Gagani Athauda, M.D.

Gagani Athauda, M.D., has been involved in the pharmacology education of medical students at HWCOM since 2011. She has received multiple teaching awards and received the “HWCOM Mentor of the Year Student Choice Award” for her excellence in mentoring. 

Athauda was inducted into the Florida Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society honoring gifted teaching. She was inducted into and recognized by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Academy of Pharmacology Educators for her exemplary contributions to pharmacology education.  

Education 

M.D., Medicine, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia 

Awards

• HWCOM Excellence in Teaching Award 
• FIU Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching Award 
• Healthcare Educators Award 
• ASPET Pharmacology Educator Travel Award 

Areas of interest/specialization 

Athauda is interested in creative aspects of medical education, such as teaching pedagogies, curricula design and assessment. She incorporates gamification, case-based learning, problem-based learning, team-teaching, and flipped classroom pedagogies to enhance the application of knowledge and engagement of students. Additionally, she has created educational tools to enhance students learning.   

Selected publications  

1. Baskir E, Athauda G, Zeiarati GN, et al. Active Learning to Promote Early and Effective Physician Interaction with Pharmaceutical Industry Marketing Practices. Med. Sci. Educ. 30, 727–735 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-00943-y. 
2. Gold JM, Collazo RA, Athauda G. et al. Taking CBL to the Lecture Hall: a Comparison of Outcomes Between Traditional Small Group CBL and a Novel Large Group Team-Based CBL Teaching Method. Med. Sci. Educ. 30, 227–233 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00871-6.  
3. Ottolenghi J, Athauda G, Stumbar SE, Kashan SB, Lupi C. Contraceptive pharmacology and risk communication: a case-based flipped classroom exercise. MedEdPORTAL. 2019;15:10790.  
4. Maas JA, Toonkel RL, Athauda G. (2018). Large Group Case-Based Learning (TB-CBL) Is an Effective Method for Teaching Cancer Chemotherapy to Medical Students. Med. Sci. Educ 28: 191-194. 

View more publications

Patents and invention reports 

1. Dalton D, Athauda G, Bunge M, Guest J, Levi A, Pearse D, Wood P. 
   U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 16/078537; Feb 21, 2019 
   Production of Schwann cells.  
2. Bottaro DP, Peach M, Nicklaus M, Burke TR Jr, Athauda G, Choyke S, Giubellino A, Tan N, Shi Z-D.  
   US Patent No. 8,754,081; June 17, 2014 
   Related International Publication No. WO/124013. 
   Compositions and methods for inhibition of hepatocyte growth factor receptor c-Met signaling.  
3. Bottaro DP, Athauda G, Burgess TL.  
   US Patent No. 8,617,831; December 31, 2013 
   Related International Publication No. WO/20130029352. 
   Methods for Diagnosing and Monitoring the Progression of Cancer by Measuring Soluble c-Met Ectodomain.  
4. Bottaro DP, Athauda G, Burgess TL.  
   US Patent No. 8,304,199; November 6, 2012 
   Methods for Diagnosing and Monitoring the Progression of Cancer by Measuring Soluble c-Met Ectodomain. 
5. Bottaro DP, Athauda G, Burgess TL.  
   US Patent No. 7,964,365; June 21, 2011 
   Related International Publication No. WO/2007/056523. 
   Methods for Diagnosing and Monitoring the Progression of Cancer.