SPHHP Faculty Gain Honors and Appointments

Gauri Desai, PhD, MPH, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, is the recipient of the 2021 Rebecca James Baker Award from the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). The award is given to new investigators who embody Dr. Baker’s approach to epidemiological research, including working internationally, or with populations of different cultures or socioeconomic circumstances. The award recognizes Desai’s work among Uruguayan schoolchildren, which looks at associations between low-level arsenic exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes, with the interplay of diet in these relationships. The award will be presented during the 33rd Annual Conference of the ISEE.

Katia I. Noyes, PhD, MPH, professor and director, Division of Health Services Policy and Practice, co-authored a paper that was selected as a finalist for the Joseph Tepas Non-MD Paper Competition, which takes place during the Pediatric Trauma Society Annual Meeting. The Tepas Award is "presented to the authors who demonstrate excellence in trauma related research and best exemplifies Dr. Tepas' commitment to education and research." The abstract for the paper—"Characterizing Physical Trauma In Children And Youth With Special Health Care Needs”—was accepted for a podium presentation at the conference. The paper’s presenting/lead author is Denise Lillvis, PhD, an EEH research assistant professor and trauma research associate at the John R. Oishei Children's Hospital.

Heather Ochs-Balcom, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, has been named a member of the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women for the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The committee helps CDC develop evidence-based approaches to advance understanding and awareness of breast cancer among young women through prevention research, public and health professional education and awareness activities, and emerging prevention strategies. It was established by the Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act, which authorizes CDC to develop initiatives to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer among women, particularly among those under the age of 40 and those at heightened risk for developing the disease. Ochs-Balcom’s work centers on the genetic epidemiology of cancer, particularly breast cancer, with a focus on health disparities.

Ghazala Saleem, EdD, MS, OTR/L, has recently received a fellowship award and a scholarship from the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM). The ACRM Complementary, Integrative, Rehabilitation Research Fellowship Award is awarded to “early career clinical investigators from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds.” The ACRM Annual Conference Scholarship from the ACRM Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group goes to active participants in ACRM’s special interest group task forces who have been endorsed by a task force chair. The awards offer registration and supplemental funding to attend this year’s ACRM conference, the largest rehabilitation research conference in the world.