Honors and Grants

Alfred Ayala, Surgery, received the 2024 Legacy Award from the Society of Leukocyte Biology, the highest award given by the organization.

Philip A. Chan, Medicine, was elected to the Presidential Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). In this role, he will advise the federal government on policy related to HIV across the United States. https://www.hiv.gov/blog/pacha-welcomes-13-new-members-opens-applications-for-others/

Chris Merritt, Emergency Medicine, was received a 2023 Excellence in Reviewing Award from the journal Academic Medicine.  

Sanjay Mishra, MS, PhD, received The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, given by the National Academies in partnership with Schmidt Futures. These prestigious awards recognize science journalists, research scientists, and science communicators who have developed creative, original work to communicate issues and advances in science, engineering, and medicine to the general public.

Philip R. Rizzuto, Surgery (Ophthalmology), was a Guest of Honor at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in San Francisco, and was honored for his long history of volunteerism, his work as an innovative clinician educator, his transformative leadership skills, and stalwart support as an advocate for the house of Medicine and Ophthalmology.

Gunjan Singh, Postdoctoral Research Associate, MCB, received a 2023 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Aging Research for “Determining the role of Dosage Compensation Complex in regulation of sex-specific aging of brain.” This program supports postdoctoral fellows who study basic research mechanisms of aging and/or translational findings that have potential to directly benefit human health.

Mariah Stump, Medicine, was elected secretary of the Rhode Island Medical Society. She was also elected by the Board of the Rhode Island Medical Women's Association as chapter president.

Method Tuuli, Obstetrics and Gynecology, WIH, was elected member of the National Academy of Medicine in the class of 2023. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

Richard J. Bennett, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI), received $1,920,940 for “Commensal Candida albicans primed Th17 immunity.” The grant is a subaward through Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Elizabeth Brainerd, Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology (EEOB), received  $205,322 for “Multi-modal Tracking of In Vivo Skeletal Structures and Implants.” The grant is a subaward through Rhode Island Hospital from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin.  

Margaret Bublitz, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Mentor, and Nina Ayala, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Principal Investigator, received $687,318 for “Mindfulness, Optimism and Resilience for Perinatal Health and Equity (MORPHE) Trial” from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

Christina Cuomo, MMI, received $7,382 for “Development of a novel CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) technique for genome-scale transcriptional repression in Candida auris” from the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research. She also received $2,052,149 for “Mapping the genomic and molecular mechanisms of antifungal resistance in the emerging fungal pathogen Candida auris.” The grant is a subaward through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.          

Anindhya S. Das, Postdoc in MCB, received $107,031           for “Role of AIMP3 in Cardiac Physiology” from the American Heart Association. Mentor is Federica Accornero.                

Wafik S. El-Deiry, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, received a $360,000 Institutional Research Grant from the American Cancer Society.       

Nicolas Fawzi, Molecular, Cellular Biology Biochemistry (MCB), received $150,185 for “Targeting biomolecular condensates in hepatocellular carcinoma.” The grant is a subaward through Thomas Jefferson University from the National Cancer Institute.

Nicole James, Obstetrics and Gynecology, received $50,000 for “The evaluation of amphiregulin as a novel immunomodulatory high grade serous ovarian cancer therapy” from the Constance Howes Innovations in Women’s Health Research Award.

Jonathan Kurtis and Christian Nixon, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, received $500,144 for “Identifying the targets of protective immunity to severe falciparum malaria” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  

Sendurai Mani and Petra den Hollander, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, received $606,074 for “DMS/NIGMS 2: Regulation of Cellular Stemness during the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT).” The grant is a subaward from Northeastern University through the National Science Foundation. They also received $51,459 for “Preclinical characterization of EMT/CSC-specific small molecule inhibitors for TNBCs” from the National Cancer Institute.  

John E. McGeary, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, received $882,967 for “Investigating mechanisms underpinning outcomes in people on opioid agonist treatment for OUD: Disentangling sleep and circadian rhythm influences on craving and emotion regulation.” The grant is a subaward from Bradley Hospital through the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  

Emily Miller, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women & Infants Hospital, received $4,115,723 for “Collaborative care model for perinatal depression support services – population-level equity-centered systems change (COMPASS-PLUS): a hybrid type 2 cluster randomized trial,” an R01 award from the National Institute of Nursing Research. She also received a $100,000 Project evaluation grant for the AMAR community-based doula program from the Burke Foundation.

John M. Sedivy, MCB, received $931,295 for “Stem Cells and Aging.” The grant is a subaward through Rhode Island Hospital from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.       

Methodius Tuuli, Obstetrics and Gynecology, WIH, received $6,245,702 for “Rhode Island Community -based Maternal Support Services Bundle for Advancing Perinatal Health Equity” from the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.