UIC Research and Scholarship 2024-25 Annual Awards announced

The University of Illinois Chicago Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Office of Technology Management announce the recipients of the UIC Research and Scholarship Annual Awards for 2024-25. The awards recognize the efforts of faculty researchers, scholars and others who advance knowledge and promote continued excellence at UIC.

We would like to thank the campus community for submitting a wealth of compelling nominations for these awards. We also thank review panel members for their time spent evaluating applications and meeting to select the awardees.

Researcher and Scholar of the Year

Five UIC faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in their fields will receive the Distinguished Researcher and Distinguished Scholar awards. Additionally, five UIC early-career faculty who have shown outstanding promise to become future leaders in their fields will receive the Rising Star Awards.

The awardees for 2024-25 are:

Basic Life Sciences

Rising Star: Elizabeth Glover, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine

Distinguished Researcher: Lijun Rong, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine

Clinical Sciences

Rising Star: Leslie D. Williams, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Distinguished Researcher: Tanvi Bhatt, PhD, Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences

Natural Sciences and Engineering

Rising Star: Andy I. Nguyen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Distinguished Researcher: Michael Trenary, PhD, Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Social Sciences

Rising Star: Uchechi A. Mitchell, PhD, MSPH, Associate Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Distinguished Scholar: Danny Bernard Martin; PhD; Department of Curriculum and Instruction; College of Education and Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science; College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Humanities, Arts, Design and Architecture

Rising Star: Liza Calisesi Maidens; DMA; Assistant Professor; School of Theatre and Music; College of Architecture, Design and the Arts

Distinguished Scholar: Liliana Sánchez, PhD, Professor, Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Additional awards

Inventor of the Year

The Inventor of the Year Award honors an outstanding inventor or outstanding team of inventors at UIC who have contributed to the development of intellectual property that significantly impacts their field and society. The award is given based on creativity, novelty and benefit to society.

2024 winner: Maria Siemionow, MD, PhD, DSc, Professor, Department of Orthopedics, College of Medicine

Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year

Recognizing a postdoctoral fellow who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and shows exceptional promise as a future leader.

2024-25 winner: Kanchan Jaswal, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine

Faculty Mentor of the Year

Recognizing an individual who serves as an outstanding knowledgeable, empathetic guide and leverages their experience to inspire and support mentees in achieving their goals.

2024-25 winner: Noah J. Kaplan, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Research Champion of the Year

A new award recognizing a staff member who provides outstanding support to the UIC research enterprise.

2024-25 winner: Branko Bogicevic; Senior Assistant Director for Project Management-Mechanical Engineering; Planning, Sustainability and Project Management; Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services

Sincerely,

Joanna Groden, PhD
Vice Chancellor for Research

Suseelan Pookote, PhD
Director, Office of Technology Management