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Two Indian-origin faculty members win UMass Chan awards
Pranoti Mandrekar and Anindita Deb received faculty awards recognizing mentorship and excellence in medical education.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sat, 23, May 2026
- 03:08 EDT
- 16
Pranoti Mandrekar and Anindita Deb / UMass
Two Indian-origin faculty members at UMass Chan Medical School were recognized during the Women’s Faculty Committee Awards ceremony held May 21 at the Albert Sherman Center and on Zoom.
Pranoti Mandrekar, PhD, professor of medicine, received the ‘Outstanding Mentoring Award,’ while Anindita Deb, MD, associate professor of neurology, received the ‘Sarah Stone Excellence in Education Award.’
The awards, presented by the Women’s Faculty Committee in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Affairs, honor faculty members “regardless of sex or gender identity” for contributions in education, community service, scientific achievement and patient care.
The 26th annual awards ceremony included remarks from committee co-chairs Abita Raj, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Thin Malatesta, PhD’21, RN, assistant professor of nursing.
Cynthia Barginere, RN, DNP, chief operating officer of UMass Memorial Health and president of UMass Memorial Community Entities, Inc., delivered the keynote address, titled “Leading Forward: Mentorship, Courage and Advancing Women in Academic Medicine.”
“Leadership is not about title. It’s about impact,” Barginere said. “Our responsibility is to make the path more visible and more accessible for those who come behind us.”
Barginere discussed four leadership principles: authenticity, courage, optimism and balance.
“You can only sustain your impact as a leader if you sustain yourself in environments like ours where expectations are high and demands are constant,” she said. “This is not just a personal choice. It’s a leadership responsibility, because how we model balance shapes what others believe is possible.”
Mary Ahn, MD, vice provost for faculty affairs and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, also recognized women faculty and staff promoted during the past year. She said UMass Chan exceeds peer institutions in gender representation among faculty ranks, citing data from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ ‘State of Women in Academic Medicine 2023-2024’ report.
Mandrekar serves as professor and associate vice chair in the Department of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School. She is also director of the Translational Science Program and director of the NIH Summer Research Program. Her academic affiliations include the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and multiple graduate biomedical science programs.
Originally trained in India, Mandrekar earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Bombay in Mumbai. Her previous honors include the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institution Excellence in Diversity at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and recognition from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Deb is associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at UMass Chan Medical School and co-chief of the Movement Disorders Division. She also serves as director of Vista Pathways and director of global health in the Collaborative in Health Equity.
Her clinical work focuses on Parkinson’s disease, autonomic dysfunction, dystonia, tremor and deep brain stimulation management. Deb’s work in medical education and global health has centered on improving access to neurological care and developing international health partnerships.
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