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2008 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished
Mentor and Scientist Awardee
Joey P. Granger, Ph.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center
The APS Women in Physiology Committee is pleased to
announce that Joey P. Granger, Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professor,
Professor of Physiology and Medicine, and Dean of the School of Graduate
Studies in the Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical
Center, has been selected as the fifth recipient of the Bodil M.
Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award. The Committee was
extremely impressed with both his mentoring excellence and his outstanding
contributions to physiological research.
Dr. Granger received his Ph.D. at University of
Mississippi Medical Center. He did his postdoctoral training at the Mayo
Clinic and Foundation before being hired as an Instructor and then Assistant
Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. He then moved to
Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA where he served as an
assistant professor and then was promoted to associate professor. In 1990 he
moved to his current institution, University of Mississippi School of
Medicine, where he was named Professor of Physiology and Biophysics. In
1996, he became the Associate Director of the Center for Excellence in
Cardiovascular-Renal Research. He was named the Billy S. Guyton
Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in
2004. In 2006, he was named Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies
in the Health Sciences and was appointed Dean in 2007.
Dr. Granger’s research focuses on cardiovascular and
renal physiology with respect to hypertension. He studies the physiological
mechanisms whereby endothelial-derived factors alter renal function and lead
to long-term alteration in the regulation of arterial pressure and
hypertension, specifically pregnancy-induced hypertension. The excellence of
his research has been recognized by not only the APS (including the 2008 E.H.
Starling Distinguished Lectureship awarded by the Water and Electrolyte
Homeostasis Section), but also the American Heart Association, the American
Society of Hypertension, and the International Society of Hypertension,
among others.
Dr. Granger has successfully mentored 5 visiting
scientists, 13 postdoctoral fellows, and 10 predoctoral students, many of
whom are from outside the US. His mentees have gone on to successful and
prominent positions (one departmental chair, one associate professor, and
four assistant professors, among others) with national funding and numerous
awards among themselves. In addition, Dr. Granger has had 16 medical and
undergraduate student research fellows in his lab, which included two APS
Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows. He is also active in K-12 education,
sponsoring high school teachers from the APS Frontiers in Physiology Program
in his lab, as well as high school students. It is noteworthy that Dr.
Granger extends his mentoring far beyond his laboratory: he started a
mentoring group for junior faculty in his department to help them obtain
funding. To foster early interest in scientific research, Dr. Granger
established a summer research internship program for undergraduate students
in his department and served as an active judge for local science fairs as
well as a frequent speaker at local high schools. As a recent dean of
Graduate Studies, Dr. Granger improved graduate education by providing
better stipend and health insurance support for all graduate students at his
institution.
Dr. Granger has received numerous teaching and research
awards during his career. His innovative teaching methods and mentoring
excellence have been recognized with the University of Mississippi
Excellence in Teaching Award, the Sir William Osler Award for Outstanding
Teaching in Basic Sciences, and the American Physiological Society-NIDDK
Minority Fellowship Mentor Award (4 times).
All of the people writing the supporting recommendation letters (high school
teachers, medical, graduate, and undergraduate students, postdoctoral
fellows, junior faculty and colleagues) spoke extremely highly of Dr.
Granger. They all emphasized his hands-on science and personal mentoring and
doing what is needed for each person in his lab to be successful at each
stage of their career, be it first-author publications, co-authoring a
prestigious review article, a chance to present and meet people at meetings,
assistance on writing grants, or the opportunity for collaboration or
learning a new technique. In addition, they all passionately attested to his
warmth and caring about the person, their quality of life, their problems,
their family, and his continual efforts to make sure he supports them in all
aspects of their life.
APS congratulates Dr. Granger on this well-deserved
recognition.
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