Matthew Brady has been on both sides of the classroom at the University. As an undergraduate and graduate student, he scribbled notes in classes and worked in the laboratories of Abbott Memorial Hall. Now, he stands in front of undergraduates delivering lectures on the endocrine system and cell signaling.
“It’s one of the coolest things, being back here,” Brady said, “being on the other side of the podium.”
An Assistant Professor of Endocrinology and Diabetes & Metabolism in Medicine, Brady teaches a series of classes on endocrinology to mostly third- and fourth-year undergraduates. Those classes led to his nomination for this year’s Quantrell Award.
“This award means an awful lot to me,” he said, adding that it is a way to understand that the students are truly learning, not just worrying about grades.
“I think the undergraduates here are exceptional,” he said, though he admits that as an alumnus, he is biased. (University of Chicago Chronicle, May 24, 2007).

Christopher Rhodes was given the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF)'s most prestigious award this year. Established in 1974, the David Rumbough Award for Scientific Excellent is presented annually to researchers for their outstanding achievement and commitment to diabetes research and to JDRF.

Louis Philipson (Professor, Department of Medicine, Section on Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; Director, University of Chicago Comprehensive Diabetes Center) was named "Father of the Year" by the Chicago chapter of the American Diabetes Association. The award was presented on June 14, 2007 and is given in order to recognize those fathers who have demonstrated the ability to balance their personal lives with their professional careers, to serve as role models for their children, and to help make a positive difference in their communities.  He was also named "Scientist of the Year 2007"  by the National Disease Research Interchange on May 15, 2007, in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania. 

Jerrold Turner, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology, was awarded the 2006 ASIP Amgen Outstanding Investigator Award. The American Society for Investigative Pathology administers this Amgen-sponsored award for excellent research in experimental pathology.

Roy Weiss, Professor in Medicine, has been named the first Rabbi Morris I. Esformes Professor. Esformes, a grateful patient and friend of the University, gave $2.5 million to support the professorship, which will benefit endocrinology, pediatric surgery, gastroenterology, and radiation and oncology.  (The University of Chicago Chronicle, January 4, 2007). 

Delia Lozano Porras was Awarded an Autumn Immunology Conference John Wallace Minority Scholarship for a presentation titled "The role of NF-kB in pancreatic beta cell survival". She works in Maria-Luisa Alegre's lab.

Let's hope it's a leading economic indicator.  It is certainly a sign of momentum and enthusiasm.  During the first four months of 2006, families made four eight-figure gifts to science and medicine at Chicago, amounting to more than $100 million. Gary C. Comer, founder of Land's End, and his wife, Francie, paved the way with a $42 million gift on January 24 to create the Comer Center for Children and Specialty Care, a four-story, 122,500 square-foot facility adjoining the recently opened Comer's Children Hospital at the University of Chicago.  Two weeks later, the Wall Street Journal broke the news of Gwen and Jules Knapp's $25 million gift for construction of the Gwen and Jules Knapp Center for Biomedical Diversity.   After a few quiet weeks, on April 26, the University announced that Ellen and Melvin Gordon's gift of $25 million would name the University's largest science building, the 400,000 square-foot Ellen and Melvin Gordon Center for Integrative Science.  Soon after the Gordon gift, a fourth donation was announced: $10 million from the Duchossis family for cancer research.  The headlines generated by these extraordinary gifts tell only part of the story of philanthropy for Chicago's medical and scientific enterprises.  More than 15,000 donors have joined together to sweep past $550 million, the goal set for Spark Discovery, Illuminate Life.  With 23 months left to go, the Biological Sciences Division and the Hospitals aspire to reach a new goal of $700 million by June 2008. (Spark Discovery, Illuminate Life).