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Dean's Research Awards Recognize Best Peer-reviewed Publications and Leading Faculty Mentors
The Dean’s Research and Faculty Mentoring Symposium on November 3 recognized faculty members and students who achieved best peer-reviewed publications in 2010 from research performed at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Two faculty members, chosen by junior faculty, were honored as the year’s top mentors. A scientific poster session also was held highlighting not only the work of the awardees, but also many of the researchers throughout the school, as well as the work of the summer student research scholars. The day ended with a lecture sponsored by the Joint Molecular Biosciences Graduate Student Association.
Award Winners were:
• Best Publication by a Graduate Student: Chang-Chih Wu, Department of Physiology & Biophysics
• Best Publication by a Postdoctoral Fellow: Christopher Barbieri, PhD, Department of Biochemistry
• Best Publication by Faculty - Basic Sciences: Alexey G. Ryazanov, PhD, DSc, Department of Pharmacology
• Best Publication by a Medical Student: Aileen Arriola
• Best Publication by a Resident: Rahul Parikh, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology
• Best Publication by Faculty - Clinical Sciences: Konstantin E. Balashov, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology
The two faculty members who were nominated by junior faculty members and
selected by the
awards committee as recipients of the Mentoring Awards were:
• Norman H. Edelman Clinical Science
Mentoring Award:Joseph Aisner, MD
In his long tenure at RWJMS, Dr. Aisner has mentored many individuals, including medical students, internal medicine housestaff, hematology/oncology fellows, junior faculty, and even faculty in more senior positions. Several of his mentees have become successful clinicians, scientists and leaders in their fields. All acknowledge his brilliance and dedication, his passion for oncology, and his commitment to help those around him achieve their goals. He has earned the admiration and respect of all those who work with him. Janice Mehnert, MD, assistant professor, CINJ has been mentored by Dr. Aisner since her arrival at CINJ in 2007 Dr. Aisner serves as her senior faculty mentor in guiding her development as an academic clinical investigator. She says: “He has been fully committed to my career development as a clinical investigator and has supported my growth as a physician here since my arrival. His knowledge knows no bounds and he has influenced not just my development, but that of decades of junior faculty and fellows in training.”
• R. Walter Schlesinger Basic Science Mentoring Award: Monica Roth, PhD
Throughout her career at RWJMS, Dr. Roth has served as a thesis advisor for 8 PhD students, 5
MS students and has trained 8 post‐doctoral scientists. In addition, she has served on
numerous thesis advisory committees and defense examination committees. She serves as
a student advisor to the graduate program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which
involves meeting with and advising ALL Biochemistry students on a semi‐annual basis. She
has also sponsored dozens of undergraduate students for senior research or summer
research programs and hosted many minority students through the RISE Program in her
laboratory. In addition to students, Dr. Roth also mentors junior faculty and shares her
expertise and insights not only about science but also career development with her
colleagues. The best testament to Dr. Roth’s success as an academic scientist and mentor is
the success of her trainees, all of whom have gone on to careers in academia and industry
and even government, and the respect that she has garnered from her colleagues. Without
exception, her students point to Dr. Roth’s scientific rigor, pursuit of excellence, and
commitment to their success as critical factors in their ability to reach their personal goals.
