Research awards mark faculty, staff funding achievements
Published on Monday, October 25, 2021
By: Karen Bascom
The University of Mississippi Medical Center announced its 2021 Excellence in Research Awards recipients last week, recognizing 17 faculty and staff members who achieved new levels of extramural funding for their research programs during the previous fiscal year.
This year’s honorees, representing four schools and nine academic departments, will receive the bronze, silver or gold-level medallions, in addition to a financial award from the Office of Research.
Since 2000, the Excellence in Research Awards program has recognized investigators who have attracted significant funding to the Medical Center. The award levels are based on the cumulative amount of outside grants and awards each investigator has received for their own original research over the course of their service at UMMC.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Research recognized the recipients through a series of videos distributed through the Medical Center’s research listserv October 18-20.
Summers“Thank you for all your hard work, commitment and ingenuity. You are appreciated, and we look forward to celebrating your accomplishments,” Dr. Richard Summers, associate vice chancellor for research, said in the recording.
This year’s honorees all contributed to UMMC’s record levels of funding for fiscal year 2021. The Medical Center’s $123.5 million from 392 grants, awards and contracts funds innovative research and education programs.
“In a time of great uncertainty, our scientists have stepped up to ensure Mississippians are taken care of during this pandemic,” Summers said. “[They] have shown the importance of a strong research mission to an academic medical center, and to the nation.”
The 2021 Excellence in Research Award recipients are:
Gold Medallion - $1,000,000-$4,999,999
Dr. Yingjie Chen, professor of physiology and biophysics
Dr. Caroline Compretta, associate professor of preventive medicine
Dr. Charlotte Hobbs, professor of pediatrics
Dr. Nita Maihle, professor of medicine
Dr. Michael Roach, professor of biomedical materials science
Dr. Dustin Sarver, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Joshua Speed, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics
Dr. Melanie Wilson, professor of microbiology and immunology
— — —
Silver Medallion - $500,000-$999,999
Dr. Michael Griswold, professor of medicine/The MIND Center
Dr. William Hillegass, associate professor of data science
Dr. Daniela Ruedi-Bettschen, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Erin Taylor, instructor of physiology and biophysics
Dr. Douglas Vetter, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences
Dr. Jorge Vidal, associate professor of microbiology and immunology
— — —
Bronze Medallion - $250,000-$499,999
Chad Blackshear, MS, biostatistician III, data science
Dr. Randall Scott Williamson, assistant professor of biomedical materials science
Dr. Wondwosen Yimer, assistant professor of data science