Caption: Nitin Karandikar, MD, PhD, (center) is pictured with lab members (left to right) Sterling Ortega, PhD; Leah Laageide, Fellow; Sushmita Sinha, PhD; Mike Crawford, MD; Pranav Renavikar, MBBS; Alex Boyden, PhD; Ashley Brate, graduate research assistant; and 

Nitin Karandikar, MD, PhD, was presented with this year’s Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor Award from the University of Iowa Graduate College for his guidance of postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and overall impact on career advancement at the university.

Karandikar is a professor and chair/department executive officer of the Department of Pathology within UI Health Care. A major focus of his work is to better understand immune-based diseases like multiple sclerosis, in which the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system. As an educator, teacher, and mentor, he feels privileged to have the opportunity to work with a great group of students, postdocs, residents, fellows, and faculty.

“I am quite touched, overwhelmed, and reinvigorated by this gesture,” Karandikar said of the award. “I believe that learning new things is an endless and exciting quest, but even more exciting to me is the opportunity to impart that knowledge to someone else.”