Wake Forest University School of Medicine honored eight of its researchers with awards for excellence at the 13th Annual Research Awards Day Oct. 1.
The School of Medicine established the Basic and Clinical Sciences Research Awards in May 1996 to recognize research excellence, presenting annual awards to exceptional faculty members in basic and clinical disciplines at three levels: new investigator, mid-career investigator and established investigator.
The New Investigator Award honors researchers who have made significant contributions to scientific literature and who have the potential for outstanding careers as scientists. This year's honorees were:
- Cristina M. Furdui, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Molecular Medicine. Furdui received the "New Investigator in Basic Sciences Award" for her research, which focuses on understanding how the human body reacts to disease, and finding ways to predict how individuals will respond to drugs and other therapies.
Furdui and colleagues are working to develop biological models of how healthy cells operate and how these cells change during the development of different diseases or during the course of treatment. They hope to be able to compare these models and identify unique biological signatures for individual patients to guide the choice of treatment.
Furdui is a graduate of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she received several awards before continuing her postdoctoral training in mass spectrometry and molecular signaling as a postdoctoral associate at Yale University. Furdui joined the faculty at the School of Medicine in 2006.
- Matthew S. Edwards, M.D., M.S., associate professor in the Division of Surgical Sciences and the Department of Public Health Sciences. Edwards received the "New Investigator in Clinical Sciences Award" for his work in renovascular disease research.
Edwards and colleagues are focused in the area of improving clinical outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease and determining what characteristics can help identify patients who will most benefit from surgery and other interventions. They are currently enrolling patients in a study looking at ways to prevent kidney damage during angioplasty and stenting. Edwards has also applied for funding to begin studying the use of innovative MRI technologies to better identify patients likely to benefit from surgery on their kidney arteries.
Edwards earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed his general and vascular surgical training at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He completed a Master of Science degree in clinical epidemiology and health services research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The Mid-Career Investigator Award goes to researchers who have made a significant contribution to the field, who have developed outstanding research programs, have received a high level of national and international recognition, and who contribute as both mentor and colleague. Recipients of this year's award were:
- Sara R. Jones, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, with a cross appointment in the Neuroscience Program. Jones, who also serves as co-director of graduate studies for the department of physiology and pharmacology, was a co-recipient of the "Mid-Career Investigator in Basic Sciences Award" for her research on drug abuse and addiction.
Jones' research focuses on brain changes induced by chronic exposure to drugs of abuse, including alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine and methylphenidate (Ritalin). Her lab investigates the long-term adaptations that occur in the brain in response to drug use - changes that may last months to years after the use has stopped, with implications for long-term cognitive and emotional deficits following brief drug abuse periods.
Jones received her Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center before joining the Wake Forest faculty in 2000.
- Carl D. Langefeld, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biostatistical Sciences, shared the award for "Mid-Career Investigator in Basic Sciences" with Jones. Langefeld serves as section head of Statistical Genetics and Bioinformatics, director of the Center of Public Health Genomics and is a former co-director of the Translational Science Institute's Biomedical Informatics Program.
Langefeld's research focuses on developing and using mathematical, statistical and computer science tools to search the human genome to discover the genetic causes of disease and disease complications. He co-directs the International Consortium on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Genetics and the International Consortium on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Genetics. He leads the analytic efforts in the search for the genetic causes of a variety of diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, renal disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cystic fibrosis.
Langefeld was a pre-doctoral trainee in Genome Sciences at the University of Michigan, where he received his Ph.D. in biostatistics. He has earned M.S. degrees in applied statistics from Florida State University as well as in ecology, evolutionary biology and systematics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
- Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and associate director for research in the School of Medicine's Center for Worker Health. Grzywacz received the "Mid-Career Investigator in Clinical Sciences Award" for his research on work and family, and its implications for individual health and well-being.
Grzywacz has provided expert consultation on the Singapore National Study of Work-Life Harmony, and his expertise has been sought out by premiere employers including IBM and GlaxoSmithKline. He is a standing member of a National Institutes of Health scientific review panel and an editorial board member for three scientific journals.
Grzywacz's focus is on the health-related implications of everyday work and family life. His research projects study unique work arrangements, such as nonstandard work schedules and migrant farmwork, and it considers outcomes for both adults and children. He has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles appearing in top-ranked journals, and his research has been recognized as among the "Best of the Best" in work-family research four times in the past seven years.
The Established Investigator Award honors internationally recognized faculty members who contribute as both mentor and colleague, have established an important research program that has shaped or furthered a field of discipline, and who have contributed significantly to the research environment of the school and the nation. This year's honorees were:
- Thomas D. DuBose, Jr., M.D., Tinsley R. Harrison Professor and Chair of Internal Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was co-recipient of the "Established Investigator in Basic Sciences Award" for his work investigating acidosis and kidney tubule function.