The Goldberger Murray Boyne Levine Award was established to commemorate the work of four members of the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy who passed away, Michael E. Goldberger, Marion Murray, Lesley Boyne and Rhea Levine. In 2022, the award was renamed the Goldberger Murray Murphay Award.

Drs. Michael Goldberger, Marion Murray, Lesley Boyne and Rhea Levine were members of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy when they tragically died. Dr. Goldberger was a senior faculty member recognized as one of the leaders in spinal cord injury research. Dr. Murray was the founder of Drexel's Spinal Cord Research Center. Dr. Boyne was a dedicated postdoctoral fellow with a promising career in neuroscience research and teaching. Dr. Rhea Levine was a senior faculty member and a leader in the field of muscle structure. Dr. Hazel Murphy was a longtime faculty member who passed away in 2022.

Dr. Michael E. Goldberger joined the faculty of the Department of Anatomy at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1973 and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1978. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, continued his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and served on the faculty of the University of Chicago from 1967 to 1973.

At the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Dr. Goldberger devoted his main efforts to setting up a research group focused on the development of the nervous system and transplantation-related strategies to promote recovery from injury. Dr. Goldberger's unique contribution lay in his ability to devise sensitive techniques to assess behavioral recovery, which could then be correlated with anatomical evidence for nerve regeneration. His seminal research papers revealed for the first time the capacity of central nervous system axons to sprout or grow into an adjacent denervated area. This classic finding resulted in a series of breakthrough studies leading to promising research on the use of growth factors and fetal transplants to restore function. This research, which he applied to studies of recovery from spinal cord injury, also has important application in brain trauma and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Goldberger published over 60 scientific papers and presented his research in numerous national and international conferences. He was recognized as one of the leading authorities on spinal cord injury research and served on important advisory committees, grant review study sections and NIH task forces. In 1984 he was awarded the prestigious Javits Neuroscience Investigator Grant Award, given by the NIH to outstanding neuroscientists to support long-term funding. Dr. Goldberger was not only a pioneer in his research, he was a unique person whose devotion to equality and justice inspired everyone who knew him. He died in 1992, but his research work on spinal cord injury has endured and continues to evolve in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy.

Dr. Marion Murray was a professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy for 30 years until her death in September 2018. She led spinal cord research at Drexel, focusing on neuroplasticity and its relationship to recovery of function after spinal cord injury. She and Dr. Goldberger helped to bring a more patient-focused approach to the practice of spinal cord injury recovery. Dr. Murray published more than 150 scientific articles and reviews. She earned her PhD in physiology from the University of Wisconsin.

Committed to serving the research community, Dr. Murray sat on the advisory boards of the VA Office of Regeneration Research and the Spinal Cord Research Foundation, as well as on several editorial boards. She was honored with numerous awards, including the Research Achievement Award from Drexel's predecessor institution MCP Hahnemann University, the Trustees Award for Excellence in Teaching from Drexel's Graduate School, the Fogarty Fellowship, and the Javits Neurosciences Investigator Award. She inspired and mentored countless students, fellows and faculty. Dr. Murray epitomized scientific leadership, passionately confronting significant problems for human health and then generously sharing her knowledge with others.

Dr. Lesley Boyne had been a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at MCP from 1992 to 1996. She started her professional career as a physical therapist with an MS from the University of Southern California. She continued her studies at the University of Michigan, where she received her PhD in 1992, studying the effects of extracellular matrix proteins on the development of the nervous system. At MCP she worked under the direction of Dr. Itzhak Fischer studying the role of cytoskeletal proteins in neuronal growth and regeneration. Her research was focused on the mechanisms associated with the ability of peripheral neurons to regenerate and the differences between axon growth during development and in response to injury. In 1993 she was honored with the National Research Service Award from the NIH. Her work was presented at national and international meetings and published in first-rate scientific journals.

Lesley was not only a dedicated and promising neuroscientist, but also a superb teacher with a keen talent for engaging presentations. She taught Gross Anatomy and Medical Neuroscience in several local colleges to physical therapy students and was a lab instructor and special tutor at MCP to medical students. She was regularly recognized as an outstanding teacher by students and faculty. Lesley died February 7, 1996, at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, of complications from ovarian cancer. She is survived by her husband and daughter.

Dr. Rhea Levine, a member of the faculty since 1969, died January 19, 2002 after fighting cancer for four years. Dr. Levine was a graduate of Smith College, obtained her PhD from NYU and did her postdoctoral training at Yale. Her research interest was the structure and function of invertebrate muscle. She served on many of the major committees at the university, including the Faculty Promotion and Tenure Committees and the Executive Faculty Committee. As a teacher, she was enthusiastic, scholarly and thorough, and always demanded the highest standards from her students. She served as a mentor and role model for many students and junior faculty. Besides her outstanding contributions as a teacher and researcher, she found time to pursue many other interests; she was a gourmet cook and excellent musician, and still found time to be a devoted mother, wife and grandmother. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Richard Stockton College and Smith College. Rhea will be greatly missed. Her courage in continuing to teach, research and fulfill all her commitments throughout her illness was an inspiration to all who knew her.

Dr. Hazel Murphy came to Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1976 as an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy, where she also served as acting chair from 1989-1992. During that time, she led an accomplished NIH-funded research program studying the effects of prenatal cocaine on brain and behavior development. She trained students, postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty, including some who hold senior leadership positions at Drexel today.

Dr. Murphy transitioned to a teaching role in 1999, leading the Medical Neuroscience course for many years. She was outstanding educator who contributed to the development of a new curriculum that incorporated the Medical Neuroscience course into a multidisciplinary Human Structure and Function course.

Endowment Awardees

Goldberger Awardees

1996
Vijayalakshmi Adipudi
Huang Lijun
B. Timothy Himes
Dongling Ma
Jon Moul
Motohide Shibayama
Jun Xia

1997
William Kargo

1998
Duckhyun Kim Yi

Lesley Boyne Travel Awardees

1996
William Kargo

1997
Stella W. Chow and Duckhyun Kim Yi

1998
Yi Liu

1999
Chris Tobias

2001
David Devilbiss, Steven Han

Goldberger/Murray/Boyne/Levine Award

2004
Doug Baird – Teaching Award
Ajay Bakshi – Outstanding contribution to the SC Group
Louise Bertrand – Outstanding Achievement in Teaching & Res Management
Vanessa Boyce – Student Award
Theresa Connors – Outstanding Achievement in Teaching & Res Management
Candice Drouin – Postdoctoral Fellow Award
Simon Giszter – Teaching Award
Haviva Goldman – Research Award
Michel Lemay – Teaching Award
Angelo Lepore – Student Award
Takahiko Mitsui – Postdoctoral Fellow Award
Francis Sessler – Outstanding Computer Application and Management Resource
Jed Shumsky – Outstanding contribution to the Spinal Cord Group

2005
Melanie Alexander – Student Award
Roubert Loudon – Postdoctoral Fellow Award

2006
Lise Rioux – Faculty Award
Jeremy Cohen – Student Award

2008
Vida Nadar – Student Award
Birgit Neuhuber – Excellence Award
Harra Sandrow – Postdoctoral Fellow Award
Veronica Tom – Postdoctoral Fellow Award

2010
Andrea Ketschek – Postdoctoral Award
Joseph Bonner – Graduate Student

2011
Megan Detloff – Postdoctoral Award
Melissa Snyder – Postdoctoral Award
Mirella Spillane – Graduate Student Award
Ann Mae DiLeonardo – Graduate Student Award

2012
Chris Haas – Graduate Student Award
Alex Krupka – Graduate Student Award
Marie-Pascale Cote – Junior Faculty Award
Yanchun Li – Junior Faculty Award
John Houle – Outstanding Contribution to the Spinal Cord Group
Ramesh Raghupathi – Faculty Award

2013
Peter Baas – Teaching Award (“The Organizer”)
Ramesh Raghupathi – Teaching Award (“The Fixer”)
Jed Shumsky – Teaching Award (“The Magician”)
Barry Waterhouse – Teaching Award (“The Boss”)

2014
Tatiana Bezdudnaya – Rising Star Award
Shaoping Hou, PhD – Rising Star Award
Brielle Ferguson – Student Excellence Award
Catherine Theisen – Student Excellence Award
Ananda Rao – Student Excellence Award
John K. Lee – Student Excellence Award
Bartholomew Bacak – Student Excellence Award
Andrew Matamoras – Student Excellence Award
Ilya Rybak – Distinguished Faculty Award
Francis Sessler – Teacher Tenure Award
Haviva Goldman – Teacher Tenure Award
Dennis DePace – Multitasking Service Award
Janet D. Smith – Special Appreciation Award
Janet D. Strabone – Special Appreciation Award
Bruce Hirsch – Artistic Vision
Rachel Navarra – Student Excellence Award

2015
Marie-Pascale Cote – Faculty Excellence Award
Kimberly Dougherty – Faculty Excellence Award
Haviva Goldman - Faculty Excellence Award
David Bernstein – Student Excellence Award
Emily Black – Student Excellence Award
Zachary Brodnik - Student Excellence Award
Eric Prouty – Student Excellence Award
Margo Randelman – Student Excellence Award
Ray Stoffel – Facilities
Timothy J. Cunningham – Distinguished Faculty Award

2016
Peter Baas – Faculty Excellence Award
Manuel Castro-Alamancos – Faculty Excellence Award
Megan Detloff – Faculty Excellence Award
Rodrigo Espana – Outstanding Leadership Award
Haviva Goldman – Outstanding Leadership Award
Julien Bouyer – Outstanding Department Service Award
Theresa Connors – Outstanding Department Service Award
Bo Xing – Postdoctoral Excellence Award
Brett Cornell – Student Excellence Award
Kaitlin Farrell – Student Excellence Award
Brielle Ferguson – Student Excellence Award
Andrew Matamoras – Student Excellence Award
Sarah Monaco – Student Excellence Award
Anand Rao – Student Excellence Award

2017
Zachary Brodik – Student Excellence Award
Austin Coley – Student Excellence Award
Linda Chamberlin – Student Excellence Award
Kaitlin Farrell - Student Excellence Award
Andrew Gargiulo – Student Excellence Award
Andrew Matamoros – Student Excellence Award
Eugene Mironets – Student Excellence Award
Sarah Monaco – Student Excellence Award
Wen-Jun Gao – Outstanding Leadership Award
Veronica Tom – Faculty Excellence Award
Simon Giszter – Outstanding Service to the Department Award
Ramesh Raghupathi – Outstanding Service to the Department Award
Guillaume Caron – Postdoctoral Fellow Award
David Leonardo Garcia Ramirez – Postdoctoral Fellow Award

2018
Kimberly Dougherty – Faculty Service Award
Soha Chhaya – Trainee Award
Ankita Patil – Student Service Award
Surya Pandey – Student Service Award
Veronica Tom – Faculty Mentoring Award
B. Timothy Himes – Educational Award
Kathleen Golden – Staff Service Award
Eric Li – Student Excellence Award
Leonardo (Leo) Garcia Ramirez – Postdoctoral Progress Award
Theeradej Thaweerattansinp – Student Excellence Award
Lyandysha Zholudeva – Student Excellence Award
Ankita Patil – Student Excellence Award (2)
Emily Black – Student Progress Award
Nancy Mack – Student Progress Award
Sara Blazejewski – Student Progress Award
Dana Lengel – Student Progress Award
Emanuela Piermarini – Postdoctoral Progress Award
Jadwiga Bilchak – Student Progress Award
Linda Chamberlin – Student Progress Award
Hemalatha Muralidharan – Student Progress Award
Margo Randelman – Student Progress Award
Philip Yates – Student Progress Award
Katie Bryant – Student Progress Award

2019
Jessica Barson – Faculty Mentoring Award
Tatiana Bezdudnaya – Medical Educator Award
Jadwiga (Jani ) Bilchak – Student Service Award
Rodrigo Espana – Faculty Service and Mentoring Award
AnnaMaria Falco – Staff Service Award
Bethan O’Connor – Outstanding Service Award
Hemalatha Muralidharan – Outstanding Trainee Award
Margo Randelman – Student Service Award
Victor Rovira Zambrana – Postdoctoral Progress Award

2020
Sadie Bennison – Outstanding Progress Award
Sara Blazejewski – Outstanding Progress Award
Philip Clark – Student Progress Award
Genevieve Curtis – Outstanding Progress Award
Megan Detloff – Faculty Service Award
Haviva Goldman – Faculty Service Award
Caitlin Howe – Medical Education Award
Lisa Kaiser – Outstanding Service Award
Dana Lengel – Student Progress Award
Nancy Mack – Student Progress Award
Dillon Malloy – Student Service Award
Taylor McCorkle – Student Service Award
Alessia Niceforo – Student Progress Award
Ashley Opalka – Outstanding Trainee Award
Micaela O’Reilly – Student Progress Award
Emanuela Piermarini – Postdoc Progress Award
Ramesh Raghupathi – Faculty Mentoring Award
David (Leo) Garcia Ramirez – Postdoc Progress Award
Trevor Smith – Student Progress Award
Cameron Trueblood – Student Progress Award

2021
Faculty Awards
Dr. Jessica Ausborn – Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
Dr. Jessica Barson – Outstanding Research and Service to Graduate Program
Dr. Marie Cote – Outstanding Research and Service to Graduate Program
Dr. Simon Danner  – Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
Dr. Jenna Hagerty – Faculty Teaching Award
Dr. Ying Jin – Faculty Excellence in Research and Mentoring Award
Dr. Michael Lane – Outstanding Community Service and Advocacy Award
Dr. Dana Peterson – Faculty Teaching Award
Dr. Liang Qiang – Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
Dr. Jenna Brenan-Rothschild – Faculty Teaching Award
Dr. Jed Shumsky – Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Medical Education Award
Dr. Dong Wang  – Outstanding Junior Faculty Award

Postdoc, Student, Staff Awards
Dr. Jun Liu – Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award
Jaclyn DeFinis – Outstanding Student Award
Tara Fortino – Outstanding Student Award
Shrobona Guha – Outstanding Student Award
Xiaohuan Sun – Outstanding Student Award
Jeremy Weinberger – Outstanding Student Award
Candace Rizzi-Wise – Outstanding Student Award
Kathleen Golden – Outstanding Service Award
Joy Hudson – Outstanding Service Award
Tatiana Shapiro – Indispensable Lab Manager Award
Dr. Wenqian Yu – Outstanding Lab Manager and Scientist Award

Goldberger/Murray/Murphy Award

2022
Outstanding Faculty Awards
Peter Baas, PhD
Tatiana Bezdudnaya, PhD
Kimberly Dougherty, PhD
Rodrigo Espana, PhD
Michael Lane, PhD
Ramesh Raghupathi, PhD

Outstanding Postdoc/Student Awards
Emanuela Piermarini, PhD
Kendra Case
Adam Hall
Arron Hall
Shayna Singh

Postdoc/Student/Education Service Awards
Theresa Connors – Education Service Award
Koray Kirimtay – Postdoctoral Service Award
Skandha Ramakrishnan – Student Service Award

Mentoring Awards
Shaoping Hou, PhD
Liang (Osca) Qiang, PhD

Outstanding Staff Awards
Julien Bouyer
Anna Maria Falco
Lisa Kaiser
Lihua Yao

Fellowship Awards
Shrobona Guha
Ashraful Islam
Jenna McGrath
Emanuela Piermarini 
Shayna Singh

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