Santiago Schnell

Santiago has garnered some accolades for his research and teaching endeavors. He received the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence from the School of Informatics at Indiana University in 2006. In 2013, he was inducted to the League of Educational Excellence in the University of Michigan Medical School,[12] and was awarded the Endowment for Basic Science Teaching Award from the same institution.[13] He was also Visiting Professor of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Schnell was recognized with James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Scientist Award in 2010.[14] He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine[15] and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. He is a Corresponding Member of the Academia de Ciências da América Latina.[16] Schnell is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for distinguished contributions to the field of mathematical biology, particularly for the theoretical modeling of complex biochemical reactions and optimal estimation of their rates.[17]

In 2023, The Society for Mathematical Biology honored him with the Arthur T. Winfree Prize for his outstanding contributions to many areas of biology, and in particular his seminal work on enzyme kinetics. Schnell's theories and mathematical modelling of enzyme catalyzed reactions have been transformative for the fields of catalysis and enzyme kinetics while leading, at the same time, to a resurgence of new mathematical biology research in enzyme kinetics.[18]

As President of the Society for Mathematical Biology, Schnell implemented structural changes that strengthened the organization's foundation and membership. To allow members of the Society for Mathematical Biology to meet and interact within more focused areas in smaller groups, Schnell established the SMB Subgroups,[19] which have been truly transformative for the Society, making more dynamics and representative for all the members of the field. He also made major gains in fundraising for the Society. His efforts resulted in a four-fold increase of the Society's endowment. This led to the establishment of awards to recognize excellence in mathematical biology at different career stages. Thanks for his leadership, the Society has the following awards: The H. D. Landahl Mathematical Biophysics Award for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, The Leah Edelstein-Keshet Prize for Women in Mathematical Biology, the John Jungck Prize for Excellence in Education, and the Society for Mathematical Biology Fellows Program.[20]

Dr. Schnell has acted as chair of the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology in the Medical School from 2017 to 2021. During his time leading the largest basic science department at Michigan Medicine, he helped it maintain its status as the top National Institutes of Health-funded physiology department in the nation.[21] Under his leadership, the department increased its total annual operating revenue from $20.7 to $26.9 million and total cash and investments from $11.2 to $17.2 million. The overall department endowment increased from $5.4 to $8.3 million during his tenure, he successfully completed fundraising for two endowed collegiate professorships, and he established an endowment to support postdoctoral program activities.[22]

During his tenure, six faculty were elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[23] [24] [25] and one of the Latin American Academy of Science.[26] He stewarded an increase of the diversity of trainees in the department's educational programs, which now consist of nearly one-third underrepresented minorities. Between 2016 and 2017, in collaboration with Dr. David Brown and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion,[27] he led the development, coordination and implementation of the strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion of the 10 basic science departments/units in the Medical School.

As an educator, Schnell co-organized the establishment of a summer fellowship program to attract undergraduate students to gain hands-on research experiences in the department. He also led the independent funding of a summer fellowship program through an NIDDK R25 grant "Interfacing Computation and Engineering with Digestive and Metabolic Physiology Program."[28] This program served as a template to fund two additional R25 programs, effectively creating an umbrella program which attracts approximately 75 students annually from across the nation to pursue research in our medical school.

Under his leadership, the College of Science has launched a number of new initiatives. In the fall of 2021, the College of Science launched the first minor program in the country focusing on rare disease patient advocacy. A few months later, Notre Dame Patient Advocacy Initiative receives founding gift from Horizon Therapeutics[29]and Dyne Therapeutics.[30] During his tenure, the University of Notre Dame receive a $20 million gift to endow the newly established Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health.[31] He contributed to the expansion of the University of Notre Dame East Campus Research Complex with the addition of a 200,000-square-foot science and engineering building.[32]

Additionally, Schnell established the Notre Dame Christmas lectures; this event is an annual gift of science to the community adapted the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. [33] He also established the Rev. Joseph Carrier C.S.C. Science Medal. This is the most prestigious award presented by the College of Science, and is given for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science. [34]

He is actively promoting involvement of Hispanic, other minorities and disable people in science.[35] He is a life member[36] of the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.