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Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School, left, awards Patricia Wright, Ph.D., R.N., of the College of Nursing with one of two Graduate Faculty of the Year awards at the Graduate School Spring Reception.

Wright, Sterba Honored as Graduate Faculty of the Year

May 17, 2018 | May 17, 2018 | Patricia Wright, Ph.D., R.N., and Kristen Sterba, Ph.D., were honored as Graduate Faculty of the Year at the Graduate School Spring Reception, where two new awards for administrative support were also given to Pam Kahler and Johnpaul Jones.

“It’s been a great year for the graduate school,” said Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School. “And the reason is all of you. It’s the faculty, students and all the people we work with that make this possible.”

The event, which features a reception and award ceremony, is the largest of several events the Graduate School hosts annually to recognize faculty, staff, students and mentorship. It was held May 3 in the Helen Guinn Adams Atrium in the Biomed 1 building.

Wright is an assistant professor in the College of Nursing. She earned her Ph.D. in nursing at UAMS and also holds a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the UAMS College of Public Health.

McGehee noted that she is beloved by students for her teaching abilities.

“She works on improving opioid treatment, specifically in removing barriers to treatment in rural areas,” McGehee said. “Trish, we can’t thank you enough for all you do on behalf of students.”

Sterba is associate dean of the Graduate School, where she has worked alongside McGehee for 14 years. Sterba is moving to the Office of the Provost at UAMS, where she will serve as director of institutional research, policy and accreditation.

McGehee warned the audience he might get emotional while talking about Sterba.

“I’m losing somebody I’ve worked with since the first day on the job. I’m still at a loss to describe all that Kristen’s done for the Graduate School. This lady has done amazing, amazing things. I thought nothing could be better than to honor her here in front of all of the people she has helped over the years,” McGehee said, garnering cheers from the audience.

Honoring faculty at the spring reception has been a longstanding tradition for the Graduate School, but McGehee said that he recently realized that they were omitting recognition for key people. From now on they will recognize other key individuals through an annual Administrative Appreciation Award and an as-needed Dean’s Distinguished Service Award.

Pam Kahler – executive assistant to Chairman Nancy Rusch in the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, received the Administrative Appreciation Award for her hard work.

“Pam has done a remarkable job for many, many years. I can’t even begin to list them all,” McGehee said of the ways in which she has helped people.

Johnpaul Jones, chief photographer in the Office of Communications & Marketing, received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award for exceptional commitment for graduate students and faculty. Jones has worked at UAMS for more than 25 years.

“You really don’t see him, because he’s always in the background, but he’s always there, and never once has he not responded to an email in lightning speed,” McGehee said, to loud applause.

Among the student honorees were Bradford Martins and Julia Tobacyk, who were recognized with Outstanding Achievement Awards for receiving prestigious fellowships.

Martins is in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences program and was honored for earning a National Institutes of Health F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship. Tobacyk is in the pharmacology program and was honored for earning a Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Predoctoral Fellowship.

McGehee also gave student Achievement Awards to:

• Chris Bolden, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – First Place Poster Presentation in the 2018 UAMS Student Research Day Graduate Student Division and Overall Division; Southern Regional Educational Board Dissertation Fellowship
• Magdalena Delgado, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Third Place Poster Presentation in the 2018 UAMS Student Research Day Graduate Student Division
• William Hyatt, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – Second Place Poster Presentation in the 2018 UAMS Student Research Day Graduate Student Professional Student Division
• Samantha McClenahan, Interdisciplinary Toxicology – First Place Poster Presentation in the 2018 UAMS Student Research Day Graduate Student Division and Overall Division
• Julia Tobacyk, Pharmacology – Selected as chair for a Gordon Research Conference Seminar Series

Mentor Awards were given to the following faculty for successfully mentoring Ph.D. candidates to graduation:

• • Antino Allen, Ph.D. – Tyler Alexander, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences; and Thomas Groves, Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences
  • Vladimir Lupashin, Ph.D. – Jessica Bailey Blackburn, Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics; and Leslie Climer, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Giulia Baldini, M.D., Ph.D. – Kimberly Cooney, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Frank Simmen, Ph.D.  – Lorenzo Fernandes, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Steven Barger, Ph.D. – Rachel Hendrix, Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences
  • Steven Post, Ph.D. and Charles Quick, M.D. – Emily Holthoff, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Peter Crooks, Ph.D. and Michael Borrelli, Ph.D. – Gauri Lamture, Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Guangrong Zheng, Ph.D – Xingui Liu, Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Fusun Kilic, Ph.D. – Curtis Lowery III, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D. – Daniel Meeker, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Sue Griffin, Ph.D. – Paul Parcon, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
  • Karl Boehme, Ph.D. – Matthew Phillips, Microbiology and Immunology; and Johnasha Stuart, Microbiology and Immunology
  • Patricia Wright, Ph.D. – Leah Richardson, Nursing Science
  • Bradley Martin, Ph.D. – Anuj Shah, Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy
  • Alan Tackett, Ph.D. – Bradley Shields, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences; and Kirk West, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Leanne Lefler, Ph.D. – Ayasha Thomason, Nursing Science
  • Roy Morello, Ph.D. –  Sarah Zimmerman, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences

And the following students were honored for the awards listed:

• Chris Bolden, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Neuroscience Scholars Program Associate Award; ASPET Mentoring Network Travel Award/ASPET Travel Award/ASPET Poster Award; FASEB MARC Mentored Travel Award; UAB NEURAL Scholarship
• Erin Bush, Nursing Science – William Randolph Hearst Scholar
• Magdalena Delgado, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – ASBMB 2018 Graduate Travel Award
• Laura Ewing, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – Perry J. Gehring Student Award, Society of Toxicology Risk Assessment Specialty Section
• Brian Koss, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – Miltenyi Biotec’s Immuno-Oncology Innovation Award
• Samantha McClenahan, Interdisciplinary Toxicology – First Place 3 Minute Thesis Graduate School Semifinal; Runner-Up 3 Minute Thesis UAMS Finals
• Catheryn Wilson, Interdisciplinary Toxicology – First Place Poster, Carolina Cannabinoid Collaborative Conference; First Place Poster, Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience; Best Presentation Award, Behavior, Biology and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction
• Pankaj Patyal, Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics – Selected as a Student Helper for the American Society for Neurochemistry Annual Meeting
• Matthew Phillips, Microbiology and Immunology – Journal of Virology Spotlight article paper selection
• Bradley Shields, Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences – AACR Scholar in Training Award
• Catheryn Wilson, Interdisciplinary Toxicology – 2018 NEURAL Conference Travel Award; ASPET Graduate Student Travel Award; Behavior, Biology and Chemistry (BBC): Translational Research in Addiction Travel Award