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Dr. Zhiping Pang Receives a Presidential Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award
MNADRT mentor Zhiping Pang, Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology and Director of the Human Neuron Functional Analysis Core, Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, received a 2022-2023 Presidential Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award. This award, one of several Faculty Year-End Excellence Awards, honors tenured faculty members whose breadth of academic portfolios reflect outstanding research, scholarship, or creative work, as well as truly outstanding contributions to teaching along with extensive service to the Rutgers community and beyond.
Dr. Julianne Price Won Best Postdoctoral Poster Award at CAS 7th Annual Scholar Poster Session
On October 29, 2020, MNADRT trainee Dr. Julianne Price won the Best Postdoctoral Poster Award in the area of Human Experimental Addiction Science at the virtual Rutgers Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies 7th Annual Scholar Poster Session for her poster, “Eight-Week Resonance Breathing App Usage Improves Cardiovascular Functioning in Women Receiving Intensive Outpatient Treatment with Alcohol and Substance Use Disorder.” Students, research staff, and postdoctoral fellows across Rutgers University showcased their latest work in alcohol, drug, and related health research. A Best Poster Award was given in four categories: Animal and Basic Experimental, Human Experimental, Clinical Quantitative and Qualitative Studies, and Epidemiology and Public Health. Dr. Price’s poster demonstrated “outstanding contributions to the field by a trainee.”

Dr. Zhiping Pang and Dr. Lauren Aleksunes Receive RBHS Chancellor Awards
On October 7, 2020, the RBHS Chancellor’s office announced the recipients of the inaugural RBHS Chancellor Awards, which were established to acknowledge the extraordinary work of faculty and staff. Among the honorees were two members of the MNADRT program. Dr. Zhiping Pang, associate professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a MNADRT mentor, received a Chancellor Basic Sciences Researcher Award “for his contributions to the study of neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatric disorders and discovery of new technologies to advance neuroscience research.” Dr. Lauren Aleksunes, professor at Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and a MNADRT advisory committee member, received a Chancellor Educator of the Year Award “for her dedication to the education and mentoring of students across multiple disciplines.”
Professor Dipak Sarkar Receives the Advancement of Science Award from NJAS
On July 1, 2020, the New Jersey Academy of Science (NJAS) granted the inaugural Advancement of Science Award to Dr. Dipak Sarkar, Distinguished Professor, Director of the Endocrine Program, and PI of the MNADRT program team. This award recognizes “scientists, engineers, STEM educators, leaders, spokespeople, or professional organizations that have demonstrated excellence in science and have developed an outstanding contribution to knowledge or support in the biological, physical, mathematical, or engineering sciences.” Dr. Sarkar’s astounding accomplishments include 194 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 book chapters, 333 abstracts and invited speaker opportunities, 2 book publications, and 130 public citations that have “contributed to a better understanding on neuroendocrine cell growth, differentiation and secretion, natural killer cells, cancer, epigenetics, and alcohol exposure.” He was honored at a virtual event taking place on August 22, 2020, that showcased a series of lectures in the fields of endocrinology, alcohol studies, and cancer. (To watch a recording of the event, please click here.) NJAS was established in 1954 as a non-profit organization whose mission is “to preserve and promote the advancement of STEM-related fields among the NJ scientific community” through education and research.
Professor Jay Tischfield Receives HINJ Honors for Pioneering Genetics Researcher
HINJ honored Prof. Jay A. Tischfield of Rutgers University–New Brunswick today (Dec. 9, 2019) “in recognition of innovative and creative leadership in genetics research, scholarship and commercial collaborations.” Read full article.