Distinguished Scientist Award

The Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) created the Distinguished Scientist Award in 2006-07 to recognize faculty from the basic, medical, or engineering sciences who have performed a considerable amount of influential research while at the University of Virginia.

The VPR solicits nominations annually for the Distinguished Scientist Award from relevant department chairs.  Nominees will be judged on publications, awards, peer reviews, and having made a major impact upon a field of study, both nationally and internationally. The award consists of a $10,000 one-time contribution to the recipient's laboratory for enhancement of its research activities. 

2009 DSA Announcement
2009 DSA Nomination Form

The deadline for nominations typically occurs in the early spring.

Contact Phillip A. Parrish for more information.

Announcing the 2008-09 Distinguished Scientist Awardees

Four pre-eminent researchers – Richard L. Guerrant, Michael Menaker, J. Thomas Parsons and Michael J. Weber – have been chosen to receive 2008-09 Distinguished Scientist Awards from the University of Virginia.

Richard L. Guerrant

Guerrant, Thomas H. Hunter Professor of International Medicine, has been conducting research projects abroad with U.Va. students for more than 30 years. He founded and directs the Center for Global Health, a Universitywide initiative that addresses critical global health challenges. Guerrant's research has demonstrated that early childhood diarrhea can lead to serious physical and cognitive impairments later in life. He translated this basic research into preventive treatments that have improved the health and well-being of countless children in developing countries.

Guerrant has trained more than 150 postdoctoral fellows and students and has written more than 500 scientific and clinical articles. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. He recently received the Walter Reed Medal from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Michael Menaker

Research by Menaker, Commonwealth Professor of Biology, has focused around understanding the complexities of the circadian clock system and how it is organized within an organism. His pioneering circadian biology experiments demonstrated that a master, regulatory clock exists in a specific region of the hypothalamus. In more recent years, Menaker has been working to understand how this hypothalamic clock coordinates other clocks throughout the body.

Menaker has received a number of prominent honors, including election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Photobiology. He has published 219 papers, including several that are routinely cited. In addition, he has trained more than 50 students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in the field. His seminal research and careful mentoring of a generation of chronobiologists have prompted his reputation as the "scientific father" of the field.

J. Thomas Parsons

Parsons, professor and chairman of microbiology and F. Palmer Weber Professor of Medical Research, studies cell migration. Since directed cell movement is implicated in development, tissue regeneration and disease, an understanding of these fundamental processes is critical to solving countless medical problems. Parsons opened new lines of inquiry with his discovery and characterization of several novel proteins. One of these proteins, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), was found to have a role in disease progression, particularly in cancer. Parsons' research has led to drugs now in human trials against metastatic cancer that inhibit the activity of FAK.

Parsons has published 174 papers, including six that have been cited more than 500 times. He has been very successful in attracting external funding, including the largest research grant made yet to the University, an over $80 million National Institutes of Health award for the Cell Migration Consortium,  a large-scale, interdisciplinary effort led by Parsons and Alan "Rick" Horwitz, professor of cell biology, that unites top researchers from around the globe in the quest to understand the complexities of cell migration.

Michael J. Weber

Weber, professor of microbiology, Marion McNulty and Malvin C. Weaver Professor of Oncology and director of the U.Va. Cancer Center, uses cell biology, protein chemistry and molecular biology to understand cell growth and death on the molecular level. Weber launched a new field of research with his work on mitogen-activated protein kinases – a family of proteins that play a central role in normal and diseased cells. Weber's research has opened new possibilities for treating cancer and has profoundly influenced cell regulation, not only in cancer, but in inflammation, diabetes, and infectious diseases.

Weber has consistently attracted research funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. He ranks among the top 1 percent of scientists for paper citations in the Molecular Biology & Genetics category, according to Thomson Reuters. In addition, Weber received a prestigious MERIT award from the National Cancer Institute.

The 2007-08 Distinguished Scientist Awardees

Lester S. Andrews
Professor, Department of Chemistry

Andrews is a long-time professor in the Department of Chemistry who is well known for matrix-isolation spectroscopy research, an experimental method of studying the individual molecules of chemical compounds at very low temperatures. He has worked with every non-radioactive element in the periodic table and his work has fundamentally changed the understanding of chemical bonding in many elements, providing key insights for generations of chemists to come. 

Andrews’ research continues to expand the bounds of chemistry.  He and his colleagues recently created the first uranium-carbon triple bonded molecule.  This investigation, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contributes important insights to uranium chemistry.  Since uranium is used to fuel nuclear power plants and create weapons, a greater understanding of the element is imperative.

Ian G. Macara
Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of Microbiology

Macara is director of the School of Medicine’s Advanced Microscopy Facility. He is highly regarded for his research in two distinct areas of cell biology: nuclear protein transport and cellular polarity. His research has important implications for understanding the molecular basis for human diseases, including cancer.

Macara is recognized as a major scientific leader at U.Va. and beyond. He has been instrumental in acquiring state-of-the-art cellular imaging equipment for the Advanced Microscopy Facility, creating an invaluable resource for U.Va.’s scientists. In addition, he has over 165 publications, many of which appear in prestigious journals such as Cell, Science, and Nature. His citation index of 58 is extremely high, indicating the importance and regard his research has generated.

2006-07 Distinguished Scientist Awardees

VPR is pleased to announce two inaugural winners of the University of Virginia Distinguished Scientist Award: Brian R. Duling, a prominent cardiovascular researcher, and Herman H. “Hank” Shugart Jr., leading systems ecologist. READ MORE

Brian R. Duling
Robert M. Berne Chair in Cardiovascular Research in the School of Medicine and professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics

Duling’s current work uses state-of-the-art techniques to investigate the regulation of flow in the cardiovascular system.  He has pioneered the use of the microscope in the investigation of the small blood vessels that control blood flow, and most recently his laboratory has established a co-culture system of endothelial and smooth muscle cells that will allow elucidation of the vital interactions that occur between these two cells.  This novel research has important implications for our overall understanding of the cardiovascular system as well as associated problems such as hypertension.

Herman H. (Hank) Shugart Jr.
W.W. Corcoran Professor of Environmental Sciences and professor in the Department of Biology

Shugart’s latest research involves the innovative computer modeling of forests and entire ecosystems in order to predict the effects of systems interactions and potential stresses such as climate change on forests, vegetation and animals.  At present, Shugart and his laboratory are engaged in a number of significant international and multidisciplinary research projects.  He is the chief scientist for the Northern Eurasian Earth Science Partnership Initiative, a vast research endeavor involving the collaborative efforts of 353 scientists and 186 different institutions.  In addition, Shugart’s lab is contributing to the Global Mammal Assessment—a collaborative project between U.Va. and Conservation International that entails the first comprehensive appraisal of the status of mammal species worldwide.