Monthly HAAs
Honors, Awards + Achievements
Congratulations
Catherine Mercado, M.D.
Dr. Catherine Mercado was named a recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Resident Educator Award on February 22, 2019. This award recognizes Dr. Mercado’s excellence in teaching colleagues and medical students. Designated by program directors, and sponsored by the Society of Teaching Scholars, her award will be presented at the Medical Education Week Reception on March 13.
Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D.
Dr. Jatinder Lamba and her team were awarded funds from the Live Like Bella Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative in the amount of $223,758 by the Florida Department of Health . The Department’s competitive grant awards for cancer research are based on scientific merit as determined by peer review.
Natalie Lockney, M.D.
Dr. Natalie Lockney participated in the UF Health Cancer Center Women’s Cancer Wellness Symposium at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center on Thursday, March 14, 2019. The symposium featured three presentations by UF Health providers about women’s cancer prevention, treatment and research. Dr. Lockney discussede intraoperative radiation (IORT) for breast cancer patients.
Folakemi Odedina, Ph.D.
Dr. Folakemi Odedina was recently invited to participate in the 2019 World Cancer Leaders’ Summit organized by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit which will be held at the Astana Congress Center is the most important annual high-level policy meeting dedicated exclusively to influencing global decisions which impact cancer control. The event brings together 350 key decision makers from around the world and encourages timely debate on emerging global issues related to cancer. It provides a vital forum to secure a global, cross-sector response and ensure accountability in addressing a significant non-communicable disease (NCD).
Dr. Kristianna Fredenburg, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Kristianna Fredenburg, a member of the U54 team at UF, is the recipient of the 2019 AACR Minority and Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award.
Zsolt Toth, Ph.D.
Dr. Zsolt Toth was awarded the ACS Research Scholar Grant, worth $792,000 over four years, by the American Cancer Society for his study Controlling the Establishment of Oncogenic Herpesviral Infection.
Jiang Bian, Ph.D.
Dr. Jiang Bian was awarded a Multi-PI grant titled Systematic Analysis of Clinical Study Generalizability Assessment Methods with Informatics from NIH/National Institute on Aging.
Stephanie Staras, Ph.D.
Kudos!
Dress in Blue 2019
On March 1, UF Health nursing, clinical and administrative staffed participated in a “Best in Blue Spirit” competition to start the conversation about the importance of colorectal cancer screenings by dressing or decorating their work area in blue. Contest winners include Jobin Research Lab, UF Health Family Medicine @ Main Street, Tower Hill Internal Medicine, and UF Health and Vascular Halifax in Daytona.
UFHCC OCOE attended the Library Partnership Health and Wellness Expo
The Library Partnership Health and Wellness Expo, held annually and organized by the Partnership for Strong Families, aims to bring together agencies and organizations around Gainesville to raise awareness for health services. The UF Health Cancer Center Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (UFHCC COE) was invited to participate in this event. The UFHCC COE exists to promote community-engaged research and align the research goals of UFHCC programs with the needs of the communities it serves. COE Program Director Dr. Sarah Szurek and intern Joshua Chen promoted knowledge of colorectal cancer prevention, screening and treatment through an interactive quiz activity during the Health and Wellness Expo since March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. In addition, UFHCC COE provided other prevention materials and information on the programs and services that UF Health Cancer Center provides.