More achievements

The Physiological Society, Europe’s largest network of physiologists, has welcomed Colleen Clancy, Ph.D., as inaugural Editor-in-Chief of its The Journal of Precision Medicine: Health and Disease. The journal aims to serve as a catalyst for translational research by transforming leading-edge discoveries in genomics, multi-omics, drug discovery, and personalized therapies into real-world translational, technological, and clinical solutions. Clancy is Associate Dean for Faculty and Professional Development and a professor in the Departments of Physiology and Membrane Biology and Pharmacology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. She currently serves as the Interim Chair of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, and the Director of the UC Davis Center for Precision Medicine and Data Science.

Angela Haczku, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UC Davis Lung Center and a professor of medicine, has been elected to the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large. The academy is the leading membership organization of more than 7,100 allergists/immunologists. Haczku will promote research, education and patient care in the specialty over the next four years in this position.

Gene Gurkoff, Ph.D., associate professor, acting vice chair of research and Bronte Endowed Chair of Neurological Surgery, is serving as the elected president of the National Neurotrauma Society for 2024–25. Gurkoff’s research includes pioneering work in neuromodulation and deep brain stimulation (DBS) to restore function in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy models. He is a principal investigator on the UC Davis CounterACT Center grant, a program addressing the epileptogenic effects of chemical threat agents. In the education space, Gurkoff is a leader in the UC Davis Neuroscience Graduate Group.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed the founder and director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities to a state committee charged with finding ways to improve health care access for underserved residents. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D., will serve on the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which reports to the California Department of Health Care Services and advises it on how to increase access to care by improving Medi-Cal services. About a third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal for their health care coverage.

Neurosurgeon David Brandman, M.D., Ph.D., and his UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab team were selected for a 2025 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award by the Clinical Research Forum. The annual award honors 10 outstanding clinical research studies published in peer-reviewed journals in the previous year.

Brandman and team also received the Forum’s most prestigious honor, The Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award. It’s given for the study that best shows a high degree of innovation and creativity, advances science, and impacts human disease.

Brandman and team were recognized for their groundbreaking work in developing a new brain-computer interface (BCI) that translates brain signals into speech with up to 97% accuracy — the most accurate system of its kind. Their work was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Co-principal investigator is UC Davis neuroscientist Sergey Stavisky, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery and co-director of the Neuroprosthetics Lab. Lead author is neurological surgery postdoctoral scholar Nicholas Card. The BCI study is part of a BrainGate2 clinical trial; Brandman is the trial’s site-responsible principal investigator.

The Clinical Research Forum is a well-regarded nonprofit that highlights major clinical research advances, representing a portion of the annual return on the nation’s investment in the health and future welfare of its citizens.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor of physiology and membrane biology Kim Barrett, Ph.D., has been named the winner of the John Snow Public Health Innovation Prize 2024. The prize is part of the Applied Microbiology International (AMI) Horizon Awards.

The award celebrates the brightest minds in applied microbiology who have made notable contributions to health and well-being, as well as to clean water and sanitation. It honors their efforts in tackling key health challenges and ensuring safe water access, emphasizing real-world impacts.

Barrett’s research specializes in digestive disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases. Her work is relevant to the understanding of diarrheal diseases, particularly those caused by infectious agents, such as Salmonella and cholera. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. It has resulted in more than 300 publications and multiple awards.

Lydia Howell, M.D., distinguished professor emerita and chair emerita of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Academic Pathology (AAPath; formerly the Association of Pathology Chairs).

Honored for her service to academic pathology, as well as her contributions to cytopathology and women’s career development, Howell served as AAPath’s president during the COVID-19 pandemic and is a founder of the AAPath’s Academy of Distinguished Pathology Educators, the Pathology Leadership Academy and their Leadership Development and Diversity Committee.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Donald M. Bers, Ph.D., has been elected an Honorary Fellow by The Physiological Society. The society’s highest honor presented to an individual, the Honorary Fellowship recognizes people of distinction in science who have contributed to the advancement of physiology.

Bers’ scientific work has focused on calcium and sodium transport, signaling and electrophysiology in the heart in health and disease. He has published more than 550 papers, yielding more than 75,000 citations. He has also received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for more than 40 years, and has led large research groups, including a 10-year NIH Program Project Grant. Bers also holds the Joseph Silva Endowed Chair for Cardiovascular Research and is the director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UC Davis.

In April the Association for Clinical and Translational Science awarded UC Davis Distinguished Professor Diana Farmer, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.R.C.S., the prestigious Edward H. Ahrens, Jr. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Patient-Oriented Research. The award recognizes her first-of-its-kind work, which combines fetal surgery with stem cells to treat spina bifida. It also honors her excellence in moving basic research from laboratory to patients. Farmer is an internationally renowned fetal and neonatal surgeon, the Pearl Stamps Stewart Endowed Chair and the chairperson of the UC Davis Department of Surgery, chief of pediatric surgery at Shriners Children’s Northern California, and founder and co-director of the Center for Surgical Bioengineering.

Susan Brown, Ph.D., an associate professor of internal medicine, was elected an Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (AMBR) fellow for her many contributions to the field of behavioral medicine. AMBR is the premier honorary scientific organization for scientists working at the interface of behavior and medicine, with several hundred eminent senior investigators elected as fellows through a highly selective process. Brown’s research focuses on behavioral intervention for diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention, specifically novel interventions that promote healthy lifestyle.

Aliza Wingo, M.D., professor of psychiatry, received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her Department of Veterans Affairs research. It is awarded to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers, based on recommendations from federal funding agencies. Wingo combines genetics and functional genomics to elucidate risk genes and brain proteins contributing to the causes of major psychiatric disorders and Alzheimer’s disease. Her work has been published in Nature Aging, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Genetics and Nature Medicine.

Physiology and Membrane Biology Professor Aldrin Gomes, Ph.D., received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Gomes, who studies how side effects from commonly used drugs such as ibuprofen affect the heart, has personally mentored more than 220 undergraduate students in his 17 years at UC Davis. He is also the director of the MARC and IMSD programs, which aim to support underrepresented and disadvantaged STEM undergraduate and graduate students, respectively.

Theanne Griffith, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology, received the 2024 Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award from the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) this past fall. Griffith has written children’s books about science, including The Magnificent Makers series which has been honored with awards and national press attention. The writings are about Black and brown children who love science, providing critical representation for young children from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in science.

Ron Mangun, Ph.D., distinguished professor of psychology and neurology and co-director of the Center for Mind and Brain, was also honored with the SfN 2024 Award for Education in Neuroscience. Mangun has trained dozens of undergraduate, doctoral, medical, and postdoctoral trainees, directed doctoral programs at Dartmouth and Duke, and coauthored Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind.

Pediatric neurosurgeon Cameron Sadegh, M.D., Ph.D., was selected to receive a 2024 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award from The Hartwell Foundation. The award funds early-stage, innovative biomedical research that benefits children in the United States. Sadegh, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery, is developing a gene therapy that might improve quality of life for babies with hydrocephalus and other brain fluid disorders. Sadegh is one of only ten scientists nationwide to receive the prestigious award this year; he joins the ranks of UC Davis Health researchers Geoanna Bautista, Roy Ben-Shalom and Erin Brown who were previously selected.

Mariano E. Menendez, M.D., shoulder and elbow surgery surgeon for orthopaedics sports medicine, received the 2025 Charles S. Neer Award from the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), the organization’s highest honor for clinical shoulder research. The award recognizes excellence in orthopaedic research and contributions that enhance our understanding of shoulder injuries and rehabilitation. Menendez is co-investigator on a trial which investigated two approaches to shoulder rehabilitation in patients undergoing reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, comparing home exercise-based and physical therapist-led programs.

Chad Hatfield, PharmD, MHA, BCPS, vice president and chief pharmacy officer for UC Davis Health, was selected as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “75 hospital and health system chief pharmacy officers to know” in 2025 among hospitals and health systems nationwide. The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) presented David Mitchell, PharmD, MBA, CSP, FCPhA, assistant chief of specialty pharmacy, with its Distinguished Service Award.