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Honors & Other Things |
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September 15, 2015, Volume 62, No. 05 |
ASA Honors
Two Penn Medicine researchers from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB) were honored with the 2015 Outstanding Statistical Application Award from the American Statistical Association (ASA) in August at the Joint Statistical Meetings.
Authors of the paper include Wensheng Guo, professor of biostatistics in the department of biostatistics & epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine and a scholar in the CCEB, and Anne R. Cappola, associate professor in the division of endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and an associate scholar in the CCEB. The paper, titled “Modeling Bivariate Longitudinal Hormone Profiles by Hierarchical State Space Models” and published in the Journal of American Statistical Association, was recognized for its contribution to modeling the complex feed-back and feed-forward relationship between different hormones in humans.
In addition, Mary D. Sammel, professor of biostatistics in biostatistics & epidemiology at Penn, was elected as a Fellow of the ASA. Dr. Sammel was recognized for her outstanding contributions in introducing and establishing statistical science as a core aspect of the field of women’s health and reproduction research; for the achievement of a stellar, relevant and important body of work in women’s health; for outstanding mentoring of women and junior researchers; and for major contributions in the development of statistical methodology.
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Rinad Beidas: ABCT President’s New Researcher Award
Rinad Beidas, assistant professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at Penn, was recently honored with the President’s New Researcher Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).
Dr. Beidas was recognized for her robust body of early research on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs)—those practices proven to be most successful through clinical expertise, scientific research and patient preference—in the treatment of youth with psychiatric disorders in community settings.
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Urs Giger: Excellence in Feline Research Award
Urs Giger, the Charlotte Newton Sheppard Professor of Medicine in Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine and a professor of hematology in the Perelman School of Medicine, received the 2015 Excellence in Feline Research Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council for Research, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) and the Winn Feline Foundation.
Dr. Giger was selected for his outstanding contributions in advancing feline health through his clinical and basic research, service and teaching in feline medicine over the past 30 years. In particular, his research in feline clinical genetics, hematology and transfusion medicine has been transformative. The award and a $2,500 honorarium were presented at a reception at the University of California, Davis in August.
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Helen McFie: Rowing Champion
Helen McFie, lecturer in foreign languages and co-director of the Italian language program at Penn, is also a champion rower. She represented Vesper Boat Club at the US Rowing Masters National Championship in August in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. McFie won a 5x5, or five gold medals for five races.
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NIH Neuro Startup Challenge Winners
Krystle Karoscik, MLA’15, a project manager in the department of neurology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Medha Sengupta, MLA’15, a clinical coordinator at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, were winners in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Neuro Startup Challenge. The NIH developed the challenge to attract students to create launch campaigns for its unlicensed technologies, all of which treat brain-related illnesses.
Ms. Karoscik and Ms. Sengupta are now working to market a device that simulates a blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI), offering hope for the future diagnosis and treatment of TBIs. This new technology is unique because of its ability to examine and record—on a cellular level—what occurs when brain cells are exposed to a blast from an explosive device.
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Penn’s Robotic Soccer Team: RoboCup Winners
Penn’s robotic soccer team won the Robot Soccer World Cup’s AdultSize Humanoid League for the second year in a row. Its robot, THORwIn, a collaboration with UCLA, beat Iran’s Team Baset in a 5-4 shootout in Hefei, China. Coached by Daniel Lee, director of the School of Engineering & Applied Science’s GRASP Lab, the robotic soccer team consists of Steve McGill, Seung-Joon Yi, Heejin Jeong, Jinwook Huh, Marcell Missura, Dickens He, Sagar Poudel, Jianqiao Li, Yongbo Qian, Rachel Han, Kyuil Lee and Austin Small.
Competing in RoboCup’s most advanced league, “AdultSize Humanoid,” THORwIn had to locate the ball, dribble around obstacles and shoot against the opponent’s robotic goalie to score. To simulate the human experience of the game, the robots must use eye-like cameras to see the ball, goals and other players, and use brain-like onboard processors to put all of this information together. Most importantly, the robots must make all decisions autonomously.
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Almanac -
September 15, 2015, Volume 62, No. 05
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