InCHIP Excellence Awards

InCHIP - Excellence Awards

We are very happy to announce that this Spring InCHIP will once again sponsor four Excellence Awards for InCHIP’s network faculty members.

Deadline: Nominations are due by 11:59 pm on April 26, 2024.

InCHIP Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award

Description: This award will recognize a pre-tenured InCHIP network faculty member who has made significant scientific contributions in their area of research in a health-related domain consistent with the mission of InCHIP. Research excellence is defined here as work that reflects a high degree of scientific contribution in terms of its substance, quality, originality, and impact. The recipient will receive $500 in research funds.

Nominations may be submitted by faculty, staff, or administrators. Self-nominations are acceptable and encouraged. Nomination packets must be submitted to InCHIP Interim Director Tricia Leahey, PhD (tricia.leahey@uconn.edu).

The packet should include the following:

  1. The name, title, and department/school of the nominated faculty member. Eligibility is limited to InCHIP’s network faculty members who hold the rank of Assistant Professor at any UConn campus.
  2. A copy of the nominated faculty member’s CV.
  3. A nomination statement (maximum of 500 words) that reviews the nominee’s accomplishments and identifies specific indicators of how the nominee’s work meets the award criteria.
  4. One or more letters of endorsement from UConn faculty members attesting to the nominee’s research excellence. These letters may be from tenured and tenure-track faculty as well as non-tenure track faculty.

Note: InCHIP’s network faculty members are not eligible for this Excellence Award if they previously won it in the past 5 years. They are eligible for Awards in other categories, though.

2019
Molly Waring, PhD (Allied Health Sciences)
Ryan Watson, PhD (Human Development and Family Sciences)

2020
Sandro Steinbach, PhD (Agricultural and Resource Economics)

2021
Angela Bermudez-Millan, PhD (Public Health Sciences)

2022
Anna Tarakanova, PhD (Mechanical Engineering)

2023
Roman Shrestha, PhD, MPH (Allied Health Sciences)


InCHIP Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award

Description: This award will recognize one of InCHIP’s network faculty member who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to mentoring pre-tenure and mid-career faculty in health-related research activities consistent with the mission of InCHIP (e.g., mentoring in grant proposal development or study design). The recipient will receive $500 in research funds.

Nominations may be submitted by faculty, staff, or administrators. Self-nominations are acceptable and encouraged. Nomination packets must be submitted to InCHIP Interim Director Tricia Leahey, PhD (tricia.leahey@uconn.edu).The packet should include the following:

  1. The name, title, and department/school of the nominated faculty member. InCHIP’s network faculty members of any rank at any UConn campus are eligible; however, administrators at the rank of Department Head or higher are not eligible.
  2. A copy of the nominated faculty member’s CV.
  3. A nomination statement (maximum of 500 words) that reviews the nominee’s accomplishments and identifies specific indicators of how the nominee’s work meets the award criteria.
  4. At least two letters of endorsement from UConn faculty members. These letters may be from tenured and tenure-track faculty as well as non-tenure track faculty. At least one of the letters should come from an individual who has benefitted directly from the nominee’s mentorship.

Note: InCHIP’s network faculty members are not eligible for this Excellence Award if they previously won it in the past 5 years. They are eligible for Awards in other categories, though. .

2019
Michelle Cloutier, MD (Pediatrics/Connecticut Children’s MedicalCenter)

2020
Kim Gans, PhD (Human Development and Family Sciences)

2021
Seth Kalichman PhD (Psychologial Sciences)

2022
Michael Copenhaver, PhD (Allied Health Sciences)

2023
George A. Kuchel, MD (UConn Health)


InCHIP Community-Engaged Health Research Excellence Award

Description: This award will recognize one of InCHIP’s network faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in health-related research conducted in collaboration with one or more community organizations and consistent with the mission of InCHIP. Excellence in community-engaged health research is defined here as work that reflects a high degree of commitment to collaboration with a community partner(s) with the goal of enhancing the respective community’s health and well-being through substantive, original, and impactful scientific contributions. The recipient will receive $500 in research funds.

Nominations may be submitted by faculty, staff, or administrators. Self-nominations are acceptable and encouraged. Nomination packets must be submitted to InCHIP Interim Director Tricia Leahey, PhD (tricia.leahey@uconn.edu).The packet should include the following:

  1. The name, title, and department/school of the nominated faculty member. InCHIP’s network faculty members of any rank at any UConn campus are eligible.
  2. A copy of the nominated faculty member’s CV.
  3. A nomination statement (maximum of 500 words) that reviews the nominee’s accomplishments and identifies specific indicators of how the nominee’s work meets the award criteria.
  4. One or more letters of endorsement from UConn faculty members attesting to the nominee’s excellence in community-engaged health research. These letters may be from tenured and tenure-track faculty as well as non-tenure track faculty. Letters of endorsement from community partners are encouraged but not required.

Note: InCHIP’s network faculty members are not eligible for this Excellence Award if they previously won it in the past 5 years. They are eligible for Awards in other categories, though.

2019
Julie Wagner, PhD (Behavioral Sciences and Community Health)

2020
Wizdom Powell,PhD (Psychiatry and UConn’s Health Disparities Institute)

2021
Marlene Schwartz, PhD (Human Development and Family Services)

2022
Sarah Willen, PhD, MPH (Anthropology)

2023
Kim Gans, PhD, MPH (Human Development & Family Sciences)


InCHIP Excellence Award for Research on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Health Outcomes of Racism

Description: This award will recognize one of InCHIP’s network faculty member who has made significant research contributions in the area of racial health disparities or in the specific health-related outcomes of racism. Research on racial health disparities is defined as work that examines how health status (including disease state, morbidity, and mortality) or access to healthcare or health-related resources (such as housing, transportation, healthy food, and education) differs along lines of race/ethnicity. Research on the health outcomes of racism is defined as research that examines the ways interpersonal, systemic, or ideological forms of racism impact health outcomes. This award is not intended for research that treats ‘race’ solely as a variable or as a biological or phenotypic attribute with deterministic outcomes. Research excellence is defined here as work that reflects a high degree of scientific contribution in terms of its substance, quality, originality, and impact. The recipient will receive $500 in research funds.

Nominations may be submitted by faculty, staff, or administrators. Self-nominations are acceptable and encouraged. Nomination packets must be submitted to InCHIP Interim Director Tricia Leahey, PhD (tricia.leahey@uconn.edu).
The packet should include the following:

  1. The name, title, and department/school of the nominated faculty member. Eligibility is limited to InCHIP’s network faculty members at any UConn campus.
  2. A copy of the nominated faculty member’s CV.
  3. A nomination statement (maximum of 500 words) that reviews the nominee’s accomplishments and identifies specific indicators of how the nominee’s work meets the award criteria.
  4. One or more letters of endorsement from UConn faculty members attesting to the nominee’s research excellence. These letters may be from tenured and tenure-track faculty as well as non-tenure track faculty.

2020
Kristen Cooksey Stowers, PhD (Allied Health Sciences)

2022
Rick Gibbons, PhD (Psychological Sciences)

2023
Amy Egbert, PhD (Psychological Sciences)


Nomination Instructions

Nominations may be submitted by faculty, staff, or administrators. Self-nominations are acceptable and encouraged. Nomination packets must be submitted to InCHIP Interim Director Tricia Leahey, PhD (tricia.leahey@uconn.edu) by 11:59 pm on April 26, 2024.

Submit Nomination!