Biomedical researcher receives research professorship

Ayalew Mergia, Ph.D., a biomedical researcher at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a UF Research Foundation professorship.

Sponsored by the university’s Division of Sponsored Research, the professorships are awarded to tenured faculty members campuswide for distinguished research and scholarship. The honor includes a $5,000 salary increase each year for three years and a one-time $3,000 award for research support.

Mergia, a professor in the college’s department of Infectious Disease and Pathology, works to develop antiviral gene therapies to prevent HIV infection and AIDS in humans.

The UF Research Foundation professorships were created by the foundation to recognize faculty members who have established a distinguished record of research and scholarship that is expected to lead to continuing distinction in their field.

Mergia has been a member of the UF veterinary faculty since 1993.