Marc W. Chartier, a third-year medical student at Florida State University’s College of Medicine, is one of 15 medical students from across Florida to be honored as 2022-2023 recipients of the Dr. Robert C. Knapp Medical Student Award.

The award, established in 2011 by Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper (HOW), an advocacy, educational and support group for ovarian cancer research and patient support, allows medical students to spend a minimum of four weeks with a gynecologic oncologist as one of their elective clinical rotations. Honorees submit a report to HOW about their experiences; they also receive a $3,000 cash award.

Chartier, a Sarasota native now studying at the Sarasota Regional Campus, majored in biochemistry and minored in chemistry as an undergraduate student FSU. He has long planned to focus on obstetrics and gynecology as a medical specialty and the Knapp Award will expand his training in the sub-specialty of gynecologic oncology.

“The state of women’s healthcare and women’s rights needs greater representation
and advocacy,” he wrote in his College of Medicine student profile. “The stories of
poor healthcare outcomes for disadvantaged women of all ages and demographics are too myriad to list.

“My mission is to use medical education and the subsequent practice of medicine to directly influence clinic care in an obstetric and gynecologic setting, as well as shape healthcare policy in the legislative environment at the state and federal levels.”

This year’s recipients included medical students studying at the University of Florida, the University of Miami Miller School Medicine, the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and the FSU College of Medicine.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Two trailblazing Florida State University researchers have been selected for membership in the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida.  
  
Sylvie Naar, a distinguished endowed professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, and Thomas Joiner, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology, will be formally inducted into the academy in November.  
  
They join 13 other researchers admitted this year, which bumps the group’s membership to more than 200.  
  
The group’s membership votes whether to admit new members, said Norman Anderson, an academy board member and assistant vice president for research and academic affairs in the College of Social Work. 
  
“The people who are already ASEM-FL members are stellar in their respective fields and are an elite group of researchers and organizational leaders,” he said. “To be approved by the whole of that membership speaks to the high quality of the research that Dr. Naar and Dr. Joiner have been doing through their careers.”  
  
Janet Kistner, FSU’s vice president of faculty development and advancement said, apart from the recognition, membership is viewed as a step toward admission into the National Academy of Sciences.  
  
“It’s fair to say these are already individuals whose work has brought them national and international attention,” she said. “This recognition speaks to the great work they’re doing and will hopefully help them advance toward the National Academy.”  
  
Naar, who recently earned a four-year, $1 million research grant from the National Cancer Institute, is founder and director of the Center for Translational Behavioral Science. Her research focuses on translation of scientific research to real-world practices that improve patient health.  
  
In reaction to the recognition, Naar emphasized the benefits to FSU. 
  
“This further puts FSU on the map as a leader in behavioral health,” she said. “The recognition of work on health equity in marginalized young people in Florida makes me more optimistic about the future.” 
  
She added: “I am honored to be selected to this prestigious group, especially with my colleague who I strongly admire, Dr. Joiner.”   
  
As director of the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors, Joiner leads a team in pursuit of any scientific project that could advance suicide prevention. 
  
“That’s our mission and our vision,” he said.  
 
Joiner praised Naar’s work and reflected on the doctoral students he has worked with who have become leaders in the field.  
  
“That’s the thing I’m proudest of,” he said. “Suicide prevention is a long game. It’s going to take decades. It’s going to take that next generation of students and their students to continue the work.”