Gastroenterology researcher Kent Sanders, PhD, was awarded the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents' 2020 Distinguished Researcher award, the top research-based honor in the state.
What you should know:
1. Dr. Sanders is the chair of the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine's Department of Physiology and Cell Biology.
2. He's made notable discoveries in understanding activity in the gastrointestinal tract. He's largely focused on investigating cellular mechanisms of pacemaker activity and neural control of GI motility.
3. University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine Dean Thomas Schwenk, MD, spoke highly of Dr. Sanders' accomplishments. He said: "It is difficult to imagine a more impressive level of scientific achievement, in both magnitude and duration, than that of Dr. Sanders. He is an international 'rock star' in the field of gastroenterology."
4. Through his career, Dr. Sanders has served as a principal investigator or program director for more than $90 million in research grants. He's published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, and his research has been cited more than 31,000 times.