{"id":5544,"date":"2026-04-10T08:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/?p=5544"},"modified":"2026-04-10T08:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:52:16","slug":"2026-kayla-bell-citizen-award-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/2026\/04\/10\/2026-kayla-bell-citizen-award-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Kayla Bell Citizen Award Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pulmonary Center is happy to announce Kostas Kontodimas as the winner of the 2026 Kayla Bell Pulmonary Center Citizenship Award!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/pulmonarycenter\/files\/2024\/08\/Kostas.jpeg\" alt=\"Headshot of Kostas Kontodimas\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4972 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/files\/2024\/08\/Kostas.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/files\/2024\/08\/Kostas-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/files\/2024\/08\/Kostas-100x100.jpeg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Kostas Kontodimas<\/strong><br \/>\nPhD Student<\/p>\n<p>The Kayla Bell Pulmonary Center Citizenship Award was established to celebrate and commemorate Kayla\u2019s time at the Pulmonary Center, and to encourage others to follow in her footsteps. It is awarded annually to a member of the Pulmonary Center who best embodies Kayla\u2019s kind and helpful nature.<\/p>\n<p>Kostas Kontodimas, a PhD student in Dr. Bob Varelas&#8217;s lab, was selected as this year\u2019s recipient of the award for his exceptional contributions to our community. His kindness and eagerness to engage the community embodies the spirit of Kayla Bell, in whose honor the award was established. Kostas has been a valuable resource for everyone in the Center, gladly providing help or guidance. His positivity and willingness to lend a hand are impactful and appreciated!<\/p>\n<p>The Kayla Bell Pulmonary Center Citizenship Award was presented to Kostas Kontodimas during the 2026 Kayla Bell Memorial Lecture on April 3. Some comments from nominators include:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cHe would always ask how he could help and was always willing to lend a hand.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cKostas exemplifies kindness, generosity, and commitment to community.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cI consider Kostas a model of motivation, resilience, and growth for all trainees.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHe is also an engaged and thoughtful participant in our RIP seminar series. His willingness to speak up and engage constructively reflects both intellectual curiosity and leadership.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHis approachable and supportive manner makes him a valued colleague and collaborator.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhenever additional work needs to be completed in the lab, he is always the first to volunteer\u2026\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHe has played a key role in training new trainees, always willing to share his extensive technical expertise with patience and enthusiasm.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cKostas has also taken initiative in organizing and participating in social events that bring together multiple groups within the Pulmonary Center&#8230;\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHe is eager to learn new methods, intellectually curious, and highly motivated to understand scientific processes beyond the scope of his formal responsibilities&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to Kostas on this well-deserved honor!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pulmonary Center is happy to announce Kostas Kontodimas as the winner of the 2026 Kayla Bell Pulmonary Center Citizenship Award! Kostas Kontodimas PhD Student The Kayla Bell Pulmonary Center Citizenship Award was established to celebrate and commemorate Kayla\u2019s time at the Pulmonary Center, and to encourage others to follow in her footsteps. It is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22552,"featured_media":4972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4141,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22552"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5544"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5552,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544\/revisions\/5552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/pulmonarycenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}