Recipient: Sidney A. McNairy Jr., Ph.D, D.Sc.

Today we salute an Extraordinary Visionary. Often described as “A Beacon of Light for Biomedical Research in the Nation,” Dr. Sidney A. McNairy, Jr.’s achievements have been recognized with numerous awards by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and many institutions in the RCMI Community.

A former Director of the Division of Research Infrastructure (DRI) for the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at NIH, Dr. McNairy has been the driving force behind the success of innovative federal grant programs, such as the RCMI, that help strengthen biomedical research infrastructure at both emerging and research-intensive biomedical institutions throughout the U.S. and its territories. Dr. McNairy’s vision for the RCMI Program is evident across the twenty two institutions and more than 2200 active investigators.

In recognition of his impact on biomedical research, the RCMI Consortium has established the RCMI Sidney A. McNairy Jr., Awards for Inclusive Excellence.

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Extraordinary Visionary Award to Sidney A. McNairy Jr., Ph.D., D.Sc.

This award includes a $5,000 honorarium check in appreciation

Recipient: Michael Sayre, Ph.D

Today we salute an Extraordinary Leader. Dr. Michael Sayre served as director of NIMHD’s Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences (IBBS), and retired from federal service in September 2021, after 22 years at NIH. Dr. Sayre spent the next 18 years probing fundamental DNA-protein interactions that regulate gene expression in cells. After 6 years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University studying yeast gene regulation, he had the opportunity to transition to research administration at NIH, which he notes, “one of the best career moves I ever made.” 

Recognized for his exemplary work and contributions to science, he received several awards, including the NIH Award of Merit in 2020, the 2017 NIH Director’s Award for his contribution to the Diversity Program Consortium Team and the NIH Director’s Award in 2011. 

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Award for Extraordinary Leadership to Michael Sayre, Ph.D.

Recipient: Priscilla E. Pemu, M.D., M.S.

Today we salute an Extraordinary Leader. Dr. Pemu is the Associate Dean for Clinical Research, Executive Director of the Clinical Research Center, and Professor of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine.  Dr. Pemu is a national leader in health equity. Her pioneering work on patient-centered care with technology enabled culturally congruent coaching, is shifting the paradigm of patient provider interaction. She has received national awards, including the Walter M Booker Sr. Award for Health Promotion, from the Association of Black Cardiologists, and Outstanding Diabetes Community Champion Award – “Denim & Diamonds” Community Awards of the Georgia Diabetes Coalition.

Her community partnered research on  Culturally Congruent Health Coaching was featured on the TED Stage in January 2020, with over 2.2 million views.

Dr. Pemu has a deep commitment to patient empowerment for behavior change among minoritized populations across health care settings such as Grady Health System, community based primary care practice settings, as well as non traditional settings, such as Big Bethel AME, an urban church community.

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Award for Extraordinary Leadership In Academic Community Partnership to Priscilla Pemu, M.D., M.S.

This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check

Recipient: Reverend Leland L. Jones, D.Min.

Today, we salute an Extraordinary Leader. Rev. Leland Jones is the Senior Pastor of the Greater New Light Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He serves as President of the Morehouse School of Medicine Community Advisory Board  (CAB).  The primary mission of the CAB is to eliminate health disparities in African Americans within surrounding communities through research. The Community Advisory Board provides input on research studies conducted by Morehouse School of Medicine’s Clinical Research Center, to ensure that studies are conducted with the community’s best interest in mind. CAB members lead numerous community outreach health screenings, on the Mobile Clinical Research Unit, including rural community outreach. During visits organized by the RCMI Coordinating Center at Morehouse School of Medicine, he was invited to advise the National Human Genome Research Institute. Since 2016, has served a member of Community Engagement Working Group in Genomics with the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has a distinguished Military career in the Marines Corps and Army and is a Chaplain in the Georgia Army National Guard. He is an actor in television and film with the following Movie Credits: Shaft (2019); Single Ladies, TV Series (2011); Meet the Browns (2010); Acceptance (2010); Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2008); Daddy’s Little Girls (2007); Broke Bridges (2006).

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Award for Extraordinary Leadership In Academic Community Partnership to Reverend Leland Jones, D.Min.

This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check

Recipient: Patricia Mendonca, Ph.D.

Dr. Mendonca is Assistant Professor of Biology, Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science and Technology at Florida A & M Univeristy.  Her research work is on neurodegenerative diseases, triple-negative breast cancer, inflammation, and oxidative stress. She is evaluating anticancer activity of flavonoids in racially different triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Dr. Mendonca’s collaborations have resulted in the publication of 24 research articles. She received the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) George K. Michalopoulos Junior Faculty Scholar Award in 2022.

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Award for Young Investigator Award to Patricia Mendonca, Ph.D.

This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check.

Recipient: Jonathan K. Stiles, Ph.D.

Today, we salute an extraordinary Mentor. Dr. Stiles is the Chair, Department of Microbiology Biochemistry & Immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Stiles serves as a Leader and Developer in the National Research Mentoring Network, and the NIH Diversity Program Consortium, with responsibility for the career development of hundreds of early stage investigators, nationally and across the RCMI Consortium.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Stiles has directly mentored over 109 scholars at Morehouse School of Medicine, in the following categories: Undergraduate students; Medical Students; Graduate PhD students; Graduate MPH students; International Graduate PhD students; Postdoctoral research and early stage investigators on faculty. The career advancement of these scholars is documented across academic institutions, the CDC, industry, US government and international agencies.  Dr. Stiles’ research on cerebral malaria is supported by an active R01 award on the Protective Role of Neuregulin-1 against cerebral malaria induced neuronal injury and behavioral sequelae. He has several institutional training grants. Dr. Stiles has over 102 peer reviewed publications, since appointment at MSM in 1999. In addition to the success and impact of his mentorship at MSM, nationally, and across the RCMI consortium, Dr. Stiles’ expertise in Global Health and collaboration in the Fogarty Global Health Fellows Coordinating Center, continue to expand his mentorship across institutions and internationally.  Dr. Stiles holds numerous patents.             

The RCMI Consortium is pleased to present the Inaugural Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Award for Extraordinary Mentorship and Inclusive Excellence to Jonathan K. Stiles, Ph.D.

This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check

Community-Based Participatory Research
Recipient: Attallah Siedah Dillard, MSN, RN
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
This award includes a $500 honorarium check.

Behavioral and Social Determinants of Health
Recipient: Angelica Garcia-Segui, MD
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
This award includes a $500 honorarium check.

Basic and Applied Minority Health and Health Disparities Research
Recipient: Richaundra Randle, BS
Meharry Medical College
This award includes a $500 honorarium check.

Clinical and Translational Minority Health and Health Disparities Research
Recipient: Hongmei Wang, Pharm, PhD
Texas Southern University
This award includes a $500 honorarium check

Recipient: Richard T. Yanagihara, M.D., M.P.H

Today we salute an Extraordinary Leader. Dr. Yanagihara served as Professor of Pediatrics, and multi-PI of the RCMI Coordinating Center, recently retired in December 2022. As a former tenured intramural NIH investigator, Dr. Yanagihara was recruited through an interagency personnel agreement in 1995 to establish a laboratory-based retrovirology research program in the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He played a pivotal role in coordinating the development of much-needed infrastructure for basic biomedical, clinical, behavioral and translational research at the University of Hawaii. He is deeply committed to fostering the growth and accelerating the development of the next generation of biomedical researchers by mentoring new and early-stage investigators at the University of Hawaii and across the RCMI community. He directed the RTRN Small Grants Program, which provided funding to pilot projects conducted by investigators from two or more RCMI grantee institutions. These multi-institutional pilot project resulted in more than $37 million in new research awards to RCMI investigators. His own research, which is chronicled in more than 300 journal articles and book chapters, has taken the form of problem-based investigations of medically urgent phenomena of regional relevance and global importance, conducted largely in the context of exploiting naturally occurring paradigms of high-incidence “place diseases” in populations isolated by virtue of their genetics, culture and/or geography
The RCMI Coordinating Center is pleased to present the Award for Extraordinary Leadership in Inclusive Excellence to Richard Yanagihara, MD, MPH

This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check

Recipient: Shafiq A. Khan, Ph.D.

Today, we salute an extraordinary Leader. Dr. Khan served as the Director of the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development from January 2004 to December 2021, and the PI/Program Director of the NIH/NIMHD/RCMI program at Clark Atlanta University for 18 years. He also served as Interim Vice President for Research at Clark Atlanta University in 2017 and 2022. He is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Cancer Cell Biology and a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. He has trained a large number of Ph.D. students, and postdoctoral scientists and has mentored junior faculty members during his career. He has published more than 90 research papers in high-impact scientific journals.
He has played a pivotal role through research, education, and advocacy in creating and sustaining Georgia’s innovative, collaborative, and patient-centered cancer ecosystem. He was recently selected as one of “Today’s Innovators” in cancer care by the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE).
Through his extraordinary leadership at CAU, his outstanding scholarship in prostate cancer research, and his dedication and commitment to improving cancer care and reducing health disparity in Georgia and the U.S., Dr. Khan has made a difference at the university and has positively impacted the people of our community.
The RCMI Coordinating Center is pleased to present the Award for Extraordinary Leadership in Inclusive Excellence to Shafiq Khan, Ph.D.
This award includes a $3,000 honorarium check