Awards and recognitions (Fall, 2012)

Awards and recognitions

November 07, 2012

Maman, Sen receive McGavran, Larsh awards; Rimer introduces Bloomberg

Dr. Suzanne Maman

Dr. Pranab K. Sen

Two prestigious faculty awards were presented during the School’s May 12 commencement. Suzanne Maman, PhD, associate professor of health behavior, received the McGavran Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Pranab K. Sen, PhD, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished professor of biostatistics, received the John E. Larsh Jr. Award for Mentorship.

Dr. Barbara K. Rimer

On May 13, Dean Barbara K. Rimer introduced New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave the UNC commencement address. Read his speech at tinyurl.com/unc-bloomberg.

Dr. Joseph Ibrahim

Ibrahim receives dual ASA appointments

Joseph G. Ibrahim, PhD, Alumni Distinguished Professor of biostatistics and director of UNC’s Center for Innovative Clinical Trials (www.sph.unc.edu/clinical_trials), was appointed last spring as coordinating editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association (JASA) and editor of JASA‘s section on Applications and Case Studies.

Dr. Til Stürmer

Stürmer to lead international society

Til Stürmer, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology, was chosen as president-elect of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology. His three-year term of service began at the society’s 2012 annual meeting in Barcelona in August. Stürmer directs UNC’s Center of Excellence in Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health.

Dr. Dean M. Harris

Harris honored at Kiev conference

Dean M. Harris, JD, clinical associate professor of health policy and management, accepted the Health and Law Bioethics Award earlier this year at the International Congress on Medical and Pharmaceutical Law, Bioethics and Social Policy in Kiev, Ukraine.

Dr. Amy Herring

Herring accepts prestigious award

Biostatistics professor Amy H. Herring, ScD, accepted the Gertrude M. Cox Award in June at the Washington Statistical Society annual dinner, held at RTI International in Washington, D.C. The award, jointly sponsored by the Society and RTI, recognizes early- to mid-career statisticians for significant contributions to survey methodology, experimental design, biostatistics or statistical computing.

Allgood, Parham Hopson selected as distinguished alumni

Dr. Gregory Allgood

Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson

School alumni Gregory Allgood, PhD, and Deborah Parham Hopson, PhD, won UNC’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Allgood led a Procter & Gamble team that developed a reliable and convenient way to purify drinking water. Parham Hopson is associate administrator for the U.S. HIV/ AIDS Bureau. The two were honored on University Day, Oct. 12.

Stephanie Baker

HB student wins AHA fellowship

Stephanie Baker, doctoral student in health behavior, received a two-year predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. The award helps students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research. Baker studies ways that environmental and contextual factors contribute to racial disparities in sedentary behavior and physical activity.

Ashley Kranz

Kranz wins APHA award

Ashley Kranz, health policy and management doctoral student, was selected by the American Public Health Association’s oral health section as winner of the 2012 Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Post-Professional Student
Award. Kranz’s study compared effects of preventive dental services for children three and younger on their having cavities later.

Carmina G. Valle

First Marci Campbell award presented

Nutrition doctoral student Carmina G. Valle, MPH, received the inaugural Marci Kramish Campbell Dissertation Award, a competitive $5,000 award to be used for her dissertation research on cancer and the population sciences. The prize honors Dr. Campbell, a respected UNC cancer researcher, who died in 2011.

Dr. Adam Zolotor

School alumnus named NCIOM VP

Adam Zolotor, MD, MPH, DrPH, School alumnus and assistant professor in UNC’s Department of Family Medicine, was selected as vice president of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM).

Dr. Stephen W. Marshall

Marshall appointed IPRC director

Stephen W. Marshall, PhD, was named director of the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, effective Aug. 1. Marshall is professor of epidemiology and has an adjunct appointment in UNC’s Department of Exercise and Sport Science. He has served as interim director of the Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC) since August 2011.

Marva Mizell Price

Alumna to work with energy commission
N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue has appointed School alumna Marva Mizell Price (MPH, 1974; DrPH, 1977), associate professor of nursing at Duke University, for a four-year term on the Mining and Energy Commission. The new commission will develop and oversee regulations for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state.

Tara Seshan

Student entrepreneur wins $100K
Taraa Seshan, a senior Bachelor of Science in Public Health student in environmental
sciences and engineering, has received a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship to launch an innovative health services company. Seshan is the entrepreneur behind Chek.Up (www.chekuphealth.com), which seeks to provide better health monitoring and evaluation in low-resource settings. Burcu Bozkurt, undergraduate in health policy and management, is also on the Chek.Up team. The fellowship is awarded annually to 20 young innovative thinkers under age 20.

Allison Groves

Heather Paich

Gillings Award recipients named
Doctoral candidates Allison Groves (health behavior) and Heather Paich (nutrition) received the 2012 Gillings Dissertation Award, a $5,000 prize to support doctoral research and dissertation writing at the School. Groves is studying intimate partner violence in South Africa, and Paich studies the impact of obesity upon people’s response to influenza infection.

Gillings Merit Scholarships awarded

Twelve students were designated as 2012-2013 Gillings Merit Scholarship recipients. The scholarships, established in 2010 to help the School recruit graduate students with exceptional promise, are made possible through a generous gift to the School from Dennis Gillings and Joan Gillings. Awardees include Erika Helgeson (biostatistics); Julia Naman (environmental sciences and engineering); Eboneé Butler (epidemiology); Maria Priscilla Brietzke and Rachel Clad (health behavior); Daniel Douthit, Meredith Webb and Lei Zhou (health policy and management); Shane Khan (maternal and child health); Gina Tripicchio (nutrition); and Heidi Harkins and Virginia Moye (Public Health Leadership Program).

Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. To view previous issues, please visit https://sph.unc.edu/cphm/cph/

Last updated November 14, 2012