July Recognitions

The Council for Advancement & Support of Education recognized several articles in Stanford Medicine publications. Four Stanford Medicine magazine stories earned awards: “An Act of Love” by neurosurgery resident Adela Wu and “A Physician’s Surprising Encounter with ChatGPT” by Jonathan Chen, an assistant professor of biomedical informatics, each received gold in the column or opinion piece category. “The Spice Sellers’ Secret” by freelance science writer Kris Newby secured gold for research, medicine and science writing, and “And Yet, There’s Hope” by editor Hanae Armitage, garnered a silver. Senior science writer Bruce Goldman’s press release, “Stanford Medicine study reveals why we value things more when they cost us more,” earned a gold.

Dhanani, a medical student and graduate of the master’s in health policy program, received the 2024 California Medical Student Health Equity Leadership Award from Physicians for a Healthy California. The award honors a student whose activities have demonstrated interest toward becoming a next-generation leader in promoting health equity within the state of California.

The Younger Family Professor and professor of molecular and cellular physiology and of structural biology has been named as one of three recipients of the 2024 Emory Max Cooper Prize in Immunology. The award includes a $100,000 prize to be shared equally among the three winners, along with a commemorative medal. Garcia was recognized for his work investigating the three-dimensional structures of immune receptors on cell surfaces, specifically elucidating the basis of MHC restriction by T cell receptors, a key process in allowing the immune system to attack pathogens, which has led to new therapeutics, including those being tested on patients with cancer.

The professor of neurobiology has been selected as one of 26 new Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. Giocomo will receive $9 million in grant funding over the next seven years to support her research, which is focused on understanding the neural basis of spatial navigation. Her lab investigates multiple brain regions responsible for mapping the external environment, allowing us to remember past locations, know our current position and flexibly plan future routes.

The hematology and oncology fellow has been invited to serve as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Trainee & Early Career Advisory Group for the 2024-2025 term. ASCO is the largest professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Members of the advisory group advocate for the broader trainee community and provide feedback and ideas to other ASCO volunteer groups throughout their term.

The Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor III and professor of cardiovascular medicine has been named the president of western states region board of directors for the American Heart Association. During his two-year term, he will spearhead a group of health care, business and community leaders in driving the association’s mission of building longer, healthier lives and ensuring equitable health for all.

Developmental biology student Azalia Martínez Jaimes and her adviser, professor of biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Kristy Red-Horse, have been named fellows of the 2024 cohort of HHMI’s Gilliam Fellows Program. The program recognizes student-adviser pairs for their outstanding research and their commitments to advancing equity and inclusion in science. The pair will receive $53,000 of annual funding for up to three years to support Martínez Jaimes’s dissertation research, focused on illuminating key mechanisms of artery maturation in coronary artery development during adolescence, and using those insights to enhance new vessels built in response to heart attacks occurring in adulthood for the purpose of improving heart function and ultimately, survival outcomes.

The Milan Gambhir Professor in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology has been awarded 11th annual Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. The prize, which includes a $50,000 award, is in recognition of Monje’s contributions to research relating to the neuroscience of cancer and its implications for therapy.

The Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine and professor of pediatric stem cell transplantation has been named the vice president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. The society is a nonprofit medical and scientific organization focused on the understanding, development and application of gene, cell and nucleic acid therapies. Porteus will serve in this role for one year, then as president-elect in 2025, and as president in 2026.

Immunology student Adonis Rubio and his adviser, assistant professor of biology Christopher Barnes, have been named fellows of the 2024 cohort of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Gilliam Fellows Program. The program recognizes student-adviser pairs for their outstanding research as well as for their commitments to advancing equity and inclusion in science. The pair will receive $53,000 of annual funding for up to three years, to support Rubio’s dissertation research, which focuses on leveraging structural biology to profile protective human antibodies against infectious diseases, with the aim of engineering therapeutics and vaccines to improve human health.