Stefanie Krick, M.D., Ph.D., is the junior faculty winner of the 2020 Dean’s Excellence Award in Mentorship. Krick is an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine.
Krick is an outstanding mentor for her Ph.D. students as well as her peers. She is unwavering in her dedication to her students, even under difficult circumstances. She demonstrated this commitment when she took charge of a student whose mentor suddenly passed away. She comforted, guided, and provided a safe place for the student until they were ready to move on. Krick’s post-doctoral trainees are already busy publishing papers in record time since being recruited to her lab, and their work has been selected for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society. She has also mentored six undergraduate students, which resulted in co-authorship publications and conference posters.
“I have worked with many faculty in my almost 22 years at UAB, and Dr. Krick stands out as one of the most compassionate mentors on our campus. She has the students’ best interest at heart and at the same time helps them to become outstanding scientists and critical thinkers,” commented Dr. Lori McMahon, UAB Graduate School Dean.
Krick completed training in critical care medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center after completing her residency at the University Hospital Giessen in Germany. Her research is focused on fibroblast growth factor signaling and the role of pannexins in lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. She is the author of numerous publications in top-tier journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Annals of the American Thoracic Society, PNAS and the Journal of Biological Chemistry.