Honors, Awards + Achievements
UF Health Cancer Center researchers honored at Celebrating Distinction
Nine UF Health Cancer Center researchers were formally recognized as endowed chairs and professors in a ceremony on Nov. 16, placing them in the ranks of the most accomplished faculty members in the University of Florida’s six health colleges. The UF Health Cancer Center members, eight from the UF College of Medicine and one from the UF College of Dentistry, were honored with special gifts during the annual Celebrating Distinction ceremony on Nov. 16 at the Health Professions, Nursing & Pharmacy auditorium.
- C. Parker Gibbs, M.D.
- David Iglesias, M.D.
- Merry Jennifer Markham, M.D., FACP, FASCO
- Cesar Migliorati, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.
- Zhijian Qian, Ph.D.
- Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D.
- Li-Ming Su, M.D., FRCS
- Ramon C. Sun, Ph.D.
- Maria Zajac-Kaye, Ph.D.
Sherise Rogers, M.D.
Sherise Rogers, M.D., received the inaugural Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Clinical Investigator Leadership Award from Conquer Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation, funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation.
Luisel Ricks-Santi, Ph.D.
Luisel Ricks-Santi, Ph.D., was a keynote speaker at the the LOWVELO Trainee Symposium, “Creating Your Cancer Research Career,” on Dec. 1 in Charleston, South Carolina, presented by Hollings Cancer Center.
Olga Guryanova, M.D., Ph.D.
Olga Guryanova, M.D., Ph.D., earned a best article of the year honor from the Journal of Experimental Medicine for a study she led, titled Hematopoietic Dnmt3a(+/−) promotes colon cancer.
Maryam Rahman, Ph.D.
Maryam Rahman, Ph.D., received the inaugural Diamond Award from UF Women in Medicine and Science, which recognizes faculty for their professional excellence, contributions as role models and outstanding leaders and impact on UF and beyond. In addition, she gave a presentation at the Society for NeuroOncology’s 2023 Annual Meeting, titled “Incorporating Molecular Diagnostics into Surgical Decision Making for Gliomas.”
Christian Jobin, Ph.D., and Rachel Newsome
Christian Jobin, Ph.D., and Rachel Newsome were honored with an Invention of the Year from UF Innovate for their work identifying gut biome bacteria that can make lung cancer tumors responsive to immunotherapy treatment.
Pastor Gerard Duncan
Pastor Gerard Duncan, an outreach adviser for the UF Health Cancer Center, was honored with a University of Florida Win Phillips Town Gown Relations Award in recognition of his work advocating for health care in underserved neighborhoods.
Arun Srivastava, Ph.D.
Arun Srivastava, Ph.D., received an Invention of the Year award from UF Innovate for developing generation Z single-stranded AAV serotype vectors.
Sarah Judge, Ph.D.
Sarah Judge, Ph.D., received a $2.4 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the role of a key protein in driving cancer cachexia.
Ilyas Sahin, M.D.
Ilyas Sahin, M.D., discussed advances in liver cancer research during the American Liver Foundation’s 2023 Liver Cancer Conference: An Educated Patient. In addition, a review paper he co-authored in the MDPI journal Cancers was selected as an Editor’s Choice article.
Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D.
Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., was selected to participate in the press program during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, held Dec. 8-12 in San Diego. Dr. Lamba discussed her team’s abstract, titled “Intensification of Therapy and Pharmacogenetic Personalization Mitigate Racial Disparities in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia Outcomes.”
In addition, three three trainees in her lab secured abstract achievement awards. Francisco Marchi and Richard Marrero, Pharm.D., received a Minority Graduate Student Abstract Achievement Award, while Nam Nguyen, Pharm.D., received an Abstract Achievement Award.
Ashley Ghiaseddin, M.D., and Deidre Pereira, Ph.D.
Ashley Ghiaseddin, M.D., and Deidre Pereira, Ph.D., gave a presentation, titled “Patterns and predictors of anxiety and depression symptom trajectories in patients diagnosed with primary brain tumors,” during a Tumor Talk presented by Lenox Hill Neurosurgery and the Journal of Neuro-Oncology on Nov. 27.
Padraic O’Malley, M.D., was a moderator of a webinar, titled “Ureteroscopic Laser Ablation of Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma with TFL,” as part of the Endourological Society’s Operating Theater Webinar series on Dec. 1.
Leighton Elliott, M.D.
Leighton Elliott, M.D., received a $50,000 grant from the Kate Amato Foundation for a project that will investigate using RNA nanoparticles to treat alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.
Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D. and Stephanie Staras, Ph.D.
Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D., was the chair of a session, titled “Methods and Applications in Systems-level Implementation Science,” at the 16th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, held Dec. 10-13 in Arlington, Virginia. In addition, he was the co-author of two posters, titled “Organizational readiness to implement clinical decision support for chronic pain management in primary care clinics” and “what will it cost us?”: A mixed methods approach to identifying key partner costs and priorities to inform an implementation strategy costing plan in schools.”
In addition, Stephanie Staras, Ph.D., was the presenting author of a poster, titled “Identifying clinic-level practices as intervention targets to increase human papillomavirus vaccination.” Elizabeth Shenkman, Ph.D., Carma Bylund, Ph.D., and George Khalil, Ph.D., were also co-authors.
UF Health Cancer Center at American Society of Hematology (ASH) 65th Annual Meeting & Exposition
The UF Health Cancer Center presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 65th Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego from Dec. 8-12. The ASH Annual Meeting is the most comprehensive hematology event of the year. See presentations.
UF Health Cancer Center at Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 38th Annual Meeting
The UF Health Cancer Center presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 38th Annual Meeting, held Nov. 1-5 in San Diego. SITC is the world’s leading member-driven organization specifically dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science and application of cancer immunotherapy. See presentations.