Tuesday, May 28, 2024
The University of North Texas System Board of Regents recently approved the tenure of four distinguished faculty members at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
The approved faculty members are:
- Zhengyang Zhou, Assistant Professor, Department of Population & Community Health, HSC School of Public Health
- Nicole Phillips, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunity & Genetics, HSC School of Biomedical Sciences
- Dorata Stankowska, PhD, Assistant Professor, Director and Advisor, HSC School of Biomedical Sciences
- Cheryl Thaxton, DNP, Associate Dean/Chair for Graduate Studies and Professor, HSC College of Nursing
The decision was made at the quarterly Board of Regents meeting held on May 16, 2024, following recommendations made by the faculty members’ school/college promotion and tenure committee and will go into effect September 1, 2024.
“We’re grateful to the Board of Regents for recognizing these four exemplary faculty members for their impactful contributions locally, regionally and globally,” said Dr. Charles Taylor, HSC provost. “Our world-class researchers and educators are the reason HSC stands out as a premier higher education institution to develop future health care professionals and leaders.”
Dr. Zhou, whose expertise lies in Biostatistics, joined HSC’s School of Public Health in 2019.
In addition to obtaining an impressive combination of funding from collaborative projects,
he has also secured funding as a Principal Investigator. Zhou has several peer-reviewed
publications in top journals, across all areas of his research agenda, and he has
participated in multiple publications with students in the SPH, supporting their growth
and achievements as part of a mentorship team. He is an actively engaged member of
the SPH community through leadership for the MPH Biostatistics and Data Science concentration
and serves as an elected Faculty Senator for the School of Public Health.
Since joining the HSC faculty in 2016, Dr. Phillips has demonstrated commitment to HSC through her teaching, research, and service. As
an educator, Dr. Phillips serves as the course director for three standing SBS courses
and is a two-time recipient of SBS’s Golden Apple teaching award. Dr. Phillips holds
a prominent role in the Institute for Translational Research, where she leads the
grant-funded genomics research project. She is the principal investigator of a Texas
Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium (TARCC) Investigator – Initiated Award and
has published 36 peer-reviewed papers and 24 original research manuscripts.
Dr. Stankowska joined HSC in 2010 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and was appointed faculty
in 2015. Since then, she has since published 38 peer-reviewed articles and six book
chapters and is the inventor of two patent applications focused on innovative approaches
for treating ocular conditions. She serves on numerous committees in the SBS as well
as the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a member of the SBS Graduate
Education Council, the Admission Committee for PhD and MSS programs, and serves as
the Director for the Specialized MS Biotechnology program. She is also an ad-hoc reviewer
for numerous high impact scientific journals and grant review panels.
As a leading nurse scholar in hospice and palliative care, Dr. Thaxton has authored over seven book chapters, numerous articles, and has been invited to
present her expertise throughout the U.S. and Japan. She mentors other nurse leaders
as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and is designated as
a Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing (FPCN). She served as the Chair of the National
Coalition Pediatric Palliative Care Task Force, a subgroup of the National Coalition
for Hospice and Palliative Care, which has influenced health policy to enhance and
increase children’s access to high-quality pediatric palliative care services. She
serves as a consultant for the Duke Advanced Practice Provider Leadership Institute.
From HSC Newsroom - Our People by Kate Lino