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January 20, 2011

People of the Times

fac-novoselTony Novosel, a faculty member in the Department of History, is the recipient of the 2011 Ampco-Pittsburgh Prize for Excellence in Advising.

The Ampco-Pittsburgh Prize, sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, is given annually to a full-time faculty member who has served as a departmental adviser on the Pittsburgh campus for at least three years. The award carries a $4,000 cash prize.

Novosel also teaches courses in the College of General Studies.

Clayton A. Smith, an internationally renowned hematology and oncology expert, has been named director of the hematologic malignancies program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and director of Leukemia and Stem Cell Transplant Clinical Services at UPMC Cancer Centers.

Before coming to UPCI, Smith served as the director of the leukemia/stem cell transplantation program at the British Columbia Cancer Agency and as a faculty member in medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Smith is particularly interested in bone marrow transplantation, cancer stem cells and bioinformatics. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group, the Stem Cell Network and the Canadian Institutes of Health. He also has patented several methods regarding stem cell use.

Don Shields, director of corporate relations at the Swanson School of Engineering, has been named executive director of the Center for Energy.

The center, housed in the Swanson school, is dedicated to improving energy technology development and sustainability, including energy efficiency, advanced materials for demanding energy technologies, carbon management and energy diversification.

Mary T. Korytkowski, a faculty member in the medical school’s Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, has been named to the American Diabetes Association board of directors.

Several faculty members in the School of Pharmacy recently were recognized.

Stephanie Harriman McGrath, pharmacy and therapeutics, has been selected as one of the 10 honorable mention awardees for the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) one-to-one counseling program. She will be profiled in Pharmacy Today and be a guest of honor at the One-To-One Awards reception dinner at the APhA annual meeting in March.Susan_Meyer

• Susan Meyer, associate dean for education, has been elected the 2011 Council of Deans secretary for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). The Council of Deans comprises members who are deans, associate or assistant deans or professional staff members of AACP.

• Brian Potoski, pharmacy and therapeutics, has received the 2010 Jerry Siegel Clinical Achievement Award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Brian_PotoskiThe award recognizes a graduate of the Ohio State University Medical Center pharmacy residency program who has advanced clinical service by expanding or creating venues of practice, advanced the base of knowledge by scholarly activity in research and literature and contributed to the education of health care students and residents.

Kristine Schonder, pharmacy and therapeutics, has been selected as a co-chair of the National Quality Forum steering committee for end-stage renal disease.

The forum seeks to improve health care by building national consensus on priorities and goals and endorsing standards for measuring and publicly reporting health care quality and performance.

The steering committee will endorse measures relating to health care for patients with kidney disease. These measures are expected to become the national standards used by regulatory authorities.Kristine_Schonder

Schonder is the only pharmacist to serve on the steering committee and the first pharmacist to serve as co-chair of the committee.

David Vorp, a faculty member in bioengineering and surgery, has been awarded the 2011 Van C. Mow Medal. The award is given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to a researcher who has “demonstrated meritorious contributions to the field of bioengineering through research, education, professional development, leadership in the development of the profession, mentorship to young bioengineers and service to the bioengineering community.”

In addition to his appointments in bioengineering and surgery, Vorp serves as a director of the Center for Vascular Remodeling and Regeneration and director of the Vascular Surgery and Vascular Biomechanics Research Lab. He earned both his BS and PhD in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on vascular biomechanics from the University.pottsVorp

Vorp’s research in vascular biomechanics has focused on the biomechanisms of abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture and the design of tissue-engineered blood vessels, the neurophysiology and biomechanics of the urethra and the bioengineering and biologic studies of aneurysm weakening.

The is the second time in three years the Van C. Mow Medal has been awarded to a Pitt bioengineering faculty member. Michael Sacks, the John A. Swanson Endowed Chair, received the medal in 2009.

Pitt-Bradford has named Scott Elliott as its sports information director.

Elliott comes to UPB from Lindenwood University in St. Louis, where he served as the primary media contact for the men’s and women’s volleyball, track and field, ice hockey and softball teams. He helped implement a new athletics web site at Lindenwood.

Elliott also worked for Fox Sports Midwest in St. Louis.

He holds a master’s degree in sports management from Lindenwood, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in communications. While a student at Lindenwood, he was sports director for the campus radio station and the voice of both the football and basketball teams.

Also at Pitt-Bradford, Brian Sansom has been named as the interim men’s basketball coach.

Last year, as interim coach of the Lady Panthers, Sansom led UPJ to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament final. Since then, he had been coaching the boys’ basketball team at Archbishop Walsh Academy in Olean, N.Y.

Sansom was the Pitt-Bradford women’s assistant basketball coach, 2005-08, and served two years as assistant softball coach, 2006-08.

He previously was the assistant women’s basketball coach at Wilmington College (Ohio).

Pitt-Bradford will launch a national search for a full-time coach when the season ends.

Matthew Masiello has been named medical director for the Johnstown campus.

Masiello will be responsible for all clinical aspects of the Health Services Department and will work with the Office of Health and Wellness Services in the planning and implementation of campus health promotion and prevention programs offered through the Healthy Campus Initiative.

Masiello is the chief medical officer/chief wellness officer and director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Windber Research Institute.

A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, he earned his MD at Autonomous University of Guadalajara Medical School, and his Master of Public Health degree at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

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The People of the Times column features recent news on faculty and staff, including awards and other honors, accomplishments and administrative appointments.

We welcome submissions from all areas of the University. Send information via email to: utimes@pitt.edu, by fax at 412/624-4579 or by campus mail to 308 Bellefield Hall.

For submission guidelines, visit www.utimes.pitt.edu/?page_id=6807.


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