Congratulations to our 2024 Research Excellence Awards winners, Dr. Nicholas Oberlies and Dr. Jaclyn Maher.
Dr. Jaclyn Maher, associate professor of kinesiology, receives the Early Career Research Excellence Award for her scholarship on the psychology of physical activity.
Dr. Maher’s pioneering research adopts a dual process lens, which recognizes physical activity is rooted in both a person’s conscious decisions and unconscious actions. She studies behavior in real-time by utilizing innovative approaches, such as wearable and mobile technologies, that allow her to capture nuances of everyday life that can influence physical activity.
Maher, who co-directs the UNCG Physical Activity and Lifetime Wellness Laboratory, has a particular interest in studying hard-to-access populations, including older adults. She received a R15 award from the NIH National Institute on Aging for $423,565 to monitor behavior and motivations of older adults’ health behaviors over micro-time scales, using an approach known as ecological momentary assessment to capture their motivations and behavior in real-time. Maher has received a variety of additional grants and awards to support her research, including a Research Endowment Grant from the American College of Sports Medicine for $10,000.
Dr. Nicholas Oberlies, the Patricia A. Sullivan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, receives the Senior Research Excellence Award for his natural products chemistry scholarship.
Oberlies is renowned for his work in drug discovery from filamentous fungi – a line of research that could result in improved treatments for a variety of diseases, including cancer and malaria. He also investigates herbal drugs, such as milk thistle and kratom, to develop reference standards and determine chemical composition and safety.
Leveraging an extensive background in industry, Oberlies’s research productivity has skyrocketed since joining UNCG in 2009 to help build the PhD program in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He has published over 250 research articles, which have been cited over 17,000 times. Oberlies is active in presenting his research and is a sought-after speaker, with over 100 invited oral presentations. He has also shared his expertise with the research community by serving on the editorial advisory board of 5 major journals in his field. Oberlies is also the past president and a current fellow of the American Society of Pharmacognosy.
Announcement by Rachel Damiani
