Nominata Award winners: Where are they now?

Published on: May 24, 2023 By: Aline McKenzie

Many winners of the Nominata Award – the highest honor bestowed upon a Ph.D. student of UT Southwestern's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences – have gone on to lead esteemed biomedical careers that progressed from postdoctoral researcher to academic or industry scientist to professor or division leader.

Andrew Zinn, M.D., Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate School and a Nominata winner himself in 1988, is not surprised at the success.

"We have 50 to 100 students graduate each year," Dr. Zinn said. "The best students from this large pool are nominated, and the best of the best are chosen as Nominata winners."

The Nominata, the highest honor for academic and research accomplishment from the Graduate School to a student, began in 1980 as the Outstanding Student Award presented by the Graduate Student Organization. In its early years, the award name changed to its current moniker, based on a plural of the Latin word "nominatum" (something that is named), perhaps to reflect that students are nominated rather than self-submitting, said UTSW University Archivist Kendall Martin.

"I hope that the Nominata Award, highlighted by a campuswide seminar by the winner, inspires other UTSW graduate students to achieve similar success in their Ph.D. studies and subsequent careers."

The first Nominata recipient was Mary Elizabeth "Pila" Estess (Siegelman), Ph.D., in 1980, then a doctoral candidate in microbiology, for her work on antibody structures and the genetic basis of their diversity. Her adviser, the late Donald Capra, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Internal Medicine, praised not only her work in learning a difficult technique but also her dedication in teaching it to other students. Dr. Estess went on to work at Stanford University, in industry, then on the faculty of UTSW before leaving in 2014.

Today, the Committee on Graduate School Awards, comprising the School's faculty, evaluates and selects the nominees. The recipient receives a monetary award and the honor of presenting their research to the UTSW community as part of a University Lecture Series. 

"We look at the impact of the research, the originality, the degree to which the student did the work, and their ability to communicate," Dr. Zinn explained of the selection process.

"For me, the Nominata Award validated my approach to science taught by my mentors," said Rodney Infante, M.D., Ph.D., the 2008 awardee. Now an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and in the Center for Human Nutrition at UT Southwestern, he studies the mechanisms of cachexia, a wasting condition related to several diseases. "This recognition cemented how I would proceed with my scientific career," Dr. Infante said.

He completed his graduate work under Nobel Laureates Michael Brown, M.D., and Joseph Goldstein, M.D., using a combination of biochemical and molecular biological techniques to study how cholesterol is transported out of a cell structure called a lysosome in disease and in health. Dr. Brown is Director of the Erik Jonsson Center for Research in Molecular Genetics and Human Disease and Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine, while Dr. Goldstein is Chair of Molecular Genetics and Professor of Internal Medicine.

Sheryl Smith, Ph.D., who won the Nominata in 1983, called receiving the honor her best achievement as a graduate student. Dr. Smith's graduate work looked at mechanisms underlying the onset of puberty. Now a Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, she studies the mechanisms of changes in mood and learning at puberty, along with "synapse pruning," a drastic reduction in brain connections that happens at the same time, which is necessary for optimal brain function.

Among other academic careers of past Nominata winners are Jared Rutter, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Utah, and Nick Grishin, Ph.D., Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry at UTSW. Dr. Grishin uses modern computational methods to build genetic maps of moths and butterflies.

Another is Charles Sentman, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Dartmouth University, who was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2022 for his work using immune cell receptors and the molecules that bind to them as a basis for therapeutics. John "Trey" Fondon III, Ph.D., who served on the UTSW faculty before becoming a Lab Director at Othram, a forensics company near Houston that specializes in using genetic technology to solve cold cases, is taking the industry route in a unique but growing field of science.

"I hope that the Nominata Award, highlighted by a campuswide seminar by the winner, inspires other UTSW graduate students to achieve similar success in their Ph.D. studies and subsequent careers," Dr. Zinn said.

* Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scientist

Sources: Southwestern Medical Foundation, UT Southwestern, alumni records, and online record searches. The data above is based on the most current information available and cannot be guaranteed as necessarily the most accurate, however, particularly regarding an individual's last known position and in cases where some records could not be located or verified. All efforts were made to validate and confirm data.

Dr. Brown, a Regental Professor, holds The W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.

Dr. Goldstein, a Regental Professor, holds the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.

Dr. Grishin, a Virginia Murchison Linthicum Scholar in Biomedical Research, holds the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair in Biomedical Science.

Dr. Zinn holds the Henry Ross Perot Distinguished Professorship in Biomedical Science, and the Rolf Haberecht and Ute Schwarz Haberecht Deanship of the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

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