Annual awards recognize faculty achievements in research

Published on Monday, November 18, 2024

By: Danny Barrett Jr., dlbarrett@umc.edu

Photos By: Melanie Thortis/ UMMC Communications

The University of Mississippi Medical Center presented 35 awards to faculty and staff members during the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Excellence Awards ceremony Friday.

This year’s awards honoring investigators most successful at securing extramurally funded original projects during their careers at UMMC included five platinum, nine gold, nine silver and eight bronze recipients, as determined by the level of funding accrued. Two peer-nominated awards for Early Career Investigator and two patent awards were also presented.

Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs, congratulated all recipients and noted the role support staff played in the achievements.

“There’s a lot of time and effort that goes into the achievements made by the people we’re here to celebrate today,” Jones said. “It’s a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of thankless work. The only persons or people who understand what it takes to achieve one of these statuses with extramural funding is the other people in the room – the other people in the lab help you achieve that goal.”

This year’s field of 31 platinum, gold, silver and bronze recipients was tied for most ever awarded in a single year, said Cari Fowler, senior director for research operations.

Dr. Lee Bidwell, associate vice chancellor for research, touted the representation across 16 different departments and four different schools.

“The names on these lists over the course of their careers have accumulated $66 million in Excellence-eligible extramural funding for the institution,” Bidwell said.

Bidwell said research faculty submitted 387 proposals during the last fiscal year, received 157 new grants, led more than 200 clinical trials and also published 1,082 papers.

In FY 2024, the Medical Center received 369 research awards totaling $117.9 million, the second-highest single-year total on record. Through the first quarter of FY 2025, UMMC has received 58 awards totaling $21.1 million.

Recipients included:

Platinum Medallion - $5 million

Dr. April P. Carson, professor of medicine and director of the Jackson Heart Study
Dr. Saurabh Chandra, chief telehealth officer
Dr. Loretta Jackson-Williams, vice dean of the School of Medicine
Dr. Babbette LaMarca, professor and chair of pharmacology and toxicology
Dr. Dustin Sarver, associate professor of psychiatry 

Gold Medallion - $1 million

Dr. John Clemmer, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics 
Dr. Abigail Gamble, associate professor of preventive medicine
Dr. Barbara Gisabella, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Joseph M. Majure, professor of medicine and division chief of pediatrics
Dr. Nancy Min, associate professor of medicine
Dr. Alan J. Mouton, associate professor of biophysics
Dr. Daniella Ruedi-Bettschen, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Courtney S. Walker, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Keli Xu, associate professor of cell and molecular biology

Silver Medallion - $500,000

Dr. Lais F. Berro, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Alexandre da Silva, associate professor of physiology and biophysics
Dr. Tearsanee C. Davis, director of clinical programs and strategy for the Center for Telehealth
Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs, dean of the School of Population Health
Dr. Angela A. Duck, associate professor of nursing
Dr. Joshua R. Mann, chair of preventive medicine
Dr. Hao Mei, professor of data science
Dr. Andrew C. Voluse, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. R. Scott Williamson, associate professor of biomedical materials science

Bronze Medallion - $250,000

Dr. Abhay Bhatt, professor of pediatrics and director of research in the Division of Neonatology
Dr. Noha M. Elsayed, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology
Dr. Mobolaji Famuyide, chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine
Dr. Candace Howard-Claudio, assistant professor of radiology
Dr. Amy Kohtz, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Brigitte E. Martin, assistant professor of cell and molecular biology
Dr. Utsav Nandi, associate professor of emergency medicine
Dr. Kathleen T. Yee, associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery

Discovery Awards

Early Career Investigator

Dr. Lais F. Berro, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior
Dr. Alan J. Mouton, associate professor of biophysics 

Patent Recipients

Dr. Abhay Bhatt, professor of pediatrics and director of research in the Division of Neonatology
Dr. Lir-Wan Fan, professor of pediatrics and neonatology