Women Faculty Forum honors four with Excellence Awards
The Women Faculty Forum at McGovern Medical School has awarded four faculty with the 2022-23 John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Excellence Awards.
The WFF Excellence Awards recognize outstanding contributions made by women faculty at the Medical School. Awards are given to two senior faculty members and two junior faculty members and are judged on research, clinical, and educational activities.
Anna Konovalova, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, is the winner of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Rising Star Award from the Women Faculty Forum – Research.
Konovalova’s research program is focused on how Gram-negative bacteria build and maintain the integrity of their cell envelope, the hallmark of which is the outer membrane (OM). The OM is an essential organelle and a major factor of intrinsic antibiotic resistance. Her lab aims to provide a deep functional understanding of the OM assembly and homeostasis pathways and their interconnectivity as the first step in the scientific roadmap to antibiotic discovery.
Konovalova received her PhD in 2011 for her graduate thesis work in the laboratory of professor Lotte Søgaard-Andersen at the Max-Plank Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. She joined the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in 2017 after completing postdoctoral training with professor Thomas J. Silhavy at Princeton University.
Lesley Osborn, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, is the winner of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Rising Star Award from the Women Faculty Forum – Clinical Service.
Osborn was appointed to the position of medical director of Memorial Hermann Life Flight in July 2019. In her role, she provides clinical oversight for Life Flight’s flight nurses and paramedics, and dispatchers by developing and maintaining best practice medical protocols, reviewing patient records for appropriate application of medical care, and preparing for flight review. She also is responsible for continuing medical education for the crews and guidance on research, quality improvement, and professional development.
Osborn graduated from medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2013. She graduated in June 2016 from the Palmetto Health Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Columbia, SC, serving as assistant medical director for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Tactical EMS Team. She completed in EMS Fellowship program at UTHealth Houston in 2017.
Cindy Ivanhoe, MD, clinical professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, is the winner of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Faculty Award from the Women Faculty Forum – Clinical Service.
Ivanhoe is the director of Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement (SPASM) program at TIRR Memorial Hermann, where she has served since returning in 2020. She has been named among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Doctors since 2009 and Best Doctors in America since 2007. In 2016, Ivanhoe won the Distinguished Clinical Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Ivanhoe graduated from medical school in 1984 at the University Autonoma De Guadalajara School of Medicine in Guadalajara, Mexico. She completed an internship and residencies at MacNeal Hospital in 1989, and the University of Illinois at Chicago – Graduate Medical Education in 1992, respectively, before relocating to Houston for a brain injury fellowship in 1993 at Baylor College of Medicine.
Jordan Lake, MD, MSc, associate professor of infectious diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine, is the winner of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Faculty Award from the Women Faculty Forum – Research.
Lake’s outpatient practice focuses on the care of adults with HIV, while her translational research portfolio focuses on the treatment of metabolic and aging-related complications of HIV and antiretroviral therapy, including optimization of care for transgender women with HIV and expertise in translational clinical trials. Lake also serves as an active member of the NIH-funded MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and HIV Prevention Trials Network, and is the director of the HIV Medicine Fellowship at McGovern Medical School.
Lake completed both her medical degree program and her residency at Baylor College of Medicine before a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles.