Awards and Appointments
Penny Harkey was appointed vice president and chief financial officer for TTUHSC. Harkey has been at the TTUHSC for 30 years, starting in 1987 as an accountant. She progressed through various positions to her position as assistant vice president for budget, a role she has held since 1998.
Harkey has taken on several leadership assignments, one of the most complex being the TTUHSC and El Paso separation. She was responsible for coordinating the technical conversion of El Paso data within the Banner system.
The School of Medicine announced the appointment of Allan L. Haynes, Jr. M.D., as the associate dean for the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development. Haynes will assume the duties of Tom Tenner, Ph.D., who will focus his time on teaching in the Department of Medical Education. In his new role, Haynes will oversee the faculty affairs and development programs for the Lubbock campus by continuing and further developing meaningful courses, training, career advising, new faculty orientation and academic support for the School of Medicine faculty.
Governor Greg Abbott appointed Ann L. Sobel, M.D., to the Texas Military Preparedness Commission. Sobel serves as an associate professor at the Department of Medical Education and at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, an adjunct associate professor at the School of Nursing and adjunct professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas Tech University.
Sobel achieved 20 years of military service in 2008, and retired as a Major General in the Arizona Air National Guard with an honorable discharge with prior service in the United States Army. She is a former member of the technical staff at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M. and guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Previously, she served as a medical doctor and director of Intelligence for the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. and as a senior advisor to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. She is the current chair of the Permanent Monitoring Panel for mitigation of acts of terrorism for the World Federation of Scientists.
Kim Johnson, associate director of the School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs, received the 2016-2017 Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Administrative Recognition Award. Lesley Motheral, M.D., nominated Johnson for her knowledge of the chapter, excellent ability to organize and facilitate chapter events, and for being a wonderful ambassador for the organization. Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society is a professional medical organization that recognizes and advocates for excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine.
Sharmila Dissanaike, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery, was awarded the YWCA Women of Excellence March 9. Since 1989, Women of Excellence award recipients have been inspiring others in Lubbock not only with their professional achievements but also with the work they do for others.
Dylan Meyer, a graduate student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, was the recipient of the Robert Gunn Award from the American Physiological Society. The American Physiological Society Awards program demonstrates the society's dedication to its members and biomedical research by recognizing the research efforts of outstanding members. Meyers presented a poster to the American Physiological Society at a conference in Chicago. The title of the project was, "Inward currents through somatic Na/K-ATPase α1-subunit mutants are not required for hyperaldosteronism,” which focused on understanding how Na/K-ATPase mutations cause hyperaldosteronism and hypertension.
At its Feb. 24 meeting, the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved the promotion of six School of Pharmacy faculty members. The group includes Wei Wang, M.D., from the Amarillo campus; Tiffany Coomer, Pharm.D., from Lubbock; and Young Lee, Pharm.D., Irene La-Beck, Pharm.D., Magdalena Karbowniczek, M.D., Ph.D., and Maciej Markiewshi, M.D., Ph.D., from Abilene.
Wang will be promoted from research assistant professor to research associate professor for the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Coomer will be promoted from instructor to assistant professor for the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Lee (Department of Pharmacy Practice) and La-Beck (Department of Immunotherapeutics and Biotechnology) will be promoted from assistant professor to associate professor. Karbowniczek and Markiewski will both be promoted from associate professor to professor for the Department of Immunotherapeutics and Biotechnology. All promotions are effective Sept. 1.
La-Beck, Karbowniczek, Markiewshi and Ron Hall, Pharm.D., an associate professor for the Department of Pharmacy Practice in Dallas/Fort Worth, were awarded tenure, effective immediately.
School of Pharmacy Excellence in Staff Services
Lisa Miller (Amarillo)
Iverlyn Peng (Dallas)
School of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year
Nikita Mirajkar, Ph.D. - P1 Class
Luca Cucullo, Ph.D. - P2 Class
Anna Karamyan, Ph.D. - P3 Class
School of Pharmacy Teaching Teams of the Year
A&P I Team – Russ Snyder, Ph.D., Nikita Mirajkar, Ph.D., Margaret Weis, Ph.D., Pratip Mitra, Ph.D., – P1 Class
School of Pharmacy Infectious Diseases Team – Hal Miller, Ph.D., Young Lee, Pharm.D., Jennifer Grelle, Pharm.D., Nadezhda German, Ph.D., Xinli Liu, Ph.D., Krystal Haase, Pharm.D., Taryn Bainum, Pharm.D.– P2 Class
School of Pharmacy Advanced Patient Management in Ambulatory Care Team – Krystal Edwards, Pharm.D., Brian Irons, Pharm.D., Robin Black, Pharm.D., Courtney Duval, Pharm.D., Ashley Higbea, Pharm.D., Lisa Chastain, Pharm.D., Rebecca Schoen, Pharm.D. – P3 Class
Demetris Hardy, third-year pharmacy student, was honored at the American Association of University Women luncheon as one of Abilene’s Women of Outstanding Achievement/Women of Promise and Courage.
Texas Occupational Therapy Association
Occupational Therapist/Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant Collaboration Award
Sheila Joy and Cynthia Tiongco
Texas Occupational Therapy Association
Interdisciplinary Team Award
Dawndra Sechrist, Ph.D., Sandra Whisner, OTR, Ph.D., Jessica Carpenter, OTR, Renee Bogshutz, Ph.D., and Craig Cox, Pharm.D.
Texas Woman’s University College of Health Sciences
2017 Chandler Dykes Endowed Scholarship
Laurie Stelter, OTR, M.A.
Texas Organization of Nurse Executives
Excellence in Leadership Award
Barbara Cherry, DNP, R.N.
Consortium of Texas Certified Nurse-Midwives Scholarship
Rebekah Randall
Great 100 Nurses of DFW
Carrie Edwards, Ph.D., R.N.
American Medical Women’s Association
Elizabeth Blackwell Award
Marjorie Jenkins, M.D.
School of Nursing Excellence in Nursing Award
DNP Program
Kristin Benton, MSN, R.N.
MSN Program
Matika Monday, R.N., BSN
Traditional BSN
Lexie Bailey
School of Nursing Dean’s Leadership Award
Kristin Krenek
School of Nursing Future Researcher Recognition
Shannon Sulak
Rebecca Metzler
Covenant Health System Healing Touch Award
Angelica Ybarra
University Medical Center Health System Leadership Award
Kylie Bonneau
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