16 others also will receive research awards
Howard Fox, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the eighth Scientist Laureate for the UNMC. The award is the highest honor UNMC bestows to researchers.
Dr. Fox, a professor of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience and senior associate dean for research in the College of Medicine, was honored along with 16 other researchers recently named UNMC Distinguished Scientist, New Investigator, Research Leadership and Community Service to Research award winners for 2013.
He was a Distinguished Scientist in 2010. His research deals with disease pathogenesis with a primary focus on HIV/AIDS research.
“Howard Fox is not only an internationally recognized investigator in HIV, but since he joined the faculty, he has been a campus thought leader, significantly contributing to discussions of research infrastructure, training, and novel approaches to incentivizing new research teams and collaborations,” said Jennifer Larsen, M.D., vice chancellor for research.
A campus ceremony will be held on April 21 to recognize the award recipients. Dr. Fox joined UNMC in 2008 as professor and executive vice chairman of the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience. In 2009, he was named director for the Center for Integrative and Translational Neuroscience, which is focused on taking research from the bench to the bedside.
A native of Chicago, Dr. Fox earned a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He then went across the country to the University of California, San Francisco, where he earned his medical and doctorate degrees. At both universities, he was elected to the top honor societies – Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, respectively.
He completed an anatomic pathology residency as well as a surgical pathology fellowship at UCSF before joining The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., in 1990. He worked at the institute for 18 years.
He is currently serving as principal investigator on four grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a program project and a center grant. He has chaired NIH study sections and served in numerous other advisory roles for institutional, state and federal agencies.
Active in numerous community organizations, Dr. Fox is involved in the UNMC High School Alliance, a project that brings high school students from area high schools to UNMC as a way to motivate students to pursue careers in health care.
The Distinguished Scientist Award recognizes researchers who have been among the most productive scientists in the country during the past five years.
The Research Leadership Award is being given for the first time this year and honors scientists previously recognized as Distinguished Scientists who have a longstanding research funding history and also serve as research leaders and mentors on campus.
The New Investigator Award goes to outstanding UNMC scientists who in the past two years have secured their first funding from national sources and demonstrate scholarly activity such as publishing their research and/or presenting their findings at national conventions.
The Community Service to Research Award honors a community member who has contributed significantly to research.
The award winners are listed below.
Research Leadership Award
College of Medicine — Kaushik Patel, Ph.D., and Wallace Thoreson, Ph.D.
Distinguished Scientist
College of Medicine — Harold Schultz, Ph.D., Andre Kalil, M.D., Kusum Kharbanda, Ph.D., and William Rizzo, M.D.
College of Nursing — Karen Schumacher, Ph.D.
College of Public Health — Fang Yu, Ph.D., and Amr Soliman, M.D., Ph.D.
Eppley Institute — Adam Karpf, Ph.D.
New Investigator Award
College of Medicine — Cheng Wang, Ph.D., and Stephen Obaro, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
Eppley Institute — Pankaj Singh, Ph.D.
College of Dentistry — Aimin Peng, Ph.D.
School of Allied Health Professions — Katherine Jones, Ph.D.
Community Service to Research Award
Lois Norris, of Omaha, is a longstanding 30-year volunteer member of the UNMC Institutional Review Board who also serves on the Nebraska Biobank Community Advisory Committee.