Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., speaks at Tuesday’s Spring Faculty Meeting. (photo by Anne Rayner)
Spring Faculty Meeting provides updates on programs, initiatives
Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, began Tuesday's Spring Faculty Meeting by addressing the needs of employees who have been affected by the flooding that occurred in Nashville over the weekend.
He said that the Medical Center administration was establishing a resource center to help assess needs, particularly housing, and begin to address them.
Among the other topics Balser touched on was the economy and how the School of Medicine and the Medical Center are managing these challenges, saying that both are faring “very, very well as we rebuild our savings following the recession.”
Balser also discussed adding financial support for the Ph.D. programs to recruit more foreign students from the world's best universities. He also praised the undergraduate and graduate medical education programs, noting improving statistics on national competitiveness, while emphasizing continued efforts to recruit more residents outside the Southeast.
Balser provided additional data showing the reputation of the School of Medicine is growing, citing not only U.S. News and World Report rankings, but healthy growth in National Institutes of Health funding and gains in faculty recognition through membership in leading academic societies, including the National Academies.
The Spring Faculty Meeting culminated with the presentation of this year's Academic Enterprise awards, including a new award — the Jacek Hawiger Award for Teaching Graduate Students or Postdoctoral Fellows in the Classroom, Lecture or Small Group Setting. Hawiger, M.D., Ph.D., who came to Vanderbilt in 1990 to lead the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is stepping down as chair, having overseen significant growth in faculty recruitment, graduate student enrollment and grant funding.
Excellence in Teaching
• Robert D. Collins Award for Teaching Medical or Graduate Students in the Lecture Setting — Ralph Ohde, Ph.D., M.Ed., professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences
• Elaine Sanders-Bush Award for Mentoring Graduate and/or Medical Students in the Research Setting — Richard O'Brien, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
• Jacek Hawiger Award for Teaching Graduate Students or Postdoctoral Fellows in the Classroom, Lecture or Small Group Setting — Roger Chalkley, D.Phil., senior associate dean for Biomedical Research Education and Training and professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
• R. Michael Rodriguez Award for Teaching Medical Students, Residents and/or Fellows in the Clinical Setting — Michael Shawn Cookson, M.D., M.M.H.C., Patricia and Rodes Hart Chair in Urologic Surgery
Outstanding Contributions to Research
• Stanley Cohen Award for Research Bridging Diverse Disciplines to Solve Biology's Most Important Fundamental Questions — Billy Hudson, Ph.D., Elliot V. Newman Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Pathology
• John H. Exton Award for Research Leading to Innovative Biological Concepts — Roland Stein, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Cell and Developmental Biology
• Grant W. Liddle Award for Outstanding Contributions in Clinical Research — Robert Labadie, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Bioengineering
• Charles R. Park Award For Basic Research Revealing Insights into Physiology and Pathophysiology — David Wasserman, Ph.D., Ron Santo Chair in Diabetes Research and professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.