Request for Nominations: 2026 Iva Dostanic Award

In 2012, the Yale Department of Medicine established an annual Physician-Scientist Trainee Award in memory of Iva Dostanic, MD, PhD, whose intelligence, creativity, work ethic, accomplishments, and passion for the science of medicine exemplified the highest ideals of the physician-scientist.

We seek nominations for the 2026 Iva Dostanic Award. The recipient will present the Iva Dostanic Award Lecture at Medical Grand Rounds on June 18, 2026.

Friday, February 20, 2026

Nominees should meet the following eligibility and selection criteria:

1. Physician-scientist with MD or MD-PhD.
2. Completion of residency training in internal medicine either at Yale or another institution.
3. Current position as a mentored research trainee with appointment as Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Associate, Associate Research Scientist or Instructor in one of the sections of the Department of Medicine.
4. Accomplishments in original research evidenced by peer-reviewed papers published or in press.
5. Commitment to research reflected by applications for fellowship grants and/or career development awards.
6. Availability to present the Iva Dostanic Award Lecture on June 18, 2026.

We encourage nominations of mentored trainees with outstanding potential for careers as physician-scientists. The following nomination materials should be sent by email to Dostanic Award Committee Chair Peter Aronson with a copy to Nancy Kravitz:

1. Single one-page nomination letter jointly signed by the nominee’s section chief and primary mentor.
2. Annotated curriculum vitae of the nominee (Yale CV1 format). For up to five key publications, provide brief descriptions of the role of the nominee and the significance of the work.

2012: Iva Dostanic, MD, PhD, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, “Emerging Roles for Innate Immunity in Lung and Endothelium.” (presented by Patty Lee)

2013: Isaac Hall, MD, MS, Nephrology, “Donor Kidney Quality and Acute Kidney Injury with Transplantation.”

2014: Daniel Jane-Wit, MD/PhD, Cardiovascular Medicine, "Translational Approaches for Studying Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy."

2015: Jose Herazo-Maya, MD, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, “Predicting Outcome in IPF: The Dawn of Genomic Biomarkers.”

2016: Lauren Ferrante, MD, MHS, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, “Improving Post-ICU Outcomes: A Call to Action.”

2017: Sarah Huen, MD, PhD, Nephrology, “Acute Kidney Injury: Not All That is Inflammatory is Pathologic."

2018: Stephen Baldassarri, MD, MHS, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, “Electronic Cigarettes: The End of Smoking or a Deadly New Addiction?”

2019: Shelli Farhadian, MD, PhD, Infectious Diseases, “Neuroinflammation During Chronic HIV Infection.”

2020: Rupak Datta, MD/PhD, MPH, Infectious Diseases, “Antibiotic Stewardship to Promote Palliative Care in Older Adults Near the End of Life.”

2021: Ana Luisa Perdigoto, MD, PhD, Endocrinology & Metabolism, “Clinical and Preclinical Insights into the Mechanisms of Checkpoint Inhibitor-induced Diabetes.”

2022: Benjamin Goldman-Israelow, MD, PhD, Infectious Diseases, “Prime and Spike: A Novel Vaccination Strategy for Inducing Mucosal SARS-CoV-2 Immunity.”

2022: Dennis Shung, MD, PhD, MHS, Digestive Diseases, “Human+AI in Medicine.”

2023: Irene Chernova, MD, PhD, Nephrology, “Lymphocytes, Sodium, and Autoimmunity: A Lupus Tale."

2024: Lisa Korn, MD, PhD, Rheumatology, “Diet-Immune Interactions.”

2025: Abinet M. Aklilu, MD, MPH, Nephrology, “Advancing AKI Care: Insights from Pragmatic and Efficacy Trials to Improve Patient Outcomes.”

2025: Benjamin Y. Lu, MD, PhD, Medical Oncology, “Cellular Determinants of Anti-Tumor Immunity.”