Meet the 2009 Recipients
Four outstanding faculty received the Barbara and Corbin J. Robertson, Jr. Presidential Award for Excellence in Education on April 16, 2009 for their stellar and enduring contributions to the educational mission of Baylor College of Medicine.
2009 Recipients
Steven A. Abrams, M.D.
Professor, Pediatrics
Dr. Abrams’ educational efforts at Baylor College of Medicine span a wide range of activities. He has participated for many years in teaching medical students at BCM in multiple settings including the international health track. He has mentored numerous students, residents and fellows especially as related to their interests in global health. He is program director for the new MD/MPH program at BCM in collaboration with the University of Texas School of Public health. He is co-director of the HIGHER program to train medical and public health students in global health research and project director for Texas Children’s Hospital collaborative center with the World Health Organization in perinatal/neonatal health. Dr. Abrams’ is directly involved in educational programs in developing countries having worked in over 20 countries training physicians and scientists related to neonatal care and methods to prevent childhood malnutrition. He regularly travels to Panama and Peru among other countries to work on research and education projects. Dr. Abrams also has an active nutrition research program and has trained and mentored medical and doctoral students, residents, and post-doctoral fellows who have had successful academic careers in nutrition research. He has served on four Institute of Medicine committees to set dietary guidelines for Americans and is an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Carl E. Fasser, PA-C
Professor, Allied Health Sciences
Since graduating from the first PA Program at Duke University Medical School in 1969, Carl Fasser has played an instrumental role in developing the Physician Assistant profession at the academic, organizational, and practice levels. His academic career began at Duke, before moving to Baylor in 1970 to establish the PA Program and then on to the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1997. He returned to the BCM PA Program in 2002. He has a continuing record of scholarship having authored 43 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters, and serving as project director for 28 grants totaling more than $23 million. These efforts resulted in national dissemination of model curricula for PA training programs, performance assessment systems and tools, software for tracking encounters in clinical practice, and strategies for assessing practitioner competency.
Carl Fasser has been intimately involved in the strategic decisions made to move the continued competence and public policy agendas of the PA profession forward in collaboration with leaders of major governmental and professional groups. Much of this was accomplished in his role as president of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs and the American Academy of Physician Assistants and a member of the National Commission of Certification of Physician Assistants. His consultations with national agencies and academic institutions contributed to identifying standards for program accreditation, graduate certification, research on the profession, and uniform environments in which PA could practice in collaboration with physicians.
Carl Fasser is a Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, 2008 Master Teacher of the Year recipient of the Association of Physician Assistant Programs, and as recipient of a 2008 Fulbright and Jaworski L.L.P. Faculty Excellence Award in Educational Leadership, he became a member of the Baylor Academy of Distinguished Educators. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of Duke University, recipient of the Founder’s Award of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, and is a founding board member of the PA History Society. Carl Fasser has clearly been at the forefront of nearly every major development and milestone of the PA profession over the past 40 years. He is a unique individual, who excels academically and clinically, as a teacher, researcher, scholar, and practicing physician assistant.
Nancy P. Moreno, Ph.D.
Professor, Allied Health Sciences
Nancy P. Moreno received her Bachelor’s degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974, and worked as an investigator and editor of the Flora of Veracruz Project in Mexico until 1985. After earning her Ph.D. in biology from Rice University, she joined Baylor College of Medicine, where she has risen to the rank of professor and senior associate director of the Center for Educational Outreach.
Dr. Moreno’s research focuses on developing effective collaborations among scientists and educators to improve science teaching and learning. She leads the development of interdisciplinary science educational materials for students, the creation of local and national partnerships to promote systemic change in school science teaching, and most recently, the application of web-based technologies for teacher support and professional development. With a strong commitment to program evaluation and scholarship, Dr. Moreno has a long track record of publishing her research and disseminating program outcomes to diverse audiences, both locally and nationally.
Projects led by Dr. Moreno have reached thousands of students, teachers and others around the US, and they have helped to establish Baylor College of Medicine as a recognized national leader in the arena of educational outreach. Most important, based on evaluation data, it is clear that her programs are having a positive impact on the quality of science and health education available to young students in Houston and elsewhere around the country.
Dr. Moreno has demonstrated an exceptional skill for securing extramural funds, and she currently is principal investigator/director of science education partnerships funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute and the National Science Foundation. In addition, she is Editorial Director of the comprehensive, award-winning, science education websites, BioEd Online and K8 Science. She participates in various committees at BCM, including Admissions and Faculty Appointments and Promotions, and has received Fulbright and Jaworski L.L.P. Faculty Excellence Awards in the areas of Teaching and Evaluation, Enduring Educational Materials, and Educational Leadership.
Shelley Sazer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Shelley Sazer received her bachelor's degree from UCLA, her Ph.D. from Stanford University and her post-doctoral training at the University of Oxford with the Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse. In addition to maintaining an internationally recognized research program focusing on the regulation of mitosis and nuclear division in fission yeast, Dr. Sazer has dedicated significant time and energy to educating and mentoring the next generation of biomedical scientists. She has established a distinguished record of participation in high school, undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral education in the classroom and the laboratory during her 17 years on the faculty of BCM.
At BCM Dr. Sazer served for 15 years as Co-Director of the Interdepartmental Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, for which she provided individualized mentoring, course development, and sustained leadership. As a member of the Curriculum Committee in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Sazer played a key leadership role in the redesign of the Core Courses for first year graduate students. She is Course Director and lecturer for one of these courses (Cell Division), which received the "Best Overall Course Award" from the First Year Class. Her other teaching awards include the Marc Dresden Excellence in Graduate Education Award presented by the BCM Graduate Student Council and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education, presented by the Dean of the BCM Graduate School of Biological Sciences. She also taught a month-long course on Cell Division at the Chinese Agricultural University in Beijing.
Dr. Sazer has an outstanding record of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate research education. She has trained 9 graduate students and 3 post-doctoral fellows, all of whom now hold senior positions in industry, academia, law, or technology transfer. By serving as a member of their Thesis Advisory Committees, Dr. Sazer has contributed to the education of 71 students from BCM and neighboring institutions. She has also mentored 27 undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to graduate or medical school. In recognition of her role in the education of their students, Dr. Sazer was appointed an adjunct member of the Department of Biochemistry at Rice University and the faculty of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.