James Checco, professor in the Department of Chemistry, has earned a COBRE Rising Star Award from the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators (NAIPI). The award recognizes individuals who exemplify ideals of research excellence and commitment to mentoring and who have established independence through a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program.
In fall 2019, Checco joined the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a faculty member and as a project leader at the Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC). His research focuses on understanding the molecular details of intercellular communication, with an emphasis on cell-to-cell signaling peptides. According to nominator Jiantao Guo, that research will have significant impacts on our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind many human diseases, as well as result in new treatments for these conditions.
Guo continues: Checco has been corresponding author or co-author on 31 publications; received federal, industry, and local funding; and presented his lab's work nationally and internationally. He is committed to training and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students—the latter have been recognized with departmental awards and presented at national conferences. Evaluations for courses taught are overwhelmingly positive—the words "enthusiastic/enthusiasm" and "excited/exciting" appear frequently, and he has been described with "an absolutely amazing professor", "my favorite professor", "phenomenal", and "the best chemistry professor I have ever had".
Checco was recognized at the National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) June 16-20, 2024.
