Distinctions
PHHP faculty, alumni, staff and student recognitions
Stefanie Bodison receives AOTA Roster of Fellows award
Stefanie Bodison, O.T.D., OTR/L, an assistant professor of occupational therapy, received the 2023 Roster of Fellows Award from the American Occupational Therapy Association. The award recognizes occupational therapists, who through their knowledge, expertise, leadership, advocacy and guidance, have made a significant contribution to the profession with a measurable impact on consumers or association members.
Bodison was selected for her pioneering research that uses sophisticated neuroimaging methods to support the theoretical foundation of several pediatric occupational therapy interventions. Throughout her clinical and scientific career, she has focused on sensory integration, the brain’s ability to process and organize information from the body’s senses.
Yan Wang receives Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation award
Yan Wang, Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology, was chosen to receive the 2023 Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award from the American Public Health Association. She is also a recipient of UF’s Excellence Award for Assistant Professors.
Her research has focused on leveraging cutting-edge technologies to improve the measurement and intervention of substance use as well as mental and physical health among vulnerable populations, including those living with HIV and older adults with chronic pain. She is considered an emerging leader in the fields of medical cannabis and alcohol biosensor research. She has received more than $7 million in NIH funding as a principal or multiple principal investigator.
Samuel Wu named 2023 UF Research Foundation Professor
Samuel Wu, Ph.D., a professor and associate chair of biostatistics, and director of the UF CTSI Research Design and Data Coordinating Center, is among UF’s most productive and promising researchers named to the 2023 roster of UF Research Foundation Professors.
His research contributions include more than 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. His main methodological research interests are in adaptive design of clinical trials, simultaneous statistical inference and data privacy technologies. He currently serves as the principal investigator on two National Institutes of Health-funded grants focused on data privacy technologies.
Wu and UF engineering colleague Shigang Chen, Ph.D., invented a patented technology for medical data collection and analysis that shields data from users, but allows for standard statistical analysis to still be performed with nearly the same results for masked data as for the original data.
Peihua Qiu named 2022 AAAS fellow
Peihua Qiu, Ph.D., dean’s professor and founding chair of the department of biostatistics, has been elected a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is among 500 scientists in the 2022 class recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
Qiu was selected in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of statistics and its applications, particularly in jump regression analysis, image processing, statistical process control, survival analysis, disease screening and disease surveillance. He has published two research monographs and over 150 research papers in refereed journals in these areas.
Mitchell, Woods appointed to MBI leadership roles
Dr. Gordon Mitchell
Two College of Public Health and Health Professions faculty members have been named to leadership positions at the UF Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute.
Gordon Mitchell, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy and director of UF’s Breathing Research and Therapeutics Center, has been named a deputy director of the McKnight Brain Institute.
In this role, Mitchell works with the MBI leadership team and the UF Health Neuroscience and Neuro-medicine Executive Committee to set strategies and implement programs to elevate the neurosciences across UF.
Dr. Adam Woods
Adam Woods, Ph.D., a professor of clinical and health psychology and PHHP associate dean for research, has been appointed co-director of UF’s Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory Clinical Translational Research (CAM Center). He leads the human and clinical translational arm of the CAM Center, which builds collaborations among investigators across UF working in areas with potential clinical translational impact on age-related declines in thinking and memory.
Candice Adams-Mitchell recognized with scholar-mentor award
Candice Adams-Mitchell, SLP.D., CCC-SLP, a clinical assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences and director of the Bachelor of Health Science, communication sciences and disorders program, was awarded the Scholar-Mentor Award from the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing.
The Scholar-Mentor Award is given to a distinguished professional who has mentored Black students in speech and hearing sciences and has demonstrated outstanding mentoring skills through research, clinical, administrative and/or academic activities.
Faculty and staff recognized for outstanding advising, mentoring and teaching
Brenda McDonnell, M.Ed., an undergraduate academic program specialist and adviser, received the college’s 2023 Professional Adviser of the Year award. She advises around 300 students, from admission to graduation, in the department’s undergraduate program in communication sciences and disorders.
David Fuller, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy and director of the doctoral program in rehabilitation science, was named one of two PHHP Doctoral Mentors of the Year. Every Ph.D. student under his guidance has published their dissertation work in high-quality journals, participated in multiple national or international conferences, and given numerous scientific presentations.
Sarah McKune, Ph.D., a research associate professor of environmental and global health, also received a PHHP Doctoral Mentor of the Year award. She was recognized for creating a collaborative and multidisciplinary space for students from diverse backgrounds to become involved in global health research through her McKune Lab.
Zulma “Yary” Santiago, M.A., an instructional assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences, was named the college’s Teacher of the Year. She teaches American Sign Language and Deaf culture courses that are in such high demand there are requests to increase the number of seats every semester. She routinely receives truly exceptional student evaluations.
