Accolades

Center for Governance and Markets research shortlisted for Elinor Ostrom Prize

A paper by four researchers in Pitt’s Center for Governance and Markets has been shortlisted for the Elinor Ostrom Prize, which recognizes the top research articles published in the Journal of Institutional Economics over the past year.

The article — “Community policing on American Indian reservations: a preliminary investigation” by Adam Crepelle, Tate Fegley, Ilia Murtazashvili, and Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili — is part of the Pitt center’s initiative on understanding barriers to prosperity in Indian Country. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, pictured above, is founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets, where the four authors conducted their research as fellows, faculty and postdocs.

Crepelle, a research fellow in the center and director of the tribal law and economics program at George Mason University, and Ilia Murtazashvili, associate professor in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and Center for Governance and Markets co-director, were fellows with the Hoover Project on Renewing Indigenous Economies at Stanford University.

The winner will be announced at the World Interdisciplinary Network for Institutional Research conference in Catania, Italy, September 20-23.

 

Physics, astronomy Professor Michael Hatridge earns $5.7 million in U.S. Army research funding

The U.S. Army has awarded more than $5.7 million for two projects led by Michael Hatridge, associate professor of physics and astronomy in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Both projects bring together a diverse group of researchers to overcome roadblocks in the field of quantum computing.

A four-year, $2.67 million grant is aimed at the next generation of modular quantum computing systems. Hatridge and co-principal investigators Robert Schoelkopf of Yale University have each developed unique methods to link qubits over long ranges. 

With the help of Alex Jones, professor in the Swanson School of Engineering and co-principal investigator on the grant, they hope to bring these methods together, operating in tandem, to develop a new kind of quantum computing system. Jones will explore the best ways to leverage the unique properties of each method using the modular quantum computing system developed in Hatridge’s and Schoelkopf’s labs.

Once complete, the team will have developed new hardware approaches to designing superconducting quantum computers with powerful processors that bring the field a step closer to error-detected operations, or the ability to solve problems consistently and accurately.

The Army has also awarded Hatridge’s amplifier a four-year, $3.03 million grant for projects related to both the physics and the fabrication of parametric amplifiers, or “paramps,” which are necessary components of the processors that lie at the heart of quantum computing.  The project’s principal investigators include David Pekker, assistant professor of physics in Pitt’s Dietrich School; José Aumentado, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and Hakan Türeci, an engineering professor at Princeton University.

 

Dietrich School's Patrick McKelvey wins summer stipend from National Endowment for the Humanities

Patrick McKelvey, assistant professor of theatre arts in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, received a summer stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

McKelvey earned $6,000 in NEH funding, which will support his research for two consecutive months. The summer project will lead to a book about the history of social services for disabled actors in the United States since the late nineteenth century, with particular focus on The Actors’ Fund of America and allied organizations.

The author’s first book, “Disability Works: U.S. Performance After Rehabilitation,” is under contract with NYU press and was the topic of a plenary McKelvey delivered at the American Society for Theatre Research annual meeting. He is also a member of the Equitable Arts Infrastructures Research Group at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University.

Marci Lee Nilsen earns Betty Irene Moore Fellowship

Marci Lee Nilsen, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, was accepted to the fourth cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators.

Sixteen innovative nurse-scientists will receive $450,000 over three years to conduct a project or study with the potential to address a gap in knowledge, meet a vital need, alter care delivery, or design a new solution to advance health. Nilsen’s project focuses on improving symptom management during cancer treatment in underresourced and diverse settings.

“Head and neck cancer survivors, especially those in rural areas, face barriers to high-quality cancer care, including disparities in access to care and insufficient resources,” said Nilsen, who developed and coordinates UPMC’s Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Clinic. “We must make these programs equitable and accessible regardless of clinic locations. This fellowship will provide me with training, networking and other activities essential to further my research and advocate for policy changes to achieve equitable, person-centered cancer care.” 

Nilsen (NURS ’05, ’08G, ’13G) is not only a faculty member but is a three-time graduate of Pitt Nursing — she earned her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and PhD from the school. She is also a member of the Oncology Nursing Society, the Gerontological Society of America and Sigma Theta Tau International.

“As the recipient of this highly competitive, prestigious national fellowship, Dr. Nilsen has distinguished herself as one of our most successful and promising alumna and junior researchers to date within the School of Nursing and within the larger University community,” said Pitt Nursing Dean Christine E. Kasper. “With this fellowship, I am confident that she will make major life-long contributions to the fields of nursing and cancer survivorship, particularly for vulnerable, underserved individuals, families and communities.”

In addition to the project, the fellowship program features a curriculum designed and taught in partnership with the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management and national experts to enhance leadership and innovation capacity, strengthen strategic thinking and collaborative skills, expand professional networks, develop entrepreneurial skills and propel innovative ideas to fruition. A mentor selected by the fellow and an additional mentor provided by the national program office round out the educational experience. 

Applications for the 2024 cohort of Betty Irene Moore Fellows are open Sept. 22 through Dec. 1. To learn more, visit the School of Nursing website.

Michael Giazzoni elected to National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships board

Michael Giazzoni, director of Pitt’s College in High School program, was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP), as the organization’s four-year public institution representative, to serve a term of three years. He has been a member for 10 years.

Giazzoni will help lead the organization to advance quality college courses for high school students through supporting programs, practitioners, and local and federal policy. He has served the organization as an accreditation peer reviewer and a leadership academy mentor.

NACEP is the professional and accrediting body of the field of dual and concurrent enrollment. NACEP has member institutions in 48 states, including over 475 colleges and universities.

School of Medicine awards highest honor to Princeton bioengineer

Clifford P. Brangwynne, a Princeton University researcher who launched the “biomolecular condensates” cell biology field, received the 2023 Dickson Prize in Medicine, Pitt School of Medicine’s highest honor.

The prize is awarded annually to an American biomedical researcher who has made significant, progressive contributions to medicine. The award consists of a specially commissioned medal, a $50,000 honorarium and an invitation to present a keynote lecture at the University.

“Cliff’s incredibly influential work has opened a new window into biology that could help us better understand diseases affected by changes in protein states, like Alzheimer’s,” said Anantha Shekhar, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of Medicine.

Brangwynne, who directs the Princeton Bioengineering Initiative, created a new field in cell biology when he and colleagues found that biomolecules within cells undergo phase transitions and can organize themselves in liquid-like forms. Alongside this discovery, the researchers helped demonstrate that malfunctions in fusion and separation during phase transitions of these liquid-like condensates lead to the formation of solid structures. These solid structures resemble the tangles and fibers observed in neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Brangwynne accepted the award during a research symposium on May 12 sponsored by the Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University joint molecular biophysics and structural biology graduate program. 

“I am absolutely thrilled to be honored with the Dickson Prize in Medicine, with so many luminaries among the previous awardees. It is particularly gratifying to receive this recognition from the medical community, which I think is a testament to the translational impacts that fundamental research can ultimately have on society,” said Brangwynne, the June K. Wu ’92 Professor in Engineering at Princeton.

Brangwynne earned his undergraduate degree in material science and engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2001 and his PhD in applied physics from Harvard University in 2007. He then completed his postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems. Brangwynne joined the faculty at Princeton University in 2011, where he has an integrative research team with backgrounds in engineering, physics, molecular biology and chemistry.

 

Two former Pitt faculty members earn History Makers Award

The Heinz History Center recognized one current and one former University of Pittsburgh faculty member at its annual History Makers Award Dinner on June 8. The ceremony, now in its 30th year, honors individuals in Western Pennsylvania who have profoundly contributed to the region’s innovative history and collective heritage.

James Adovasio, who chaired Pitt’s Department of Anthropology from 1973 to 1990, will receive an award for his advancements in archaeology. His 1973 excavation of Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Avella, Pennsylvania, uncovered evidence that the site was the oldest site of human habitation in North America. Adovasio is now director of archaeology for the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.

Loren Roth, distinguished professor emeritus in Pitt’s Department of Psychiatry, will be recognized for contributions to the field of health care. During Roth’s 44-year career in the School of Medicine, his research focused on informed consent, patient dangerousness, confidentiality and ethics in research. He was also the sole psychiatrist to participate in the first human rights discussion between the United States and the Soviet Union.

 

Eight faculty win Pitt’s 2023 Innovation in Education Awards

The Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence honored nine Pitt faculty members with 2023 Innovation in Education Awards.

The awards recognize full-time and part-time faculty for projects that enhance teaching at the University and foster new instructional techniques to advance student learning. This year’s call for proposal asked for ideas that focused on technology-enhanced learning as well as experiential or active learning to support equity and inclusion.

The 2023 winners are:

  • Mai Abdelhakim, electrical and computer engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering, "Tailored experiential learning modules combining Artificial Intelligence and Resilient Engineering Systems: Toward meeting future cybersecurity challenges"
  • Dmitriy Babichenko, informatics and networked systems in the School of Computing and Information, "Interactive Python assignment designer and autograder"
  • Gretchen Bender, history of art and architecture in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, "How to talk with a work of art: An Open Educational Resource"
  • Peter Brusilovsky, informatics and networked systems in the School of Computing and Information, "An interactive electronic textbook for Python programming and data science courses"
  • Erika Fanselow, neuroscience in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, and Burhan Gharaibeh, biological sciences in the Dietrich School, "Developing interactive digital resources using HTML5 Package (H5P) educational technology to enhance instruction in undergraduate general anatomy and neuroanatomy laboratories"
  • Kirill Kiselyov, biological sciences in the Dietrich School, "Scaling the storytelling approach: An online teaching and learning paradigm for modern undergraduate classrooms"
  • In Hee Lee, electrical and computer engineering in the Swanson School, "New experiential, discipline-based, and technology-enhanced lab activities for semiconductor chip design courses"

Aditi Gurkar awarded $375,000 to research healthy aging

Aditi Gurkar, assistant professor in Pitt’s School of Medicine and Aging Institute, is a recipient of an inaugural New Investigator Award in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research from Hevolution and the American Federation for Aging Research.

Gurkar is one of 18 scientists from around the world who will receive $375,000 over three years to support research that addresses the biology of aging and age-related disease to promote healthy aging. Her project, “A Nanoscale Detection Tool for Senescence,” will develop new approaches to identify and map senescent cells, a type of dysfunctional cell that accumulates with age and drives inflammation and disease, to better understand the mechanisms of aging and develop new strategies to improve health span.

As a faculty member of Pitt’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, Gurkar’s research on identifying signal mechanisms that drive aging has been twice funded by the National Institute of Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.

American Educational Research Association recognizes Pitt Education researchers, reviewers

Four Pitt Education faculty and one alumna earned honors at the 2023 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting.

An AERA special interest group on graduate education awarded the 2023 Publication of the Year Award to Linda DeAngelo, associate professor of higher education; Max Schuster, assistant professor of practice; and alumna Qiana Lachaud (EDUC ’20G). Their article, “The Faculty Role in Grooming and Gatekeeping Students' of Color Potential Along the Professoriate Pipeline," was published in The Review of Higher Education.

The article examines how assumptions about student success, such as the ways faculty understand the utility of and use grades and tests scores as measures of student potential, limit access to mentoring for students of color.

Pitt’s Eleanor Anderson, assistant professor of research-practice partnerships, and Emily Rainy, assistant professor of language, literacy and culture, were named 2022 Outstanding Reviewers. The annual award recognizes peer reviewers for providing exemplary, thorough and timely reviews of manuscripts received at their journals.

This is the second year Anderson, a reviewer for the journal Educational Researcher, has received the honor from AERA. Rainey earned the award for her work with AERA Open, an open-access journal that emphasizes rapid review and dissemination to advance timely knowledge related to education.

Vanessa Love Pitt’s new director for civil rights and Title IX

Vanessa Love was recently named the new director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX. 

A native of Pittsburgh’s South Hills, Love is coming from the city’s Point Park University, where she helped create and served as inaugural assistant vice president to the school’s Office of Compliance and Integrity.

She is a three-time alumna of the University with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, a master’s degree in international affairs from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a Juris Doctor from the Pitt School of Law. A member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association since 2013, Love also has worked as an attorney in private practice, specializing in family law.

“Vanessa Love brings to us a proven track record of successfully guiding strategy and advancing an agenda to prioritize civil rights and Title IX response and education,” said Clyde W. Pickett, Pitt’s vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “We heard resoundingly from the search committee that her education and experience made her the most qualified candidate for this role. I am personally looking forward to her joining our team and bringing a fresh review and assessment of our work in the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX. I believe our community will benefit from her leadership, and that she will be a positive agent for change in our community.”

Love credited Pitt for launching and guiding her career.

“I always knew I wanted to come back to Pitt, because Pitt was always home for me,” she said. “When I arrived at Pitt, it was the first time people showed me everything that was possible for me. There was a real community of professors there who showed me they cared about me, and I want to be that kind of a person for other people in the community.”

A former Title IX investigator at Howard University and civil rights investigator at Community College of Allegheny County, Love began work at Point Park in 2019 as director of what was then a one-person office. During her tenure, Love built up staff and programming to deliver a full range of services related to equity, inclusion and accessibility.

At Pitt, Love will oversee education, professional development and outreach aimed at the prevention of discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault. She will also lead and support personnel who respond to complaints related to alleged misconduct. “The field itself is challenging, because you’re dealing sometimes with students, staff and faculty who have encountered horrible situations,” Love said. “They’re feeling frustrated and angry. We need to make sure that people who have experienced some kind of trauma are leaving us with a good experience.

“On top of that, the rules are ever-changing, so we have to make sure we stay in line with regulations from the federal government,” she said.

Love will report to Katie Pope, associate vice chancellor for strategic operations and planning in Pitt’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI).

Pope thanked Zach Davis, manager of OEDI’s gender discrimination and Title IX response program, for serving as acting director during the transition. “His experience within the office has been an asset during this transition and I want to thank him for giving his time and effort,” Pope said. Davis will remain in the acting role through the end of April to assist with the transition period, she said.

Love is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves who served for four years in an engineering battalion based in West Virginia. She resides in Pittsburgh’s South Hills with her daughter, who will attend Duquesne University in the fall to study biochemistry. 

Gretchen Carlson Natter Pitt’s new assistant dean of students for community and inclusion

Gretchen Carlson Natter has been named assistant dean of students for community and inclusion within Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs, effective June 1.

As assistant dean, Natter will lead the Community and Inclusion Team, providing leadership for advancing the division’s strategic focus on improving students’ social and academic development through community. She will supervise the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, Fraternity and Sorority Life, PittServes and student media outlets The Pitt News and WPTS. By advancing forward-thinking and innovative ideas, Natter will keep the Division of Student Affairs at the forefront of trends and best practices to serve students.

Natter comes to Pitt from Gettysburg College, a nationally ranked liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, where she currently serves as assistant dean of college life and as executive director of the school’s Center for Public Service. In this role, she has partnered with academic colleagues to implement faculty fellowships for community-based learning and research, co-created a program to reinterpret community-level data in new ways, provided cross-institutional leadership to facilitate collective change and helped develop fellowship opportunities for students, among other accomplishments.

Natter earned her Master of Arts in Community Change and Civic Leadership at Antioch University Midwest and her bachelor’s degree in education at Baldwin-Wallace College. She believes in and advocates for “the transformative potential of higher education, as well as the power of people to collectively create change when acting on a common vision.”

Two Pitt Pharmacy professors earn AACP awards

Two professors in the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy earned annual awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Neal J. Benedict, associate professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, earned a Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award for outstanding contributions to supporting scholarly teaching. Pitt Pharmacy Dean Amy Seybert earned the same award in 2021.

Sandra Kane-Gill, professor in Pitt’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, was awarded the Paul R. Dawson Award for Excellence in Patient Care Research. This annual award recognizes an active scientist who is a leader in health services delivery research that directly affects patient care outcomes.

Pitt-Bradford faculty, staff earn President’s Awards

Two people were honored with a President’s Award for Excellence at Pitt-Bradford’s Honors Convocation.

Matt Kropf, associate professor of engineering technology, received the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Service.

In addition to his teaching duties, Kropf is director of the American Refining Group/Harry R. Halloran Jr. Energy Institute and president of the faculty senate. He is the architect of two new four-year engineering technology programs that began enrolling students last fall.

The professor consulted with architects designing the programs’ new home — the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building — served on hiring committees for the required faculty and staff, wrote the specifications for the needed equipment and agreed to serve as director for both new engineering programs.

“Dr. Kropf is not only committed to helping his students succeed but also to ensuring the viability of Pitt-Bradford and this region,” Pitt-Bradford President Richard Esch said when presenting the award.

Kropf regularly works with students on their research and was able to incorporate lessons from the real-life engineering going on at the Duke building into his teaching. He served as a faculty mentor for the 2021 Appalachian Teaching Project at Pitt-Bradford, helping students map out trails on the University’s new Quintuple Mountain property.

During the 2019-20 academic year, Kropf saw one of his patents become a manufacturing reality with the creation of AE Resources Inc., a Mount Jewett company that creates biodiesel fuel in a small refinery on the property of the Bradford Regional Airport. Their process — Kropf’s patent — uses microwaves instead of hazardous catalysts.

In addition to his development of new programs and scholarship, Kropf’s services to Pitt include chairing the campus sustainability committee, writing a successful grant that funded the installation of solar panels atop the Duke building, and serving on the committee that developed the University of Pittsburgh Sustainability Plan.

Joelle Warner, director of donor relations and stewardship, earned the President’s Award for Excellence in Overall Performance.

“I am very happy to present this award to Joelle, who approaches her work with an exceptionally high level of professionalism,” President Esch said. “She also cares deeply about our students, our faculty and staff, and our generous supporters.”

Christine Tyler, director of development and major gifts, nominated Warner for the award.

Tyler noted that Warner’s consistent professionalism, organization and diligence were of immense benefit to the university as she planned an annual luncheon for scholarship donors to meet their recipients and the dedication of the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building.

“Joelle has made a tremendous impact on Pitt-Bradford’s ability to raise philanthropic funds and to acquire, cultivate and steward donors,” Tyler wrote. “She has assisted countless donors to establish scholarships at Pitt-Bradford [and] worked with corporate donors on in-kind donations. … The standard of excellence that our donors have come to expect from Pitt-Bradford’s advancement program can, in large part, be traced directly back to Joelle’s efforts.”

FDA commissioner acknowledges Pitt professors’ work on access to hearing aids

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf and Debara Tucci, director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, recognized University of Pittsburgh professors for their work on increasing access to hearing aids through community pharmacies.

Califf and Tucci penned an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on the FDA’s new category for over-the-counter hearing aids, which they said will ease market entry for new hearing technology.

In response, Luke Berenbrok, associate professor of pharmacy and therapeutics in Pitt’s School of Pharmacy and Elaine Mormer, director of audiology clinical education in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, also took to JAMA to explain the importance of community pharmacists in ensuring the safe and effective use of OTC hearing aids.

Accessibility and proximity — nearly 90 percent of people in the U.S. live within a 5-mile driving distance of a pharmacy — make them “ideal locations to provide patient-centered, clinical services that are important to public health,” Berenbrok and Mormer wrote.

Califf and Tucci, in a final JAMA reply, recognized the community pharmacy care-delivery model researchers at Pitt are promoting. "We agree with Berenbrok and Mormer that this represents a promising approach," they wrote.

Pitt-Johnstown educators teaching and learning in Bolivia

Bethany McConnell, assistant professor in Pitt-Johnstown’s Department of Educational Studies, developed a workshop for educators in Cochabamba, Bolivia, who have for years hosted student-teachers from Pitt’s regional campuses.

Pitt’s Global Experiences Office partners each year with Alexis Wieczorek (UPJ ’10), director of Connect2Bolivia and former Vira I. Heinz scholar, to facilitate student-teaching placements at the Bolivian school. The study abroad opportunity is open to education majors at Pitt’s Johnstown and Greensburg campuses.

Two Pitt-Johnstown education majors completing the seven-week teaching experience assisted with leading the two-day workshop on differentiated instruction, which tailors teaching to the learning needs of each student. More than 50 local educators attended.

Learn how you can study abroad at Pitt.

Pittsburgh Business Times recognizes two Pitt leaders as 'Women of Influence'

Tracey Conti and Geovette Washington were among 26 local leaders recognized as Women of Influence by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Conti, chair of Pitt’s Department of Family Medicine, is an advocate for improving patient outcomes through education and strong patient-physician partnerships. Her research has focused on women’s health as well as addressing health disparities and delivering health care to underserved communities.

Other achievements for the McKeesport physician include being named a Pittsburgh Top Doctor, a Pittsburgh Top Black Doctor and the 2019 Gateway Medical Society Physician of the Year.

Pitt’s Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer Geovette Washington is the senior-most executive for legal and public policy matters at the University. The former White House advisor and member of the Biden-Harris transition team also leads the Office of University Counsel, the Office of Policy Development and Management, and the Office of Compliance, Investigations, and Ethics.

Washington serves as the board of trustees chair of the Carnegie Museums and secretary of the International Women’s Forum of Pittsburgh. She sits on the advisory board for the Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts and is a senior fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

The winners were honored at an event on May 23 at Acrisure Stadium.

Christine McClure named among Pittsburgh Ladies Who Lead

Christine McClure, a senior research scientist in Pitt’s School of Public Health, will be recognized at the 2023 Ladies Who Lead event. The Pittsburgh-based organization Professional Women’s Network will spotlight four women who mentor and sponsor other professionals. McClure’s (GSPIA ’06G, EDUC ’18G) research seeks to understand the intersectional experiences of women of color in higher education contexts to inform the creation of more equitable spaces for minoritized groups. The longtime University leader serves as board chair for When She Thrives, an organization dedicated to equipping single mothers through advocacy, education and personal and professional development. McClure is also an adjunct professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami, where she works with EdD candidates.

Jamie Ducar named to Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership Advisory Team

Jamie Ducar, executive director of the engaged campus within Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs, was recently elected to the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP) Advisory Team for the 2023-25 cohort. She is one of four new members to the team.

The GPNP, which is part of the Forbes Funds, is a growing coalition of more than 500 member organizations across 10 counties working together to unify the nonprofit sector, build capacity and leverage collective resources.

The GPNP Advisory Team represents the diverse membership of the coalition — in mission, size and leadership demographics — and its members are able to speak cogently on the challenges and opportunities facing the nonprofit sector in real-time.

“The nonprofit sector is a big part of my professional journey here in Pittsburgh,” Ducar said. “I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer at the GPNP Summit to build my professional network as an emergent practitioner, joined GPNP as a member as former President of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Pittsburgh and now get to reinforce my work within the engaged campus by being part of the advisory team.

“I’m thrilled that GPNP membership considered me a good fit, and I am eager to support the initiatives and convenings that Emily Francis, program manager for the GPNP, and the entire Forbes Funds team are building to increase capacity across the sector.”

Simone Brixius-Anderko gets research award from American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

Simone Brixius-Anderko, assistant professor in Pitt’s School of Pharmacy, earned a 2023 New Investigator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP).

The award will fund Brixius-Anderko’s development of an independent research program on fatty acid metabolism’s contribution to cancer progression, expanding on her lab’s research at Pitt. The seed funding supports early-career faculty in generating preliminary data and setting a foundation for extramural funding success.

A wide breadth of research areas are funded by the long-running AACP program, including basic understanding of disease states and drug discovery, medication adherence and improving student learning experiences. Nearly 500 principal investigators across more than 100 colleges and schools of pharmacy have received the award.