Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Harris has remained busy advancing his education through the completion of four postdoctoral certification courses at three of the most prestigious schools in the country.

Anatomic Pathology, Clinical and Laboratory Pathology. To the residents and fellows in the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist, Dr. Ro has long been known for his unparalleled passion, dedication and commitment as an educator to the 40 trainees in the department.

Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences, Director, Center for Cardiovascular Regeneration, Medical Director, Center for RNA Therapeutics, for his paper, "Telomerase Therapy Reverses Vascular Senescence and Extends Lifespan in Progeria Mice,” published in the European Heart Journal. These studies bridge a critical gap in our knowledge of the aging process or senescence by demonstrating a direct correlation to telomere length, chromatin architecture and epigenetic regulation.

Assistant Professor of Cardiology, Assistant Clinical Member, for his paper, "Association of Baseline and Longitudinal Changes in Body Composition Measures With Risk of Heart Failure and Myocardial Infarction in Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From the Look AHEAD Trial,” published in Circulation. This manuscript is clinically significant because obesity affects 42% of adults in the United States, which contributes to the more than 34 million adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in this vulnerable population.

Ralph O’Connor Centennial Chair, Dr. Mary & Ron Neal Cancer Center, Professor of Oncology, Director, Center for Translational Research in Hematological Malignancies, Associate Director, Cancer Center Basic Research Programs, for his paper, "CD36-mediated ferroptosis dampens intratumoral CDS+ T cell effector function and impairs their antitumor ability,” published in Cell Metabolism. This study reveals a new mechanism of CD36 regulating the function of CD8+ effector T cells and therapeutic potential of targeting CD36 or inhibiting ferroptosis to restore T cell function.

John F., Jr. and Carolyn Bookout Presidential Distinguished Chair in Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chair, Department of Surgery, Professor of Surgery, Program Director, Transplant Surgery Fellowship, Department of Surgery, and the transplant team, for his extraordinary efforts in quickly establishing a specimen collection protocol for pre- and post-vaccine sample collection of transplant patients.