2016 Best Paper Awards
The Science Unbound Foundation has announced its 2016 award winners for best scientific papers by investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the New York Obesity Research Center at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The awards, plaque and cash prizes are for works published in 2016 in the areas of obesity, nutrition and statistical science.
Keisuke Ejima, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the UAB Office of Energetics, was awarded best paper by a UAB-based investigator in the area of general statistics. His paper, “Observational Research Rigor Alone Does Not Justify Causal Inference”, was published December, 2016 in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eci.12681/abstract.
Himel Mallick, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard University and the Broad Institute (formerly a PhD student with UAB’s School of Public Health), was awarded best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of statistical genetics. His paper, “EM Adaptive LASSO—A Multilocus Modeling Strategy for Detecting SNPs Associated with Zero-inflated Count Phenotypes” was published March 30, 2016 in Frontiers in Genetics, http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fgene.2016.00032/full.
Laura Lambert, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar in UAB’s Department of Genetics, was awarded best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of obesity or nutrition. Her paper, “Increased Trabecular Bone and Improved Biomechanics in an Osteocalcin Null Rat Model Created by CRISPR/Cas9 Technology” was published in the July 28, 2016 issue of Diseases Models and Mechanisms, http://dmm.biologists.org/content/9/10/1169.
George Stratigopoulos, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University and the New York Obesity Research Center, was awarded best paper on obesity-related research by an investigator affiliated with the New York Obesity Research Center. His paper, “Hypomorphism of Fto and Rpgrip1l causes obesity in mice” was published in the April 11, 2016 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, https://www.jci.org/articles/view/85526.
Daniella Chusyd, MS and William Neumeier, PhD share the prize for an obesity paper by a graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Ms. Chusyd is currently a student in the UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences PhD program, was awarded best paper for her paper, “Relationships between Rodent White Adipose Fat Pads and Human White Adipose Fat Depots” was published in the April 19, 2016 issue of Frontiers in Nutrition, http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnut.2016.00010/full.
Dr. Neumeier is currently a postdoctoral scholar with the UAB/Lakeshore Research Collaborative and former graduate student in the UAB Department of Psychology. He has won the best paper of 2016 for his paper, “Exercise following Mental Work Prevented Overeating“ was published in the September 2016 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00005768-201609000-00021.
The institutions named in the awards were selected on the basis of their demonstrated strength at promoting careers of young investigators in the areas of obesity, nutrition and statistical science.
