Awards for Alrubaye and Dutta; Strochlic named ass't dean

Alrubaye honored for teaching excellence

Adnan Alrubaye

Adnan Alrubaye received the Poultry Science Association Early Achievement Award for Teaching at the organization's 2024 Annual Meeting in July. This award recognizes the achievements of Poultry Science Association members in the early stages of their careers in poultry academia.

Alrubaye is an assistant professor of poultry science and associate director of the cell and molecular biology graduate program at the U of A. His lab investigates the cause of and ways to mitigate bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in broiler chickens. Previous honors for Alrubaye include the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award, the Collis Geren Award, the Hoyt H. Purvis Award for Service in International Education, the Jack G. Justus Award for Teaching Excellence, the U of A Bumpers College International Education Award and the Silo–Busting Advising Award.

"Adnan Alrubaye is truly a remarkable teacher and student mentor. He has won essentially every teaching and mentoring or advising award offered by the University of Arkansas," David Caldwell, head of poultry science at U of A, said. "It was fitting and appropriate to watch him get recognized by the Poultry Science Association for his tireless commitment to instruction and student mentoring."

Dutta receives pathology award

Anindya Dutta

Anindya Dutta has received the Rous–Whipple Award from the American Society for Investigative Pathology. The award was named for Francis Peyton Rous, former president of the American Society for Experimental Pathology, and George Whipple, former president of the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, when the two societies merged to form ASIP. This award recognizes a senior scientist who has advanced the understanding of disease and made meaningful contributions via teaching, mentorship and leadership in the pathology field. Dutta will receive the award during the Annual Meeting of the ASIP in Portland, Oregon in April 2025.

Dutta is a professor and chair of genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His lab investigates genomic instability in cancer cells and noncoding RNAs in differentiation and cancer. Dutta discovered extrachromosomal circles of DNA in normal and cancer cells and demonstrated that the circles from cancers are released into the blood and can be exploited as a biomarker. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and received the Ranbaxy Award for studies on genome instability.

Christopher Moskaluk, who nominated Dutta, wrote in his nomination letter, “(Dutta) is a leading investigator in two separate fields of molecular biology, whose productivity and track record of high impact discovery have led to a reputation that is international in scope.”

Strochlic named assistant dean

Todd Strochlic

Todd Strochlic has been appointed the assistant dean of curricular integration at the Drexel University College of Medicine. He will oversee and manage the medical education curriculum.

Strochlic is an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Drexel. His lab studies protein kinase signaling using Drosophila as a model. Strochlic has received four Golden Apple teaching awards and the Angelo Pinto Basic Science Educator Award. Recently, he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and was named a Harvard Macy Scholar.

In addition, Strochlic codirects several courses and serves on the medical school admissions committee. He earned a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the UPenn School of Medicine. His thesis work focused on regulated protein sorting in the endosomal system.