Amy Bouton, School of Medicine microbiology professor and associate dean for graduate and medical scientist programs, was chosen yesterday to receive the Sharon L. Hostler Women in Medicine Leadership Award.
The honor acknowledges a University physician or scientist, female or male, who "manifests excellence in several of the following areas: clinical care, teaching, scholarship, mentoring, research, leadership, community service, and commitment to continuous learning, and who has exerted influence in fostering a better institutional environment by advocating for women's issues," according to the award's website.
"I'm very honored," Bouton said. "I'm so appreciative of my colleagues who nominated me for this."
Bouton said she believes the award is significant because it recognizes and values different aspects of education and research.
Bouton currently mentors five graduate students conducting breast cancer research and is the director of Biomedical Sciences in the School of Medicine.
"My passions are graduate education and research," she said. "What's so great about my job is that I get to do both."
Currently Bouton is researching the ways in which breast cancer can become resistant to typical treatments. She said she hopes in the future we may be able to predict who might become resistant to treatment and try to work around that resistance.
Her current project also examines how other cells, such as immune cells, can impact tumors and the abnormal cellular growth they cause.
Bouton said this is a "phenomenally exciting time" and she is awed by the changes in science since she started teaching 10 years ago.
Communication is key in the academic environment, Bouton said.
"When you want to be a good teacher, it's really important to listen, communicate and not dominate the conversation," she said. She added that learning how to listen was one of the hardest things about becoming an educator, but letting students figure things out independently is part of the teaching process.
Bouton said she decides to get up in the morning and go to work because she has "a chance to interact with students and discover new phenomena"
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