May Faculty and Staff Features

Aron Lichtman, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
Lichtman, professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, has been named to a three-year term as a member of the Molecular Neuropharmacology and Signaling Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review. Part of the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Scientific Review is the portal for NIH grant applications

Steven Grant, M.D., VCU Massey Cancer Center, Department of Internal Medicine
Grant, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Hematology/Oncology, will be funded as part of a five-year Multiple Myeloma SPORE—Specialized Program of Research Excellence project. SPOREs are specialized center grants to support multi-project, interdisciplinary, and in some cases, multi-institutional, translational research involving both basic and applied scientists that will result in diverse new approaches to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. MD Anderson is the center where the SPORE award originates, and Grant's total costs for his component will be over $1.5 million. Grant recently has garnered more than $4.8 million in research funding. The five previous awards are from federal and foundation granting agencies and will advance his work to combine signaling inhibitors that together induce programmed cell death in cancer cells.

Debra Lyon, Ph.D., VCU School of Nursing
Lyon, associate professor in the School of Nursing, has been appointed chair of the Department of Family and Community Health Nursing. A faculty member since 2004, Lyon specializes in education on nursing theory and research as well as family, children’s and women’s health. Her previous academic appointments include centennial fellow and associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. Lyon currently serves as a family nurse practitioner in a corporate wellness practice and Science Core co-director for the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Approaches to Symptom Management in the School of Nursing.