2018 Augusta University Research Institute honors faculty

Recently, members of Augusta University research faculty were recognized at the 2018 Augusta University Research Institute (AURI) Awards. On Oct. 26, Dr. Gabor Csanyi, assistant professor of the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia, received the Emerging Scientist award, which honors an Augusta University faculty member in the early stages of their research career who is beginning to make outstanding contributions to research. Csanyi is internationally recognized for his innovative and very strong research program focused on mechanisms regulating oxidative stress and macrophage lipid macropinocytosis in atherosclerosis.

Dr. Rudolf Lucas, associate professor of the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia, took home the Distinguished Researcher award, which recognizes an Augusta University faculty member who has made significant sustained contributions to research providing insights into mechanisms of disease prevention, detection or therapy. Lucas is widely respected by his scientific peers in the areas of inflammation, malaria, acute lung injury, endothelial permeability and, most specifically, the role of TNFalpha and strategies to counteract its negative actions.

Dr. Cheryl Newman-Whitlow, professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Georgia, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award. For over 31 years, she has personified the excellence and uniquely human aspect of research at Augusta University, specifically in the area of Antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the treatment of HIV, making it her mission to improve the health of her patients. Newman-Whitlow is recognized for her work in the treatment of Hepatitis C, Pneumocystis pneumonia, CMV retinitis and bacterial pneumonia and has been an outstanding role model for countless young aspiring infectious disease researchers and clinicians for decades.