Acclaim: Recent honors for Emory faculty and staff

July 22, 2022

Image of blue ribbon and trophy next to each other

“Acclaim” offers a sample of recent honors for Emory faculty and staff. Listings may include awards and prizes; election to boards and societies; and similarly notable accomplishments in the wider community.

“Acclaim” is published monthly in Emory Report. To suggest items, please email your submission.

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

Honors highlighted in this column: 

Blank appointed to Department of Defense counsel role

Laurie R. Blank, clinical professor of law, has been appointed as special counsel to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Office of the General Counsel provides advice to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense regarding all legal matters and policies. In her role as special counsel, Blank will focus primarily on the law of armed conflict and national security law. 

Blank is director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law, where she teaches the law of armed conflict and works directly with students to assist international tribunals, non-governmental organizations and militaries around the world on cutting edge issues in humanitarian law and human rights.

Boise elected cancer pharmacology secretary/treasurer 

Lawrence Boise has been elected secretary/treasurer for the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics’ division of cancer pharmacology. The society is the professional home for those working to advance pharmacology research, knowledge and impact. 

Boise serves as professor and R. Randall Rollins Chair in Oncology, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute’s associate director for education and training.

Castellino takes on scientific chair role

Sharon Castellino, professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of Winship Cancer Institute's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, has been named scientific chair of the Hodgkin Lymphoma Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group. In this role, she will oversee and set priorities for clinical trials with the goal of improving equitable trial access, outcomes and quality of life for young patients. Learn more about the COG Disease Committee leadership. 

Outstanding mentor award given to Chen

Amy Chen has received the Margaret Butler Outstanding Mentor of Women in Head and Neck Surgery Award from the American Head and Neck Society for demonstrating leadership in promoting gender diversity in the field. Chen will also be named chair of the Society’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Learn more about the award. 

She serves as Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine and member of Winship Cancer Institute's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.

Cotes receives exemplary psychiatrist award

Associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences Robert Cotes was selected as a recipient of a 2022 National Alliance on Mental Illness Exemplary Psychiatrist Award. The award honors psychiatrists who have made exceptional contributions to improve the lives of people with mental health conditions. 

Cotes is director of the clinical and research program for psychosis at Grady Health System, which comprises of the PSTAR Clinic and Project ARROW. The PSTAR Clinic provides evidence-based, recovery-oriented care for individuals with persistent symptoms of psychosis, specializing in the use of clozapine. Project ARROW is a coordinated specialty care team for people experiencing early psychosis, offering comprehensive, person-centered care using a multidisciplinary approach.

Cronin, Mullins and Tigges are elected AUR fellows

Professors Paul Cronin, Mark E. Mullins and Stephan Tigges have each been elected a fellow of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR). Fellow is an honor granted to an AUR member in continuous good standing who has made exceptional contributions in administration, mentorship, professionalism, research, teaching, service and leadership in organized medicine and scholarship and service to AUR.

Cui earns an Early Career Award 

Ruomeng Cui, associate professor of information systems and operations management in Goizueta Business School, received a highly competitive POMS Award from the Production and Operations Management Society. 

The Chelliah Sriskandarajah Early Career Research Accomplishments Award (previously known as the Wickham Skinner Early Career Research Accomplishments Award) aims to shape the development of the operations management field through recognizing and rewarding academics who have achieved exceptionally high accomplishments early in their careers.  

Cui’s publication topics, ranging from gender inequality in research productivity to wholesale price discrimination in global sourcing, demonstrate her expertise in a variety of areas. In addition to her research and teaching successes, she recently took on the role of a scientist for Amazon in supply chain optimization.

Dichev receives seminal research award

The 2022 Seminal Contributions to Accounting Literature Award from the American Accounting Association was given to Ilia D. Dichev of Goizueta Business School. The award, which recognizes works that have stood the test of time and have contributed in a fundamental way to later research, is given no more than once every three years. Only one work is honored in any given year. 

Eligible works must have been published at least 15 years prior to the year in which the award is bestowed. Dichev’s paper “Earnings Management to Avoid Earnings Decreases and Losses” was published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics in December 1997 and has been reviewed and well-respected in the field for years.

Dichev serves as professor of accounting and Goizueta Foundation Chair in Financial Reporting. 

Eaton receives outstanding reviewer award

The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics has given a 2022 Outstanding Reviewer Award to Bree Eaton. Known as Red Journal, the journal is the official scientific publication of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

Eaton is assistant professor of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of Winship Cancer Institute's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program. 

Findeiss chosen as Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow

Laura Findeiss has been selected by a national competition for the 2022-2023 class of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows at the National Academy of Medicine. As one of six fellows, she will spend a year in Washington, D.C., working on health-related legislative and regulatory issues with members of Congress and the executive branch. 

The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program is the nation’s most prestigious learning experience at the nexus of health, science and policy in Washington, D.C. Since 1973, this nonpartisan fellowship has offered exclusive, hands-on policy experience with the most influential congressional and executive offices in the nation’s capital. 

Findeiss is a professor of radiology and surgery in the Emory University School of Medicine and chief of service, radiology, for Grady Health System. 

Flowers named president of American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology

Lisa Flowers, professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of Winship Cancer Institute's Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program, has been named the new president of the American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. A professional society founded in 1964, ASCCP works to improve clinician competence and patient outcomes through educational activities focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of anogenital and HPV-related diseases. 

Radiology faculty help lead professional societies

Several members of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Services have been elected to serve in leadership roles for professional societies. 

Judy Gichoya, assistant professor, has been elected to the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine board of directors. Earlier this year, Gichoya was named the most influential radiology researcher as part of the Minnies Awards, which recognize excellence in radiology and honor those who are shaping the specialty.

Associate professor C. Matthew Hawkins has been elected Health Policy and Economics Councilor for the Society of Interventional Radiology. 

Ranliang Hu, associate professor, was elected chair of the American Society of Neuroradiology membership committee. The committee promotes the enrollment of PhDs and other trained neuroscientists in the society and provides input on how to enhance the society’s membership offerings.

Stephen Simoneaux, professor and director of the Division of Pediatric Imaging, has been elected president of the Society for Pediatric Radiology. The society fosters excellence in pediatric health care through imaging and image-guided care. 

Clinical instructor Anna Trofimova was elected chair of the American Society of Neuroradiology’s young professionals committee. The committee advises and supports residents and medical students interested in neuroradiology and creates society resources to serve and recruit young professionals.

Golde named GRA scholar, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease director

Todd Golde has accepted a position with Emory University as director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease in the Goizueta Institute @ Emory Brain Health. Golde will also be appointed a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Neuroscience, with a primary faculty appointment in the department of pharmacology and chemical biology and a secondary appointment in the department of neurology.

 In his new role, Golde will expand translational research for development of new therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, while facilitating interdisciplinary research in neuro-inflammation, bridging the neuroscience and immunology communities. Read more about Golde’s new role.  

Nuclear medicine society awards Grady and Schuster

Erin Grady and David M. Schuster of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Services were both recipients of awards from the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Grady, an associate professor, received the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the SNMMI Academic Council. This award recognizes individuals within nuclear medicine who have distinguished themselves with a career dedicated to advancing patient care through academic achievement and education. Honorees also have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication to the Academic Council.

Schuster, a professor of radiology, received the 2022 Barry Siegel Lectureship Award from the SNMMI Correlative Imaging Council. This award honors an individual who has made groundbreaking and consistent educational contributions to correlative imaging and to the SNMMI and the CIC.

ARVO appoints Grossniklaus to presidency

Emory Eye Center clinical pathologist and researcher Hans Grossniklaus has been named to a one-year term as president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the largest vision research organization in the world.

As is the tradition for each incoming ARVO president, Grossniklaus announced a theme to guide his term. He chose “The Beauty of Diversity in Nature and Science” because it articulates a deeply held conviction about optimizing both his research and the environment that produces it. Research is more rigorous and more productive, he noted, if it is accomplished from different perspectives, approaches and data interpretations. Likewise, more diversity among the ranks of ARVO can only strengthen the organization’s impact on the field.

Kadous selected as senior editor of The Accounting Review 

Goizueta Business School’s Kathryn Kadous has been named the next senior editor of The Accounting Review. The publication is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Accounting Association that covers accounting with a scope encompassing any accounting-related subject and any research methodology.

Kadous is the Schaefer Chaired Professor of Accounting and director and associate dean of the PhD program at Goizueta.

Kedar named to the Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship

Sachin Kedar has been appointed to a five-year term as the Cyrus H. Stoner Endowed Professor in Ophthalmology.

Kedar first came to Emory in 2004 to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology. He joined the Emory Eye Center faculty in 2021. In addition to treating patients, he serves as vice chair of education for the Department of Ophthalmology. 

Early career awards go to Kokabi, Pourmorteza and Sekhar 

Three faculty members from the Department of Radiology and Imaging Services have been recognized with early career awards.

Nima Kokabi, assistant professor, received the Gary J. Becker Young Investigator Award from the Society for Interventional Radiology. The award promotes excellence in academic research from interventional radiologists early in their careers. 

Amir Pourmorteza, assistant professor, was elected to the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research Council for Early Career Investigators in Imaging Class of 2022-2023. The award recognizes the achievements of researchers in the early phases of their careers and engages them in the Academy’s advocacy activities. 

Aarti Sekhar, associate professor, received the Society of Abdominal Radiology Early Career Committee’s first Outstanding Support of SAR Early Career Members Award. The award recognizes exceptional service in promoting resources and activities to support young professionals in abdominal and body radiology.

Kraft accepted into academic medicine leadership program

Colleen Kraft, professor of pathology and infectious diseases, has been accepted into the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program. 

ELAM is a core program of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. It continues the legacy of advancing women in medicine that began in 1850 with the founding of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first women’s medical school and a predecessor of today’s Drexel University College of Medicine. 

Liu elected fellow of American Society of Physicists in Medicine

Tian Liu has been elected as a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, recognizing her exemplary contributions to the field, service to the profession and dedication to training the next generation of medical physicists. 

Liu is associate professor of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of Winship Cancer Institute's Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program. She will be inducted as a fellow on July 11 during the association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 

Arbor Day Foundation recognizes Martin of Oxford College

Thanks to lecturer in biology Michael Martin’s leadership of the Tree Advisory Committee, Oxford College has once again been awarded Tree Campus recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation. To be recognized, a school must meet the following five criteria: establishment of a tree advisory committee; evidence of a campus tree care plan; dedicated annual expenditures for a campus tree program; an Arbor Day observance; and the sponsorship of student service learning projects.

Martin assumes presidency of Association of VA Psychologist Leaders 

Associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences Mike Martin will assume the role of president for the Associate of VA Psychologist Leaders on Aug. 4. The Association of VA Psychologist Leaders is a nonprofit organization with a voluntary membership of psychologists with various leadership roles within the Department of Veterans Affairs. As president, Martin will help address the professional needs and concerns of VA psychologists and the organization’s primary goal of providing the highest quality of patient care to U.S. veterans. 

McDonald named chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

William M. McDonald has been appointed chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine. McDonald is professor and J.B. Fuqua Chair for Late-Life Depression and Reunette W. Harris Chair for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and has led the department as interim chair since January 2021. McDonald joined Emory in 1993 as a faculty member, and since 1999 has led the Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression as director. Read more about McDonald’s appointment. 

McGonigle presents at chaplaincy meetings

Gregory W. McGonigle, dean of religious life and Emory University chaplain, presented on “Assessing University Chaplaincy“ at the national Association of Muslim Chaplains monthly convening earlier this summer. He also presented on “Religious Diversity in University Chaplaincy: Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Humanist” at the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education (IACHE) conference at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

ASCO selects Meisel for leadership development program 

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) selected Jane Meisel to participate in the ASCO Leadership Development Program. The year-long program provides leadership training, mentorship from ASCO leaders, exposure to U.S. government research agencies and first-hand advocacy experience on Capitol Hill.

Meisel is associate professor of hematology and medical oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of Winship Cancer Institute's Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program. 

Nakajima’s roles build connections with Japanese medical communities

Emergency medicine physician Yuko Nakajima is working to develop meaningful collaborations between the U.S. and Japan. She was appointed president of Doctors Without Borders Japan earlier this spring and recently accepted a position as lead ambassador for Japan for the American College of Emergency Physicians. She is an assistant professor in the School of Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Department and practices at Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Newman honored with Top Science neurology award

Gene therapy research conducted by Emory Eye Center neuro-ophthalmologist Nancy J. Newman was singled out for high praise by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) this spring.  Her abstract, “The Phase III REFLECT Trial: Efficacy and Safety of Bilateral Gene Therapy for Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON)” summarized the results of a multinational clinical trial for which Newman was the international coordinating principle investigator.

LHON is a rare but devastating disease that starts in one eye and invariably leads to bilateral blindness.

Newman’s was one of three scientific abstracts chosen for the Top Science honor from AAN's Science Committee, which received more than 2,400 submissions. Announcement of the three Top Science awardees was made just days before the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting earlier this spring.

O’Banion helps develop new global ophthalmology course

A new online course offered through the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is answering the growing demand for practical and philosophical wisdom in the field of global ophthalmology. Jacquelyn O'Banion, the director of Emory Eye Center’s global ophthalmology program, was one of nine ophthalmologists who spent the last two years developing the course. 

“Sometimes, even well-intentioned efforts to do global health outreach in other countries falls into the rut of being a ‘fly-in, fly-out’ mission,” explained O’Banion. “By sharing best practices and foundational knowledge in public health, we can give learners the tools to be impactful as visiting physicians.” The 10-part course, entitled Academic Global Ophthalmology, is free and now available to all AAO members.

Schiff awarded Rome Prize in Literature

Poet Robyn Schiff, a professor of English and creative writing in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded one of four 2022-2023 Rome Prizes in Literature. Schiff received the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize for Literature, a gift of the Drue Heinz Trust, as one of 38 overall winners selected for the highly competitive honor by the American Academy in Rome.

The prize comes with a stipend, workspace and room and board at the Rome campus of the academy, America’s oldest overseas center for independent study in advanced research in the arts and humanities.

Schiff is the author of three poetry collections, including 2016’s “A Woman of Property,” named a best book of the year by The New Yorker and the Chicago Tribune and an Editors’ Choice at the New York Times. She will work on “Information Desk: An Epic,” the book-length poem that draws on her time working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, during the fellowship in Rome.

Chaplains share perspectives, receive commissioning 

Emory Office of Spiritual and Religious Life (OSRL) Buddhist chaplain Venerable Priya Rakkhit Sraman and Hindu chaplain Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya joined a panel at the Catholic Theological Society of America’s annual convention at Sheraton Atlanta Hotel to discuss current interreligious realties on college campuses. Sharing their experiences of ministry in a multifaith setting, they both reflected on how such a setting provides opportunities for deep, meaningful encounters for the campus community in their religious and spiritual explorations.

Christian chaplain Maddie Henderson was commissioned as a provisional deacon in the South Georgia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. In the ordination process in the UMC, this is a significant step that represents a mutual commitment between the candidate and the denomination. Over the next three years, Henderson will participate in a program called “residency in ministry” to prepare for the final step of the process, which is ordination as a deacon in full connection.

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