12
COM Outlook . Winter 2014
On October 16, Raymond Ownby,
M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., professor and
chair of the Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Medicine, received
the Third Annual Provost’s Research
and Scholarship Award from George
Hanbury II, Ph.D., NSU president and
chief executive officer.
The honor was bestowed at the Ex-
ternal Funding Recognition Reception,
held at the Grande Oaks Golf Club in
Davie and hosted by Gary S. Margules,
Sc.D., vice president of NSU’s Office
for Research and Technology Transfer.
Dr. Ownby was nominated for this
prestigious honor by his NSU-COM
colleague Dr. Robin J. Jacobs. “I am in-
credibly honored to be selected by my
peers for this prestigious honor,” said
Dr. Ownby. “I am grateful to NSU for
believing in me and my team and al-
lowing us and our fellow researchers
to pursue knowledge and discovery
in our fields.”
The Provost’s Research and Schol-
arship Award recognizes a faculty
member who has demonstrated sig-
nificant achievement in support of
NSU’s mission to foster scholarship,
intellectual inquiry, and academic
excellence. Research and scholarship
are two of NSU’s eight core values,
and excellence in these areas enhances
education, patient care, public service,
and develops superior scholarship.
Dr. Ownby has publishedmore than
100 articles and has received several
research grants from the National In-
stitutes of Health. Recently, he and his
team received a $1.35 million federal
grant to create innovative methods to
evaluate patients’ health literacy.
He was the founder of the Brain Fit-
ness Program at the Center on Aging in
Miami—a program that helps midlife
and older adults maintain mental fit-
ness—and created a brain fitness pro-
gram at NSU. Among other accolades,
Dr. Ownby was recently selected by
Best Doctors® as an expert in the field
of medicine and is board certified in
adult psychiatry, psychosomatic medi-
cine, behavioral sleepmedicine, clinical
neuropsychology, andneuropsychiatry.
In addition, he has served as con-
tributing editor, section editor, and
ad-hoc reviewer for numerous pres-
tigious peer-reviewed journals and is
a founding member of the Society of
Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Mary Ann Fletcher Joins NSU-COM as Schemel
Professor for Neuro-Immune Medicine
In October, Mary Ann Fletcher,
Ph.D., joined NSU-COM as the
first Schemel Professor for
Neuro-Immune Medicine, which
was made possible thanks to a
$2 million endowment from the
Schemel Family Foundation.
In her new role, Dr. Fletcher will
oversee the research lab and
conduct proteomic and genomic
research at the college’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine. “I am honored and
grateful to the Schemel family and NSU for believing in me and allowing me to
devote my efforts to helping find better treatments for these diseases, which impact
so many people and deserve our attention and resources,” Dr. Fletcher stated.
Prior to joining the NSU-COM team, Dr. Fletcher spent the past 40 years working
at the University of Miami, most recently as a tenured professor and director of
the E.M. Popper Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, which is being relocated to
NSU. During her career, Dr. Fletcher has published more than 260 peer-reviewed
articles in scientific journals and has presented her work at many national and
international scientific conferences. In addition, she holds two U.S. patents for
developing tests to determine if a person has mononucleosis.
Dr. Raymond Ownby Wins NSU Provost’s
Research and Scholarship Award
Pictured (from left) are Dr. Gary Margules, Dr.
George L. Hanbury, Dr. Raymond Ownby, Dr. Robin
Jacobs, and Jacqueline Travisano, M.B.A., CPA, NSU
executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Pictured (from left) are Dr. Nancy Klimas,
Dr. Fletcher, Robert G. Schemel, and Dr. Silvagni.
