Research excellence recognized at ceremony

Twenty-five UNMC researchers and a community member were honored Monday afternoon at the Distinguished Scientist Awards Ceremony.

Tatiana Bronich, Ph.D.

, professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy, was named the 2014 Scientist Laureate, the ninth person named to that title, which is the highest honor UNMC bestows to researchers.

Previous laureates

  • 2013 — Howard Fox, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 2012 — Surinder Batra, Ph.D.

  • 2011 — Tony Hollingsworth, Ph.D.;
  • 2010 — Shelley Smith, Ph.D.;
  • 2009 — Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D.;
  • 2008 — Howard Gendelman, M.D.;
  • 2007 — Irving Zucker, Ph.D.; and
  • 2006 — Stephen Rennard, M.D.

To open the ceremony, Vice Chancellor for Research Jennifer Larsen, M.D., said she was excited “to make sure everyone realizes the talent we have at UNMC, and the talent we have here in this room.”

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., addressing a crowd that nearly filled the Durham Research Center Auditorium, called the ceremony a time to “recognize true excellence in our research community.”

Dr. Bronich said receiving the award was “a very great honor and a very humbling experience.”

She thanked the graduate students, post-docs and technicians who had helped in her nanomedicine research, as well as her colleagues and collaborators at the College of Pharmacy, in the UNMC Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, at the Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine and others, including her mentor, Alexander Kabanov, Ph.D.

But she saved a special thank-you for her mother, Dr. Galina Sirtsova.

“My memories of her have always carried me through many moments of doubt,” she said.

She finished her remarks by lauding her fellow researchers.

“I truly believe that breakthroughs are possible because we, researchers with diverse expertise, educators and clinicians, are working closely together and will continue to do so to fuel future discoveries,” she said.

Other recipients at Monday’s event included: