2014 Best Paper Awards

The Science Unbound Foundation has announced its 2014 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, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The awards, plaque and cash prizes are for works published in 2014 in the areas of obesity, nutrition and statistical science.

RajuDheeraj Raju, PhD, assistant professor in the UAB School of Nursing, was awarded best paper by a UAB-based investigator in the area of general statistics. His paper, “Exploring factors associated with pressure ulcers: A data mining approach”, was published August, 2014 in The International Journal of Nursing Studies.

 

YiNengjun Yi, PhD, professor in the Section on Statistical Genetics in UAB’s Department of Biostatistics, was shares the award for best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of statistical genetics. His paper, “Multiple Comparisons in Genetic Association Studies: A Hierarchical Modeling Approach” was published February, 2014 in Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology.

 

Qi Yan, PhD, formerly a student in the UAB Department of Biostatistics, shares the award for best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of statistical genetics. His paper, “Kernel-Machine Testing Coupled with a Rank-Truncation Method for Genetic Pathway Analysis” was published July, 2014 in Statistical Applications in Genetic Epidemiology.

 

KaiserKathryn Kaiser, PhD, instructor in The UAB School of Public Health’s Office of Energetics, shares the award for best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of obesity or nutrition. Her paper, “Increased fruit and vegetable intake has no discernible effect on weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis” published in the August 2014 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

MehtaTapan Mehta, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Care Administration in the UAB School of Health Professions, shares the award for best paper by UAB-based investigator in the area of obesity or nutrition. His paper, “Obesity and mortality: are the risks declining? Evidence from multiple prospective studies in the United States” published in the August 2014 edition of Obesity Review.

 

GeliebterAllan Geliebter, PhD, senior research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, shares the award for best paper on obesity-related research by an investigator affiliated with the New York Obesity Research Center. His paper, “Skipping breakfast leads to weight loss but also elevated cholesterol compared with consuming daily breakfasts of oat porridge or frosted cornflakes in overweight individuals: a randomised controlled trial” published in the November, 2014 edition of Journal of Nutritional Science.

 

DutiaRoxanne Dutia PhD, RD, associate research scientist in the Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, was awarded best paper on obesity-related research by an investigator affiliated with the New York Obesity Research Center. Her paper, ” Limited recovery of β-cell function after gastric bypass despite clinical diabetes remission” was published in final edited format in the April, 2014 issue of Diabetes.

 

LiPeng Li, PhD, formerly a graduate student in UAB’s Department of Biostatistics PhD program and now a research associate in that department, was awarded best paper by a UAB student in obesity-related research. His paper, “Added sugars in the diet are positively associated with diastolic blood pressure and triglycerides in children” was published in the May, 2014 issue of International Journal of Obesity.

 

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.