Dr. Mehta receives Golden Apple Award from second-year students

Parmender Mehta, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has posthumously been honored with the Golden Apple Award from second-year medical students (Class of 2021). Dr. Mehta died unexpectedly on March 3. He was 65.
 
A native of Chamba, India, Dr. Mehta earned his Ph.D. at Kobe University in Kobe, Japan, in 1983 and launched his career, as well as his postdoctoral work, at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami. He joined UNMC in 2000 and taught endocrinology and hemostasis for first-year medical students, as well as several courses for graduate students.
 
Dr. Mehta received multiple teaching awards including the UNMC Outstanding Teaching Award in 2010, the Hirschmann Prize for Teaching Excellence from the Class of 2017, and the Silver Pear Award from the UNMC College of Medicine Class of 2020.
 
Here are some of the comments he received from his nominators: 

• "To us, Dr. Mehta embodied everything that the Golden Apple represents. Not only did Dr. Mehta bring charm and approachability to the very difficult subject of biochemistry through his teachings, he also brought a calming presence into the lecture hall whether he was there to sit in on another lecturer to learn or to teach himself."
• "Throughout his lectures that ranged from the topics of human hormone synthesis and mechanisms to the very complicated eicosanoids (a special class of lipids used in the human body for anti- and pro-inflammatory effects), he would stop every once in a while to remind us all about just how much there is in life, including that outside the lecture hall."
• "Many times he would take moment to tell us all to remember to relax and in the end everything will work out perfectly. In a world as rigorous as medical education, being reminded that at the end of the day even with as much studying that has to get done, it is OK to stop, take a deep breath or two, and take some time to live life in this beautiful world to the fullest."