“At UofL, what we celebrate reflects what we value as an institution – research, scholarship and creative activity. This event is so important because it shines a spotlight on YOU — the backbone of UofL’s knowledge enterprise,” said Jon Klein, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation.

Eight signature awards were presented for outstanding achievement.

• Researcher of the Year – Ayman El Baz, professor of bioengineering, J.B. Speed School of Engineering. A global leader in AI and bio-imaging, El Baz’s AI-powered autism diagnostic was licensed to Brain Diagnostic and widely covered by media. With 50 patents, $29 million in grants and 23,000 citations, El-Baz is translating ideas into real-world solutions – contributions that push boundaries and benefit humanity. El-Baz is bridging engineering and health care and enhancing diagnostics through AI.
• Innovator of the Year – Ginevra Courtade, professor, College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development. A leader in special education, Courtade authored five peer-reviewed publications in 2024, including pioneering work on AI to enhance instruction for students with intellectual disabilities and frameworks for accessible STEM education. Her projects address teacher shortages, especially in rural regions, and shape national special education policy.
• Center of the Year – Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences. Led by J. Christopher States, CIEHS is a powerhouse in understanding how environmental factors affect health, from air quality to chemical exposures, with an interdisciplinary approach uniting medicine, engineering and public health. Its mission is to advance scientific discovery, train the next generation of researchers and translate findings into actionable solutions for communities.
  

  

• Early Career Researcher Award – Adam Cocco, assistant professor of sports administration, College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development. In 2024, Cocco published four peer-reviewed articles, including a groundbreaking study on how personal branding and institutional factors shape college athletes’ Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) values on social media. His work tackled retention of first-generation college athletes, offering practical solutions for small institutions and produced resources for athletic programs.
• Creative Works Award – Ché Rhodes, associate professor in fine arts, College of Arts & Sciences. One of America’s top glass artists, Rhodes’ work joined the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection in 2022 and was featured in their “This Present Moment” exhibition. His art graced the cover of “Glass: The Urban Glass Art Quarterly.” A UofL faculty member for 20 years, Rhodes previously won Louisville Visual Art’s Educator of the Year award and was an Ascending Star Fellow.
• Research Administrator of the Year – Anne Noe, manager, Research Grants Program, School of Medicine, who is recognized for her impact in overseeing pre-award services for the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Public Health and Information Sciences. Noe also manages the Summer Research Scholars Program, coordinates Research!Louisville, handles budgets and serves as a vital liaison with the Office of Research and Innovation.
• Industry Partnership of the Year – Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology and ISCO Industries. AMIST, led by Tom Berfield, and ISCO Industries, a Louisville-based titan in the world of piping solutions led by President Mark Kirchdorfer, collaborated on innovative manufacturing projects. This collaboration leverages AMIST’s world-class capabilities to enhance ISCO’s innovations, driving real-world impact.
• New Venture of the Year – Gretel Monreal, Inspired Therapeutics NeoMate System. Monreal and multiple collaborators across several departments are developing the NeoMate Mechanical Circulatory Support System to serve as a bridge for infants with heart failure until they can receive a heart transplant. This miniature, low-cost heart pump will provide up to 30 days of support, improving quality of life for the smallest patients.

Ascending Star Fellows

Nine promising mid-career researchers were recognized for their achievements as the third cohort of Ascending Star Fellows. During this year-long program, they worked with external mentors and were coached through an ambitious project to elevate their scholarship to the next level.��

Amanuel Beyin • Adam Enders • Lesley Harris • Jonathan Kopechek • Matthew Nelson • Stephanie Prost • Farshid Ramezanipour • Hui Zhang • Jianhua Zhao

Patent awardees

In addition, 55 researchers were recognized for the 73 patents awarded to UofL over the last two years:

Alexander V. Ovechkin • Alireza Tofangchi • Andrew P. DeFilippis • Andrew Switala • Ayman S. El-Baz • Balamurugan Appakalai • Charles S. Hubscher • Chi Li • Cindy Harnett • Claudia A. Angeli • Dan O. Popa • Daniel S. Metzinger • David Caborn • Dennis M. Evans • Donald Miller • Douglas J. Jackson • Esma S. Yolcu • George Pantalos • Gerald B. Hammond • Gretel Monreal • Guruprasad A. Giridharan • Huang-Ge Zhang • Jagannadh Satyavolu • Janina Ratajczak • Jason Chesney • John Naber • John O. Trent • John W. Eaton • Joseph A. Burlison • Joshua Spurgeon • Kavitha Yaddanapudi • Kenneth S. Thomson • Kevin Tran • Levi Beverly • Magdalena Kucia • Mahendra K. Sunkara • Mariusz Z. Ratajczak • Mark S. Slaughter • Martin G. O’Toole • Michael H. Nantz • Neal Bhutiani • Nichola C. Garbett • Nobuyuki Matoba • Noppadon Sathitsuksanoh • Paula J. Bates • Richard J. Lamont • Sarah A. Andres • Steven C. Koenig • Sucheta Telang • Thad Druffel • Thomas A. Berfield • Thomas J. Roussel • Yury Gerasimenko • Zhihui Sun • Zhong Yang

The UofL assists researchers by connecting them with funding, ensuring safety and compliance, managing awards and engaging industry. Over the past year, UofL researchers submitted 1,060 proposals, secured more than $188 million in new funding and produced impactful publications, performances and exhibits.

See photos from the awards ceremony .

“We have a great faculty – a truly amazing faculty – at the University of Louisville,” Pinto said. “We have a faculty who excel in teaching, service, scholarship, research, and creative activity. You are a faculty who care. You are a faculty who raise the bar for all of us as a university.”

The award winners included:

Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity

Paul Griner, English

Rich Lamont, Dental-Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases

Jeffrey Valentine, Counseling and Human Development

Distinguished Faculty Award in Service

Vicki Hines-Martin, Nursing ����ֱ��

David Richardson, Surgery

Krzysztof Wolek, Music

Jean Wolph, Middle and Secondary ����ֱ�� 

Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching

Mark Austin, Sociology 

Jennifer Brueckner-Collins, Anatomical Science/Neurobiology 

Penny Howell, Middle and Secondary ����ֱ�� 

Heather Mitchell, Nursing ����ֱ�� 

Exemplary Multicultural Teaching Award

Derrick Brooms, Sociology 

Community Engagement Faculty Award

Mary-Beth Coty, Nursing ����ֱ�� 

Carol Hanchette, Geography/Geosciences

Carlee Lehna, Nursing ����ֱ�� 

John Myers, Pediatrics 

Paul Weber Departmental Excellence in Teaching Awards

Middle and Secondary ����ֱ��

Distinguished University Scholar

Jan Potempa, Dental-Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases 

Endowed Faculty

Michael Foster

Michele Foster

Sean Francis

Christian Furman

Eyas Hattab

Elizabeth Jones

Donghan Lee

Gilbert Liu

Joseph Neimat

Dan Popa

Jesse Wright

Patents and Licenses

Amir Amini

Roberto Bolli

Michael Bousamra

Donald Demuth

Neal Dunlap

Ayman El-Baz

Xiao-An Fu

Guruprasad Giridharan

Ronald Gregg

Gerald Hammond

Susan Harkema

Jeffrey Hieb

James Hoying

Kurtis James

Kyung Kang

Henry Kaplan

Steven Koenig

Magdalena Kucia

Chi Li

Frederick Luzzio

Mary Nan Mallory

Nobuyuki Matoba

Curtis McKenna

Shamus McNamara

Robert Mitchell

Michael Nantz

Janina Ratajczak

Mariusz Ratajczak

Haval Shirwan

Michael Sobieski

John Trent

Victor van Berkel

Michael Voor

Kevin Walsh

Stuart Williams II

Shiao Woo

Bo Xu

Esma Yolcu

.��