The Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences has announced this year’s Blick Scholars. Of the 10 faculty members chosen, four are from the medical school. Congratulations to:
· Carlos R. Escalante , Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics
· Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health
· Qinglian Liu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics
· Lindsay M. Sabik, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research
The Blick Scholars Program is made possible through the George and Lavinia Blick Research Fund housed at the MCV Foundation. Created with a generous $2 million bequest by Lavinia Blick, the fund was her gesture of gratitude for the care she and her family had received at MCV and later at the VCU Medical Center. Her only stipulation was that the gift be used to fund medical research on the MCV Campus.
Blick Scholars are chosen through a nomination process. They must demonstrate documented growth toward achievement of national or international recognition, a developing record of obtaining external research funding, collaborative scholarship and a primary faculty appointment in one of the health sciences schools. The fund made its first awards in 2010.
Every four years, the Blick Scholars Program chooses up to 10 junior faculty who receive an annual award for four years. This year’s awards will begin July 1, 2015.
Jerome F. Strauss, III, M.D., Ph.D.
Dean, VCU School of Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, VCU Health System