November 1, 2006

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Three UC Davis faculty members have been honored for their contributions in the areas of autism research, otolaryngology and community service. In addition, the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science received a regional award for its efforts to educate the public about mental health issues.

• Isaac Pessah, director of the UC Davis Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention, is the recipient of Cure Autism Now's first Environmental Innovator Award. CAN is a national organization of parents, clinicians and scientists committed to accelerating the pace of biomedical research in autism. The award recognizes Pessah's ongoing research on the biological impact of environmental exposures. Earlier this year, Pessah released a study presenting the first evidence that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in some vaccines and consumer products, can cause disruptions in certain mouse nervous system cells.. Pessah is professor and chair of molecular biosciences at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and a member of the research team of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, a collaborative research center focused on finding causes and improved treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders.
  
  
• Karen Jo Doyle, a professor of otolaryngology/head-and-neck surgery, has been voted president-elect of the American Neurotology Society. The society is a 500-member subspecialty otolaryngology society that has as its mission the exchange and dissemination of information about diagnosis, clinical management and surgery for hearing and balance disorders, and to stimulate education and research related to these systems. Doyle's one-year term of office will begin in 2008.
  
  
• Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, received the 2006 Rick Gonzalez, Sr., Award from the Concilio of Yolo County in recognition of his outstanding community service and dedication to the welfare of Yolo County citizens. The award is named after the Concilio's late co-founder Rick Gonzales, Sr., who worked tirelessly to help his community overcome racial stereotypes, language difficulties and lack of money. Among his many tasks at UC Davis, Aguilar-Gaxiola has been the principal investigator of the nation's largest study focused on the mental health of Mexican Americans.
  
  
• The UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science is the recipient of the 2006 Corporate Award from the Mental Health Association of Sacramento in recognition of the its ongoing support of efforts to educate the public about mental health issues. The award will be presented at the association's 60th Anniversary Awards Gala on Thursday, Nov. 2. The association gives its Corporate Award to a corporation, community-based agency, department or university that has assisted the association during the past year.