Dr. Robert J. Amdur, professor, residency program director and Rodney R. Million, M.D. chairman’s professorship in radiation therapy, has been recognized as an Educator of the Year by the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO). The award is presented in partnership with the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) for the recognition of excellence in teaching, enthusiasm and support for radiation oncology residency training.

Dr. Michael Rutenberg, an assistant professor of radiation oncology and a UF Health Proton Therapy Institute physician, has been selected to receive the Faculty Enhancement Opportunity (FEO) award for Fall 2019. The FEO award supports faculty development activities, including educational experiences/conferences, work with consultants/experts or activities in support of a new direction for scholarly work.

Dr. Parker Gibbs Jr., an orthopaedic oncologist and chief medical officer for UF Health Shands, has been named senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the UF College of Medicine.

Dr. Linda B. Cottler, chair of the department of epidemiology in the College of Medicine and Public Health and Profession’s associate dean for research, was chosen to receive the 2019 Mentorship Award from The College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD). The Mentorship Award is given annually to a member of CPDD who has been an exemplary mentor to developing researchers in the field of drug dependence. Cottler is the third female scientist to receive this award.

Dr. Cesar Migliorati, a professor in the department of oral and maxillofacial diagnostic sciences and associate dean for clinical affairs and quality, took over as president of the American Board of Oral Medicine (ABOM) during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM) in New Orleans, Louisiana, in May 2019. Migliorati will serve a one-year terms and he expects it to be a significant year for the ABOM which is working to gain recognition as an official specialty in dental education from the American Dental Association.

Dr. John Wingard, professor of medicine within the division of hematology and oncology, Price Eminent scholar, deputy director of research and director of the bone marrow transplant program, was recognized as an Expertscape World Expert in Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Dr. Catherine Flores, an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine’s Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery and a principal investigator in UF’s Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, has been awarded a Research Project Grant, or R01, from the National Institutes of Health to expand her research into a new use of stem cells to enhance the clinical effectiveness of adoptive T cell therapy against brain tumors. Flores is pioneering a line of research using stem cells in a rodent model to fight brain cancer and likely other cancers as well.

Samantha Bodner’s special project for the Master of Public Health program was published in the Journal of Oncology Practice under the title “Improving Documentation of Distress in Veteran Patients for Hematology/Oncology Clinics.” This paper was authored with Arpan Patel, M.D. and Priya Gopalan, M.D., Ph.D. Bodner and her co-authors conclude that quality care can be improved upon through standardizing patient distress in medical records.

Chantel Ulfig has won 3rd place at the College of Public Health and Health Profession’s 32nd Annual Research Day for her project “The Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention on Worry About Cancer Progression Among Women with Gynecologic Malignancies.” Ulfig will receive an engraved plaque, a certificate and a $500 travel award.