Evans Center Awardees

2025 Evans Center IBR
Outstanding Research Collaborator

This year two awards were presented: Dr. Florian Douam & Dr. Kevin ‘Kip’ Thomas

Each recipient’s contributions bridge multiple disciplines and contribute to the support and furtherance of the ARCs’ mission through mentoring, engaging trainees and expert consult. Join us in extending our sincere appreciation and congratulations.

Florian Douam, PhD
Assistant Professor of Virology, Immunology & Microbiology
Assistant Director of Graduate Studies for Virology, Immunology & Microbiology

Dr. Florian Douam has demonstrated outstanding creativity in collaborative science that bridges multiple disciplines and campuses. His joint work with Biomedical Engineering  exemplifies this approach and directly led to a Kilachand Award for CRC–BME collaborations.

Dr. Douam has shown exceptional dedication to mentoring and engaging trainees within the framework of the COVID-19 ARC. Numerous trainees, particularly Devin Kenney, have been integral to studies supported by ARC funding, resulting in multiple publications (5).

Dr. Douam’s research impact is evidenced by a series of high-profile achievements: the publication that led to Gates Foundation funding in collaboration with Elke Mühlberger; he received the Smith Foundation Odyssey Award for his work with humanized mouse models; and the Nature Biotechnology paper with BME helped secure a Kilachand Award. In 2025, Dr. Douam was awarded both an R21 and an R01. His recent bioRxiv paper describing a novel Long-COVID mouse model is under provisional patent protection and scheduled for commercialization by Taconic in early 2026. This model has already attracted international attention, with presentations ranging from a Keystone Symposium to an upcoming invited lecture at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In addition, his work on sex-specific lung antiviral immunity led to his and Devin’s invitation to an exclusive Novo Nordisk Foundation workshop on mucosal immunity.

Kevin ‘Kip’ Thomas, PhD
Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Anatomy & Neurobiology
Primary Mentor, Graduate Medical Sciences
Director, Master of Science in Bioimaging and Master of Science in Healthcare Emergency Management programs

Dr. Kevin ‘Kip’ Thomas has been an exceptional contributor to the ARC process for several years as a member of the ARC Review Panel, and as a committed advisor to some of the ARCs. Kip’s participation in the annual review process goes back to 2017 and his enthusiasm for the ARC process and contributions have never wavers. From reviewing applications and providing thoughtful consideration and review of applications to providing expert consult for revisions, he approaches each proposal for new or continuing work with insight.

Dr. Thomas is an Assistant Professor in the Anatomy & Neurobiology Department and is the Program Director for the Master of Science in Bioimaging and Master of Science in Healthcare Emergency Management programs. Dr. Thomas’ career is a wonderful example of interdisciplinary research, focusing on the study of human neurobiology, cognition, and behavior at the individual and group level to study societal dynamics in complex adaptive environments, and he brings his passion for interdisciplinary research into his role as reviewer.

2024 Evans Center IBR
Outstanding Research Collaborator

Ioannis Ch. Paschalidis, PhD
Director, Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering
Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Division of Systems Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Paschalidis has been an exceptional collaborator with the MED campus, contributing significantly to brain health research through his expertise in machine learning. Dr. Paschalidis embodies team science and actively facilitates collaboration between the ARCs and the multiple departments on the Charles River Campus (CRC) of which he is a part.  Importantly, related to the Precision Medicine for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders ARC Program, he has leveraged the data science/AI graduate student talent on CRC and enabled trainees at the MED campus to extract key acoustic and linguistic features from speech to evaluate cognitive status for analysis of Framingham Heart Study.

2023 Evans Center IBR
Outstanding Research Collaborator

Elise Morgan, PhD
ad interim Dean, College of Engineering
Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering Design
and
Innovation and Director of the Center for Multiscale and Translational Mechanobiology

“Dr. Morgan is someone who goes out of her way to bridge collaborations and research projects and makes an effort to understand subjects that go beyond her immediate studies. She is also an outstanding leader that listens to people she works with. Anyone that I know that has collaborated with Elise has had amazing things to say. ”

“Elise has been a collaborative power in establishing fruitful team science between members of the fibrosis ARC and the Charles River campus-based center for Mechanobiology; in fact this center has welcomed many of our ARC members who were already pursuing research at the interface of fibrosis biology and mechanobiology.

Dr. Morgan is inclusive, creative and generous with her ideas and time. “

Congratulations!

Thank You for your valuable contributions!

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