Neil Osheroff, the John G. Coniglio Professor of Biochemistry, has been elected fellow of the Australia and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators. Osheroff is one of just 39 ANZAHPE Fellows and the only elected fellow located outside of Australia or New Zealand.
“ANZAHPE is over 50 years old and is one of, if not the most well-recognized and thought of health professional educator association in Oceania and Southeast Asia. It is a rich and diverse association that includes members from a broad spectrum of health-related fields. I have learned a tremendous amount and have developed many close friendships by attending the annual meeting of ANZAHPE,” Osheroff said. “I am greatly honored to be elected as an ANZAHPE Fellow.”
ANZAHPE was established to develop medical education as a scientific discipline and includes clinicians, educators and students as members. Its database and expert network foster communication between health care educators, and its grants and peer-reviewed journal, Focus on Health Professional Education, promote educational research and good practice. ANZAHPE Fellows foster a culture of mentorship and encouragement within the organization and facilitate professional development opportunities among early career members.
Osheroff has been a professor at Vanderbilt for more than 40 years. His lab investigates type II DNA topoisomerases and produced the fundamental research behind the first new antibacterial class to treat urinary tract infections in decades. In addition to his lab’s research, he codirects the preclerkship phase of the medical school curriculum and leads the Master Science Teachers cohort.
Osheroff has received numerous teaching awards including the prestigious 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Lillian B. Nanney Award for Outstanding Service to the VUSM/VUMC Community of Educators, and the Mentoring, Innovation, and Leadership in Educational Scholarship Award from the Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference. He has delivered more than 400 invited educational and scientific presentations in 42 different countries and is also a fellow of the Association for Medical Education in Europe and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“I sustain my passion for teaching because I’m fortunate enough to work with phenomenal colleagues and amazing medical students at Vanderbilt,” Osheroff said in 2023. “Some of the things I’m most proud of in terms of my educational career are the fact that I just taught my 40th class of medical students at Vanderbilt.”