PhD student receives National Institutes of Health and Department of Health and Human Services awards
Asha Storm, PhD student, was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Award for their work with the NIH UNITE Initiative. NIH UNITE is a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative focused on addressing structural racism at the NIH and in the greater scientific community. Storm's work focused on new research on health disparities, minority health, and health equity. The NIH Director's Award recognizes exceptional performance or special efforts that significantly exceed regular duty requirements and directly relate to fulfilling NIH's mission.
Storm also received a Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Health and Human Services for their work on the RADx-Tech team. RADx-Tech is a program to rapidly develop diagnostics for COVID-19, many of them for point-of-care or over-the-counter. The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor granted by the department and is conferred by the department secretary. No more than 10 awards are granted annually, and this award is presented at the HHS Honor Awards Ceremony and recognizes senior leaders of the department for their sustained excellence.