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Discovery Science Awards & Accolades
Excellence in Research
Celebrating the achievements of discovery science researchers.
Each year, the 9 fundamental research departments recognize excellence in teaching and research staff with an award funded by the Endowment for Basic Sciences. Each department solicits nominations and chooses an awardee each year. The teaching award is for faculty and recognizes excellence in didactic teaching and mentoring. The research staff award is given to the individual whose efforts best support discovery research in that department.
Recent Teaching Award Winners
- Heather Giebink, PhD, Biological Chemistry
- James Weiland, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
- Billy Tsai, PhD, Cell & Developmental Biology
- Matthew O’Meara, PhD, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Thomas Glover, PhD, Human Genetics
- Rachel Richesson, PhD, Learning Health Sciences
- Philip Hanna, PhD, Microbiology & Immunology
- Michael Sutton, PhD, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Erica Levitt, PhD, PharmD, Pharmacology
- Chase Weidmann, Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
- Xueding Wang, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
- Mara Duncan, Ph.D., Cell & Developmental Biology
- Anthony J Wing, Ph.D., Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Stephanie Bielas, Ph.D., Human Genetics
- John Donnelly, Ph.D., Learning Health Sciences
- Adam Lauring, M.D., Ph.D., Microbiology & Immunology
- Daniel Beard, Ph.D., Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Michael Holinstat, Ph.D., Pharmacology
- Ryan Baldridge, Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
- David Nordsletten, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
- Lois Weisman, Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology
- Jie Liu, Ph.D., Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
- Sundeep Kalantry, Ph.D., Human Genetics
- Andrew Krumm, Ph.D., Learning Health Sciences
- Nicole Koropatkin, Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology
- Timothy Houchin, Ph.D., Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Elizabeth Peckham, Ph.D., Pharmacology
- Stephanie Galban, Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
- Sriram Chandrasekaran, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
- Scott Barolo, Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology
- Cristina Mitrea, Ph.D., Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
- Shigeki Iwase, Ph.D., Human Genetics
- Gretchen Piatt, Ph.D., Learning Health Sciences
- Joanna Spencer-Segal, Ph.D., Michigan Neuroscience Institute
- Patrick Schloss, Ph.D,. Microbiology and Immunology
- Richard Anthony DeFazio, Ph.D., Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Paul Jenkins, Ph.D., Pharmacology
- Allison Lamanna, Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
- Brendon Baker, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
- Ajit Joglekar, Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology
- Stephen Guest, Ph.D., Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
- Diane Robins, Ph.D., Human Genetics
- Zachary Landis-Lewis, Ph.D., Learning Health Sciences
- Eric Martens, Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology
- Audrey Seasholtz, Ph.D., Michigan Neuroscience Institute
- Amy Oakley, Ph.D., Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Yoichi Osawa, Ph.D., Pharmacology
- Jeanne Stuckey, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Biological Chemistry
- James Weiland, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Diane Fingar, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology
- Alan Boyle, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Jacob Mueller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Human Genetics
- Jodyn Platt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Learning Health Sciences
- Maria Sandkvist, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
- Scott Pletcher, Ph.D., William H Howell Collegiate Professor of Physiology, Research Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Shelly Flagel, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute
- Christine Canman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Recent Research Award Winners
- Michael Rankin, PhD, Biological Chemistry
- Yike Liu, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
- Beau Su, Cell & Developmental Biology
- Helen Severino, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Elena Glick, MS, Human Genetics
- Celeste Liebrecht, Learning Health Sciences
- Joe Waliga, Microbiology & Immunology
- Anne Many, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Yan Chen, Pharmacology
Daniel Esckilsen, Biological Chemistry
Miriam Stevens, Biomedical Engineering
Becky Dresselhouse-Nauss, Cell & Developmental Biology
Gregory Farnum, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
Young Nam Park, Human Genetics
Lisa Ferguson, Learning Health Sciences
Katie McBride, Microbiology & Immunology
Jane Coffey, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Bo Zhao, Pharmacology
- Andrew Shurer, Biological Chemistry
- Anjali Shankar, Biomedical Engineering
- Craig Johnson, Cell and Developmental Biology
- Weichen Zhou, Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
- Dhammika Dewasurendra, Human Genetics
- Eileen Weinheimer-Haus, Learning Health Sciences
- Brenda Franklin, Microbiology and Immunology
- Gary Zhang, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Miranda Lau, Pharmacology
- Brittany Bowman, Biological Chemistry
- Mackenzie Moore, Biomedical Engineering
- Louise Chang, Cell and Developmental Biology
- Adam Diehl, Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
- Michelle Brinkmeier, Human Genetics
- Michelle Williams, Learning Health Sciences
- William Fitzsimmons, Microbiology and Immunology
- Carol Davis, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Lia Min and Kumar Subramani, Pharmacology
- Brandon Luma, Michigan Neuroscience Institute
- Michael Baldwin, Biological Chemistry
- Babhrubahan (Babhru) Roy, Cell & Developmental Biology
- Marci Brandenburg, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Valerie Sponyoe, Human Genetics
- Astrid Fishstrom, Learning Health Sciences
- Nick Pudlo, Microbiology & Immunology
- Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Michigan Neuroscience Institute
- Theresa Keeley, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Chunling Chen, Pharmacology
- Catherine Baker, Biological Chemistry
- Eric Kennedy, Biomedical Engineering
- Cindy Delong, Cell & Developmental Biology
- Jonathan Poisson, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics
- Clair Harris, Human Genetics
- Emily Dibble, Learning Health Sciences
- Rachel Parent, Michigan Neuroscience Institute
- Stephanie Himpsl, Microbiology & Immunology
- Steven Whitesall, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Rachel Parent, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute
- Kathy Ignatoski, Pharmacology
Featured News & Stories
Medical School News
Celebrating outstanding teaching and research at the 2026 Endowment for Basic Sciences Awards
The 2026 Endowment for Basic Sciences Awards recognized nine faculty and nine research staff members for their accomplishments in teaching and research.
Medical School News
Eighteen from UMMS honored with 2025 Endowment for Basic Sciences Awards
Nine Medical School faculty members and nine research staff members have been recognized for their contributions to teaching and research with Endowment for Basic Sciences (EBS) Awards for 2025. Each of the nine UMMS basic science departments select a winner for each award. This year’s recipients received their awards June 12 during a ceremony in the Medical School.
