Research & Faculty Mentoring Awards Research Awards Faculty Mentoring Awards UCI School of Medicine Research Awards The UCI School of Medicine Research Awards celebrate excellence in research. Home About About > Research Awards Celebrating Research Excellence The School of Medicine Office of Research annually recognizes excellence in research and outstanding academic achievement. Each awardee receives a monetary award and an individual recognition plaque. Winners' names are also added to an enduring plaque on display in Irvine Hall. This year, we are happy to announce a new annual research award category. The new award category will recognize faculty for excellence in mentoring research trainees. Two awards will be given: one for basic science research faculty and one for clinical/translational research faculty. In honor of our late colleague Gina Lee, PhD, we have named the basic science faculty mentoring excellence award The Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees. Congratulations to our 2025 School of Medicine Annual Research Awardees The UC Irvine School of Medicine Office of Research is delighted to announce the winners and honorable mentions of our fifth annual research awards to recognize research excellence and outstanding academic achievement in the School of Medicine. A sincere thank you to everyone who took the time to prepare nominations for their trainees and colleagues. Trainee Mentoring Awards The Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees Winner Cholsoon Jang, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Honorable Mention Matthew Marsden, PhD, Departments of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Medicine The Excellence in Mentoring Clinical Research Trainees Award Winner Arash Rezazadeh Kalebasty, MD, Departments of Medicine and Urology Honorable Mention Nii-Kabu Kabutey, MD, Department of Surgery Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Winners Basic Science: Shannon Geels, Department of Physiology & Biophysics (Adviser: Francesco Marangoni, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Samuel W. Du, Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Ophthalmology (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: José Morán, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (Adviser: Matthew Marsden, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Alexa Kassels, Department of Dermatology (Advisers: Christina Kraus, MD, and Michelle Min, MD, MSci) Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Winners Basic Science: Won-Suk Song, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Clinical/Translational: Omid Yazdanpanah, MD, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Department of Medicine Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Elodie Bournique, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Clinical/Translational: Ravi Rajmohan, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award Winner Jiin Felgner, MS, MPH, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Winners Basic Science: Kai Kessenbrock, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Clinical Research: Albert R. La Spada, MD, PhD, Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Neurology, Biological Chemistry and Neurobiology & Behavior Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Kwang-Mook Jung, PhD, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology Clinical Research: S. Ahmad Sajjadi, MD, PhD, MRCP, Departments of Neurology and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (joint appointment) Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Winners Basic Science: Lisa Wagar, PhD, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Erlinda Rose (Chulie) Ulloa, MD, MSc, Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Orkide Koyuncu, PhD, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Clinical Research: Patrick Chen, MD, Department of Neurology Lifetime Research Achievement Award Winners Basic Science: Christine M. Gall, PhD, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology Clinical Research: Dan M. Cooper, MD, Department of Pediatrics Award Categories Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Aimed at graduate students, including medical students, (one clinical/translational and one basic science) who show outstanding scientific promise in biomedical research. Two awardees; each will receive $750. Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Aimed at residents, clinical fellows and postdoctoral fellows (one clinical and one basic science) who show outstanding scientific promise in biomedical research. Two awardees; each will receive $750. Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award Recognizing the scientific impact of career scientists (non-faculty; includes Professional Researcher, Project Scientist and Research Specialist series). One awardee will receive a $1,500 award. Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Recognizing the scientific impact and novel contribution of early-career faculty (includes assistant professors in the HS Clinical, Clinical X, In-Residence, In-Line and Adjunct series). Two awardees: one focused on basic research and one focused on clinical research; each will receive $1,500. Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Recognizing mid-career scientists who have made novel and significant scientific contributions (includes associate and full professors in the HS Clinical, Clinical X, In-Residence, In-Line and Adjunct series). Two awardees: one focused on basic research and one focused on clinical research; each will receive $1,500. Lifetime Research Achievement Award Recognizing senior scientists who have made significant fundamental contributions to research with a lasting impact on their fields (includes full professors in the HS Clinical, Clinical X, In-Residence, In-Line and Adjunct series). Two awardees: one focused on basic research and one focused on clinical research; each will receive $1,500. Trainee Mentoring Award Recognizing faculty who have made an impact on research through their excellence in mentoring trainees. The Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees is for faculty who mentor trainees engaging in basic science research. The Excellence in Mentoring Clinical Research Trainees Award is for faculty who mentor trainees engaging in clinical research. Each awardee will receive $1,500. Selection Criteria Considerations for the awards include: Academic Accomplishment Original Contribution to the Literature Significance of Innovation to the Field Relevance to the Aims & Priorities of the School of Medicine Past Awardees 2024 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Basic Science: Jason Lee, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology (Adviser: Kei Igarashi, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Christopher Yang, Department of Ophthalmology (Adviser: Ken Lin, MD, PhD) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Emily Tom, Department of Ophthalmology (Adviser: Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD) & Valeria Rangel, Department of Biological Chemistry (Adviser: Nicholas Pannunzio, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Armon Azizi, Department of Medicine (Adviser: Farshid Dayyani, MD, PhD) & Nischal Acharya, Department of Surgery (Advisers: Michael Oh, MD, Hao-Hua Wu, MD, and Sohaib Hashmi, MD) Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Basic Science: Naomi Lomeli, PhD, Department of Neurology Clinical/Translational: Muhammed Alaa Moukhtar Hammad, MBBCh, MSc, Department of Urology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Justin Chan, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Clinical/Translational: Carly Crowder, MD, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology & Bruce Gao, MD, Department of Urology Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award David Salom, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology Honorable Mention Hye-Lim Lee, PhD, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Cholsoon Jang, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Clinical Research: Olivia H. Chang, MD, MPH, Department of Urology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Lisa Wagar, PhD, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Christina Kraus, MD, Department of Dermatology Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Shawn (Liangzhong) Xiang, PhD, Department of Radiological Sciences Clinical Research: Mihaela Balu, PhD, Department of Dermatology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Yongsheng Shi, PhD, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Clinical Research: Dara Sorkin, PhD, Department of Medicine Lifetime Research Achievement Award Basic Science: Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, Departments of Pediatrics, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Neurology Clinical Research: William E. Bunney MD, Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior 2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Basic Science: Sunwoo Oh, Department of Biological Chemistry (Adviser: Rémi Buisson, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Megan Donnelly, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery (Advisers: Jeffry Nahmias, MD, and Raj Vyas, MD) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Gianna Fote, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry (Advisers: Leslie Thompson, PhD and Joan Steffan, PhD) Basic Science: Jason Lee, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology (Adviser: Kei Igarashi, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Sina Hosseinian, Department of Surgery (Adviser: Sebastian Schubl, MD) Clinical/Translational: Armon Azizi, Department of Radiation Oncology (Adviser: Steven Seyedin, MD) Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Basic Science: Suhas Sureshchandra, PhD, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Clinical/Translational: Lohrasb Ross Sayadi, MD, Department of Plastic Surgery Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Matthew T. Birnie, PhD, Department of Pediatrics Basic Science: Emma M. Lessieur-Contreras, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology Clinical/Translational: Alexander M. Lopez, MD, Department of Neurological Surgery Clinical/Translational: Edmund Hsu, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award Jami L. Nourse, PhD, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Honorable Mentions David Salom, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Rémi Buisson, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry Clinical Research: Andrew Browne, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Dorota Skowronska-Krawcyzk, PhD, Department of Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Roshan M. Patel, MD, Department of Urology Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Xiangmin Xu, PhD, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology Clinical Research: Gelareh Sadigh, MD, Department of Radiological Sciences Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Aileen J. Anderson, PhD, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinical Research: Faysal A. Yafi, MD, Department of Urology Lifetime Research Achievement Award Basic Science: Timothy S. Kern, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology Clinical Research: Sheldon Greenfield, MD, Department of Medicine UCI NIH Grant-Writing Boot Camp Coach's Award An inaugural award for five years of extraordinary service. Kyoko Yokomori, PhD, Department of Biological ChemistryPeter Donovan, PhD, Department of Biological Chemistry 2022 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Basic Science: Robert Lewis (Adviser: Emiliana Borrelli, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Nolan Brown (Adviser: Michael Oh, MD) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Sunwoo Oh (Adviser: Rémi Buisson, PhD) Basic Science: Jason Lee (Adviser: Kei Igarashi, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Elena Heide (Adviser: Jeremy Harris, MD) Clinical/Translational: Sina Hosseinian (Adviser: Sebastian Schubl, MD) Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Basic Science: Dominik Lewandowski, PhD (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Clinical/Translational: David Benjamin, MD (Adviser: Arash Rezazadeh Kalebasty, MD) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Roman Smidak, PhD (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Jonathan Lee, MD (Adviser: Shannon Toohey, MD, MAEd) Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award Shivashankar Othy, DVM, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Honorable Mentions David Salom, PhD, Ophthalmology Xiaorong Wang, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Kei Igarashi, PhD, Anatomy & Neurobiology Clinical Research: Edward Kuan, MD, MBA, Otolaryngology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Rémi Buisson, PhD, Biological Chemistry Basic Science: Medha Pathak, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: E. R. Chulie Ulloa, MD, Pediatrics Clinical Research: Karen Lindsay, PhD, RDN, Pediatrics/SSIHI Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Lan Huang, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Lisa Gibbs, MD, AGSF, Family Medicine Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Xing Dai, PhD, Biological Chemistry Basic Science: Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD, Dermatology Clinical Research: Lbachir BenMohamed, PhD. Ophthalmology Clinical Research: Danh Nguyen, PhD, Medicine: Internal Medicine Lifetime Research Achievement Award Basic Science: Stephen White, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Nathan Wong, PhD, MPH, Medicine: Cardiology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Timothy Kern, PhD, Ophthalmology Clinical Research: Dana Mukamel, PhD, Medicine: Internal Medicine 2021 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Basic Science: Aliza Le (Adviser: Gary Lynch, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Arash Abiri (Adviser: Edward Kuan, MD, MBA) Honorable Mentions Basic Science: May Hui (Adviser: Kevin T. Beier, PhD) Basic Science: Robert Lewis (Adviser: Emiliana Borrelli, PhD) Clinical/Translational: Samuel Du (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Clinical/Translational: John Hong (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award Basic Science: Ghaidaa Kashgari, PhD (Adviser: Bogi Andersen, MD) Clinical/Translational: Arum Wu, PhD (Adviser: Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD) Honorable Mentions Clinical/Translational: Mehdi Abouzari, MD, PhD (Advisers: Hamid Djalilian, MD/William Armstrong, MD) Clinical/Translational: Ross Sayadi, MD (Advisers: Amber Coffey-Leis, MD/Alan Widgerow, MMed) Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award Julie C. Lauterborn, PhD, Anatomy & Neurobiology Honorable Mentions Shivashankar Othy, PhD, DVM, Physiology & Biophysics David Salom, PhD, Ophthalmology Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Selma Masri, PhD, Biological Chemistry Clinical Research: Jessica Shiu, MD, PhD, Dermatology Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Kevin T. Beier, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Basic Science: Kei Igarashi, PhD, Anatomy & Neurobiology Clinical Research: Autumn Ivy, MD, PhD, Pediatrics Clinical Research: Edward Kuan, MD, MBA, Otolaryngology Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award Basic Science: Wei Li, PhD, Biological Chemistry Clinical Research: Shlomit Aizik, PhD, Pediatrics Honorable Mentions Basic Science: Haoping Liu, PhD, Biological Chemistry Basic Science: Yongsheng Shi, PhD, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Clinical Research: Lisa M Gibbs, MD, Family Medicine Clinical Research: Maheswari Senthil, MD, Surgery Lifetime Research Achievement Award Basic Science: Michael Cahalan, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics Clinical Research: Susan M. O’Brien, MD, Medicine