The Biological Sciences Division honored faculty members for research excellence, professional service, and leadership at the 15th Annual Distinguished Faculty Awards Reception on June 26, 2025. Since 2011, the BSD Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) has been honoring fellow faculty members for their contributions to the BSD's collective missions of excellence in education, research, diversity and inclusion, program innovation, service to the community and patient care.
Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, presided over the reception, and Iris Romero, MD, Executive Vice Dean, presented awards to 17 faculty members who were nominated by their colleagues, former trainees, and community partners. The FAC reviewed nominations for many excellent candidates and selected this year’s winners for the following awards:
- Distinguished Clinician
- Jennifer Rusiecki, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Section of General Internal Medicine
- Andrew M. Davis, MD, MPH, FACP, Professor of Medicine
- Distinguished Investigator
- David D. Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
- Eric G. Pamer, MD, Professor of Medicine
- Distinguished Educator and Leader
- Jason Thomas Alexander, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
- Barrett Fromme, MD, MHPE, Professor of Pediatrics
- Distinguished Community Service and Advocacy
- Harita Shah, MD, Assistant Professor, Section of General Internal Medicine & Pediatrics
- Anna Volerman, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine & Pediatrics
- Distinguished Leader in Program Innovation
- Yalini Vigneswaran, MD, MPH, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery
- Phillip S. LoSavio, MD, MS, Professor of Surgery
- Distinguished Leader in Diversity and Inclusion
- Mecker G. Moller, MD, FACS, DABS, MAMSE, Professor of Surgery
- Dayle V. Davenport, MD, FACEP, Associate Professor of Medicine
- Francis H. Straus Mentorship Award
- Ritu Verma, MBChB, Professor of Pediatrics
- Carole Ober, PhD, Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Human Genetics
- Michael Reese Lectureship
- Louis H. Philipson, MD, PhD. James C. Tyree Professor of Diabetes Research and Care
- Gold Key Award
- Deborah L. Burnet, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
- Harriet de Wit, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, and the Neuroscience Institute
The award guidelines and a list of previous award winners are available on the Office of Faculty Affairs website. The Faculty Advisory Committee is co-chaired by Xin He, PhD, Elbert Huang, MD, and Carina Yang, MD. The winners will be commemorated in a display located in the lobby of the Surgery Brain Research Pavilion on the UChicago campus.
