Research Excellence Awards Program

The Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine Research Excellence Awards are granted yearly, with awards presented to the winners at the annual awards ceremony hosted by the College. The award consists of a plaque and a cash prize of $3,000. The Research Excellence Awards comprise multiple awards recognizing different stages of career advancement: Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Scientists, Academic Track Faculty, Early-Career Tenure-Track Faculty, Mid-Career Faculty, and Senior Tenured Faculty.

Faculty Research Excellence Awards
The Faculty Research Excellence Award recognizes an investigator’s accomplishments and his/her standing in the national and international scientific community. An awardee’s research must have provided originality, depth, and impact on their respective scientific, clinical, or educational field.

Senior Tenured Faculty
Nominees must have the rank of tenured full professor, and they must have completed five full years of service at the Vashisht College of Medicine.

Mid-Career Tenured Faculty
Nominees must be at the rank of tenured associate professor. They must have completed three full years of service at the Vashisht College of Medicine.

Early-Career Tenure-Track Faculty
Nominees must be at the rank of tenure-track assistant professor. They must have completed three full years of service at the Vashisht College of Medicine.

Research Excellence Awards for Academic Professional Track Faculty (APT)
The Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine’s research enterprise relies to a large extent on the drive, ingenuity, dedication and perseverance of its early-stage investigators. This competitive award will pay tribute to the APT faculty in the College and honor the accomplishments of up to one such outstanding scholar each year.

Research Excellence Awards for Research Scientists
The Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine’s research enterprise relies to a large extent on the drive, ingenuity, dedication and perseverance of its early-stage investigators. This competitive award will pay tribute to the Research Scientists in the College and honor the accomplishments of up to one such outstanding scholar each year.

Research Excellence Awards for Postdoctoral Fellows
The Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine’s research enterprise relies largely on the drive, ingenuity, dedication and perseverance of its most senior trainees: our postdoctoral fellows. This competitive award will pay tribute to this important constituency and honor the accomplishments of up to one such outstanding scholar each year.

Award Guidelines
Detailed award guidelines are found on our SharePoint site and include eligibility requirements, the nomination process, and submissions instructions.

Award Winners

Research Excellence Award (1998-2009)

Geoffrey Kapler - 2009
George E. Davis - 2005
Alan Parrish - 2004
Farida Sohrabji - 2004
Rajesh C. Miranda - 2002
Michael J. Davis - 2002
Sarah Y. Yuan - 2000
Mark A. Satterwhite - 1999
Martin Scholtz – 1998

Senior Research Award (1998-present)

Yun (Nancy) Huang - 2025
Rajesh Miranda - 2024
Julian Hurdle - 2023
Jun Wang - 2022
Ashok K. Shetty - 2021
Jiang Chang - 2020
Shannon Glaser - 2019
Samba Reddy - 2015
Hubert Amrein - 2014
Jon Skare - 2013
James E. Samuel - 2010
Gianfranco Alpini - 2008
George Chiou - 2006
Gerald A. Meininger - 2005
Arthur E. Johnson - 2001
Carlos N. Pace - 2000
David N. McMurray - 2000
James West – 1998

Early-Career Research Award (2001-present)

Irtisha Singh - 2025
Cedric Geoffroy - 2024
Jenny Hyde - 2023
Phillip West - 2022
Robert O. Watson - 2021
Jason Karpac - 2020
Yun Nancy Huang - 2019
Yubin Zhou - 2017
Sarah Bondos - 2015
Carl Gregory - 2014
Kayla Bayless - 2011
Helene L. Andrews-Polymenis - 2010
Siegfried Musser - 2006
Andreas J. Baeumler – 2001

Research Excellence Award for Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Scientists, & APT Faculty (2022-2023)

Maheedhar Kodali – 2023
Guolin Ma – 2022

Research Excellence Award for Postdoctoral Fellows (2024-present)

Chetna Dureja – 2025
Siara Rouzer – 2024

Research Excellence Award for Research Scientists & APT Faculty (2024-2025)

Karienn Souza – 2025
Clifford Stephan - 2024