FACULTY ACCOLADES

Recognitions

—Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal, Incorporating Bereavement into the Continuum of Care.

• Investing in Bereavement Care as a Public Health Priority.
• Sylvester Researchers, Collaborators Call for Greater Investment in Bereavement Care.
• Looking at Loneliness with Dr. Louise Hawkley & Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal.

—Dr. Patricia Moreno, CBS News Miami. UM doctor discusses Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis.

• Heal Magazine. Hispanic/Latino Survivors May Be At Higher Risk for Cardiometabolic Comorbidities.
• Univisión Primer Impacto. Sobrevivió a dos tipos de cáncer: ahora ayuda y motiva a otros (She survived two types of cancer: now she helps and motivates others).
• Cure Magazine. Patients Should Actively Communicate Symptoms While Receiving Immunotherapy.

—Dr. Farren Briggs, Nominee, The Best Platform in MS Research, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting.

• Interviewed by WPLG-TV Local 10 Miami News focused on Etiology-specific Hepatocellular Carcinoma Disparities.

—Dr. Daniel Diaz, Consortium Distinguished lecture series speaker, Institute of Mathematical Sciences of the Americas.

• Aportes de Einstein desde las matemáticas (Spanish). Live radio interview at Radio Nacional de Colombia, a station that reaches 94% of the Colombian territory.

—Dr. Michele Ceccarelli, appointed as Leader, Computational Oncology Program, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

—Dr. Kanamori Nishimura, Presented “Advancing HIV Prevention and Care through Innovative Pharmacy Strategies” at the Pivotal HIV Pharmacy Research Symposium.

—Dr. Tyler Bartholomew, Recognized by the CDC Compendium of Evidence-Based Interventions for his HIV and Hepatitis C testing intervention. Also named DPHS Community Partner of the Year.

National Awards

—Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal, Elected Fellow of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society.

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori Nishimura, National Hispanic Science Network Annual Meeting.

• Received the National Hispanic Science Network Annual Meeting, Best Social Science Poster.

—Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez, Distinguished Mentorship Award, Delta Omega, the National Public Health Honor Society.

Specialty Society Leadership Roles

—Dr. Patricia Moreno, Convention Program Chair, APA Division 38 Society for Health Psychology.

—Dr. Eric Brown, Advisor to EvidenciaViva, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and DrugAddiction. Online registry of drug prevention programs in Latin America.

—Dr. Shari Messinger, Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) Board of Directors.

• North American Biostatistics Chairs Executive Committee.
• North American Biostatistics Chairs Committee (Chair-elect).

—Dr. Scott Brown, Ad-Hoc Invited Reviewer, Community Influences on Health Behavior (CIHB) Study Section.

—Dr. Min Lu, Associate Editor, Journal of Translational Medicine.

International Awards

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori Nishimura, Advances in Culture and Diversity in Prevention Science Award, Society for Prevention Research.

—Dr. WayWay Hlaing, Recipient of the Noel Weiss and Tom Koepsell Excellence in Education Award, Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) [Nominated by Faculty Peers, Alumni, and Students; Selected by the Award Committee of Epidemiologists].

AWARDS & HONOR

The Department of Public Health Sciences is proud to celebrate the achievements of our diverse and highly experienced faculty, who continue to receive recognition for their impactful contributions to public health at the state, national, and international levels.

Teaching and Mentorship Awards

—Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez - Received the Teaching Excellence Award, Faculty of the Year Award (Public Health Student Association), and Distinguished Mentorship Award from Delta Omega, National Public Health Honor Society.

—Dr. Raymond Balise - Received the Innovation in Teaching Award and was nominated for the 2023 Provost Teaching Award for Innovation in Teaching.

—Dr. Sara St. George - Awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award and Faculty Development Travel Award from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori Nishimura - Awarded Innovation in Teaching and Excellence in Teaching Awards by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Collaborative Teaching Nominations by the Office of the Provost

—Dr. Scott Brown and Dr. Yue Pan - nominated for their course on the built environment, which was developed in collaboration with the School of Nursing and other schools.

—Dr. Daniel Feaster and Dr. Viviana Horigian - were nominated for their work in the T32 Change Program.

Appointments and Leadership Roles

—Dr. Patricia Moreno - Appointed as a member of the Medical Faculty Council.

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori Nishimura - Named Director of the Division of Prevention Sciences and Community Health.

—Dr. Taghrid Asfar - Designated as the Translational Science Leader of Thoracic for the Oncology Service Line, leading the Site Disease Group (SDG) in its clinical, research, and translational efforts.

—Dr. Elahe Nezami - Elected Vice President of the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health.

—Dr. Shari Messinger, Named Director (Acting), Division of Biostatistics.

Mid-Career and Early Career Leadership

—Dr. Sara M. St. George - Awarded the Mid-Career Leadership Institute Fellowship by the Society of Behavioral Medicine and nominated for the Early Career Award.

Awards for Excellence in Impact and Innovation

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori - Received the award for Impactful Behavioral Health Project at the Miami CFAR Annual Symposium.

• Received the Abstract of Distinction Award from the Society for Prevention Research.

—Dr. Mariano Kanamori Nishimura - Nominated for the Faculty Excellence and Impact Award by the Department of Public Health Sciences.

—Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal - Elected Fellow of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and awarded the Outstanding Clinical Care Award by the same organization.

—Dr. Yue Pan - Received the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) Annual Meeting Travel Award.

—Dr. Min Lu, Relief Funding Award, Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship, and the Office of Faculty Affairs.

—Dr. Ariana Johnson - Awarded the Implementation Science Fellowship from Johns Hopkins University.

NEW GRANTS AWARDED

Biostatistic

• Balise, Raymond, Towards a framework for algorithmic bias and fairness in predicting treatment outcome for opioid use disorder, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $19,320
• Ceccarelli, Michele, Characterization of Somatic Mutations, Structural Variants and Cancer Heterogeneity from NGS data, Project Start Date: 1/1/2024, $400,000
• Ceccarelli, Michele, Fate-AI, Project Start Date: 12/1/2023, $958,737
• Feaster, Daniel, Harnessing the power of text messaging to reduce HIV incidence in adolescent males across the United States, Project Start Date: 11/1/2023, $244,476
• Guo, Yan, Alternative splicing in human lung cells during influenza A virus infection (ALA), Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $9,927

Environment and Public Health

• Caban-Martinez, Alberto, Identification of toxic effects of PFAS exposure: A multi-omic study of firefighters, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $275,588
• Caban-Martinez, Alberto, Women Fire Fighter Study: Evaluation of Exposures, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $77,798

Health Services Research and Policy

• Bartholomew, Tyler, Project ACCESS: Advancing Equitable Access to HIV/HCV Testing Through Structural Transformation in Syringe Services Programs: A Cluster Randomized Trial, Project Start Date: 4/1/2024, $3,729,080
• Szapocznik, Jose, Principles for Global Public Health Convention, Project Start Date: 1/1/2024, $540,000

Epidemiology and Population Health Sciences

• Briggs, Farren, A randomized controlled trial of customized adherence enhancement (CAE-E), Project Start Date: 8/7/2023, $41,868
• Briggs, Farren, Characterizing the serum metabolome in multiple sclerosis, Project Start Date: 8/7/2023, $257,729
• Briggs, Farren, Expanding epilepsy selfmanagement support in healthcare networks (EXPAND), Project Start Date: 9/1/2023, $83,023
• Briggs, Farren, Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGEBD), Project Start Date: 9/1/2023, $6,526
• Briggs, Farren, Illness Severity and Treatment Effects on Resting State Neural Connectivity in Adolescent Depression (ENGINE), Project Start Date: 8/7/2023, $16,288
• Briggs, Farren, The investigators used a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART) 2, Project Start Date: 8/7/2023, $28,811
• Briggs, Farren, Using mHealth to improve adherence and reduce blood pressure in individuals with hypertension and bipolar disorder (iTAB-CV), Project Start Date: 8/7/2023, $64,281
• Hu, Jennifer, Assessing Benefits and Harms of Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Use in Breast Cancer Patients During and After Treatments, Project Start Date: 9/1/2023, $3,838,375
• Hu, Jennifer, Impacts of Medical Marijuana Use on Inflammasome Activation and Breast Cancer Clinical Outcomes, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $130,000
• Lee, David, Northwest Florida Public Health Collaborative to Reduce Breast Cancer Disparities (NWF-CORD), Project Start Date: 1/1/2024, $98,129

Prevention Science and Community Health

• Carrico, Adam, Pilot testing a status-neutral, evidenced-based ART adherence intervention adapted for stimulant-using transgender women (PARTI), Project Start Date: 6/1/2023, $103,599
• Carrico, Adam, Randomized Controlled Trial of Intranasal Oxytocin for Co-Occurring Meth and HIV, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $9,002,345
• Carrico, Adam, Unraveling the neuropsychiatric consequences of gut-immune dysfunction beginning in acute HIV, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $135,923
• Kanamori, Mariano, CERCA DE TI: Leveraging an Established Academic and CVS Health® Partnership to Advance Biomedical HIV Prevention with a New Pharmacy-Based PrEP, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $451,357
• Kanamori, Mariano, ÚNETE: A Two-Mode Network Model of Celebrity Advocates and Community to Reduce the Compounding Negative Effects of Discrimination and Substance Use, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $3,500,000
• Licthenthal, Wendy, Adaptation of Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy for Parents Bereaved by Suicide, Project Start Date: 6/1/2023, $90,991
• Licthenthal, Wendy, Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy for Parents Bereaved by Cancer: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial, Project Start Date: 7/1/2023, $1,957,335
• Licthenthal, Wendy, Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy to Meet Palliative Care Needs of Cancer Caregivers, Project Start Date: 12/1/2023, $855,058

Ph.D. Student (Prevention Science)

• Jaramillo, Jahn, Employment as prevention: Adapting a structural intervention to achieve HIV equity among immigrant Latino MSM, Project Start Date: 9/1/2023, $95,388.

TOP 20 RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

1. Felicia Knaul, The Lancet Breast Cancer Commission, Lancet, April 2024, Impact Factor: 98.4
2. Felicia Knaul, Setbacks in the quest for universal health coverage in Mexico: Polarized Politics, Policy Upheaval, and Pandemic Disruption, Lancet, August 2023, Impact Factor: 98.4
3. Alberto Caban-Martinez, Effectiveness of Bivalent mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and Adolescents Aged 5 to 17 Years, JAMA, February 2024, Impact Factor: 63.1
4. Felicia Knaul, Health Effects Associated with Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women and Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Burden of Proof Study, Nat Med, December 2023, Impact Factor: 58.7
5. Nelson Arboleda, Consistent Patterns of Common Species Across Tropical Tree Communities, Nature, January 2024, Impact Factor: 50.5
6. Luciano Garofano, Integrated Proteogenomic Characterization of Glioblastoma Evolution, Cancer Cell, January 2024, Impact Factor: 48.8
7. Xi Steven Chen, Proteogenomic Analysis of Chemo-refractory High-grade Serous Ovarian Cancer, Cell, August 2023, Impact Factor: 45.5
8. Michele Ceccarelli, Pan-cancer Proteogenomics Characterization of Tumor Immunity, Cell, February 2024, Impact Factor: 45.5
9. James Shultz, Protecting Caribbean Patients Diagnosed with Cancer from Compounding Disasters, Lancet Oncol, May 2024, Impact Factor: 41.6
10. Jennifer Hu, Characterizing Prostate Cancer Risk through Multi-ancestry Genome-wide Discovery of 187 Novel Risk Variants, Nat Genet, November 2023, Impact Factor: 31.7
11. Jennifer Hu, Genome-wide Association Analyses of Breast Cancer in Women of African Ancestry Identify New Susceptibility Loci and Improve Risk Prediction, Nat Genet, May 2024, Impact Factor: 31.7
12. Wendy Lichtenthal, Investing in Bereavement Care as a Public Health Priority, Lancet Public Health, March 2024, Impact Factor: 25.4
13. John Beier, Estimating the Potential Risk of Transmission of Arboviruses in the Americas and Europe: A Modeling Study, Lancet Planet Health, January 2024, Impact Factor: 24.1
14. Felicia Knaul, Harnessing Progress in Radiotherapy for Global Cancer Control, Nat Cancer, September 2023, Impact Factor: 23.5
15. Viviana Horigian, Nurse Care Management for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: The PROUD Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial, JAMA Intern Med, October 2023, Impact Factor: 22.5
16. James Shultz, Derailing Carcinogensoncologists and the Ohio Train Derailment, JAMA Oncol, November 2023, Impact Factor: 22.5
17. Alberto Caban-Martinez, Psychosocial Burdens Associated With Family Building Among Physicians and Medical Students, JAMA Intern Med, July 2023, Impact Factor: 22.5
18. David Lee, Cumulative All-cause Mortality in Diverse Hispanic/Latino Adults: A Prospective, Multicenter Cohort Study, Ann Intern Med, March 2024, Impact Factor: 19.6
19. Limin Jiang, Michele Ceccarelli, Yan Guo, Reinventing Gene Expression Connectivity through Regulatory and Spatial Structural Empowerment Via Principal Node Aggregation Graph Neural Network, Nucleic Acids Res, June 2024, Impact Factor: 16.6
20. Michele Ceccarelli, Integrated Molecular and Multiparametric MRI Mapping of High-grade Glioma Identifies Regional Biologic Signatures, Nat Commun, September 2023, Impact Factor: 14.7