2022 UIC Researcher, Scholar and Inventor of the Year awards

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Office of Technology Management at the University of Illinois Chicago are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 UIC Researcher, Scholar and Inventor of the Year awards. These awards recognize and celebrate the efforts and commitment of individuals who advance knowledge as well as inspire and promote continued excellence in research and scholarship at UIC.

OVCR and OTM would like to thank the campus community for the wealth of compelling nominations submitted for these awards. Our thanks also goes to members of the review panels for their time spent reviewing the applications and convening to select the final awardees.

Researcher and Scholar of the Year

The Distinguished Researcher and Distinguished Scholar awards are given this year to five UIC faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in their respective fields of expertise. Seven UIC early career researchers who have shown outstanding promise to become future leaders in their field will receive the Rising Star awards.

The honorees for 2022 are:

Basic Life Sciences

Rising Star: Yu (Tom) Gao, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy

Distinguished: Yulia Komarova, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, College of Medicine

Clinical Sciences

Rising Star (tie): Zackery Bulman, PharmD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy

Rising Star (tie): Afsar Naqvi, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry

Distinguished: Krista Varady, PhD, Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, College of Applied Health Sciences

Natural Sciences and Engineering

Rising Star (tie): Yayue Pan, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering

Rising Star (tie): Ian Tobasco, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Distinguished: Eben Alsberg, PhD, Richard Loan Hill Chair, departments of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, and Orthopaedic Surgery, colleges of Engineering and Medicine

Social Sciences

Rising Star: Jennifer A. Jones, PhD, Associate Professor, departments of Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Distinguished: Alexandra Filindra, PhD, Associate Professor, departments of Political Science and Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Humanities, Arts, Design and Architecture

Rising Star: Ronak K. Kapadia, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Distinguished: Mark Canuel, PhD, Professor, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Inventor of the Year

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

2022 Winners: Michael Caffrey, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, and Igor Paprotny, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

Sincerely,

Joanna Groden, PhD
Vice Chancellor for Research

Suseelan Pookote, PhD
Director, Office of Technology Management

For more information, please contact:
Sarah O’Brien
rds@uic.edu