News and Recognitions
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2025 News and Recognitions
November 2025
2025 OAVCR Excellence Awards
Congratulations to faculty who received the 2025 UMMC Excellence in Research Awards! The Excellence in Research Awards Program recognizes investigators who have attracted significant extramural funding and who have advanced in science through their distinctive research programs. Medallion Awards are based on the total amount of qualifying extramural funding received by the investigator.
- Ajay Singh, PhD – Gold Award
- Hanna Broome, PhD – Silver Award
- Brigitte Martin, PhD – Silver Award
- Lavanya Challagundla, PhD – Bronze Award
- Seema Singh, PhD – Bronze Award
The OAVCR Excellence Awards are categorized based on the level of funding received:
- Gold Award: For investigators who have secured over $1,000,000 in qualifying extramural funding
- Silver Award: For those who have received over $500,000 in qualifying funding.
- Bronze Award: For researchers who have achieved lower thresholds of funding
UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institutue (CCRI) Intramural Research Awards
The following Cell and Molecular Biology received several UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute (CCRI) intramural research awards. The CCRI Intramural Research Award supports innovative research that aligns with the CCRI mission to reduce the burden of cancer in Mississippi.
Catalyst Award
- Ramona Moles, PhD – Reprogramming monocytes in ATL: Single-cell insights into HTLV-1 mediated immune dysregulation.
- Gunjan Sharma, PhD – Dissecting the role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor in small cell lung cancer progression and metastasis via indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 and kynurenine pathway metabolites.
- Kunwar Somesh Vikramdeo, PhD – Investigating a novel class of biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis.
Collaborative Idea Development Award
- Ramona Moles, PhD and Drazen Raucher, PhD – Longitudinal profiling of innate immune alteration in HTLV-1 induced leukemia.
- Jawed Siddiqui, PhD and Ajay Singh, PhD – GDF15 mediated osteokines in Pancreatic Cancer Cachexia.
- Ajay Singh, PhD and Keli Xu, PhD – Novel molecular biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer.
- Seema Singh, PhD, Ajay Singh, PhD and Raed Bahelah, PhD (School of Population Health) – Smoking and stress in prostate cancer: from epidemiologic risk to biological mechanisms.