Two faculty members of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), James E. Crowe, Jr, MD, and Neil Osheroff, PhD, are among 12 individuals honored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) during its 2023 Awards Recognition Event, held virtually on Oct. 25.
Crowe, the Ann Scott Carell Professor, professor of Pediatrics and of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, received the Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences for his group’s development of antibody treatments against a host of viral infections including COVID-19.
The AAMC, in announcing Crowe’s award, called his group’s contribution to the development in 2021 of an antibody regimen to protect immunocompromised people from COVID-19 “a triumph of translational medicine.”
Quoted by the AAMC, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer, said Crowe has “delineated the structural and genetic basis for direct virus neutralization for nearly every major pathogenic virus family that affects humans and has identified potentially neutralizing antibodies against these viruses.”
Osheroff, the John G. Coniglio Professor of Biochemistry and professor of Medicine, was one of four recipients of the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to medical education. Osheroff was honored for his innovative approach to teaching basic science.
Osheroff co-led development and implementation of the highly integrated pre-clerkship phase of VUSM’s Curriculum 2.0, adopted in 2013. He is co-leader of the Foundations of Medical Knowledge phase for first-year medical students, and he consults on basic science education with medical schools around the world.
According to Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of VUSM, who was quoted in the AAMC announcement, “The success of VUSM’s core UME (undergraduate medical education) programs would not be possible without Dr. Osheroff.”