Internal Research Recognitions
Saint Louis University manages a variety of programs to celebrate the successes of SLU faculty, staff, and students who are engaged in research and scholarship. Information on these programs and recent winners can be found below.
Grant Winner and Staff Awards
This program, which dates back to 1976, celebrates research excellence and recognizes success in publications or pieces and grant submissions from the previous year. Saint Louis University's Office of the Vice President for Research issues multiple awards each year to recognize outstanding work by SLU faculty, students, and research administrators. Staff Awards recognize the staff leaders in our research administration who support faculty research endeavors.
2025 Grant Winners, Faculty, Graduate Student and Research Staff Awards
Research Administrator Award
- Mark Haenchen, executive director (retired), Environmental Health and Safety
Infrastructure Award
- Reza Dastvan, Ph.D., associate professor, biochemistry and molecular biology, High-Sensitivity Bruker Q-Band Elexsys E580 Pulse EPR Spectrometer, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Faculty Innovation Award
- The following individuals were named as Senior Members of the National Academy of
Inventors (NAI):
- Enrico Di Cera, Ph.D., Alice A. Doisy Professor and Chairman, biochemistry and molecular biology
- Nicola Pozzi, Ph.D., associate professor, biochemistry; associate professor, biomedical engineering
- Koyal Garg, Ph.D., associate professor, biomedical engineering
- Silviya Zustiak, Ph.D., professor, biomedical engineering and pharmacology and physiology
Top Foundation Award
- Hisako Matsuo, Ph.D., professor, sociology and anthropology , Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations for Infant and Maternal Health Promotion: Solution for Diaper Need, Missouri Foundation for Health (MFFH)
Training Award
- Meredith Rataj, program director, Transformative Workforce Academy Reentry Employment Program, State of Missouri
Research Impact and Collaboration Award
- Marla Berg-Weger, Ph.D., professor emeritus, social work; Max Zubatsky, associate professor, family and community medicine, Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program , Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Faculty Research Award
- David Wisbey, Ph.D., assistant professor, physics, ExpandQISE: Track 1: Microwave resonator probes of quantum materials for advancing qubit platforms, National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Atria Larson, Ph.D., associate professor, theological studies,TPEN 3.0: A Linked Open Transcription and Annotation Service for the Next Generation, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
- Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., William Beaumont Professor and Chair, pharmacology and physiology; professor, psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience; director, Institute for Translational Neuroscience, Development of selective GPR34 antagonists for the treatment of neuropathic pain , National Institutes of Health (NINDS)
Grant Winners Through the Decades
Scholarly Works Awards
Since 2017, Saint Louis University's Scholarly Works Awards program has recognized faculty’s work from the past calendar year. These awards carry a cash prize. Any SLU faculty member may nominate their own work or a colleague’s work for a Scholarly Works Award at the junior or senior faculty levels in the following categories: book (in English), book (in a language other than English), nonbook scholarly publication, creative works and public works.
Nominations for the 2026 Scholarly Works Awards will open soon. 2025 winners are listed below.
2025 Scholarly Works Awards
Public Works
- Junior Faculty Winner: Mark Mullen, Ph.D., assistant professor, psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, "A Psychiatry Boot Camp" (Podcast Series)
- Senior Faculty Winner: Steven Rogers, Ph.D., associate professor, political science, the SLU/YouGov Poll - a biannual survey of likely Missouri voters
Creative Works
- Senior Faculty Winner: Gary Barker, M.F.A., professor, visual and performing arts; director, theatrical production: "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller
Nonbooks (Articles)
- Junior Faculty: Laurence Anne Lemaire, Ph.D., assistant professor, biology, "Neural crest lineage in the protovertebrate model Ciona" (Nature)
- Honorable Mention: Diana M. Llamas, RN, assistant professor, nursing, "Alternative Mental Health Interventions for Hispanic Women with Breast Cancer: A State of the Science Review" (Hispanic Health Care International)
- Senior Faculty: Richard DiPaolo, Ph.D., professor and chair, molecular microbiology and immunology, "Unveiling Cancer-Related Metaplastic Cells in Both Helicobacter pylori Infection and Autoimmune Gastritis" (Gastroenterology)
- Senior Faculty: Jeremiah Ho, J.D., associate professor, School of Law, "Colonizing Queerness" (University of Colorado Law Review)
- Honorable Mention: Marvin Meyers, Ph.D., professor, chemistry, "Identification of potent and orally efficacious phosphodiesterase inhibitors in Cryptosporidium parvum-infected immunocompromised male mice" (Nature Communications)
- Honorable Mention: Mamoun Benmamoun, Ph.D., associate professor, international business, "Generative AI in International Business Research: A Guide to Ethical and Responsible Application" (Thunderbird International Business Review)
- Honorable Mention: Paolo Saona, Ph.D., associate professor, business and economics, Madrid, "The zero-debt puzzle in BRICS countries: Disentangling the financial flexibility and financial constraints hypotheses" (Emerging Markets Review)
- Honorable Mention: Jintong Tang, Ph.D., Mary Louise Murray Endowed Professor of Management, management, "The gendered effect of populism on innovation" (Journal of Business Venturing)
- Honorable Mention: Tobias Mattei, M.D., associate professor, Neurological Surgery, "Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Lessons from One of the Largest Scandals of the 21st Century in the Field of Spine Surgery" (Annals of Surgery)
Books
- Junior Faculty Winner: Clarice Thomas, Ph.D., assistant professor, African American studies, "No One Can Arrest Our Dreams: Black Men Storying a Path Toward Educational Justice and Freedom" (Routledge)
- Junior Faculty Winner: Matthew Elia, Ph.D., assistant professor, theological studies, "The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery" (Yale University Press)
- Senior Faculty Winner: Paul Lynch, Ph.D., associate professor, English, "Persuasions of God: Inventing René Girard’s Rhetoric (Transdisciplinary Series in Rhetoric)" (Pennsylvania State University Press)
Internal Award Recipients
Saint Louis University has several internal award programs designed to foster research and scholarly activities, stimulate the quest for external support, and promote SLU as an excellent teaching and research institution. These include the Health Research Grant Program, the Beaumont Scholarship Research Award, the President's Research Fund, and the Scholarship Opportunity Fund. More information on these awards, including lists of the most recent recipients, can be found below.