Annual IDCRC Awards

Investigator of the Year: Nadine Rouphael, MD

Professor of Medicine in the Infectious Diseases Division, Department of Medicine at Emory University. Executive director of the Hope Clinic. PI for Emory’s Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit (VTEU). Clinical Core PI for Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC)

Category Description:

Well-established VTEU investigator who has made exceptional contributions to research as it relates to the VTEU and IDCRC missions.

 Nomination Excerpts: 

• A leader in the COVID vaccine studies and critically important in many translational studies that have built an understanding of the immune response to COVID vaccines, this investigator is incomparable as a clinical researcher.
• This individual is an inspirational mentor, committed to training the next generation of investigators, and has supported numerous students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty.
• With over 170 peer-reviewed publications addressing a variety of infectious diseases priorities in diverse populations, their name precedes them in the vaccinology world.

Early Career Investigator: Meagan Deming, MD

Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, and Vice Chair, Mix and Match

Category Description:

Recent graduate or current participant of the IDCRC Mentoring Program who has made exceptional contributions to research as it relates to the VTEU and IDCRC missions.

 Nomination Excerpts: 

• This early career investigator is a caring and thoughtful clinician and an outstanding faculty member and contributor to the IDCRC.
• An invaluable resource for the national multi-center Mix and Match heterologous boost vaccine trial, this investigator has contributed to protocol development, enrolled participants, analyzed data, and has co-written the preliminary results manuscript.
• Their published body of work focuses heavily on coronavirus and upper respiratory viruses, and their commentary in Nature Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine has marked this individual as a researcher to watch.

Staff STAR (Stellar Team Member Achieving Results) Award: Michelle Dickey

Assistant Professor, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Clinical Director, Gamble Program for Clinical Studies

Category Description:

VTEU coordinator or administrator whose exceptional contribution has advanced and supported the quality of IDCRC-supported research

 Nomination Excerpts: 

• This administrator is highly valued for the abundance of clinical skills, research knowledge, professionalism, innovation, leadership, and the comprehensive coordinated care they bring to their role.
• They created the processes that allowed their site to increase capacity to successfully implement vital COVID-19 vaccine studies by recruiting, training and mentoring of new staff, expanding facilities, and creating an Informatics Team to develop and implement expansive electronic systems.
• This individual also spearheaded community outreach to hard-to-reach groups that are generally resistant to participation in clinical trials, resulting in their site’s ability to meet diversity goals, despite the fact that the area is limited in its diversity.
• This administrator serves as a strong mentor to their staff, always lends a helpful hand to colleagues, and consistently contributes to the professional practice, growth, and cohesiveness of their department.

Best Scientific Publication of the Year: Robert L Atmar, MD; Kirsten E. Lyke, MD

Robert Atmar, COU Co-Director, Expert Working Groups Liaison, co-PI of the Baylor VTEU; Kirsten E. Lyke, MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, IDCRC Malaria/Tropical Diseases Expert Working Group

Category Description:

IDCRC cited publication in the last year that is considered to have had a high impact on the scientific community and/or has led to policy change.

Nomination Excerpts: 

• A landmark publication that described immunologic responses to COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers.
• The findings were presented at VRBPAC, ACIP, and WHO meetings, and the paper was cited 255 times.
• This publication was a game changer for vaccine policy the minutes the results were available – highlighting the groundbreaking work of the IDCRC. The results from the study directly influenced CDC guidelines on booster vaccines and mixing with different platforms/variants

Publication:

Robert L. Atmar, M.D., Kirsten E. Lyke, M.D., Meagan E. Deming, M.D., Ph.D., Lisa A. Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., Angela R. Branche, M.D., Hana M. El Sahly, M.D., Christina A. Rostad, M.D., Judith M. Martin, M.D., Christine Johnston, M.D., M.P.H., Richard E. Rupp, M.D., Mark J. Mulligan, M.D., Rebecca C. Brady, M.D., Robert W. Frenck, Jr., M.D., Martín Bäcker, M.D., Angelica C. Kottkamp, M.D., Tara M. Babu, M.D., M.S.C.I., Kumaravel Rajakumar, M.D., Srilatha Edupuganti, M.D., M.P.H., David Dobrzynski, M.D., Rhea N. Coler, Ph.D., Christine M. Posavad, Ph.D., Janet I. Archer, M.Sc., Sonja Crandon, B.S.N., Seema U. Nayak, M.D., Daniel Szydlo, M.S., Jillian A. Zemanek, M.P.H., Clara P. Dominguez Islas, Ph.D, Elizabeth R. Brown, Sc.D., Mehul S. Suthar, Ph.D., M. Juliana McElrath, M.D., Ph.D., Adrian B. McDermott, Ph.D., Sarah E. O’Connell, M.S., David C. Montefiori, Ph.D., Amanda Eaton, M.B.A., Kathleen M. Neuzil, M.D., David S. Stephens, M.D., Paul C. Roberts, Ph.D., and John H. Beigel, M.D. for the DMID 21-0012 Study Group

“Homologous and Heterologous Covid-19 Booster Vaccinations.”

The New England Journal of Medicine

2022 Mar 17, Epub 2022 Jan 26.

Leadership Group Award: Kathy Edwards, MD

IDCRC Leadership Group Mentoring and Career Development Committee Chair, Vanderbilt University

Category Description:

IDCRC member who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in their commitment to the IDCRC LG aims.

Nomination Excerpts: 

This person is generous with their time and supportive of all of us, independent of our affiliations and institutions, advocating for vaccinologists within and outside the IDCRC.
Their impact on the field of vaccinology and the health of populations is irrefutable.
If vaccinology had a goddess it will be this person—their passion for vaccines is the reason most of us are part of this rewarding field.