Two College of Medicine faculty members named Regents Professor

The Texas A&M University System awarded Lih Kuo, PhD, professor, associate head of the Department of Medical Physiology and director of the Ophthalmic Vascular Research Program, and Farida Sohrabji, PhD, professor and interim department head of the of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and director of the Women’s Health in Neuroscience program, with the Regents Professor Award.

Kuo’s research focuses on the physiological and pathophysiological regulation of coronary and retinal microcirculation. His research supports are from the National Institutes of Health, the Retina Research Foundation and a T3, or Triads for Transformation project from Texas A&M University with fellow researchers Travis Hein, PhD, professor at the College of Medicine, and Gladys Ko, PhD, assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Their project is titled The mechanistic characterization of peptide Lv on angiogenesis and vascular physiology. Kuo is also a Fellow of the American Heart Association (Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council) and the American Physiological Society (Cardiovascular Section).

Sohrabji directs a federally funded research program that focuses on sex and age differences in cerebrovascular disease, specifically biochemical and behavioral changes that occur in stroke-related injury, including brain-immune interactions, biomarkers and therapeutics for ischemic stroke. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (Stroke Council) and a member of the inaugural class Presidential Impact Fellows at Texas A&M University.

Established in 1996, the Regents Professor award from the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents recognizes faculty members who have provided stellar contributions to their university or agency and to the people of Texas. Recipients have the title added to their current designation or rank. To date, 252 Texas A&M System faculty members have been recognized with this award.

The selection process for the awards begins with a call for nominations from the chancellor. Final nominations are put forth to the chief executive officer of each respective entity. They are then subject to a system-level review consisting of academic vice chancellors and past recipients of the awards. Finally, nominations are forwarded to the chancellor and the board for final approval.