Cindy Dawson, APN, Ambulatory Care Services, will serve as 2009 president-elect of the Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head-Neck Nurses.

Arlene Drack, MD, received a five-year, $325,000 Foundation Fighting Blindness award to study retinitis pigmentosa.

Steven Lentz, MD, PhD, was re-appointed the Henry Hamilton Chair in Hematolog.

Kimberly Leslie, MD, professor and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico Hospital, has been named head of the UI Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, effective April 1, 2009.

Lisa Mascardo, PharmD, was installed as a Trustee on the Iowa Pharmacy Association Board of Trustees.

Jeffrey Nerad, MD, was named the inaugural Marion and Frederick Fuerste, MD, Professorship in Ophthalmology.

Three UI researchers each received American Cancer Society seed grants for cancer research: Mahfoud Assem, PhD, Michael Schultz, PhD, and Fayyaz Sutterwala, MD, PhD.

Carol Scott-Conner, MD, PhD, was named one of America's top doctors for women by Women's Health Magazine, which cited her expertise in breast cancer, cancer surgery, and laparoscopic surgery.

Arthur Spector, MD, received the Distinguished Mentor Award from the UI Carver College of Medicine.

Richard K. Shields, PhD, received the Marian Williams Research Award from the American Physical Therapy Association. George Weiner, MD, was appointed chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the American Society of Hematology.