Researcher Recognition, January 2025
Post Date: February 12, 2025 | Publish Date:
Congratulations to these Cincinnati Children’s scientists who have recently been recognized in their fields of expertise.
Maple Adkins-Threats Selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna Gray Fellow
Maple Adkins-Threats, PhD, Arnold W. Strauss postdoctoral fellow, Division of Developmental Biology, was selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Hanna Gray Fellow, an honor given to early career scientists who represent a promising future for biomedical science. The HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program provides each fellow with up to $1.5 million in support for up to eight years spanning postdoctoral training through transition to an early career faculty position.
Read the announcement
Kara Ayers Authors Chapter in Scholarly Book
Kara Ayers, PhD, associate professor, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and associate director, University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, wrote a chapter in a scholarly book released in December. The chapter, “Exploring Dwarfism Representation in Social Media: Intentionality and Advocacy as a Digital Content Creator,” is featured in Dwarfism Arts and Advocacy: Creating Our Own Positive Identity, edited by Erin Pritchard (Emerald Group Publishing, 2024).
Learn more about the book
Alicia Christensen Named VP, Deputy General Counsel, Research
Alicia Christensen, Esq., has joined Cincinnati Children’s as the new Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Research. She comes to us from National Jewish Health in Denver, CO, where she served as VP, General Counsel, Chief Privacy and Compliance Officer, and Research Institutional Official. Alicia officially began her new role Jan. 13.
Catherine Hart Named New Otolaryngology Leader
Catherine Hart, MD, MS, has been promoted as the new division director of Otolaryngology (ENT). As an invaluable member of the ENT team, she brings extensive expertise and a strong commitment to pediatric otolaryngology. She assumes the role from Daniel Choo, MD, whom we thank for his incredible leadership, dedication and vision.
Susmita Kashikar-Zuck Appointed to NIAMS Advisory Council
Susmita Kashikar-Zuck, PhD, associate director of both the Pediatric Pain Research Center and NIAMS P30 Pediatric Musculoskeletal and Rheumatology Innovation Core Center, member, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, and professor, was appointed to the Advisory Council for the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). She will serve in this role from January 2025 to September 2028.
Learn more
David Moore Receives AAA 2025 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology
During the American Academy of Audiology’s (AAA) annual meeting in March, David Moore, PhD, director, Communication Sciences Research Center, and professor, Patient Services Research, will receive the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology for his impactful research performed across his lifetime, which includes a 12-year tenure at Cincinnati Children’s.
Learn more about this award
David Moore and Michael Sorter Named Health Care Heroes Finalists
David Moore was also named among the Cincinnati Business Courier‘s Health Care Heroes finalists in the Innovator category. Michael Sorter, MD, professor and retired director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (pictured at right), was named a finalist in the Provider category. Both will be honored and winners will be announced at an awards dinner in February.
Todd Ponsky Named One of Becker’s Chief Innovation Officers to Know
Chief Innovation Officer Todd Ponsky, MD, was named among the 36 chief innovation officers to know for 2024 by Becker’s Healthcare. Todd also is a pediatric surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery and a professor.
Learn more
Simin Zhang and Andrew Winslow Receive Prestigious Allergy Awards
Two assistant professors in the Division of Allergy and Immunology have received prestigious awards from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI).
- Simin Zhang, MD, was chosen for the 2025 AAAAI Foundation Faculty Development Award, a two-year grant focused on her research titled “Effect of Complement Proteins on Mast Cells and Fibroblasts in Eosinophilic Esophagitis.”
- Andrew Winslow, MD, was selected for the 2025 AAAAI Drug Hypersensitivity Research Grant, which will provide one year of funding for his project titled “Validation of a Novel Patient-Led Penicillin Allergy Delabeling Program Utilizing a Mobile-Enabled Virtual Platform.”
They will receive their awards at the upcoming AAAAI/World Allergy Organization Meeting.
Cincinnati Children’s Awards
GAP Funding Award Recipients
The Cincinnati Children’s GAP Funding program provides one year of support to maintain R-level research programs at the NIH or equivalent. The recent recipients are:
Hermine Brunner, MD, MSc, Rheumatology
Vidya Chidambaran, MD, MS, Perioperative Pain Management, Anesthesia
Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD, Developmental Biology
Daniel Lucas, PhD, Experimental Hematology & Cancer Biology
Meghan McGrady, PhD, Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology
Ronald Waclaw, PhD, Experimental Hematology & Cancer Biology, Developmental Biology
Nicole Weaver, MD, Human Genetics
Research Innovation and Pilot (RIP) Funding Recipients
This funding program is for projects that are unusual (Innovation) or alternatively, are essential (Pilot) and are therefore good candidates for external funding after preliminary data has been obtained. The recent recipients are:
Jing Chen, PhD, Biomedical Informatics
Steven Crone, PhD, Pediatric Neurosurgery
Senad Divanovic, PhD, Immunobiology
Parinda Mehta, MD, Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency
Amy Shah, MD, MS, Adolescent Type 2 Diabetes Program, Endocrinology
Recent Grants
The following researchers received grants near or above $1 million from October through December 2024.
Kim Cecil, PhD, spectropist for the Imaging Research Center and director of Basic and Translational Radiology Research, Patrick Ryan, PhD, MS, member, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Kimberly Yolton, PhD, member, Division of General and Community Pediatrics, received a five-year, $932,831 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for their study, Longitudinal Impact of Air Pollution on Mental Health and Neuroimaging Outcomes during Adolescence in the Cincinnati Combined Childhood Cohorts (C4). Read more.
Jon Colvin, RN, BSN, director of Operations, Drug and Poison Information Center, received a 5-year, $2.1 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to study HRSA Poison Control Centers Program.
Anna Esbensen, PhD, research director, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, received a 5-year, $4.5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study Cognitive Outcome Measures in School Age Children with Down Syndrome (ECODS). Read more.
Jeff Epstein, PhD, pediatric psychologist, Research, Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, received a 5-year, $3.3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study Improving ADHD Teen Driving.
Rulang Jiang, PhD, member, Developmental Biology, received a 5-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to study Genomic and Developmental Mechanisms of SIX2-Related Frontonasal Dysplasia. Read more.
Richard Lu, PhD, Beatrice C. Lampkin Endowed Chair in Cancer Epigenetics, and scientific director, Brain Tumor Center, Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, received a 5-year, $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study Glial origin and signaling in medulloblastoma. Read more.
Daniel Lucas, PhD, member, Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, received a 5-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to study Skeletal heterogeneity of bone marrow stress responses. Read more.
Peter Margolis, MD, PhD, James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence, received a 4-year, $1 million grant from The David R Clare and Margaret C Clare Foundation to study CLARE Foundation–IBD.
June Goto Nakamura, PhD, Neurosurgery, received a 3-year, $1.1 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study Novel Biologics to ablate choroid plexus for the treatment of neonatal hydrocephalus. Read more.
Nancy Ratner, PhD, co-director, Rasopathy Program, program leader, Cancer Biology and Neural Tumors Program, and Beatrice C. Lampkin Chair, Cancer Biology, Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, received a 5-year, $2.9 million grant from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study Identification of germline modifiers of Neurofibromatosis type 1 tumors. Read more.
Ying Sun, PhD, Human Genetics, received a 5-year, $1 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study Progranulin: A Novel Gene in Gaucher Diseases. Read more.
Leanne Tamm, PhD, pediatric psychologist, Research, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, and co-director, Center for ADHD, received a 5-year, $3.3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study Achieving Independence and Mastery in Schools–An RCT for Middle-Schoolers with Autism. Read more.
Yan Xu, PhD, director of Bioinformatics Core, Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, received a 5-year, $4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study A mechanistic 3D AI-powered map of genetic chILD. Read more.
Yi Zheng, PhD, director, Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, co-executive director, Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, and Marjory Johnson Endowed Chair of Drug Discovery, received a 3-year, $950,996 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study Novel Strategies to Improve Blood Transfusion Practice.
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The Research Horizons blog features news and insights about the latest discoveries and innovations developed by the scientists of Cincinnati Children's. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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