UTHSC article by Peggy Reisser
Two from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Receive 2017 University of Tennessee President’s Awards
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Guy Reed, MD, and Steve Butler, director of instructional technology services, are among four winners of the 2017 University of Tennessee President’s Awards, the system’s highest honor for faculty and staff.
UT President Joe DiPietro announced the winners today during his second State of the University address in Nashville, which was attended by more than 100 invited guests and watched across the state via live webcast.
In his address, DiPietro said the UT System is “consumed by a need to deliver solutions that change people’s lives.”
Reflecting that philosophy, the President’s Awards recognize exceptional contributions to the system’s missions of education, research and outreach. They are given in four categories – educate, discover, connect, support.
“Every success we achieve as a university is the result of hard work and dedication by the thousands of faculty and staff who pursue their passions on our campuses and in our classrooms, laboratories and communities across the state,” DiPietro said. “I believe in the importance of saying ‘thank you’ whenever possible and recognizing and rewarding outstanding contributions. That’s what this program is about, and I’m honored to work alongside individuals like the four acknowledged today and the 19 other nominees.”
A nationally recognized cardiologist and distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Reed is the Lemuel Diggs Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine. He was recognized in the discover category, which honors discoveries and applications of knowledge.
“He began more than 10 years ago to research a safer, more effective therapy for dissolving blood clots, the cause of most strokes,” UT Health Science Center Chancellor Steve Schwab, MD, said in nominating Dr. Reed. “The outcome of his research is a novel thrombus (blood clot) dissolving agent, TS23, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.”
Dr. Reed was recently named Interim Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Besides his teaching duties, he is a prolific researcher. He has secured 22 grants, including 11 from the National Institutes of Health and four from the American Heart Association, since 1989. He holds 23 U.S. patents, and has more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Reed was one of four recipients of the Inside Memphis Business magazine’s 2016 Innovation Awards.
Instructional Technology Services Director Steve Butler was honored in the support category, which recognizes efforts in support of educational excellence, discoveries and applications of knowledge, as well as outreach, engagement and service.
In nominating him, Dr. Schwab credited Butler’s work with helping transform the campus into a 21st century academic health science center.
Butler designed and supported the first distance education classroom at UT Health Science Center. Now, more than 20 classrooms in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville are connected. Systems allow communication among pharmacy residents across the state; participation in lectures, seminars and rounds at various hospitals; and follow-up treatment with the Hamilton Eye Institute for patients around the world. In 2011, he received the Exceptional Service Award at UT Health Science Center.
Other winners are Jason Roberts, associate professor of animal science at UT Martin, and director of the West Tennessee Animal Disease Diagnostics Laboratory and the UT Martin Veterinary Technology Program; and Christine Smith, director of the School of Nursing and Student Health Services Clinic at UT Chattanooga.
Honorees are selected each year from a system-wide pool of candidates nominated by campus and institute leaders. Winners receive plaques and awards of $3,000. For more information about the President’s Award program, visit http://president.tennessee.edu/awards/.
In his State of the University address, DiPietro emphasized that the University of Tennessee is united around the ideas of open-mindedness and respect for those with differing viewpoints, is a powerful vehicle for advancing the state’s economic agenda with a $4.8 billion impact statewide, and is “woven into the fabric of life” throughout the state.
“We have a powerful brand, and an unmatched reputation for quality, flagship research, and delivering outreach like nobody else,” he said. “And wherever you go in Tennessee, you find something else that sets us apart: the palpable affinity, love and support for our institution and its many components.”
DiPietro’s address, the presentation of the awards, and the entire webcast are archived at tennessee.edu/state-of-ut/.
University of Tennessee article:
Discover Honoree
Award honors discoveries and applications of knowledge
Guy Reed
Guy Reed, Lemuel Diggs Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center, has developed a novel treatment for dissolving the blood clots that kill and disable millions of patients each year.
“He began more than 10 years ago to research a safer, more effective therapy for dissolving blood clots, the cause of most strokes,” explained UT Health Science Center Chancellor Steve Schwab. “The outcome of his research is a novel thrombus (blood clot) dissolving agent, TS23, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.”
Reed’s work, particularly significant to the Mid-South as it sits in the center of the “Stroke Belt,” has gained international recognition. In September 2015, the research company Reed founded to translate his science into therapy—Translational Sciences, Inc.—signed a multimillion dollar exclusive partnership license with Daiichi Sankyo Company, headquartered in Tokyo, to complete the clinical trials needed to get TS23 approved by the FDA.
Reed, a prolific researcher, has secured 22 grants, including 11 National Institutes of Health and four American Heart grants, since 1989. He holds 23 U.S. patents and has more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. He was one of four recipients of the Inside Memphis Business magazine’s 2016 Innovation Awards.
“As a scientist, clinician and entrepreneur, his efforts will save lives and create new economic opportunities both in and far beyond Tennessee,” wrote Richard Magid, vice president of the UT Research Foundation.