{"id":64364,"date":"2019-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/03\/05\/services-today-for-parmender-mehta-ph-d\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T16:02:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T21:02:42","slug":"services-today-for-parmender-mehta-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/03\/05\/services-today-for-parmender-mehta-ph-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Services today for Parmender Mehta, Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"

One of UNMC’s outstanding teachers, Parmender Mehta, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, died March 3. He was 65.<\/p>\n

Services are today (March 5) at 11 a.m. at Heafey Hoffmann Dworak Cutler Mortuaries, 7805 W. Center Road, in Omaha.<\/p>\n

“Dr. Mehta was a kind and caring individual who was also an excellent scientist and teacher,” said UNMC College of Medicine Dean Bradley Britigan, M.D. “In his nearly 20 years at UNMC, he was a key contributor to the success and growth of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. He will be greatly missed by his UNMC friends, colleagues and students.”<\/p>\n

Said Surinder Batra, Ph.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: “Dr. Mehta’s philosophy of altruistically performing actions with perfection, and without regard to any personal goal, motive, desire, reward or interest, enabled him to be truly a caring teacher and mentor who yearned to distill and refine the purpose of education. We will be missing an outstanding teacher, scientist and colleague at UNMC.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Mehta joined UNMC in 2000 and received multiple teaching awards including the UNMC Outstanding Teaching Award in 2010, the Hirschmann Prize for Teaching Excellence from the Class of 2017, and the Silver Pear Award from the UNMC College of Medicine Class of 2020.<\/p>\n

Students continually noted “his calm demeanor, positive attitude, and thorough explanations of core concepts” and said throughout his lectures, he always took “a moment for meditation and relaxation, particularly when covering difficult topics.”<\/p>\n

“Teaching,” Dr. Mehta once said, “provides you an opportunity year after year for repeated self-examination and self-criticism to reveal the best and the worst in you for your intellectual and spiritual growth.”<\/p>\n

A native of Chamba, India, Dr. Mehta earned his Ph.D. at Kobe University in Kobe, Japan, in 1983 and launched his career, as well as his postdoctoral work, at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami before joining UNMC. Here, he taught endocrinology and hemostasis for first-year medical students, as well as several courses for graduate students. <\/p>\n

Dr. Mehta’s research focused on gap junctions, the tiny channels in the cell membrane, through which neighboring cells communicate with each other. By focusing on the proteins (connexins) that make up the gap junctions, his laboratory was engaged in understanding how alterations in connexin assembly and degradation disrupt cell-cell communication and contribute to cancer initiation and progression.<\/p>\n

“Parmender was the gentlest person I have known,” said Laurey Steinke, Ph.D., assistant professor, biochemistry and molecular biology. “He loved nature, and regularly took time to enjoy it. He shared pictures of his beloved mountains with me, and his generosity always brightened my days. Parmender will be deeply missed.” <\/p>\n

Dr. Mehta is survived by his wife, Manju Mehta; son, Pankaj Mehta; daughter, Pooja Mehta; daughter-in-law, Nicci Mehta; son-in-law, Aman Sandhu; and four grand-daughters. <\/p>\n

Memorials may be sent to the Siena\/Francis House, 1702 Nicholas St., Omaha, NE 68102, or the Hindu Temple, 13010 Arbor St., Omaha, NE 68144.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colleagues recall “kind and caring” man as a superlative scientist and teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":64365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-intercom","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nServices today for Parmender Mehta, Ph.D.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Colleagues 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