Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
Several colleagues received Graduate Program in Life Sciences (GPILS) and Office of Postdoctoral Scholars (OPS) Awards for 2021: Jason Alipio, Graduate Student, Program in Neuroscience, in the laboratory of Asaf Keller, PhD, Professor and Chair received the PhD Thesis Award. Cali Calarco, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, in the Laboratory of Dr. Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, Professor, received the Postdoctoral Fellow Excellence in Service award for her exceptional service and commitment to outreach and education to the neuroscience and greater scientific community and Dr. Mary Kay Lobo received both the Dr. Mark E. Shirtliff PhD Student Mentor Award and the Teacher of the Year award. They will be recognized in a Zoom ceremony on Monday, October 18, 2021.
Jeffrey Koenig, Ph.D. - Asaf Keller's Lab
Has been offered a scholarship under the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship-for-Service Program (SMART). This highly competitive and prestigious scholarship is funded by the Department of Defense. It will provide Jeff not only with a scholarship and other benefits throughout his Ph.D. studies, but also guarantees him employment placement at a DoD facility upon degree completion.
Asaf Keller, PhD, Professor and Chair
- Has been awarded the Donald E. Wilson Distinguished Professorship.
- Donald Wilson MD, MACP, continues to be hisinspiration and role model. He was the 29th Dean of our @UMmedschool, from 1991-2006.
- He greatly expanded and modernized research and teaching, and created one of the most diverse student bodies and faculties of any medical school in the country.
- Read more about Dean Wilson here
- Was honored by President Trump, in July 2019, as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
- Published a new peer-reviewed paper, "Investigating discriminative stimulus modulation of opioid seeking after conflict-induced abstinence in sign- and goal-tracking rats" Psychopharmacology, 2022 Aug 16. doi: 10.1007/s00213-022-06204-7. It is available here.
- Was the recipient of the Society for Neuroscience Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award. This is one of five life-time awards that honors the work of dedicated scientists who make an outstanding contribution to the field of neuroscience. The award was announced on November 1, 2021, during the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA) Mini-convention where the recipient gives a Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award Lecture. The award is given for research that has led to significant conceptual and empirical contributions to the understanding of drug addiction.
- Was recently appointed a Reviewing Editor for the Journal of Neuroscience, the official journal for the Society for Neuroscience.
- Was honored by President Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
- Was elected an AAAS Fellow in recognition of her achievements in advancing science. The announcement was made on November 27, 2018. The induction ceremony will be held at the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. on February 16, 2019.
- Adam Puche was elected by the SOM Class of 2022 to receive the Golden Apple Award for Best Pre-Clinical Faculty. The award will be presented to Adam at this year’s School of Medicine Graduation Ceremony. This will be the third Medical Class Graduation award Adam has received. He is also the recipient of four Class Council awards, and a Reagent’s Award.
- Was elected to Associate Member status, effective January 1, 2022, in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) by the Council of The ACNP at their annual meeting in December 2021.
- Was selected as a Travel Awardee for the 2021 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) Annual Meeting. He was selected by the ACNP Education and Training Committee to receive this award for the ACNP’s 60th annual meeting which will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 5-8, 2021.
Marco Venniro (corresponding mPI), Mary Kay Lobo (mPI), and Seth Ament (mPI; IGS)
- Were awarded a new NIDA grant, "Genomic profiling mediating the protective effect of social reward on opioid craving". This is another example of fruitful, cross-disciplinary collaborations within our department, and with colleagues at other UMSOM departments.
Drs. Mary Kay Lobo and Joe Cheer, the co-directors of the Center for substance Use in Pregnancy, conceived, organized and ran this outstanding symposium.
- The Substance Use in Pregnancy Symposium just ended. It was the first international symposium of its kind, and it was a tremendous success. It brought together clinicians, fundamental scientists, and community leaders to address key issues in understanding and treating the outcome of perinatal exposure to drugs. We had stellar presentations by trainees, and outstanding talks by international leaders in the field.