August Faculty and Staff Features

Bruce Rubin, M.D., Jessie Ball duPont Distinguished Professor and Chair of the VCU Department of Pediatrics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Rubin, physician-in-chief of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, is the recipient of the American Association of Respiratory Care’s (AARC) 2012 Jimmy A. Young Medal, the organization’s highest honor.

Rubin, a nationally known physician with dual degrees in medicine and engineering, is a pulmonology expert. The Jimmy A. Young Medal is awarded annually to recognize an individual who has exceeded all expectations for meritorious service to the AARC and advancement of the respiratory care profession. Rubin will receive the award in November 2012.  

Rubin is featured on the cover the September 2012 issue of the AARC Times. The story details his career and research, including his groundbreaking work in aerosol therapy and airway clearance for lung diseases, airway inflammation and excessive mucus. It also noted the joy he brings young patients at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond through his skills as a magician with membership in the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Joseph Walsh, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work

Walsh has been appointed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to the Virginia Board of Social Work. The board governs the practice of social work in the state and issues licensing and regulations.

Walsh has been a faculty member at VCU since 1993. He has been a licensed clinical social worker in Virginia for the past 17 years and licensed and engaged in clinical practice for 25 years. He is a nationally recognized educator and scholar in the area of clinical social work practice.

Dong Sun, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, VCU Department of Neurosurgery,
and Vladmir Sidorov, Ph.D., Associate Professor, VCU Department of Chemistry

Sun and Sidoov have received separate grants totaling $62,500 from the Virginia Center on Aging to advance their individual research related to Alzheimers and related diseases.

Sun’s $40,000 grant will allow her team to explore how neuroinflammation, the common pathological event found in Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI), affects generation of new neurons in the brain and cognitive function in the aging population.
 
Sidorov’s $12,500 grant will assist him and his team in gaining an understanding of the effects of beta amyloid, previously identified as a major player in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Their goal is to develop a novel technique to ultimately monitor activity in the specific locations of cellular membranes that have proven inaccessible by other techniques. This work may one day lead to new therapeutic strategies for the management of Alzheimer’s disease.

Richard Huff, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Huff received the “Best Article of 2011” award from the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) for his article “Measuring Performance in U.S. Municipalities: Do Personnel Policies Predict System Level Outcomes?”

Published in February of 2011, the article was selected by an international adjudication committee for its “innovative approach to comparative work across the political jurisdictions of municipalities, specifically the use of municipal bond ratings as an indicator of system level performance.”

Huff will be recognized at the 45th ICPA-Forum Research Symposium held at Erasmus University in Rotterdam this November.

Huff’s research interests include comparative politics; policy and administration; personnel policy reforms and performance; government reform and democratic accountability and health policy issues.