Four highly promising Carolina faculty members in diverse fields have been awarded the Philip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty.
The recipients, who were recognized at the Sept. 8 Faculty Council meeting, are: Mara Buchbinder, associate professor in the Department of Social Medicine; James Cahoon, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry; Spencer L. Smith, associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology; and Stephanie B. Wheeler, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy Management.
Stephanie B. Wheeler
Stephanie Wheeler is a CER K12 recipient and TraCS $2K Pilot award winner.
Wheeler is a decision scientist whose research focuses on understanding and improving cancer care access, equity, quality, value and outcomes, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
She leads the national, multicenter, Centers for Disease Control-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network, which focuses on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based cancer-focused interventions. She also co-directs the National Cancer Institute-funded Cancer Care Quality Training Program and the NCI-funded Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program.
Her work has resulted in 85 peer-reviewed publications, more than 100 public presentations at national conferences, symposia and other venues, and more than $10 million in grant funding.
"Stephanie's strong passion for conducting policy-relevant public health research to reduce disparities among patients with cancer is palpable," said Morris Weinberger, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management. "Her research has spanned cancer care from screening to treatment and survivorship."
Wheeler earned a doctorate at the Gillings School of Global Public Health before joining the health policy management faculty in 2010. Earlier this year, Wheeler received the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Early Career Public Health Research Award.
Jo Anne L. Earp, research professor in the Department of Health Behavior, said Wheeler is becoming a nationally known "behavioral science interventionist" dedicated to closing racial divides in cancer treatment. "On top of her scholarly brilliance, she has superior management skills, budgetary savvy and a deep familiarity with working with large-scale secondary sources of data," Earp said.
Mara Buchbinder
Mara Buchbinder is a TraCS KL2 Scholar.
Buchbinder, who is also adjunct associate professor of anthropology and a core faculty member in the UNC Center for Bioethics, has published on a range of critical issues that hold significance for medicine, the social sciences and bioethics.
Much of her research explores the sociocultural and ethical dimensions of clinical encounters in the United States, with a particular interest in the role of language in medicine. Her recent work focuses on how patients, families and healthcare providers navigate social and ethical challenges resulting from changes in medical technology, law and health policy.
She is the author of two books, Saving Babies? The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Screening (with UCLA sociology professor Stefan Timmermans, 2013, University of Chicago Press) and All in Your Head: Making Sense of Pediatric Pain (2015, University of California Press).
Buchbinder joined the Carolina faculty in 2010 after receiving her doctorate in anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was selected for a Greenwall Faculty Scholars Award (2015–18), a career development award that enables junior faculty to carry out innovative bioethics research.
Jonathan Oberlander, professor and chair of social medicine, said Buchbinder's scholarship is "original, impactful and noteworthy for its remarkable blend of social science theory and ethical inquiry with careful empirical investigation."
"Dr. Buchbinder has investigated intimate contexts of suffering and care, family dynamics and local clinical cultures," Oberlander said. "She has chosen to work on problems of vital importance to medical care delivery, illness experiences, health care ethics and policy."
See the full list at gazette.unc.edu.
