Medical fellows receive awards named after influential UF pediatrician and administrator

Three University of Florida pediatric fellows have received Children’s Miracle Network awards to support their research and academic training.

Hilton M. Bernstein, M.D., division of neonatology; Jennifer L. Miller, M.D., division of endocrinology; and Matthew A. Saxonhouse, M.D., division of neonatology, are the first recipients of the Douglas J. Barrett Academic Fellowship Physician awards, named in honor of the current UF vice president for health affairs. They were recognized for their work displaying the highest qualities of scholarly activity in research, teaching and patient care.

Terence Flotte, M.D., chairman of the UF department of pediatrics, presented the awards Feb. 28 at the UF Health Science Center. Each honoree will receive $5,000 a year for two years.

Barrett served as pediatrics chairman from 1991 to 2002. During his tenure he mentored 208 pediatric residents and 84 pediatric subspecialty fellows. He also established Shands Children’s Hospital in 1996 as a hospital within a hospital.

In areas of research, Barrett increased by tenfold the amount of nationally competitive National Institutes of Health funding received by the pediatrics department, now known for world-class research programs in HIV and AIDS, epilepsy/seizure prediction, type 1 diabetes, gene therapy for heart failure and lung disease, nerve cell tumors and genetic obesity syndromes.