Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Program for Neurology Research & Discovery, was honored with a 2019 Distinguished Clinical & Translational Research Mentor Award by the University of Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research. Established in 2012, the award recognizes U-M faculty who foster the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of their students, fellows and trainees in the areas of clinical and translational health and research. The award was formally presented on November 8 at a ceremony during the 2019 Mentoring Forum.
Dr. Feldman, the Russel N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, has directed her own 30-scientist laboratory for nearly 20 years. Among the greatest accomplishments of her career is the training of scientists and neurologists. Nine scientists have received Ph.D. degrees under her supervision, and Dr. Feldman has trained over 100 postdoctoral fellows and neurologists to specialize in understanding and treating neurological diseases, with an emphasis on ALS and neuropathy.
Dr. Feldman has established herself as a leader in the fields of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), neurological complications of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. She led the very first Phase I and II clinical trials in the USA of intraspinal stem cell transplantation in ALS patients, and is the Principle investigator or co-PI of numerous NIH and foundation grants. Dr. Feldman has published over 425 original peer-reviewed articles, 70 chapters and 4 books. She is also a Past President of the Peripheral Nerve Society and the American Neurological Association (ANA). The MICHR recognition adds to a mounting list of Dr. Feldman’s accolades, which include the 2016 Castle Connolly National Clinician of the Year award, the 2016 Society for Neuroscience Benice Graftstien Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Mentoring, the 2017 Endocrine Society Gerald D. Aurbach Award for Outstanding Translational Research, and being named an Honorary Fellow of the ANA in 2018.
In addition to Dr. Feldman, MICHR honored eight other faculty members for their enormous contributions to the research environment at U-M. They come from a diverse group of schools, including Dentistry, Engineering, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Social Work.