Drs. Are, Fisher receive university awards

UNMC’s Chandrakanth Are, M.B.B.S., and Wayne Fisher, Ph.D., were recognized Wednesday when University of Nebraska Interim President James Linder, M.D., announced the 2015 winners of the university’s most prestigious awards for teaching, research and engagement.

Dr. Are received the Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA), which recognizes individual faculty members who have demonstrated meritorious and sustained records of excellence and creativity in teaching.

Dr. Fisher received the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) Award, which recognizes individual faculty members for outstanding research or creative activity of national or international significance.

Since his arrival at UNMC in 2007, Dr. Are, vice chair of education for the Department of Surgery, associate professor of surgical oncology, and program director for general surgery residency at UNMC, has earned a reputation as an innovative educator, a meticulous surgeon, and someone with exemplary dedication to patients, Dr. Linder said.

Dr. Are focuses on creating highly beneficial experiences for students. He has developed curricula that help residents pass their exit exams and improve their scores. More than 90 percent of residents taking the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) exam improved their scores by taking a new remedial course developed by Dr. Are.

His innovative thinking also led to the establishment of an international rotation program that allows residents to spend nearly six months in India, expanding their international awareness and exposing them to different health care models. Dr. Are’s impact is best summed up by his students, with one former student calling Dr. Are “the most influential person” during his general surgery training.

Dr. Fisher, H.B. Munroe Professor of Behavioral Research and director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at UNMC, is devoted to improving the lives of children with autism. As director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, he oversees three programs that serve about 100 students annually, with participation expected to grow significantly.

Among the programs he oversees is the Severe Behavior Disorders Program, which was found to reduce the destructive behavior of students and impose less restrictive procedures on them than of children served by specialty programs.

In the past nine years, Dr. Fisher has secured $3.6 million to support his work. He procures the necessary resources to maintain his highly active research programs, providing support to children who would not otherwise receive it. Dr. Fisher’s dedication to the field earned him the Outstanding Contribution to Applied Behavior Research Award from the American Psychological Association in 2002.

The awards will be presented during a luncheon later this spring.