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
Erika James, dean of Goizueta Business School
Linda A. McCauley, dean of Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

William Foege, Emeritus Presidential Distinguished Fellow of International Health and former Carter Center leader, was named a legend among health care leaders.

Graham and Wechsler elected to pediatric oncology board

Douglas Graham and Daniel Wechsler were elected to leadership positions on the Board of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. Graham was voted as president-elect and Wechsler was appointed as a trustee-at-large for a second three-year term.

Graham is director of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and chief of the Emory Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT. Wechsler is director of Pediatric Oncology at Aflac.

ASPHO is dedicated to promoting the optimal care of children, adolescents and young adults with blood disorders and cancer by advancing research, education, treatment, and professional practice. The Society is the only professional organization dedicated solely to the professional development and interest of subspecialists in pediatric hematology/oncology.

Huang named a Sloan Research Fellow

Hao Huang has been awarded a 2020 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship.

Huang, an assistant professor of mathematics, works in the area of discrete math and theoretical computer science. His recent proof of the sensitivity conjecture was ranked #28 in Discover Magazine's top science stories of 2019.

Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Awards are open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields: chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics.

Italian university awards Kitron an honorary degree

The University of Turin granted an honorary degree in veterinary medicine to Uriel Dan Kitron. The ceremony took place in February 2020.

Kitron serves as Goodrich C. White Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences. His research and teaching programs center around the eco-epidemiology of infectious diseases, with an emphasis on tropical and emerging diseases and environmental risk factors. The work in his lab includes studying transmission dynamics and ecology of the insect vectors and the mammalian and avian reservoir hosts.

Manatunga tapped as Donna J. Brogan Professor in Biostatistics

Amita Manatunga has been named the inaugural Donna J. Brogan Professor in Biostatistics for Rollins School of Public Health. This endowed professorship recognizes Manatunga’s excellence in teaching and research—particularly as it relates to the field of biostatistics—and honors the legacy of emerita professor Donna Jean Brogan.

Manatunga joined Emory in 1994. She has dedicated her career to advancing methods and applications of complex data structures to address critical public health problems including mental health, epidemiology and nuclear medicine. She is the senior biostatistician for the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Emory and has led seven major R01 grants on statistical methodology as principal investigator or multiple principal investigator and has served as a co-investigator to many collaborative, federally-sponsored research grants.

Margulies elected to National Academy of Engineering

Susan Margulies was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering’s Class of 2020.

Margulies is the Wallace H. Coulter Chair Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics. She also is chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering within the Emory School of Medicine.

She was elected in recognition of her distinguished contributions to engineering: “for elaborating the traumatic injury thresholds of brain and lung in terms of structure-function mechanisms.” The induction ceremony will occur during the NAE Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, in October.

The joint Emory and Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering program is ranked #3 in the country by U.S. News and World Report and is a distinguishing feature of the School of Medicine, attracting high-quality faculty and trainees and driving innovation in health care and medical education.

Owonikoko named chair elect of ASCO education committee

Taofeek Owonikoko has been named chair-elect for the American Society for Clinical Oncology 2021 Annual Meeting Education Committee.

Owonikoko is professor and vice-chair for faculty development for the School of Medicine’s Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology. He also serves as co-leader of the discovery and developmental therapeutics program for Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.

The ASCO education committee oversees programming for the organization’s annual meeting, which is attended by more than 40,000 professionals.

Srinivasan wins Philip Wolfson Outstanding Teacher Award

Jahnavi Srinivasan will receive the Association of Surgical Education’s Philip J. Wolfson Outstanding Teacher Award.

Srinivasan has served as an associate program director of Emory’s general surgery residency program since 2014 and will assume full directorship effective June 23, 2020. She also chairs the Resident Education Committee and directs the department’s surgical simulation and elective programs. She has received numerous departmental and institutional teaching awards and has been a key leader in the success and growth of the surgical residency program.

The honor recognizes Srinivasan’s commitment to teaching, innovative approach to education, enthusiasm and stimulation of interest, ability to provide feedback and effective evaluation, role modeling of professional characteristics and accessibility.

Honors highlighted in this column:

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