Medical Scientists Dominate Awards for Excellence

Medical Scientists Dominate Awards Excellence for

Amid COVID-19 conditions that tested employees’ resilience and their level of engagement, many adapted to new work settings and persevered diligently. Seemingly undaunted by challenging remote work and social distancing impositions, they demonstrated a high level of commitment and performance.

This led companies and other institutions to seek innovative ways to salute star performers and stalwarts who seemed in danger of forfeiting their deserved recognition because social gathering restrictions prohibited the hosting of celebratory events.

Unable to host its 2021 staff recognition ceremony, as had taken place in 2020 under strict COVID-19 protocols, Cave Hill invoked its innovative spirit to show appreciation to worthy staff in an unprecedented manner. The Annual Staff Awards and Retirees Ceremony celebration transitioned online via an electronic brochure which highlighted over 100 employees of merit, honouring them for outstanding performance and dedicated service.

Among those taking the spotlight were six who copped the apex Principal’s Award for Excellence. They included four academics from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) and two employees from the Administrative, Technical and Service staff category.

Special recognition for

Outstanding Research

Accomplishments went to Dr. Madhuvanti Mahadeo Murphy, Deputy Dean, Research and Graduate Studies; and Dr. Nkemcho Ojeh, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics. Dr. Michael Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Science and Clinical Psychology; and Dr. Kim Quimby, Senior Lecturer in Immunology at the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre were saluted for Outstanding

Service to the Campus and

University Community as well as

Outstanding Contribution to Public

Service. Rounding out the elite honourees were Mrs. Kay Davis and Mr. Jevon Seale who were recognised for Outstanding Service to the Campus Community.

In addition, 92 current members of staff who have together contributed more than seventeen hundred years of service to Cave Hill, were recognised in categories ranging from 15 to 30 years. Sixteen retirees were also saluted for their sterling contribution to the university.

Dr. Madhuvanti Mahadeo Murphy

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Research Accomplishments

Dr. Murphy received the top honour in recognition of her Outstanding Research Accomplishments. Her research focuses on the social and behavioural determinants of health; public health policy development, implementation, and evaluation in Small Island Developing States; and on food and nutrition security interventions throughout CARICOM.

Dr. Murphy was involved in the landmark Barbados Diabetes Reversal Study that demonstrated people with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes can reverse this condition with a low-calorie diet producing rapid weight loss, allowing them to come off medication. This is a most important demonstration project for Barbados and some Caribbean states with high obesity, diabetes, and hypertension prevalence.

No stranger to the recognition podium, this Lecturer in Public Health had previously received acknowledgement for her work. As a member of FMS Public Health Team led by Professor Alafia Samuels, she shared in The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill’s Campus Award for Most Internationally Successful Research in 2014, and in 2018, The UWI, Cave Hill’s Campus Award for Recognition of Researchers/

Research Teams Who Have Won

Significant Funding.

Dr. Nkemcho Obiajumoyi Ojeh

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Research Accomplishments

Since joining the Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2008, Dr. Ojeh has built an impressive body of research. Her work includes 32 papers published in refereed journals. Several of her papers published over the last five years have been in journals with impact factors of over three, one impact factor being 7.2.

The findings of her studies have been significant and relevant to human health. For example, her work on the development of a novel method of hair follicle micrografting is now widely used by dermatologists and plastic and reconstructive surgeons in clinical practice. She identified biomarkers and genes that contribute to the non-healing of chronic wounds and biomarkers that may be useful for prognosis and diagnosis. Her work has also identified novel methods in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Her stem cell work has identified these cells as potential candidates for cell-based therapy and has contributed to the fields of tissue engineering, wound healing and the clinical disciplines of dermatology, plastic and reconstructive surgery.

At the time of her award, Dr. Ojeh had 1,624 Google Scholar citations (1,087 of these since 2016) with an h-Index of 16. Six of her papers have over 100 citations with one cited over 300 times and two over 200 times.

Dr. Michael Campbell

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Service to the Campus and University Community, and Outstanding Contribution to Public Service

Over the last fifteen years, Dr. Campbell has played a key role in the development of a comprehensive research ethics review framework to safeguard research participants, facilitate international research collaboration and funding, and greatly expand research ethics education for both colleagues and student researchers. In 2006, he became Chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of The UWI and the Ministry of Health. Dr. Campbell is not only responsible for the current setup of the IRB structure but is said to run the best functioning Board in the English-speaking Caribbean.

In addition to his work with the IRB, Dr. Campbell has also chaired the UWI HIV and AIDS Response Programme (UWIHARP), worked with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) as Editor and Vice-chair, served as President of the Barbados Society of Psychology and as an Executive of the Caribbean Network of

Research Ethics Committees

(CANREC). Dr. Campbell has worked in key roles with the Disaster Mental Health Standing Committee of the Caribbean

Alliance of National Psychology

Associations (CANPA) and with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

Dr. Kim Quimby

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Service to the Campus and University Community, and Outstanding Contribution to Public Service

Since transitioning from laboratory-based research to applied translational research, Dr. Quimby’s work has focused on fostering social partnerships to reduce risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. She coordinates the implementation of a communitybased, low-calorie dietary intervention for the induction of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes remission.

Dr. Quimby’s work is also noted for its global reach. She contributed to the first report in the literature of the community-based diabetes remission implementation study. The successful study was presented at the 64th Annual CARPHA Health Research Conference in 2019. In addition, the feasibility of training community-based health advocates to support this dietary intervention was presented at Translational Science 2019 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Quimby also presented findings of the initiative at the

“Sustaining Global Capacity for Implementation Research for Health in Low and MiddleIncome Countries and Small Island Developing States” National

Institute of Health workshop 2020 and the 65th Annual CARPHA Health Research Conference in 2021.

As an Immunologist, Dr. Quimby has responded, on behalf of The UWI, to calls from various sectors of society regarding the immune response to the coronavirus and the vaccines available. Her integral role, regionally, involves working with government agencies through biweekly meetings with the Core Coordination Group comprising CDEMA, CARPHA, Ministries of Health and Chief Medical Officers.

Kay Davis

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Service to the Campus Community

With over 16 years of experience at Cave Hill Campus, Kay Davis seeks excellence in every task assigned to her and is lauded for an admirable work ethic.

She has had a transformational impact at the School for Graduate Studies and Research (SGSR) where she ably worked to automate several processes across campus, including all appointments for the Campus Coordinator/ Director; and, alongside Campus IT Services (CITS), the application process for the Campus Research Awards and Scholarships that, up till that time, had to be manually keyed into the system. At SGSR, she admirably functioned as lead administrator on the planning of numerous events, such as New Student Orientation, Supervisor Development Workshop, Research Week, Student Seminars/ Workshops, Graduate Scholarship Breakfast, among other key events.

Since being upgraded from Stenographer Clerk to Administrative Assistant in 2019, and later transferred to the Office of Deputy Principal, Kay has continued her consistent demonstration of supervisory, administrative and training skills and functions on several committees overseen by that office.

Jevon Seale

Principal’s Award for Excellence in Recognition of Outstanding Service to the Campus Community

Renowned for having a great work ethic, Jevon Seale is widely recognised across campus for his outstanding service delivery to staff and students. As a dependable member of the Campus IT Services (CITS), he competently manages the stresses of working at the CITS Service desk, which is the frontline of the department, and he has made invaluable contributions to meaningful projects of that entity and campus life.

His project contributions include the launch of Office365 for students and staff, the rollout of digital signatures on campus and the use of multifactor authentication in CITS. At the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, Jevon was the go-to person for the CITS team as all services transitioned to the virtual space. He was the perfect fit as he mastered the tools and techniques, and he had the right attitude for providing remote support. He willingly shared his knowledge and helped the wider CITS team to quickly adapt. During this period, he was the face of the IT Service Desk and was available online routinely at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Jevon is versatile, widely skilled, meticulous and demonstrates a high degree of dedication to his job and commitment to the campus. His dependability is an outstanding part of his personality that has made him a great employee and a valuable team player. l