Wayne State University recently honored five faculty members of the School of Medicine for their outstanding contributions to teaching.

“These faculty members are indicative of the quality educators training the future generations of physicians at the School of Medicine,” said Robert M. Mentzer Jr., dean of the School of Medicine and senior advisor to the President for Medical Affairs. “The students who entrust their medical education to Wayne StateUniversity know they are trained by the best.”

William Crossland, Ph.D., received the prestigious Wayne State University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Crossland, an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, was recognized for his outstanding contributions to teaching at the School of Medicine with a $2,500 award and a citation from President Irvin D. Reid.

Dr. Crossland joined the department in 1975 and has served as an associate professor since 1980. His research interests focus on the formation and maintenance of neuronal connections in the visual system. Dr. Crossland, who also received the Lamp Award from medical students in 2007, was one of the first faculty members to develop computer-based content for students. School of Medicine administration selected Dr. Crossland to attend the Stanford Program for Basic Science Educators in 2007 in recognition of his excellence in education.

A Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Fellowship was awarded to Judith Whittum-Hudson, Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Immunology and Microbiology, Internal Medicine, and Ophthalmology.

Dr. Whittum-Hudson has devoted her career to chlamydial infections and the development of vaccine candidates to counter the infections.

Dr. Whittum-Hudson said she will use the fellowship to support preclinical studies to characterize new protective peptide or DNA vaccine candidates recently derived in her laboratory.

Jack Sobel, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, who also was recently named a Distinguished Professor by the university, was honored with the Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship.

Dr. Sobel, who became professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in 1985, has earned international renown for creating an academic field in the study and treatment of vaginal infections. Each of the six scientifically-oriented vaginitis clinics in the world is led or staffed by at least one doctor trained by Dr. Sobel.

Dr. Sobel said he will use the fellowship to help conduct the first major study directed at a new form of infection, which he has named Desquamative Inflammatory Vaginitis.

Rodney Braun, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, received a Career Development Chair Award. The award is presented to seven recently tenured faculty members to support the teaching and research of faculty in the developmental stages of their careers.

Braun’s research focuses on the development of novel treatments for tumors, including breast cancer and ocular melanoma. He was awarded a Department of Defense high-risk IDEA Award and has secured funding from the National Eye Institute that supported published groundwork research for studies to evaluate new treatments for choroidal melanoma.

Braun said he will use the award to further his research to determine whether two anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat ocular pain can inhibit new vessel growth in choroidal explants.

Jeffrey Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, received the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award. The award goes to graduate faculty recognized by their departments and graduate students as excellent mentors.

Loeb has supervised five completed doctoral dissertations over a nine-year period, something he refers to as one of his greatest accomplishments. He played a significant role in designing the M.D./Ph.D. program, and in fostering translational research.