2023 Stony Award Winners

WINNER!
Omar Badessi
Badessi, an instructor at SBU, advocates for cross-cultural understanding, leveraging language instruction to break down stereotypes. As a member of the Amazigh nation in North Morocco, he champions diversity. His newsletter "Amigos de Omar أصدقاء عمر" aims to foster a sense of belonging, student success and cultural engagement. Through his research, he aims to reshape narratives around colonialism's lasting impact and to advance dialogue on critical and global issues.

Sara Cernadas-Martin, PhD
Sara Cernadas-Martín, a biology licentiate from the University of Barcelona, relocated to the United States in 2009 to pursue her dream of becoming a marine scientist. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Stony Brook's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and received the W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship in 2015 for her academic accomplishments and dedication to diversity. She has chaired the SoMAS diversity committee, taught courses for the Women in Science and Engineering program, and created and manages a bilingual nature workshop for Hispanic families.

Jinyoung Jin
Jinyoung Jin, director of Asian arts and culture at the Charles B. Wang Center, focuses on current artistic production related to Asia through exhibitions and public programs. Jin has curated and organized critically acclaimed exhibitions, including “Park Dae Sung: Ink Reimagined” (2023). Jin’s recent publication includes Art, War, and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Quede (Amsterdam University Press, 2024). Recently, she produced and directed a series of educational video essays titled “The Story of Modern Korean Art” and “Korean Art Alive.”

Mitchell Trinka
After coming to Stony Brook University in 2018, Trinka toyed with the idea of creating a campus beautification committee — a dream he fulfilled in 2022. The broad-based initiative helps students — such as Xiaohui (Katie) Wang, who painted the “Spread Your Wings” mural on the wall adjoining the LGBTQ* Center and West Side Dining — realize their creative ambitions. Trinka has plans to add placemaking pieces across Stony Brook, including an octopus mural at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

WINNER!
Sujatha Palat, MD
Palat is a board-certified family physician who has been caring for Stony Brook students since 2003. Before she was appointed college physician at Student Health Services, she was in private practice in Georgia and then on Long Island. During her tenure at Student Health Services, Palat has served on committees for quality improvement and accreditation, and has enjoyed her role as a clinical preceptor for rotating medical students and for those in the Athletic Training program.

Margaret Brand, RN
Brand, nurse manager at Stony Brook Medicine’s Women’s Pelvic Health and Continence Center, plays a crucial role in urology. She performs urodynamic testing for the evaluation of pelvic floor dysfunctions and has been a subinvestigator for multiple clinical research trials. Brand is committed to improving patient well-being by providing preoperative and postoperative support, forging meaningful connections with patients. She also organizes events promoting urology and Stony Brook’s values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence throughout our community.

Anupama Chawla, MD
Anupama Chawla is a professor of Pediatrics, chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology in the Department of Pediatrics in the Renaissance School of Medicine and is the director of the Celiac Disease Center.

Chawla was named a 'Top Doctor' on the Castle Connolly Top Doctors 2023 list of the top physicians in the US and the New York area.

Stony Brook Cancer Center
In 2012 Stony Brook University launched a highly coordinated effort to develop a premier cancer center that provides multidisciplinary care and features outstanding research programs: lipid signaling and metabolism in cancer; imaging, biomarker discovery and engineering sciences; and oncogenic drivers and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. The Cancer Center also offers cancer education efforts at all academic levels, as well as population science research, community outreach and engagement, and coordinated clinical services conducive to cutting-edge and translational and clinical research.

WINNER!
Heather A. Montague
Montague, the senior associate vice president for budget, financial planning and analysis, has dedicated her career to service in public higher education. A lifelong New Yorker and SUNY alumna, Montague arrived at Stony Brook in 2017 to assume the then-new role of senior budget officer and advisor to the provost. During the course of her career, she has built creative and high-functioning teams, solved complex problems, and has built a reputation for being direct, inclusive and consistent.

Martha Furie, PhD
Martha Furie joined the faculty of Stony Brook University in 1986, and is a professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology. Her research has focused on the inflammatory response to bacterial infections, including Lyme disease. Currently, she directs Stony Brook’s graduate program in genetics, which comprises 46 students and more than 100 faculty, both at SBU and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Furie is the first female editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Pathology, a position she has held since 2018.

Marianna Savoca, PhD
Savoca, associate vice president for career readiness and experiential education, has been a Seawolf for 25 years. She leads cross-campus initiatives to scale career readiness and improve access to high-impact, career-building, learning-integrated work experiences for all students, majors and degree levels. She is proud of the Career Center team’s ability to innovate as the workplace and job markets evolve. A published author and internationally recognized expert in her field, Savoca is often invited to speak at and consult for other campuses.

Lawrence M. Zacarese, JD
Zacarese, vice president for enterprise risk management and chief security officer at SBU, has more than 30 years’ experience overseeing complex organizations. He provides leadership, expertise and strategic guidance to the community on compliance, emergency management, business continuity, environmental health and safety, risk management, and public safety. Zacarese holds an MPA and postgraduate certificates in global security and terrorism studies and criminal justice education, and has numerous professional industry certifications.

WINNER!
Urszula Zalewski
Zalewski oversees experiential education initiatives, ensuring the successful implementation of various experiential learning opportunities including academic and nonacademic internships, student employment initiatives, project-based learning and community outreach programs. She possesses a deep enthusiasm for bridging the gap between academia and the community, particularly in connecting faculty to meaningful, service-learning projects. With her expertise and a strong commitment to fostering these connections, Zalewski is instrumental in empowering students to thrive, acquire skills and make a positive impact.

Amanda Flanagan
Flanagan joined SBU in 2017 and works as an administrator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She served on Project REACH and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, and is a recipient of the CEAS Excellence in Professional Service Award. In 2021 Flanagan founded the first FAST Fund in New York State with a grant from the national 501(c)(3) charity organization Believe in Students. She has since engaged other departments in a shared mission of helping undergraduates who are facing emergency hardships.

Christine Marsh
As a dental hygienist and coordinator of community outreach at the Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, Marsh and her team are committed to addressing the oral healthcare needs of high-risk children throughout Long Island. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from St. John’s University and earned her registered dental hygienist certification at Farmingdale State College. Marsh is a member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and Sigma Phi Alpha National Dental Hygiene Honor Society.

Peter Morelli, MD
Morelli’s practice consists of noninvasive cardiology involving fetal, newborn, infant, childhood and adolescent populations. His research interests focus on reducing cardiovascular risk in childhood, and his Fit Kids for Life program is a component of the Healthy Weight initiative of the Department of Pediatrics. Morelli is also medical director of Stony Brook Children’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Comprehensive Care Center, where he has been on the ground level of gene therapy for complex neuromuscular diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

WINNER!
Srinivas Pentyala, PhD
Pentyala joined Stony Brook University in 1992. He currently is the director of translational research and a professor of anesthesiology with joint appointments in orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation, urology, health sciences, physiology and biophysics. Pentyala received several honors and awards for his role as a researcher, educator and mentor, as well as for his involvement in community service. He serves on the advisory boards of several journals, national and international biotech and healthcare companies, and research institutes.

Jackie Castaldo
Castaldo, the director of business for finance and administration, has been at Stony Brook for seven years. After graduating from the State University of New York at Albany with a BA in economics, she launched her career at Dowling College, where she worked for 10 years. Prior to coming to Stony Brook, she earned an MBA in corporate finance. Castaldo is a native of Long Island’s South Shore, where she currently resides.

Mei Lin (Ete) Chan-Lo, PhD
Chan-Lo’s career focuses on bioengineering education, application and research. Her research focuses both on investigating the underlying mechanisms of mechanobiology (i.e., how cells respond to mechanical stimulation) and applying this knowledge to enhance health and to improve biomanufacturing processes for expediting cancer treatment. Chan-Lo fosters diversity, equity and inclusion in both formal and informal biomedical engineering education through lectures and hands-on labs, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math)-promoting community outreach programs (PreK–12), and by mentoring undergraduate and graduate researchers.