Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, the F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology and Cell and Developmental Biology, and Albert M. Maguire, MD, the F.M. Kirby Professor of Molecular Ophthalmology, have been awarded the tenth annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine. A $20,000 prize, the award recognizes the team's groundbreaking translational research to restore sight in inherited genetic diseases.
Kathryn Adamiak Davis, MD, MSTR, an associate professor of Neurology and director of the Penn Epilepsy Center, has received the Charley & Peggy Roach Founders' Award and Eric Burton Osberg Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania (EFEPA). She is recognized for her volunteer work making strides in the epilepsy community. Throughout her career, she has been a dedicated volunteer to the epilepsy community, educating patients and caregivers. She serves on the EFEPA Professional Advisory Board, Board of Directors, and is the chair of the Epilepsy Foundation of America's Research and New Therapeutics Committee.
Oluwadamilola "Lola" Fayanju, MD, chief of Breast Surgery and surgical director for the Rena Rowan Breast Center, has received an $800,000 collaborative research agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. for a project to optimize collection of social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDoH) for patients receiving breast cancer care at Penn Medicine. The project will bring together community, institutional, and industry stakeholders to develop systems-focused interventions for collecting and acting on SBDoH. These factors can greatly impact a patient's successful completion of treatment, but currently aren't routinely addressed in cancer care.
Emmanuel Gibon, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery and member of the Penn Joint Replacement program, has been named the recipient of this year's John Insall Award from the Knee Society, an American institution that seeks to advance education and research in the field of knee replacement. Each year, the society presents three awards for studies submitted from practicing orthopaedic surgeons across the world. Gibon's winning piece focused on a randomized clinical trial that found that cementless tibial components - the artificial platform at the bottom of the joint in a total knee replacement - were as effective and durable as their cemented-in counterparts a decade after being applied.
Maayan Levy, PhD, an assistant professor of Microbiology, has been awarded the Stohlman Family Grant in memory of Richard Stohlman and Margaret Weigand from the Prevent Cancer Foundation. With this grant, Levy will study the occurrence of colorectal cancer in patients with Lynch syndrome, the most common cause of hereditary colon cancer. This study will serve as the steppingstone for larger follow-up trials in individuals with Lynch syndrome and beyond. It is the hope that this study will establish a new, low-cost, and widely accessible prevention method for colorectal cancer.
Jennifer Zhang, MD, an assistant professor of Breast Surgery, has been named to the 2023 cohort of the National Cancer Institute's Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program (ESSP). The ESSP is designed to train surgeon-scientists and retain them in cancer research by supporting a program focused on cancer-related disease and basic/translational research. Zhang will receive a $375,000 grant award over three years.
