AAAS Fellows: Four Penn Faculty

Four faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Three are from the Perelman School of Medicine and one is from the School of Arts & Sciences.

They are among 401 members who have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Rexford S. Ahima, professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Obesity Unit, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, was elected for distinguished contributions to the fields of obesity, diabetes and metabolism, particularly using mouse models to study adipokine signaling in the brain and peripheral organs.

Marisa S. Bartolomei, professor of cell and developmental biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, was elected for distinguished contributions to the fields of genetics and epigenetics, particularly for mechanistic studies of genomic imprinting and environmental impacts on epigenetic gene regulation.

Charles L. Epstein, Thomas A. Scott Professor of Mathematics and professor of radiology in mathematics, in the School of Arts & Sciences, was elected for distinguished contributions to applied analysis, especially microlocal analysis, index theory and boundary value problems; and significant achievements in the mathematics of medical imaging.

Robert G. Kalb, professor of neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine, was elected for distinguished contributions to understanding synaptic function in development and disease.

New fellows will be honored in February at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, California.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Lytle

Penn GSE professor emerita Susan Lytle received the Literary Research Association’s (LRA) 2014 Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes Dr. Lytle’s decades of pioneering work in literacy, teaching and teacher learning and the influence she has had on the LRA membership.

In 1986, Dr. Lytle founded the Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP). Throughout her career, she used PhilWP as the main site for much of her research. It allowed her to interact with K-12 Philadelphia teachers on topics such as teacher professionalism, teacher knowledge and community in relation to the field of literacy theory, research and practice.

During her time working with the School District of Philadelphia, Dr. Lytle vastly expanded her understanding of urban education and teacher practice and was able to effectively translate this understanding through her research, which has had significant impact in the fields of literacy, practitioner inquiry and teacher learning.

She began her career as a public school English teacher in Massachusetts and California, in addition to volunteering with the Peace Corps in Manila, Philippines. After arriving at Penn, she began supervising secondary English interns and went on to co-hold the Joseph L. Calihan Term Chair in Education in recognition of her collaborative research on teacher inquiry.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Lytle met Marilyn Cochran-Smith, then a doctoral candidate at Penn GSE. Dr. Cochran-Smith went on to become an important research partner. They have written together since the mid-1980s when Dr. Lytle was beginning her deep involvement with teachers in the School District of Philadelphia and Dr. Cochran-Smith was directing Penn GSE’s master’s program in elementary education. They used their sites of practices as the source of their inquiry—raising questions about what they were learning and publishing research that reflected the dialectic of empirical and conceptual work. During their nearly three decades of collaboration, they have co-authored numerous articles, as well as “Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge and Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research in the Next Generation,” for which they have received national awards. Dr. Cochran-Smith, currently the Cawthorne Chair in Teacher Education for Urban Schools at Boston College, is a co-recipient of this year’s Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Lytle has published widely in the field of literacy and is co-editor of the Practitioner Inquiry Series for Teachers College Press.

PhilWP continues to be a space of exploration and inquiry with a network over 700 educators in the greater Philadelphia region. Dr. Lytle continues to support PhilWP, serving as vice chair of the project’s advisory board.

Inspiring and Innovative: Penn Hillel’s Jewish Renaissance Project

Penn Hillel’s Jewish Renaissance Project (JRP) was named one of America’s top innovative and inspiring Jewish organizations by the Slingshot Guide. JRP was selected for “igniting sparks of Jewish identity with its novel model of community and education for college students who have not found a Jewish home.”

“JRP is an alternative choice for Penn students who want to figure out what Judaism means in a sophisticated and intellectually open and exciting way to explore life through a Jewish lens, but want to do so where they live, work and play.”

Slingshot, A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation, is an annual compilation of the most inspiring and innovative organizations, projects and programs in the North American Jewish community. First published in 2005, Slingshot continues to highlight those organizations in Jewish life with particular resonance among the next generation.

Norma Lang Award: Dr. Polomano

Rosemary Polomano, professor of pain practice in the School of Nursing, has received the 2014 Norma M. Lang Award for her distinguished and scholarly practice in pain research.

Dr. Polomano’s career-long work in advancing pain science has influenced medical practice, pain management policy and technology innovation. Her work as the chair of the US Pharmacopeia Executive Leadership changed policy for medication safety, resulting in stricter packaging and labeling criteria for drugs and improved safety in drug administration.

Dr. Polomano also developed several patient-reported outcomes instruments and scales, including the American Pain Society Patient Outcomes Questionnaire–Revised, that has been translated into several languages and adapted for an international pain registry.

She has collaborated on several military pain studies with the Defense and Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management (DVCIPM) moving  research in pain science to the battlefield to design and test new pain outcome measures for use in battlefield hospitals and US military facilities. Dr. Polomano is also a professor of anesthesiology and critical care (secondary) at the Perelman School of Medicine, a research consultant for the DVCIPM at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and a frequent national advisor on pain science and pain management.

Dr. Polomano is the third recipient of the Lang Award, given annually to a University of Pennsylvania nursing faculty member or a graduate from the School’s doctoral program, who has made a distinguished contribution to nursing through scholarly practice.

Nichols Prize For Visionaries in Urban Development: Dr. Rodin

Judith Rodin, president emerita of the University of Pennsylvania and president of The Rockefeller Foundation, has been chosen as the 2014 recipient of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, which is the institute’s highest honor.

The Prize recognizes a longtime commitment to the creation of communities that prosper by providing a high quality of life for all citizens and which reflect the highest standards of design and development.  

Dr. Rodin is the 15th recipient of the honor. She was recognized for her leadership in the revival of the neighborhood surrounding the University of Pennsylvania while serving as the University’s president and for her current leadership of The Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts to create healthy, thriving communities worldwide.

The 2014 prize jury chairman, James D. Klingbeil, said, “Dr. Rodin is a true leader in community building, and her work epitomizes what the prize is all about.”

Dr. Rodin, whose career has spanned more than four decades, is widely recognized as a visionary and an innovator in neighborhood redevelopment and in the creation of thriving, vibrant communities. Her work at The Rockefeller Foundation is rooted in the West Philadelphia Initiatives, a neighborhood revitalization program she led while serving as the president of Penn (1994 to 2004). Under her leadership, Penn became more integrated into the community through a strategy designed as an interlocking series of programs to address the area’s security, education, housing and economic development needs, with the University taking the lead role as developer and facilitator. The West Philadelphia Initiatives received a ULI Award for Excellence in 2003.