César de la Fuente, PhD, a Presidential Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Microbiology, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Bioengineering, has been recognized with the 2021 Princess of Girona Foundation Scientific Research Award by the Princess of Girona Foundation. The honorary chairman of the foundation, King Felipe VI of Spain, announced the honor during a ceremony on April 29. De la Fuente was selected for his leadership and achievements in the field of computational biology leading Penn's Machine Biology Group, which aims to develop new antibiotics using computers to fight antibiotic resistance.
Terence P. Gade, MD, PhD,an assistant professor of Radiology and co-director of the Penn Image-Guided Interventions Laboratory, will receive the 2021 RRA New Investigator Award from the Association of University Radiologists during its 69th annual meeting in May. The award is given to a clinician-scientist in their early to mid-career when they are on their way to becoming independent investigators.
Michael Harhay, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of Epidemiology and Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, was selected by the Assembly on Critical Care to receive the American Thoracic Society Assembly on Critical Care's Early Career Achievement Award. The award is given to an individual who has made the most outstanding scientific contributions in clinical, translational, or laboratory-based research relevant to critical care.
Penn Medicine's Center for Connected Care received the national 2021 Quality and Practice Innovation Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine, which recognizes practice innovations that lead to gains in quality through safety, efficiency, equity, and patient focus, among other areas. The Center for Connected Care is jointly led by Ann Huffenberger, DBA, RN, the director of operations, and Krisda Chaiyachati, MD, the medical director of the Center's Penn Medicine OnDemand virtual practice.
Jason Moore, PhD,the Edward Rose Professor of Informatics, was elected as a member of the International Statistics Institute (ISI). The ISI is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization and has had consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1949.
Penn Medicine earned a Future Edge 50 Award for the Conversation Connect project. This project redesigned a clinical workflow with a machine learning algorithm that automatically flags patients who would benefit most from a timely conversation about their end-of-life goals and wishes, and prompts clinicians to have these conversations before patients' illnesses progress too far. The project was led by Penn Medicine's Predictive Healthcare Team with the Abramson Cancer Center and was made up of a cross-disciplinary team of oncologists, clinical informaticists, human factors scientists, data scientists, and software engineers, resulting in an improved patient care experience, and the reduction of missed opportunities for important conversations.
Avery Posey, Jr., PhD, an assistant professor of Pharmacology in the department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, received a $200,000 V Scholar grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research, funded by the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund. The award recognizes researchers from the Black community, which is underrepresented in scientific research. Posey's research focuses on novel immunotherapies for multiple myeloma. In addition, he received the AACR- Lustgarten Foundation Award at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Marco Ruella, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology and scientific director of the Lymphoma Program, received a Clinical Investigator Career Development Award from the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF). Richa Kapoor, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, received a fellowship grant from LRF, as well, as part of its new Health Equity Initiative devoted to breaking down barriers women and researchers of color may face while navigating a career in lymphoma research and addressing inequities in the care and treatment of lymphoma patients.
Joseph M. Serletti, MD, FACS, chief of Plastic Surgery, received the 2021 Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award from the Johns Hopkins Medical & Surgical Association. The award honors alumni who have demonstrated unique dedication and leadership through their personal and professional accomplishments.
Alisa Stephens-Shields, PhD, an assistant professor of Biostatistics, is an inaugural member of the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) Leadership Academy. The COPSS intends membership in the new Academy to be one of the highest honors given to early-career statistical scientists.
Russell T. Shinohara, PhD, an associate professor of Biostatistics, was selected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA). The ASA is the world's largest community of statisticians, the "Big Tent for Statistics." It is the second-oldest continuously operating professional association in the country.
Katalin Susztak, MD, PhD,a professor of Renal Electrolyte and Hypertension, was awarded the Alfred Newton Richards Award from the International Society of Nephrology for her outstanding basic research in nephrology. Susztak has made fundamental discoveries toward defining critical genes, cell types, and chronic kidney disease mechanisms. She was instrumental in defining genetic and epigenetic transcriptional changes in diseased human kidneys. She identified novel kidney disease genes and demonstrated the contribution of Notch signaling and metabolic dysregulation to kidney disease development.
