The UNMC College of Allied Health Professions recently announced its annual awards, honoring faculty, staff and clinical preceptors for extraordinary service over the last year.
Allied health’s Outstanding Service to the Allied Health Professions Award now is named in honor of Kyle Meyer, PhD, founding dean of the college who has stepped aside from that role. Dr. Meyer led allied health at UNMC for 20 years and was named founding dean when the school became UNMC’s sixth college in 2015.
He said he is proud that this award means his name always will be associated with the college he loves.
“I have enjoyed an unbelievably rewarding career at UNMC, one I could have never imagined,” Dr. Meyer said. “Given the number of individuals in the college who came before me, and those that have contributed over my tenure to our tremendous success, I am truly humbled by the recognition.”
The inaugural winner of the Kyle P. Meyer Outstanding Service to the Allied Health Professions Award is Fran Higgins, allied health’s communications and media manager. Higgins serves as allied health’s central storyteller and steward of the college’s voice. She possesses “a rare combination of professionalism, creativity and genuine care for the people and programs she supports,” one nominator wrote. She is a trusted advisor to faculty, staff and students as she captures and communicates the impact of allied health education, research and service in ways that elevate the professions and strengthen the college’s reputation.
Additional winners are:
- Excellence in Teaching Award: Stacie Christensen, DPT
Dr. Christensen is hailed as a natural mentor, at the forefront of integrating technology into teaching in a learner-centered, clinically grounded and data-informed manner. She aligns foundational neuroscience, clinical reasoning and assessments to prepare her students for real-life practice. She also teaches students to facilitate human relationships, both in interprofessional teams and in working with patients and their families. Her nomination garnered six letters of support. - Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award: Scott Ehresman, MD
A clinical educator for more than 36 years, Dr. Ehresman is known as a champion of rural medicine who reminds students that in primary care providers are their patient’s quarterback. He’s shown “incomparable commitment to clinical education” for both medical and physician assistant students, according to one nominator. He is an invaluable preceptor of physician assistant students. They emerge from rotations with him with improved clinical and critical thinking skills and renewed passion for their chosen profession. - Innovative Scholarship Award: Mariah Jackson, PhD
Dr. Jackson is honored for exceptional creativity in establishing a new cancer-focused nutrition research agenda at UNMC, filling what had been an institutional gap. Her findings showing Registered Dietitian Nutritionist-led interventions for oncology patients led to meaningful clinical outcomes. She continues to investigate how to inform Nebraska Medicine nutrition protocol going forward. In addition to impactful scholarship within the scientific community, she’s taken her findings to the people who need this information most through cancer myth-busting newsletters and monthly cancer survivor cooking classes. - Excellence in Research for Early Career Faculty: Mariah Jackson, PhD
Dr. Jackson has played a significant role in developing the nutrition cancer research agenda at the medical center. A principal investigator of three internal grants and co-project leader on a National Institutes of Health supplement, she is emerging in prominence on a national level. She’s done significant research on cancer prevention, survivorship research and precision nutrition.