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University of Florida

Three UF faculty members honored with Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

Brittany Sylvestri
January 23, 2025

Three University of Florida faculty members recently received one of the highest honors bestowed upon scientists by the U.S. government, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). 

The UF faculty members who were recipients of the prestigious award include: 

  • Emily K. Miller-Cushon, associate professor of animal behavior and welfare in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Miller-Cushon conducts research and teaching in the areas of applied animal behavior and welfare. Her lab focuses on the relationships between management, behavior, and welfare of farm animals. She has specifically focused on best practices for housing and feeding dairy calves for optimal behavioral development, performance and health – all with the goal of improving long-term dairy cattle welfare practices, starting from birth. She is also active in teaching and mentoring animal sciences students.
     
  • Alison Dunn, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. Dunn directs the bio/materials tribology laboratory, and her aim is to emulate and exploit surface properties and structures to control sliding interfaces using experiments and theory. She works on soft materials like hydrogels and silicone, as well as insect cuticle and hardened steel.

  • Parisa Rashidi, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. Rashidi is also affiliated with Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Computer & Information Science & Engineering departments. She is the director of UF’s “Intelligent Health Lab” (i-Heal), a research lab at UF developing machine learning and artificial intelligence methods for solving healthcare problems. Her research aims to bridge the gap between machine learning and patient care.

“We are so proud of our esteemed researchers and the exceptional contributions they have made to their fields,” said Joe Glover, UF’s interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “The recognition highlights the important work being done at the University of Florida.”

Established in 1996, the award recognizes engineers and scientists who exemplify valuable potential for leadership early in their research career. The PECASE awards are conferred annually at the White House, following recommendations from leading agencies.