2015-2016 Recipients

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015-2016 Calderone Junior Faculty Awards, which support junior faculty development. The award honors Frank A. Calderone’s career and commitment to public health and is supported by an endowment from the Calderone family. Awardees are chosen based on the scientific merit of their research and its significance for public health, as well as the impact of this award on their future careers. 

Codruta Chiuzan, associate research scientist, Biostatistics, will work to improve statistical methods in cancer immunotherapy trials with an adaptive clinical design that identifies safe and biologically active treatment doses while maintaining efficacy outcomes.

Merlin Chowkwanyun, assistant professor, Sociomedical Sciences, will build a searchable database of documents from private companies responsible for the introduction of toxic substances such as asbestos, lead-based consumer products, and benzene to expand the breadth of resources available for research into 20th century environmental health.

Samantha Garbers, assistant professor, Population & Family Health, will research, conceptualize, and test the feasibility of a smartphone app for young women to bridge the information gap on long-acting reversible contraception, such as the IUD.

Grace Hillyer, assistant professor, Epidemiology, will gather cognitive and psychosocial data surrounding lung cancer and the use of low-dose computed tomography in Hispanic communities to create interventions encouraging lung cancer screenings.

Katherine Keyes, assistant professor, Epidemiology, will use innovative data input methods to create synthetic survey-nonrespondent observations, leading to more accurate national estimates of alcohol and tobacco use across several population subgroups.

Diane Re, assistant professor, Environmental Health Sciences, aims to reveal potential similarities between two debilitating and currently untreatable conditions, organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).