Dr. Christine Wendt and Award Plaque

CTSI recognizes three University professors for outstanding mentorship

At the CTSI Poster Session and Reception on Sept. 27, CTSI bestowed awards to outstanding research mentors: 

Mentors are nominated by the mentees themselves, and include letters from at least one additional mentee and a colleague.

Mentor of the Year Award nominees are evaluated based on the research guidance they provided as well as their interpersonal and motivational skills, promotion of career development, mentor training record, and NIH biosketch.

Mentor of the Year: Dr. Christine Wendt

Dr. Christine Wendt and Award Plaque

Christine Wendt, MD, of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center has affiliate professorship at the Department of Medicine and is the VA Medical Center’s Section Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep.

Her research focuses on biomarkers of disease using high-throughput mass spectrometry, specifically focusing on chronic obstructive lung disease, which is the third leading cause of death in the world.

Currently, she is identifying biomarkers and causal pathways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease leading to lung cancer using a multi-omic approach including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, computational and systems biology.

Excerpts from letters nominating Dr. Wendt

Letters nominating Dr. Wendt were full of praise and admiration for her dedication, scientific insight, interpersonal skills, and her extensive track record in helping mentees build confidence, overcome obstacles, and become successful independent researchers. 

Following are excerpts from these letters:

Biostatistical Mentor of the Year: Dr. Kyle Rudser

Dr. Kyle Rudser and Award Plaque

Kyle Rudser, PhD, is an Associate Professor with the School of Public Health’s Division of Biostatistics and CTSI’s Biostatistical Design and Analysis Center.

Dr. Rudser works as both a collaborator and as a statistical methodologist in clinical and translational research. As a collaborator, he provides support for the design, monitoring, and analysis of clinical and translational research.

His contributions span a wide range of areas, with two areas in particular being survival analysis and clinical trials.

Excerpts from letters nominating Dr. Rudser

Mentees praised Dr. Rudser for being a devoted, energizing, and engaged mentor with keen insights, verbal communications skills, and an exemplary ability to bring out the best in his mentees. 

Following are excerpts from letters nominating him for this award:

Junior Mentor of the Year: Dr. Lisa Coles

Dr. Lisa Coles and Award Plaque

Lisa Coles, MS, PhD, is the winner of this year’s award recognizing exceptional research mentors who are assistant professors. Dr. Coles is a Research Assistant Professor with the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and a Research Associate at the Center for Orphan Drug Research.

Her research focuses on understanding mechanisms of action and optimizing dosing to enhance the safety and efficacy of drugs for treating rare neurological disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases and epilepsy syndromes.

Excerpts from letters nominating Dr. Coles

Mentees and a colleague praised Dr. Coles for her dedication, approachability, patience, engaging personality, varied educational and work experiences, and for helping her mentees shine. 

Following are excerpts from letters nominating her for this award: