NSU presents Prestigious Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award

Nancy Klimas, M.D., receives award for ground-breaking research

(L to R) Jacqueline A. Travisano, M.B.A., CPA, NSU executive vice president and chief operating officer; Gary S. Margules, Sc.D., vice president of NSU’s Office of Research and Technology Transfer; Nancy Klimas, M.D., recipient of NSU’s 5th Annual Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award; Ralph V. Rogers Jr., Ph.D., NSU executive vice president and provost; and H. Thomas Temple, M.D., NSU senior vice president of translational research and economic development.

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Executive Vice President and Provost Ralph V. Rogers Jr., Ph.D., recently presented Nancy Klimas, M.D., with the 5th Annual Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award.

The purpose of the award is to recognize a faculty member who has demonstrated significant achievement in support of NSU’s mission to foster scholarship, intellectual inquiry, and academic excellence. Research and scholarship are two of NSU’s eight core values, and excellence in these areas enhances education, patient care, and public service, and develops superior scholarship.

“We are proud of Klimas for exemplifying NSU’s Core Values through her groundbreaking research in the field of neuro-immune medicine,” said Ralph Rogers Jr.

The announcement was made at the External Funding Recognition Reception, hosted by Gary S. Margules, Sc.D., vice president of NSU’s Office of Research and Technology Transfer, at which faculty members from all disciplines across the university are recognized for their commitment to advancing their fields of study.

“I am humbled by this honor and accept this award on behalf of my team of world-class researchers in the hopes that our discoveries will make a true difference in the lives of those facing neuro-immune disorders,” said  Klimas. “I am proud to be a part of the NSU family and work with researchers in a diverse array of fields.”

Klimas has achieved international recognition for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), Gulf War illness (GWI), and fibromyalgia. Among many other honors, Klimas was the recipient of the 2014 Perpich Award by the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (IACFS/ME) for distinguished community service. She also was featured as a “Woman to Watch” on WFOR CBS 4.

She currently serves as director of NSU’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, professor of medicine, and chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is also professor emerita at the University of Miami School of Medicine, director of clinical immunology research at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and leads the GWI and ME/CFS clinical and research program at the Miami VA.

Klimas is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a diplomate in diagnostic laboratory immunology. She is a past president of the IACFS/ME and is also a member of the VA Research Advisory Committee for GWI, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) P2P CFS committee, and served on the Institute of Medicine’s ME/CFS review panel.

Klimas has advised three U.S. secretaries of health and human services during her repeated service on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee. She is currently funded by the VA, Department of Defense and NIH to study these complex disorders using a systems biology approach with a strong focus on illness models that lead to therapeutic targets and clinical trials.

Previous Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award winners include*:

• 2014: Sam Purkis, Ph.D., M.B.A, associate professor at NSU’s Oceanographic Center
• 2013: Raymond Ownby, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., professor and chair of NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
• 2012: Bernard Riegl, Ph.D., associate director of the NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute and professor at the Oceanographic Center
• 2012: Steven Kurtz, Ph.D., co-director for the NSU’s Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities and professor in the Division of Applied Interdisciplinary Studies
• 2011: Mark B. Sobell, Ph.D., ABPP, NSU’s Center for Psychological Studies

*Denotes titles and college names at the time the award was presented