Drs. Mehret Birru Talabi, Lan Coffman, and Daria Van Tyne are among this year’s Health Sciences Ascending Star honorees, recognizing innovative midcareer faculty for excellence in research, mentorship, and impact.

Dr. Krithika Rao was recognized for developing an open-access guide to biomedical research designed to enhance student learning and improve accessibility to course materials.

Three faculty members from the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine (PACCSM) have received 2026 awards from the American Thoracic Society, recognizing their contributions to pulmonary research, translational science, mentorship, and innovation.

Kambez H. Benam received the Respiratory Health Award’s Research Innovation and Translation Achievement Award, recognizing investigators advancing respiratory health through translational innovation and collaborative science. Benam is associate professor of medicine and bioengineering and director of innovation and entrepreneurship within PACCSM. His laboratory develops advanced Lung-on-a-Chip and microphysiological systems that model lung and immune function, helping accelerate translational research, therapeutic development, and regulatory science in pulmonary medicine.
>> Read the ATS press release

Charles S. Dela Cruz received the Assembly on Pulmonary Infections and Tuberculosis Senior-Level Peer Recognition Award, which honors investigators with longstanding contributions to research, clinical care, mentorship, and leadership. Dela Cruz serves as professor of medicine, associate dean of faculty research and career enhancement, and director of the Center for Lung Injury and Infection at Pitt. An internationally recognized expert in pneumonia and lung infection, his research has advanced understanding of immune responses to respiratory infections, including COVID-19, and has shaped national clinical practice guidelines and research priorities through his leadership within ATS.

Alicia N. Rizzo received the Assembly on Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology Recognition of Early Academic Achievement Award (REAAch), which recognizes outstanding early-stage investigators in respiratory science. Rizzo is an assistant professor in PACCSM and an attending physician in the medical ICU at UPMC Presbyterian. Her research focuses on the role of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), with an emphasis on developing glycan-targeted precision medicine strategies and diagnostics for critically ill patients.

Together, the awards highlight the breadth of scientific leadership and innovation within PACCSM, spanning pulmonary infections, critical illness, translational bioengineering, and precision medicine approaches to respiratory disease.

Mehret Birru Talabi, MD, PhD, and Flordeliza Villanueva, MD, have been named the 2026 recipients of the Margaret Ragni Award for Advancement of Women in Medicine and Science, an annual award that recognizes faculty members whose careers exemplify excellence in research, clinical care, mentorship, and leadership while supporting and inspiring women trainees and faculty across medicine and science.

The award is named in honor of Margaret Ragni, a nationally recognized leader in clinical and translational research in congenital hemostasis and thrombosis disorders. Ragni joined the Department of Medicine faculty in 1982 after completing her hematology fellowship and was among the first women faculty members in the department. Throughout her distinguished career, she has led pioneering NIH-funded hemophilia research programs and mentored generations of physician-scientists, investigators, and clinical leaders at the local, national, and international levels.

Department leaders noted that this year’s nominees reflected the remarkable breadth of contributions women faculty are making across the department, from scientific discovery and patient care to mentorship, sponsorship, and innovative program development.

Dr. Villanueva is a professor of medicine, associate chief of cardiology for translational research, and director of non-invasive cardiac imaging for the Heart and Vascular Institute. After earning her undergraduate and medical degrees from Boston University, she completed residency training at Duke University Medical Center and a cardiology fellowship at the University of Virginia before joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty.

Her research has focused on the therapeutic use of ultrasound and ultrasound contrast agents in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurologic disease. She founded the Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics, a multidisciplinary translational research program supported by the NIH, American Heart Association, Department of Defense, and other national organizations.

Dr. Villanueva has also played a significant role in training the next generation of physician-scientists. She founded an NHLBI-funded T32 training program focused on cardiac imaging, supporting the physician-scientist track within Pitt’s cardiology fellowship program. Half of the fellows trained through the program to date have been women, all of whom have remained in academic medicine. She is an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association and an elected member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of University Cardiologists.

Dr. Birru Talabi is a tenured associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology. A graduate of Kenyon College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s MD/PhD program in epidemiology, she completed both residency and fellowship training at UPMC. Through her clinical work and health services research, Birru Talabi focuses on improving reproductive health care and outcomes for women with rheumatic diseases and other chronic illnesses. She serves as assistant dean and co-director of the Pitt/CMU Medical Scientist Training Program, co-director of Optimizing Reproductive Outcomes Among People with Chronic Diseases (ORCHID) within the CONVERGE Center, and director of the Women’s and Reproductive Health Rheumatology Clinic at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.

Dr. Birru Talabi is also co-principal investigator of the NIH-funded EMBRACE Center, which focuses on advancing equity in maternal and reproductive health through community engagement, and leads several additional NIH-funded research projects. Her work has earned numerous honors, including the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award and the UPMC Excellence in Patient Experience Award.

An award reception and lunch honoring the recipients will be held Thursday, June 11, from noon to 1 p.m. at Morning Grounds on the fifth floor of Scaife Hall.

VMI Director, Dr. Stephen Chan, was recognized for his research focused on new therapeutic approaches for pulmonary hypertension.

In this role, Dr. Borrero will lead a multidisciplinary group of subject matter experts in developing a consensus report that identifies effective, evidence-based strategies to inform future policy and practice. The committee’s work will focus on three core areas:

• Assessing the evidence on existing public and private financing approaches that influence access to contraception

• Identifying existing programs that have improved the affordability and availability of contraception, including the financing strategies they employ, and the conditions under which those strategies are most effective

• Developing actionable recommendations to inform policymakers, payers, health systems, and other stakeholders

Through this work, the committee aims to provide decision-makers nationwide with a rigorous, policy-relevant resource to support informed public health and policy decisions in their communities.

Learn more about NASEM’s Committee to Improve Availability of Affordable Contraception

Story credit: Lotte Brewer

Drs. Divya Sistla and Niveditha Manivannan play key roles in multidisciplinary program managing complex adrenal disease through coordinated evaluation, treatment, and education.

Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Dr. Samir Saba, shares insights on restructuring cardiovascular care and addressing physician workforce shortages through training innovation

Dr. Stephanie Maximous was recognized for advancing climate health education and sustainable health care practices