The recognitions, recently presented at the PRC’s annual dinner, include a $65,000 award to each recipient. Now in its 30th year, the President's Research Council is comprised of community leaders interested in learning about and advancing medical research at UT Southwestern.

“The President’s Research Council reflects the very special bond that exists between UT Southwestern and the Dallas community,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern. “The interest and generosity of those who join the President’s Research Council is inspiring to our faculty, and the group has been a much-appreciated source of ‘critical difference’ support for the junior faculty who have been the recipients of PRC Distinguished Researcher Awards.  We are grateful for this support, and this year’s recipients hold great promise for advancing human health through research.”

Dr. Reese joined the UT Southwestern faculty in the fall of 2013. A graduate of Yale University with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, Dr. Reese completed a Ph.D. in biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and did postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. John Boothroyd at Stanford University.

At UT Southwestern, Dr. Reese and his lab team are working to determine how the arms race between host and pathogen has driven the evolution of signaling on both sides of the host-pathogen interface. Using the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the scientists are seeking to discover how the parasite dysregulates its host human cells, and how these changes affect disease outcome.

“Toxoplasma is probably the most successful parasite in the world – about one-third of people are infected,” Dr. Reese said. “While most people show no symptoms after an initial fever, Toxoplasma infection can cause blindness or sometimes even kill. We are working to understand how one parasite can cause such a range of disease.”

Dr. Sarma, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University, completed both his internship and his residency at Boston University, where he was selected as Chief Medical Resident. He served two years as a research fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and pursued clinical training at Northwestern University, where he served as Chief Cardiology Fellow.

In his clinical physiology research, Dr. Sarma has linked his basic science background with clinical outcomes by studying the interface between cardiometabolic disease and heart failure. When Dr. Sarma decided to pursue additional research training in human physiology, he came to Dallas to join the lab of Dr. Benjamin Levine, Professor of Internal Medicine.

 “This award is an incredible honor,” Dr. Sarma said. “The caliber of science conducted at UT Southwestern is world-class and it is very humbling to receive recognition from the President’s Research Council.

“My research focuses on the effects of obesity and heart function. There is a specific type of fat called visceral fat, or fat located around our internal organs, that seems to be particularly damaging to the heart. With the worldwide rates of obesity increasing, we can expect more cases of heart disease related to visceral fat. Hopefully, our work will help us understand the connection between this type of fat and the heart.”

The PRC was founded in 1985 by Cece Smith and Ford Lacy. The organization’s membership fees support research by early-career faculty investigators. PRC members are invited to attend four lectures a year by leading UT Southwestern researchers, as well as the annual banquet honoring awardees. For membership information, contact the Office of Development at 214-648-2344.

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Dr. Levine holds the Distinguished Professorship in Exercise Sciences.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.