Honors, Awards + Achievements
Julie Bradley, M.D
Julie Bradley, M.D., was awarded two $10,000 Direct Service Grants from the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation (FBCF) to benefit UF Health proton therapy breast cancer patients in Jacksonville and Gainesville. Both projects were designed by a UF Health Proton Therapy Institute team led by Dr. Bradley. The FBCF Lymphedema: Compress to Regress grant will assist patients who are struggling with lymphedema, which is often a chronic condition requiring ongoing care and maintenance after the active cancer therapy ends, and the FBCF Vehicles and Veggies for Vitality grant will be used to help eligible breast cancer patients with transportation expenses related to radiotherapy and other medical appointments as well as grocery stores.
Paul Castillo, M.D., Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., and Loic P. Deleyrolle, Ph.D.
Paul Castillo Caro, M.D., Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., and Loic P. Deleyrolle, Ph.D., presented “Slow cycling cell RNA based T cell therapy to prevent recurrence in GBM” at the 2022 UF College of Medicine Research Day.
Loic P. Deleyrolle, Ph.D.
Loic Deleyrolle, Ph.D., received the University Multicultural Mentor Program (UMMP) Best Mentor/Mentee Award.
Dr. Deleyrolle was also appointed Associate Editor for the journals “Frontiers in Neurology” and “Frontiers in Oncology” for a second year.
He also recently presented an oral presentation at the 4th Annual Remission Summit Meeting: Metabolic Manipulation of T cells to Treat Brain Tumors.
Christopher Forsmark, M.D.
Christopher Forsmark, M.D., is one of six faculty members who were honored with UF College of Medicine Lifetime Achievement awards. These awards recognize the college’s most outstanding, active peers for providing extraordinary service to the College of Medicine. Dr. Forsmark has provided expert and compassionate care to patients with GI issues for nearly three decades.
Jeffrey Harrison, Ph.D., Matthew Sarkisian, Ph.D., Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., and Loic P. Deleyrolle, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Harrison, Ph.D., Matthew Sarkisian, Ph.D., Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., and Loic P. Deleyrolle, Ph.D., presented “Geospatial Analysis of Immune Infiltrates in Glioblastoma” at the 2022 UF College of Medicine Research Day.
Ara Jo, Ph.D., and Lisa Scarton, Ph.D., R.N
Ara Jo, Ph.D., and Ph.D. candidate Zhigang Xie received the Faculty Scholar Award at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference. Dr. Jo and Xie collaborated with Lisa Scarton, Ph.D., R.N., who was the PI of a study regarding the association of Metformin doses and cancer survival across racial and ethnic groups using Medicare SEER data. They found that Metformin use is positively associated with cancer survival, however the dosage is not significantly related to overall survival.
Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH
Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, was nominated as one of two candidates for president of the American Statistical Association (ASA) for 2025.
Todd Manini, Ph.D., Jordan Alpert, Ph.D., Roger Fillingim, Ph.D., and John Kairalla, Ph.D.
Todd Manini, Ph.D., Jordan Alpert, Ph.D., Roger Fillingim, Ph.D., and John Kairalla, Ph.D., received a $1.1 million grant from the NIA titled “Wearable Technology Infrastructure to Enhance Capacity for Real-Time, Online Assessment and Mobility (ROAMM) of Intervening Health Events in Older Adults.”
Merry Jennifer Markham, M.D., FACP, FASCO
Merry Jennifer Markham, M.D., FACP, FASCO, and Fay Hlubocky, Ph.D., were recent guests on ASCO’s Cancer.Net podcast to discuss what survivors of gynecologic cancers should know about the transition following the completion of cancer treatment, how survivorship care plans can help with this transition, and how to cope with the challenges they may face during survivorship.
Matthew Merritt, Ph.D.
Matthew Merritt, Ph.D., received an R01 from NIDDK titled “Metabolic Imaging of NAFLD/NASH.”
Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D.
Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., is the 2022 recipient of the UF College of Medicine Clinical Science Research Award. The award is given for research that has a close connection to clinical medicine and/or has an impact on the delivery of patient care.
The University of Florida Mobile Outreach Clinic
The University of Florida Mobile Outreach Clinic received a $100,000 first-place award in the program category from the Florida Blue Foundation at the 2022 Sapphire Awards ceremony May 4 in Orlando. The clinic, a collaborator of the UF Health Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) office, received the award in recognition of its impactful programming over the past 11 years that it has provided best practice medical care and social service care coordination at no cost to low-income residents who do not have health insurance.
Martina Murphy, M.D.
Martina Murphy, M.D., was inducted into the UF Society of Teaching Scholars and the UF Chapman Society.
Dr. Murphy also received the 2022 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, which recognizes faculty members who are exemplars of humanism in the care of patients.
Matthew Sarkisian, Ph.D.
Matthew Sarkisian, Ph.D., received a $250,000 Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grant from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) titled “Improving TTFields Efficacy by Altering Ciliogenesis.”
Lisa Scarton, Ph.D., R.N.
Lisa Scarton, Ph.D., R.N., has received a four-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Nursing Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate medication adherence in the American Indian community and the ability to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes, known as Cardio-Metabolic-Control-Indicators(C-MCIs), and common risk factors for complications in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Scarton, a Choctaw citizen, is the principal investigator on the study “Medication Adherence and Cardio-Metabolic Control Indicators among Adult American Indians Receiving Tribal Health Services.” Diana Wilkie, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, and Yingwei Yao, Ph.D., serve as co-investigators.
Patrick Tighe, M.D.
Patrick Tighe, M.D., has been named associate dean for AI application and implementation at the UF College of Medicine. In this role, Tighe will leverage his experience in AI to improve understanding of clinical operations and patient safety using advanced analytical methods.
Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D.
Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D., was an awardee and lecturer at the McGovern Lecture Series in April. The lecture, which was given to the McGovern Lecture Committee in the BSU Department of Nutrition and Health Science, focused on reducing health disparities among racial/ethnic minority populations through culturally sensitive health care and community health empowerment.
Melissa Vilaro, Ph.D., and Janice Krieger, Ph.D.
Melissa Vilaro, Ph.D., and Janice Krieger, Ph.D., presented “Rural Adults Perceptions of Nutrition Recommendations for Cancer Prevention: Contradictory and Conflicting Messages” at the Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) on April 6-9 at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD.
Melissa J. Vilaro, Ph.D., LaToya O’Neal, Ph.D., Thomas J. George, M.D., FACP, Ramzi G. Salloum, Ph.D., Maryam Sattari, M.D., and Lisa Scarton, Ph.D.
Melissa J. Vilaro, Ph.D., LaToya O’Neal, Ph.D., Thomas J. George, M.D. FACP, Ramzi G. Salloum, Ph.D., Maryam Sattari, M.D., and Lisa Scarton, Ph.D., received a $50,000 UF CTSI learning health system pilot award titled “Strategies for Advancing Patient Care in Rural Communities: Assessing the Collaborative Implementation of the UF IFAS and UF Health Rural Telehealth Initiative.”
Lusine Yaghjyan, M.D., Ph.D.
Lusine Yaghjyan, M.D., Ph.D., was recently invited to serve as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cancer Biomarkers Study Section (CBSS), Center for Scientific Review (CSR). The CBSS CSR consists of 20-40 top-ranked scientists who review NIH applications on the discovery, development and validation of diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of cancers, small-scale validation of prognostic markers of cancer progression, recurrence and response of therapy. Dr. Yaghjyan will serve a four-year term.
Yong Zeng, Ph.D.
Yong Zeng, Ph.D., presented “Nanochip functional EV analysis for diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer,” at the SWOG Breast Translational Medicine Working Group Hybrid Meeting in Seattle, WA on April 8.
Dr. Zeng also presented “Cancer Liquid Biopsy: Advancing Exosome Diagnostics with Micro/Nano Technologies” as a Grand Rounds in Population Science speaker at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL on March 17.