A UVA Health doctor is one of 12 recipients of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s 2025 Outstanding Faculty awards.
Neeral Shah, MD, was honored for teaching, scholarship and service.
Shah serves as a professor of medicine in the gastrointestinal/hepatology division at the University of Virginia. He has worked at UVA for 15 years and performed thousands of colonoscopies. He now specializes in liver disease caring for patients with chronic liver disease and those in need of a liver transplant.
As a researcher, Shah helped develop a better way to care for patients with liver disease who experience bleeding problems. The innovative work by Shah and a group of engineers led to the development of the Quantra Hemosonics machine used by anesthesiologists.
Shah played a pivotal role in creating the UVA School of Medicine’s NxGen pre-clerkship medical education curriculum, which prepares students to be lifelong learners who provide patient-centered, evidence-based medical care.
He has won every major teaching award at UVA while also developing a series of medical education infographics now used in 98 percent of American medical schools and 70 countries around the world.
Shah said he was inspired by his own parents who immigrated to the United States from India with two suitcases and $8.
“Their philosophy was, ‘knowledge is something that nobody can ever take from you,’ a belief they deeply instilled in me,” Shah said.
UVA School of Medicine graduate Katie Webb, MD, said Shah stood out among faculty because of his efforts to connect with his students and patients.
“In a room of over 100 people, he took the time to make each of us feel valued. He asked us our names, inquired about our weekend activities and got to know not only our academic interests but our interests outside of school as well,” Webb said.
Additional award recipients
- Messaoud Bahoura, Norfolk State University
- Peter Berquist, Virginia Peninsula Community College
- Michelle Kelley, Old Dominion University
- Kimberly Townsend Little, Longwood University
- John F. Morrissey, Sweet Briar College
- Terry L. Price, University of Richmond
- John Rossmeisl, Virginia Tech
- Fadi N. Salloum, Virginia Commonwealth University
- James C. Squire, Virginia Military Institute
- James Soland, Jr., University of Virginia, Rising Star
- Xuewei Wang, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rising Star
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Crystal Graham
