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Dr. Eric Vallender and Dr. Harry Pantazopoulos receive the Silver Medallion.
Dr. Eric Vallender and Dr. Harry Pantazopoulos receive the Silver Medallion.
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Awards

Resident Awards:

  • Student/Trainee Excellence Pillars Award 
    • Honors a student, resident, or fellow from any school of UMMC who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the institution’s goals to promote diversity and inclusion within the institution and through service to the commUNITY. 
      • Dr. Sabrina DeLeon won the Student/Trainee Excellence Award for her work in the UMMC Insight program, as co-chair of the Trainees for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity and as a 2023-2024 American Psychiatric Association Diversity Leadership Fellow. 
      • Dr. Josh Trull was also nominated for this award for his involvement in the UMMC Insight since the program’s inaugural year. 
  •  Espirt De Corpost Pillars Award  
    • Acknowledges a team, department, or office that demonstrates successful collaboration on efforts to improve outcomes of diverse communities in any of UMMC’s mission areas of education, research, and health care. 
      • The UMMC Insight Team won the Espirt De Corps Award. The Insight program is held on the UMMC campus for two weeks each summer. This enrichment program teaches high school juniors and seniors that self-identify as members of an unrepresented group in medicine about careers in healthcare. UMMC Insight will begin its third year this June.  

  

Faculty and Staff Awards:

  • Excellence in Research Award 
    • UMMC Recognizes investigators who have been successful in attracting extramural funding for their research program and who meet the research qualifications set by UMMC. Recipients receive an inscribed framed medallion and recognition at a ceremony held annually, as well as financial awards based on their threshold of funding. 
      • Dr. Eric Vallendar and Dr. Harry Pantazopoulos received the Silver Medallion, given to those who have secured at least $500,000 in extramurally funded original research.
  • AWARE Grant
    • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is providing a 3.6 Million dollar grant to create the AWARE project in Mississippi. 
      • Dr. Dustin Sarver received funding for AWARE to increase mental health awareness, foster resilience, and strengthen access to trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and family-driven mental health services and supports. The study is a partnership among the Mississippi Department of Education, the Mississippi Achievement School District, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, our state’s Federation of Families organization, community providers, and multiple programs across UMMC, MSU, and USM.

 

Student Research Awards 

  • Travel awards to the 15th Annual Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry meeting to be held in San Antonio, TX in March:  
    • William Doyle (mentor(s): Sally Huskinson) 
    • Tanya Pareek (mentor(s): Barbara Gisabella, Harry Pantazopoulos) 
    • Loc Pham (mentor(s): Kevin Freeman)
    • Jaren Reeves-Darby (mentor(s): Donna Platt, James Rowlett) 
  • Presentation Awards from the Mississippi Academy of Sciences
    • Dan Borgatti (mentor(s): James Rowlett, Lais Berro) - First Place Poster Presentation in the Neuroscience Division 
    • Jon Person (mentor(s): Eric Vallender) - Second Place Poster Presentation in the Neuroscience Division 
    • Jake Valeri (mentor(s): Harry Pantazopoulos, Barbara Gisabella) - First Place Oral Presentation in the Neuroscience Division, and Fourth Place in MS INBRE Graduate Scholars Symposium