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Faculty honored for research accomplishments

Each year during Phi Zeta Day, a select group of faculty and graduate students at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine are honored for their research achievements.  The 2016 faculty awards and their recipients are listed below. Graduate award winners will be included in next month’s issue.

C.E. Cornelius Young Investigator Award: Dr. Stanley Kim

Dr. Stanley Kim receives the C.E. Cornelius Award from Dr. Ammon Peck during the Phi Zeta Day award presentation on March 25, 2016.

This award consists of $1,000 and a plaque and is intended to acknowledge the contributions of a young faculty member to the advancement of knowledge in an area of biomedical research. This distinguished award was established to honor the college’s founding dean, Dr. Charles Cornelius.

Kim was recognized for research that evaluates kinematics and contact mechanisms of the normal and cranial cruciate-deficit stifle, as well as the effects of different tibial osteotomies used to address cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency.

“This work has brought Dr. Kim substantial recognition in small animal orthopaedics, including special acknowledgement of his work by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, as well as both a first and a second place honor for the Outstanding Resident’s Research Podium Presentation,” said Dr. Ammon Peck, associate dean of research and graduate studies at the college.

“Dr. Kim received the Mark S. Bloomberg Resident Award twice to support his travel to present his research at annual conferences of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society, where both of his presentations received an award as the meeting’s best scientific abstract presented by a resident.”

Today, Kim is continuing his research on the cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency in dogs, for which he has received funding, most notably a Hohn-Johnson Research Grant from the Veterinary Orthopedic Society, one of the most prestigious awards a veterinary orthopaedic surgeon can obtain. This grant is permitting cadaveric and in vivo fluoroscopic evaluations of dogs with normal and cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles.

FVMA Clinical Investigator Award: Dr. Andre Shih
This award consists of $500 and a plaque and recognizes the outstanding contributions of an established investigator to the advancement of knowledge in an area of clinical veterinary medicine.

Shih was recognized for his research in hemodynamic shock and anesthesia in the critical care patient and neuropathic pain.

“Despite an extremely demanding clinical assignment and a heavy emergency responsibility, Shih has been able to contribute substantial advancements to the standard of care in patient monitoring,” Peck said. “He has also made considerable contributions to the understanding of and ability to modify cardiac output in veterinary clinical patients and in animal research models which are directly applicable to human medicine.”

Zoetis Veterinary Research Excellence Award: Dr. Rick Johnson
This award consists of $1,000 and a plaque and acknowledges the outstanding contributions of an established investigator to the advancement of knowledge in an area of biomedical research.

Johnson was recognized for his long-standing research of spinal cord and nerve injuries and their role in health and disease.

“This is a very topical area that has real-world applications, and Dr. Johnson has achieved international recognition for his research in this area,” Peck said, adding that Johnson has an outstanding record of publications, presentations and obtaining extramural funding.  “He has received a number of awards and honors, both from UF and elsewhere. These include the Pfizer Animal Health Award for Research Excellence at UF, as well as numerous teaching awards from UF and other sources.”

Johnson carries one of the heaviest teaching loads for a basic scientist and is always highly ranked by the veterinary students, Peck said, adding that Johnson’s efforts related to teaching extend beyond the classroom, and this is one of the things that make his contributions unique.  For example, one of Dr. Johnson’s noteworthy achievements in the college is the Willed Body Program that allows terminally ill large animals to be donated to UF and then used as cadavers in the college’s teaching program.